Anyone play on ICC? [Archive] - Actuarial Outpost

Aaron Brachowitz

02-07-2006, 10:43 AM

I used to play there (also as AaronB) but quit recently. Most of the people online seem to be looking for blitz games, which I detest. Also, players who like the blitz format also seem disposed to a fair amount of trash-talk (or trash-type). Just not what I'm looking for. Also, with small kids, I just can't commit to sitting uninterrupted at the computer for any length of time. I play at www.schemingmind.com, which uses the correspondence format (1-2 moves per day, but with as many simultaneous games as you can handle).

Hagbard Celine

02-07-2006, 10:57 AM

Also, with small kids, I just can't commit to sitting uninterrupted at the computer for any length of time.

That's why you have to learn to love blitz! ;)

I just ignore the trash-talking...if they get their jollies from talking trash about internet chess, especially at the level I'm playing at, then whatever. I end up just chuckling to myself.

Drzy

02-07-2006, 12:37 PM

Same here... used to, but no longer. I do occaisionally log on as a guest though. I usually play 1 0, but if anyone wants to meet up there sometime, sure, I'm game.

Jonas Grumby

02-08-2006, 12:43 PM

I'm ActuaryGuy on ICC. I almost exclusively play 1-minute (as opposed to 1 0...same time limits, but you get paired with similar ratings instead of seeking out random partners...also disconnect = forfeit). It's a volatile game - my 1-minute rating is anywhere from 1300 to 1600 (in the 1500s there are lots of FMs and a few IMs...their brains aren't wired for this kind of game).

There's a lot of trash talk, but also some nice people.

Drzy

02-09-2006, 04:41 PM

I'm ActuaryGuy on ICC. I almost exclusively play 1-minute (as opposed to 1 0...same time limits, but you get paired with similar ratings instead of seeking out random partners...also disconnect = forfeit). It's a volatile game - my 1-minute rating is anywhere from 1300 to 1600 (in the 1500s there are lots of FMs and a few IMs...their brains aren't wired for this kind of game).
I fingered you (or gave you the finger, whichever sounds funnier) last night and it looked like I just missed you. If some random guest challenges you to 1 0.... :wave: Won't happen tonight though.

GosuJohn

02-13-2006, 04:41 PM

name is Gosujohn on icc. Mostly play 3 0 games, havent been on much of late cuz of actuary tests..

Drzy

02-14-2006, 04:33 PM

Jonas declined my request for a 1 0 match. :swear:

ACCtuary

02-14-2006, 04:35 PM

I play on FICS as Trurl. And usually with reasonable standard time parameters.

SirVLCIV

02-14-2006, 05:49 PM

When I decide to renew again, I'm VGodAWata. In my prime I was a 1900 something blitzer, though with a free login I once hit 2100.

My fave was chess.net years ago, I played three 3 0 games (the last of which was against a Canadian National Master), and had a 2400 rating, and never played another game ;) I had people asking me who I was, rofl.

GosuJohn

02-15-2006, 10:02 AM

yes i used to be on chess.net when it was free, it died when they started charging people, they lost their niche in the market =[ Now everyone on chess.net is horrible, i feel like a pro when i go on that server.

Jonas Grumby

02-16-2006, 08:42 PM

Jonas declined my request for a 1 0 match. :swear:

I get a lot of random challenges. PM me your userid so I'll know who you are.

SirVLCIV

12-15-2007, 04:06 PM

Wow, is it just me, or are 5-minute players MUCH stronger than blitzers?

Shaft

12-16-2007, 04:14 AM

For those who use ICC, do you use Blitzin or Dasher? I could never drag and drop the pieces fast enough in 1-0 compared to the Playchess server.

SirVLCIV

12-16-2007, 08:19 PM

For those who use ICC, do you use Blitzin or Dasher? I could never drag and drop the pieces fast enough in 1-0 compared to the Playchess server.

I've been using Blitzin lately.

GosuJohn

12-17-2007, 11:20 AM

Wow, is it just me, or are 5-minute players MUCH stronger than blitzers?

For the rating yes. There is an inherent bias in the type of players that join the 5 minute pool versus regular blitz people. 1 minute pool is the same thing.

Alto Reed on a Tenor Sax

09-09-2008, 01:08 AM

Phil de cube

09-09-2008, 11:44 AM

:bump:

Don't know if this is the right thread to ask this, but are there any free online chess sites that are better than yahoo's game section? I haven't played online in about five years, but I want to get back into it. But I'm not thrilled with yahoo, and I wondered if there was anywhere better besides ICC (which you can't play on without a paid subscription, am I right?)

Its only like 50 bucks a year man, and what you get for it is such a great deal. If you are gonna be lame though, www.freechess.org is the best out there for your kind.

ARTS

09-09-2008, 12:53 PM

If you are gonna be lame though
I've been lame for too long, way too late to change that now. Thanks for the tip, I'll check out freechess tonight :tup:

Alto Reed on a Tenor Sax

09-10-2008, 09:33 AM

:shake: Played four games last night, lost connection to the server in the middle of three of them. Is that normal on freechess.org? It was really annoying.

Shaft

09-10-2008, 11:46 AM

:shake: Played four games last night, lost connection to the server in the middle of three of them. Is that normal on freechess.org? It was really annoying.
Well, you get what you pay for.

Phil de cube

09-10-2008, 12:57 PM

:shake: Played four games last night, lost connection to the server in the middle of three of them. Is that normal on freechess.org? It was really annoying.

Depends your connection. Some computers I have no problem with it, some computers I have problems.

Never had a problem with ICC.

Houdini

09-11-2008, 09:14 PM

I registered as Houdini and will be playing off and on, if anyone wants to play. Just post your name and maybe a time you'll be on.

MGN

09-17-2008, 11:03 AM

Without a doubt, just plop down the 50 or whatever it is for ICC. Better software, lots of neat chess videos, teachers if you're looking for one, etc...

Jonas Grumby

09-17-2008, 11:40 AM

Without a doubt, just plop down the 50 or whatever it is for ICC. Better software, lots of neat chess videos, teachers if you're looking for one, etc...

You can even play a simul against Magnus. In fact, even if you're only rated 1400, you can apparently cheat with a computer and get a draw with him.

Alto Reed on a Tenor Sax

09-24-2008, 03:03 PM

Okay, I'm in. Login is AltoReed. Now you guys can see how bad I suck.

Alto Reed on a Tenor Sax

09-24-2008, 09:42 PM

Okay, this blows. I just forfeited two games I was winning because I lost my connection. WTF?

SirVLCIV

09-27-2008, 03:06 PM

Okay, this blows. I just forfeited two games I was winning because I lost my connection. WTF?

Do 'help noescape'.

MGN

10-07-2008, 03:27 PM

Could be time for a new internet connection. If you have your own wireless, try putting a password on it in case neighbors are stealing it and have viruses. Still though, ICC is worth it.

Alto Reed on a Tenor Sax

10-09-2008, 10:41 AM

For the rating yes. There is an inherent bias in the type of players that join the 5 minute pool versus regular blitz people. 1 minute pool is the same thing.

What is the difference again?

So does conventional wisdom hold that your ICC rating should give you a pretty good idea of what your official FIDE rating "might" be if you had one?

SirVLCIV

10-15-2008, 10:23 AM

What is the difference again?

So does conventional wisdom hold that your ICC rating should give you a pretty good idea of what your official FIDE rating "might" be if you had one?

There's ratings inflation online (the more players, the more inflation, and computers also cause problems.

FIDE? No, not at all. Well, loose correlation. You ain't going to see 3500 ratings like Nakamura.

Ratings are correlated with USCF loosely, 5-minute more so (less inflated). Again, blitz vs. standard has its own error involved (I'm decent at the former, and can play OTB standard, but lose concentration when playing on-line standard).

Phil de cube

10-18-2008, 05:34 PM

What is the difference again?

So does conventional wisdom hold that your ICC rating should give you a pretty good idea of what your official FIDE rating "might" be if you had one?

This depends.

There are online specialized players, there are otb players that are decent online, then there are otb players who suck online. For most people in the middle group, blitz and uscf go together up until about 2000. After that it is widely variant. If all you do is play on the computer, do not underestimate the difference of going to a board, the 3d view is wayyyy different.

3 minute chess is very different than 6 hour chess. Even 15 minute chess (standard online) is not a good representation of otb.

Also just in general, there are people who are stronger at blitz compared to longer chess, and others better at standard compared to blitz..

Rick_G

12-30-2008, 11:18 AM

Its only like 50 bucks a year man, and what you get for it is such a great deal. If you are gonna be lame though, www.freechess.org is the best out there for your kind.I learned of another free "live chess" site - Infinia Chess (http://www.infiniachess.com/welcome.asp). My handle there is RickGWicz. I play mostly Losers chess on that site, usually 3 minute or 5 minute. Sometimes I pay regular chess or CrazyHouse. There is only one Windows interface program available to play on this web site.

I play on FICS as Rick Groszkiewicz. Of the several Windows interface programs (http://www.freechess.org/cgi-bin/Download/FICS_Download_Interface.cgi), I prefer BabasChess (http://www.babaschess.net/features.asp). The default Jin browser-based interface really blows.

I love to play Losers chess and Atomic chess, usually 3 minute or 5 minute. They also have some crazy variants like Upside Down chess (Wild-5) and another I like where pawns start on the fifth rank (Wild-8a).

If anyone's interested, PM me. I normally play between 8 PM and 11 PM eastern time.

Shaft

12-30-2008, 11:25 AM

I learned of another free "live chess" site - Infinia Chess (http://www.infiniachess.com/welcome.asp). My handle there is RickGWicz. I play mostly Losers chess on that site, usually 3 minute or 5 minute. Sometimes I pay regular chess or CrazyHouse. There is only one Windows interface program available to play on this web site.

I play on FICS as Rick Groszkiewicz. Of the several Windows interface programs (http://www.freechess.org/cgi-bin/Download/FICS_Download_Interface.cgi), I prefer BabasChess (http://www.babaschess.net/features.asp). The default Jin browser-based interface really blows.

I love to play Losers chess and Atomic chess, usually 3 minute or 5 minute. They also have some crazy variants like Upside Down chess (Wild-5) and another I like where pawns start on the fifth rank (Wild-8a).

If anyone's interested, PM me. I normally play between 8 PM and 11 PM eastern time.
The ICC is about to have a bit of an overhaul so the 50 bucks will be even better value! if you are a serious fan, want to improve or want to get slain by real chess players then no other site beats it. And I don't have shares in it.

Hagbard Celine

12-30-2008, 11:30 AM

or want to get slain by real chess players

I'd rather save a buck (or $50) and get slain by the fake players! :)

SirVLCIV

12-31-2008, 02:50 AM

I learned of another free "live chess" site - Infinia Chess (http://www.infiniachess.com/welcome.asp). My handle there is RickGWicz. I play mostly Losers chess on that site, usually 3 minute or 5 minute. Sometimes I pay regular chess or CrazyHouse. There is only one Windows interface program available to play on this web site.

I play on FICS as Rick Groszkiewicz. Of the several Windows interface programs (http://www.freechess.org/cgi-bin/Download/FICS_Download_Interface.cgi), I prefer BabasChess (http://www.babaschess.net/features.asp). The default Jin browser-based interface really blows.

I love to play Losers chess and Atomic chess, usually 3 minute or 5 minute. They also have some crazy variants like Upside Down chess (Wild-5) and another I like where pawns start on the fifth rank (Wild-8a).

If anyone's interested, PM me. I normally play between 8 PM and 11 PM eastern time.

We've got all the fun variants on ICC too ;-)

Kregspiel and Crazyhouse are my faves, though I used to pwn at the former and don't anymore...

Atomic was fun when no one knew opening theory, lol.

Rick_G

01-01-2009, 12:58 PM

We've got all the fun variants on ICC too ;-)

Kregspiel and Crazyhouse are my faves, though I used to pwn at the former and don't anymore...

Atomic was fun when no one knew opening theory, lol.Speaking of Atomic opening theory, my understanding is that there is still a lot of creative openings being tested out by top level players.

Here is some opening theory from the 1990s (http://www.unix-ag.uni-kl.de/~chess/atomic/). Here are links to Metroid's Atomic opening books for White (http://k.domaindlx.com/SonicBomb/WhiteAtomicBook.html) and for Black (http://k.domaindlx.com/SonicBomb/BlackAtomicBook.html), in a really ugly format.

I found an excellent collection of Atomic chess links on Rekursiv's site (http://virtual.parkland.edu/lblackburn/Atomic/atomic.html).

SirVLCIV

01-09-2010, 10:02 AM

:bump:

Just re-upped; still VGodAWata.

Shaft

01-09-2010, 10:04 AM

Currently on live, watching Nakamura crush Gelfand in home prep, loved 24 Nxe1......

cohomology

08-12-2010, 12:21 PM

SirVLCIV

08-12-2010, 12:26 PM

I play on FCIS rating close to 2000. I found the competition to be very good.
Last game i played I blundered on move 4 and came back from a piece down to win. That is very rare at this level, I felt like topolov after this.

I don't know if I still have a FICS log-in. I had like a 2600 rating after 4 games (beat an 1800, a 2000, a 2100, then a 2400 FM (all in blitz), then stopped playing). Anyone know if they deleted logins after not being used for awhile (like, 8 years)? Heh.

cohomology

08-12-2010, 01:17 PM

you get a lifetime user name. I was playing standard(real chess), If i wanted to play blitz i would go to yahoo.

SirVLCIV

08-12-2010, 05:58 PM

you get a lifetime user name. I was playing standard(real chess), If i wanted to play blitz i would go to yahoo.

And if I wanted Standard I'd pop over to the Marshall chess club (I still need to check that out someday).