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[ Italiano | Deutsch | Svenska | Français | Nederlands ] Questions:
A: Absolutely, it's right here.
A: If a rated game ends with less than 3 moves, it will not be counted as a win. The reason for this is that it's hardly possible to show that someone was winning after only two moves. All lost games are always counted as losses for the timed out players regardless of how many moves were made, unless it was unrated. Also, please note: in chess, moves are counted in pairs -- i.e. 3 moves means both players made 3 moves each. More about the rating system.
A: Because of the way the GameKnot rating system works, it is possible, but only if you haven't finished your first 20 games. To avoid losing rating points when you win during the first 20 games, try to choose your opponents to be with rating no more than 200 points below yours. More about GameKnot's rating system.
A: 24 hours are automatically added to all non-postponed games (but not to exceed the original time control) on Saturday between 5-6pm local GK time (PST) to prevent timeouts over the weekend for people who play from work and don't have computers at home. It is designed in such a way that for all games with 2 or more days per move, if you make your move on Friday, regardless of when you opponent makes their move, in most cases you will have until the same time on Monday to make your move. I.e. if you make your move around 3pm on Friday, you should have enough time to make your move by 3pm on Monday. Please don't rely on this mini-postponement every Saturday as it is not guaranteed to work for all cases and all games. Instead, if you need more time to submit your moves, please manually postpone your games. Also, extra time is added during major holidays (Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years) or disasters affecting majority of the players on GameKnot.
A: Unfortunately not. Please always use "analyze the board" link to try different moves, and make sure to enable "move confirmation / submit button" in your profile to help avoid any mistakes.
A: There are several possible reasons for not being able to make a move:
A: Unfortunately, it is not possible for technical reasons (because of the way GameKnot stores data on the server) -- your user name is permanent and not changeable.
A: Go to your past game history, locate the game you'd like to reinstate and click on the (R) symbol next to it. If there's no (R) symbol present, that means the game cannot be reinstated. After you request to reinstate the game, a brand new regular (i.e. non-team, non-tournament, non-league, etc.) rated game will be created with the same time controls as the old one and starting with the current position on the board. Your opponent will be given an option to decline the reinstatement. The old timed-out game will still be counted towards your rating, stats, team rating, tournament standing, league stats, etc. etc.
A: You can do it from your profile page.
A: You can do it from your profile page.
A: You can do it from your profile page.
A: You can do it from this page.
A: If you are using Internet Explorer, make sure you have HTTP 1.1 enabled. Here's how you can do it: Open Options dialog box in your browser -- Tools | Internet Options... -- then select Advanced tab, and then make sure that both "Use HTTP 1.1" and "Use HTTP 1.1 through proxy connections" boxes are checked (it's in the HTTP 1.1 settings category).
A: Please see here.
A: If your opponent continues to make moves in any of his/her games, you will be able to cancel the postponement and restore the original time control of the game (as mentioned on the game postponement page itself). A link will appear on the game page that would let you do so after your opponent makes at least 5 moves (in any of the games). This is designed to prevent postponement feature abuse (for example, postponing and therefore stalling a hopelessly lost game, while continuing to play other games, etc. etc.).
A: Unfortunately, the only way to avoid this limitation is to become a premium subscriber. The reason for this is because multiple accounts is a big problem for online chess websites -- duplicate accounts are usually created to be able to get around the maximum number of simultaneous games limit, or to dominate a tournament with multiple accounts, or to cheat by playing against oneself, etc. etc. It is not only annoying to other players, but also unfair to everyone and usually results in excessive use of server resources. Unfortunately, the only reliable way to verify uniqueness of an account is the premium subscription (the name on the credit card or PayPal account). It also greatly reduces the risk of someone creating several accounts for themselves. In any case, $29.50 per year (or $2.46 per month!) shouldn't be too much for something you can enjoy every day. Plus, you'll be supporting the development of new features and continuous improvements to the site.
A: Sometimes a corrupted file gets "stuck" in the browser's cache, causing problems. The solution is to clear the browser's cache. In Internet Explorer, you can go to "Tools | Internet Options" and then click on "Delete Files..." in the "Temporary Internet files" section. Or you can try holding "Control" and "Shift" keys and pressing "Reload" button simultaneously to force your browser to re-download the page. You might need to do it couple of times if it doesn't work the first time.
A: Unfortunately it's not possible, for multiple reasons. Please continue playing using your current account.
A: Try hitting "Refresh" button from your browser's toolbar, or if you use Internet Explorer, hold down "Control" and "Shift" keys together and hit "Refresh" button all at the same time to force the browser to completely reload the page. It is possible that some of the pages could get "stuck" in your browser's cache, and would need to be refreshed to appear correctly. Deleting your temporary Internet files might also help clear the problem.
A: When using regular time control (NN days per move) each player has predefined number of days to make each move and the clock is restarted each move. With Fischer/incremental time control each player has a time bank that is never restarted, but instead extra time is added to it after each move. This way it is much closer to the way how real chess clock works when playing over the board. For example, if you are playing a game with "5d + 1d < 10d" time control, that means you have 5 days to make your initial move, and then 1 day is added to your clock on top of whatever time you have left after you made your first move, so you'll have that many days (and hours and minutes) to make your second move, and so on and so forth. Returning to our example, say, you made your first move 12 hours after the game was started, so you will have 5 days - 12 hours + 1 day = 5 days 12 hours to make your next move (after your opponent makes theirs). To avoid huge amounts of time accumulated by players, there's a limit on how many days you can have maximum (denoted by the "<" symbol). If your accumulated time exceeds this number, it will be reset to the maximum (10 days in our example).
A: It's quite simple -- you can not use anything besides your own brain, and you can not consult anyone besides yourself. That includes chess programs, chess engines or chess computers, your friends, colleagues etc. etc. Chess books and game/move databases are allowed (as they are permitted in correspondence chess too). Feel free to analyze your games with chess engines or discuss them with your friends after the game is over, but not while the game is still in progress. If you suspect someone is cheating, please contact webmaster with a formal complaint. Don't forget to include specific details of why you think someone is cheating.
A: Yes, it is possible to play very fast games, if you can find an opponent willing to play fast games. The reasons why you cannot start games with a very small time per move setting (i.e. why fast games are not officially supported on GameKnot) -- first of all, there are players from all over the world on GameKnot and the time difference can put one of the players in a significant disadvantage; secondly, not all players have access to a computer all the time (playing from work or from school). Not to mention that it is difficult to improve your chess skills playing fast games.
A: The higher of the two ratings -- when the first move was made and when the last move was made in the game -- is used when calculating the rating difference for both opponents in the game. For example, if player A plays against player B and their ratings are 1300 for player A and 1400 from player B when the game is started, but just before the game ends their ratings are 1250 for player A and 1450 for player B. The system will use 1300 for player A (1300>1250) and 1450 for player B (1400<1450) when calculating rating adjustments for this game, which will be applied to their current ratings.
A: Please see here for more information.
A: Unless any of the FIDE chess rules or any of GameKnot site rules have been violated, nothing can be done about this game. If you find someone's behavior annoying, simply add them to your ignore list. You'll still have to finish your current game though, so the best solution is to remain calm, always make your best moves and crush your opponent on the board.
A: Your opponent has the right to make his or her move at any time as long as it is within the time control set for the game. So unless any of the FIDE chess rules or any of GameKnot site rules have been violated, nothing can be done about this game. If you find someone's behavior annoying, simply add them to your ignore list. You'll still have to finish your current game though, so the best solution is to remain calm, always make your best moves and crush your opponent on the board.
A: What you are seeing is probably produced by so called "adware" or "spyware" programs -- a free program or software package that you have downloaded and installed on your computer, that contains a special hidden module that shows excessive pop-up ads (banner ads, text links, etc.) on all sites you visit. Also, certain unscrupulous sites of adult nature sometimes exploit well known security flaws in Internet Explorer, that allow them to install hidden software on your computer without your consent that shows pop-up ads on all sites you visit. How can your computer get infected with "spyware"/"adware" programs? By downloading and installing free programs, by opening attachments to e-mails, by visiting sites of adult nature, etc.
A: Most likely, this is due to a pop-up window blocking software installed on your computer. All the aforementioned features work in a pop-up window, so if you have it blocked or disabled on your computer, you will not be able to use it. Also, please make sure that your browser software is updated to the latest version and that JavaScript is enabled in your browser. Please see question #6 for related issues and possible solutions.
A: Please click here for the detailed description of GameKnot rating system.
A: Unless you are using "remember my login info" when logging in to GameKnot, you will see the ads on the front page before you log in. Simply because the server doesn't yet know that it is you. As soon as you log in to GameKnot, all advertising will disappear from the site. If you are still getting pop-up ads while logged in to GameKnot under your user name, your computer is likely to be infected with adware/spyware. Please refer to question #27 for more information.
A: First of all, let us assure you that GameKnot is absolutely clean and free from any viruses of any kind. There are multiple possible reasons why your anti-virus software might be triggered when visiting our site:
A: The system time on all GameKnot servers is automatically synchronized with several independent atomic clock servers on the Internet (the full list can be found here). We also have several automated checks in place to make sure that the time control of each game is working correctly (i.e. the system has several automated "judges" that all have to agree before the game is declared as timed out). Ever since the system was implemented in the year 2000, we haven't had a single problem with any of the games, so it is probably safe to say that there are no hidden "bugs" in the system and it is working 100% as designed. Please refer to question #8 for more information on reinstating timed out games.
A: Unfortunately, there's nothing that can be done about the games that had ended -- they are already recorded in the past game histories and factored into the ratings and stats of both you and your opponents. You should be able to simply win more games to earn back the lost rating points. Also, please refer to question #8 for more information on how to request game reinstatements. Please note: premium membership purchases made before January 1, 2005 are from 2CheckOut.com, an authorized retailer for GameKnot.com. |  |
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