Will I get more games on ICC than on FICS

[mathmoi]

Hi,

I found out I don't get much games on FICS since my engine passed the 2100 elo bar. I get maybe 2-3 games per hours. However I get more standard (15 0, 15 15) games and that's a good thing.

Do you think I would get more games on ICC? If not, what's the reason most chess programmers make their engine play on ICC instead of FICS?

Thanks

[BubbaTough]

Well, I play on ICC because I got tired of waiting for FICS to give me a computer account. I got annoyed with them at gave up waiting.

-Sam

[Marc Lacrosse]

Unfortunately ICC is not a good place anymore for new computer accounts.
Good human players only play the very top C accounts (all of them are rybkas on powerful computers), hoping to gain a few points through a few draws.
The top computer accounts do not accept to play against other computer accounts.
So if you have a medium strength program you won't have any opportunity to meet good opponents.

Marc

[BubbaTough]

Unfortunately ICC is not a good place anymore for new computer accounts.
Good human players only play the very top C accounts (all of them are rybkas on powerful computers), hoping to gain a few points through a few draws.
The top computer accounts do not accept to play against other computer accounts.
So if you have a medium strength program you won't have any opportunity to meet good opponents.

Marc

There is much truth to this, though I see humans playing weaker programs (Crafty, Tinker) way more often than humans playing Rybka. Just not top GMs. Still there is a lot of sitting idle. Only a few computer opponents for medium Strength programs that accept all comers (Tinker, Crafty, LearningLemming, Arasan, TwistedLogic, Timea, Telepath and a few others) not all of which are logged on all the time. The question is, are there better places? I heard playchess was even worse, and have not heard many rosy things about FICS either.

-Sam

[mathmoi]

Well,

What i'm looking for is to play against medium-strenght humans, that are about the same strenght as my engine.

Can I expect this? Or am I better to stick with FICS?

[BubbaTough]

Well,

What i'm looking for is to play against medium-strenght humans, that are about the same strenght as my engine.

Can I expect this? Or am I better to stick with FICS?

Well, how many games are you getting on FICS? Say, in an average day?

-Sam

[mhull]

Unfortunately ICC is not a good place anymore for new computer accounts.
Good human players only play the very top C accounts (all of them are rybkas on powerful computers), hoping to gain a few points through a few draws.
The top computer accounts do not accept to play against other computer accounts.
So if you have a medium strength program you won't have any opportunity to meet good opponents.

Marc

My experience: If you have a medium strength program on slow hardware, you'll get good human participation. I ran GNUChess and Phalanx on a 200 MHz and 233 Mhz machine and got good frequent play from 1900-2400 humans. You have to be willing to open up your formula and let everyone play, tolerating lots of adjurned games from punks, but you'll still get plenty of legitimate players to compensate. (I even allowed strong programs abuse my account, driving my rating below 2000 while eeking theirs up. It didn't bother me.) For a while, my account was a good sparring partner for Symbolic, LearningLemming and other actively developing programs before they improved above of my rating range. If you have an ancient junker PC, it might be worth a look. There are some good 2300-2400 players that will play 15 3 games with you if they feel they have a chance to win.

YMMV.

[mathmoi]

Well,

What i'm looking for is to play against medium-strenght humans, that are about the same strenght as my engine.

Can I expect this? Or am I better to stick with FICS?

Well, how many games are you getting on FICS? Say, in an average day?

-Sam

Hi Sam,

I used to get more than 100 games per day (mostly bullet and blitz games) when my engine was playing slightly under 2000. But now I get between 20 and 40. mostly blitz and standard time control.

Thanks,

[BubbaTough]

Hi Sam,

I used to get more than 100 games per day (mostly bullet and blitz games) when my engine was playing slightly under 2000. But now I get between 20 and 40. mostly blitz and standard time control.

Twenty to forty is not bad. I doubt you will get more human games than that on ICC against unless your engine was lower rated.

-Sam

[mathmoi]

Hi Sam,

I used to get more than 100 games per day (mostly bullet and blitz games) when my engine was playing slightly under 2000. But now I get between 20 and 40. mostly blitz and standard time control.

Twenty to forty is not bad. I doubt you will get more human games than that on ICC against unless your engine was lower rated.

-Sam

Oki, i'll see then.

I have an other question for everyone. How long did you wait to be awarded your free computer account on ICC? I subscribed my paying account thusday and messaged FreeComputer the same night and I still haven't got an answer.