An Internet chess server (ICS) is a server to facilitate the play, discussion, and viewing of chess over the Internet. Specifically, it is a server with a protocol based on that of the original Internet Chess Server (now the Internet Chess Club).
History
The Internet Chess Server was created in the late 1980s by a group of volunteers. Although it was buggy and suffered from lag problems, the server was popular among a small group of chess enthusiasts. Over time, many features were added to the ICS, such as ELO ratings and support for graphical clients, and the server was made more stable.
In 1992, Daniel Sleator took over management of the ICS. To be finished soon…
Protocol and access
The ICS protocol is a simple, text-based variant of the telnet protocol. It is sparsely documented and not standardized, although a few reference implementations and several clients exist.
In theory, an ICS can be accessed from any telnet client. That said, almost all users choose to play using a graphical client, commonly called an interface. Currently, the most popular interface is XBoard (and its Windows counterpart, WinBoard). In recent years, however, it has lost ground to newer interfaces like BabasChess and Thief.
In addition to standalone clients, many servers also offer Java interfaces that can be used directly from a Web browser. These are popular with new users and users of public computers.
Available servers
Over the years, several Internet chess servers have been created. The Internet Chess Club, with over 30,000 members, is by far the largest server. The second largest server is the Free Internet Chess Server. Other servers include Chess Live, Chess.net, ChessAnyTime, as well as various local servers. However, these servers have significantly less membership than the ICC and FICS.
See also
- Internet Chess Club, the first Internet chess server
- Yahoo! Games, an online game server which includes another popular chess implementation
External links
- A brief overview of Internet chess servers by Tim Mann
- ChessD, an open-source ICS implementation
- Lasker Chess Server, another ICS implementation, based on ChessD