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Chesshere Support Center

Frequently Asked Questions

Managing Your Account

New to Chesshere

Realtime chess (rtc)

Correspondence Chess (cc)

Answer

Q: Real time chess (RTC) ?

Real time chess, in contrast to correspondence chess, Real time chess requires both players to be online and to present at the board. In this part of the site you will see your opponent moves in real-time and you both commit to a time frame limit up to 90 min game.

Q: Correspondence Chess (CC)?

Correspondence chess allows two players to play chess without the need of being online. Once a player makes a move the system sends a mail notification to the opponent for making his move. This is a unique experience that lets you enjoy the excitement every time the board comes up

Q: Chesshere community

ChessHere.com is an online chess server where you can play online chess against chess players around the globe. You can meet players and create your group of friends, send messages and create blogs and forum topics. You can also create and join teams and tournaments. Every chesshere player can edit his player page so you can know him/her better. Chesshere lets you invite your friends to chesshere and automatically include them in your friends list.

Q: Correspondence Chess - what is it?

Correspondence chess allows two players to play chess without the need of being online. Once a player makes a move, the system sends an email to the opponent for making his move. This is a unique experience that makes you excited every time the board comes up.

Q: How can I start playing games?

There are several ways to start a game:

1- Click "Join Game" in the main menu to check if there are some open games, When you find one that you would like to play, click "Join Game" found next to each game. When you join a game it's not necessary that the other player is online.

2- To start your own game(s), click "Start Game" in the main menu, select your preferred settings and click "start game" button, your game will be listed in the open games page until another player joins it.

3- Click "players", "New" or "Online" in the main menu, explore the listed players, choose one you would like to play with and click "Challenge" link found in her page, setup a challenge and click "Send Challenge", the other player will review your challenge and accept/reject it.

4- Click "Tournaments" in the main menu, click a "Apply" or "Join" found next to each tournament, When you join a tournament you will play two games with each player in the tournament.

5- After you make some moves at chesshere.com you will be able to play in tournaments as well.

6- Another option is to play in a team.

Important:
1- When you join/start a game or send/accept a challenge make sure you are aware of the time controls and make sure you will be able to make your moves on time, should you fail to make your moves before your time elapse, you will probably lose the game.
2- Players with a green dot next to their names are considered to be online, so it is always good to send challenges to those players, or to join their open games, because they will probably respond faster.

Q: Register for a FREE Account

Registration of chesshere.com is totally free, Registration is simple and fast, Click here to register and start playing online chess

Q: Chesshere rating formula

As a new player at chesshere you will get a CC (correspondence chess) rating of 1400 and an RTC (realtime chess) of 1400. Your rating will be the indication for you and for other players to your chess capability.
Chesshere rating formula:

Chesshere rating formula:

My expected rating = 1/(1+Math.pow(10,(opponent rating-my rating)/400));

Draw rating = my rating + 22 * (0.5-my_expected_rating);

Win rating = my rating + 22 * (1-my_expected_rating);

Loss rating = my rating + 22 * (0-my_expected_rating);

Q: How many games can I play at the same time?

Non-Premium members can have up to 30 concurrent games. If you become a premium member you will have unlimited games and be able to start a team and tournaments.

Q: How to make a move?

Click "My games" in the main menu, if one of your games is labeled "Your turn" then click that label(or the game title), you will be forwarded to the game board page.

1. Click the piece you would like to move
2. Click the square you want to move the piece to
3. Click "Move" button found on top of the board

- if you clicked a peace and then you decided to move another one click "reset" button found on top of the board, or click the peace itself again to deselect it.

- Castling: just move the king, the rook will be moved automatically.

- En Passant: Just move the pawn to where it should be.

Q: How will I know when my opponent makes a move?

If you are not online when one of your opponents makes a move, an email will be sent to you, only one email will be sent out until you login back to chesshere.com even if more moves where made, you can turn off this option from your "General preferences" page, please notice that some email systems may block emails sent from chesshere.com or may deliver those mails to your bulk folder

Q: I joined a game, but the other player doesn't move!

Please notice that it is not necessary that the other player is online always, every player has up to 15 days to make one move depending on the time controls of the game, if the time elapsed before that player makes a move you can give him another chance and continue the game, win it, or cancel it.

Q: How to cancel a game?

You can cancel a game if you and your opponent didn't make more than two moves. To cancel a game click "Cancel Game" in the game menu, Also when your opponent times out you are given the choice to cancel the game, however, tournament, team and championship games cannot be canceled.

Q: Logging out

To logout of the site, click "Logout" found next to your user name under site logo. If you don't logout you might not receive a notification of your opponent's moves.

Q: Tournaments Introduction

At the moment all chesshere.com tournaments are round-robin tournaments consisting of one group. The maximum number of players in a tournament is 10 players. when you start/join a tournament you will play two games(Black and White) against every other player in the tournaments, games are started automatically whenever a new player joins the tournament. You must be a premium member to start any tournament.

Q: Tournament points

A player is credited 1 point for winning a tournament game, 1/2 point for drawing and nothing for losing, a player who get's the highest number of points is cosidered a winner of the tournament.

Q: Who can join/start tournaments?

Only premium members can create a tournament. However, any player who made more than 50 moves at chesshere.com can join a tournament as long as they meet the originators requirements. These limits don't apply to premium members. Premium members can join an unlimited number of tournaments.

Q: Can I cancel a tournament which I started?

This is possible only if no other player joined the tournament yet.

Q: Team Introduction

Teams are intended to allow a group of players to play and compete as a team, teams play each other in "team challenges" where a minimum of two players or more from team A plays an equal number of players from team B, each player involved in a team challenge is paired to another player from the other team, those two players play two games against each other. Team ELO rating and team score get affected when a team game is finished, a team is credited 1 point for winning a game and nothing for drawing or losing.

Q: What is thematic tournaments?

In a thematic tournament, all games are started from a different starting position than the normal one.

Q: Who can start/join a team?

To start a team you need to be a premium member. There is no minimum requirements to join a team, however each team captain may setup his own minimum requirements regarding rating and finished games.

Q: How many teams can I join at the same time?

Each player can be a member of only one team at the same time.

Q: How can I leave a team?

To leave your team, click "Leave this team" in your team page, and confirm. After you leave a team you still have to finish all team games you are involved in.

Q: Who starts team challenges?

Only team captain can send team challenges to other teams, or accept received challenges.

Q: Will team games affect my rating?

Yes, All team games are rated and they will affect your rating and statistics, once a team game is started there is no way to cancel it

Q: What are Championships?

Championships are cross site tournaments where many players of chesshere.com compete in one place, winners of a championship get titles, sometimes they get prizes

Q: How often are championships started?

New Championships are started every few months.

Q: How do championships work?

A championship consists of many rounds, players who are willing to participate in a championship have to register for it first, after we have enough players, the championship will start by dividing the registered players into groups of 4 to 5 players, each player plays two games(White and Black) against every other player in his group, a player is credited 1 point for winning a game, 1/2 point for drawing and nothing for losing, a player who gets the highest number of points in his group is considered a winner of that group, winner(s) of each group advance to the next round, a final round is played when we have less than 12 qualified players, a final round consists of one group.

Q: How are groups formed?

First of all we determine how many groups we will have in a round by dividing the number of players by 4, the highest rated players are assigned to different groups, for example if we have 20 groups then every one of the first 20 highest rated players will be assigned to a different group, then the next 20 highest rated players, and so on. some groups may have 5 players.

Q: What are the time controls for championship games?

Normally championships are played with 4 days per move time controls, however, it is possible to start championships with other time controls, this will be mentioned explicitly in championship page.

Q: What will the winners of a championship get?

The top three players in a championship will get titles, sometimes they will get prizes, Also they will get cups(virtual): Gold for the champion , Silver for the first runner and Bronze for the second runner

Q: How can I postpone my games? (Holidays/Vacations)

On the left main navigator go to correspondence > Edit Vacation and then click "Start a Vacation". Free playing members can have up to 40 days/year while premium members can have 80 days a year. Please note that you are NOT allowed to make moves while on vacation!

Q: What does this orange bubble next to some player names mean?

This means that this player is a premium member, click "Premium membership" to learn more about this option

Q: How can I change my email address, password or my personal data?

You can do this using your "Account data" page; After you login to your account, click "My account" and then click "Account data". you are required to enter your current password whenever you update your account data, this is because of a security reasons.

Q: How can I change board colors, piece set, game page colors?

You can do this using the board prefernces tab on the right panel on the game page

Q: I always receive some notification emails from chesshere.com, how to stop them?

You can do this using your general preferences page; After you login to your account, click "My account" and then click "site preferences".

Q: Why don't I recieve email notifications?

Please make sure:
1- Your email address is correct.
2- You didn't disable move notifications from your "site preferences" page.
3- You logout when you leave the site.
4- emails from chesshere.com are not blocked by your email service provider.
5- emails from chesshere.com are not delivered to your bulk/spam box.

Q: How can I delete my account?

Unfortunately it is not possible to delete your account because deleting accounts could cause database inconsistency. we will delete you personal information by sending us mail.

Q: I won but my rating didn't change!

This could happen in three cases:

1- The game is not rated(you can see this in the game header),
2- you and your opponent made less than 2 moves in that game, and
3- If your rating is much higher than your opponent's rating.

Q: Real time Chess - what is it?

Real time chess In contrast to correspondence chess, Real time chess requires both players to be online and to present at the board. In this part of the site you will see your opponent moves in real-time and you both commit to a time frame limit up to 90 min game

Q: How to cancel a game?

You can cancel a game if you and your opponent didn't make more than two moves, to cancel a game click "Cancel Game" in the game menu, Also When your opponent times out you are given the choice to cancel the game, however, tournament, team and championship games can't be canceled.

Q: How do I invite someone to play?

To invite a player, all you have to do is scroll through the list of players and click the invite button next to their name with the desired time control, colors, etc...

Q: How do I properly use the Chesshere Help Center?

To properly use the Chesshere Help Center, all one has to do is type in the question you need to ask. Any of the moderators will be able to see your question, and will assist you as soon as possible. If no one helps you right away, check the help center later because the reason no one would have helped you immediately is because no one was available at that time.

Q: If I cancel a game, will I lose rating points?

If you cancel a game you will not lose rating points, however, a game may only be cancelled within the first 1.5 moves of the game.

Q: What if I want to create an open challenge, but only want people in a certain rating range to join?

You can control the rating ranges of who joins your games by using the rating option in the challenge settings. All you have to do is click the rating range you wish to play against, and it will only allow people with ratings within those limits to join.

Q: What do I do if I am searching for someone among the list of players or for someone in a game, but I can't find him/her?

If this is the case, the solution is very simple. All you must do is use the players filter or the games filter to see if who you are searching for is there. An example is if you are searching for someone named Person A, you could type "Person" in either filter, and if they are in a game or in the room their name will appear, along with anyone else who's username has "Person" in it.

Q: What if I played less than five games for the day, but it says that my five game quota has already been used up?

When this happens, it is because the five games you are allowed are based on a 24-hour period, not your individual "day" and "night". This is because your day and night is different than someone else's who lives in a different time zone. If this happens, you can come on a couple hours later, and your 3 games may be renewed for the next 24 hours. It depends on where you live and what time zone you are in.

Q: What do I do if I create a game and someone joins, but the page won't load after a long time of waiting?

In this situation, the reason it will not load is because you have slow/poor connection. The best thing to do is wait until the game appears. If you close the page and open up a new one, chances are it will make your entire computer seem to go a bit slower and will still not load, or it will take longer to load than it was before.

Q: What should I do if my opponent is using inappropriate language during a game?

If this is the case you can use the muting feature on the right side to mute the opponent and, then as soon as you finish your game report your opponent's name and a copy of the chat immediately to contact us form

Q: What am I supposed to do if my opponent leaves the game, but doesn't close his Chesshere page?

If this ever happens, the only thing you can do is wait for your opponent to timeout. Since he/she didn't close his/her page, then you will not win in the 90 seconds that is allotted for your opponent to return. If you do not have enough time to wait that long, then your only option is to resign the game. It is unfair that people do this, but it is the only thing that we can do. After the game, if you don't want to play that opponent again you can put him/her on your ignore list.

Q: What do I do if my opponent's time runs to zero but the game did not end?

If your opponent's time runs to zero and you did not yet get the back to main page button, that could mean one of three things. First it could mean your opponent has slow connection, which would result in you not seeing the move right away. In this case, if your opponent is close to timing out, his/her clock may reach zero for a while before you actually see the move played. Secondly, it could mean that you have slow connection and your computer is not processing the information immediately. Lastly, it could mean that you have lost connection. If you believe this is the case, you should refresh the page. If you have lost connection, you will probably get an error page and then you should try and reconnect.

Q: How is my opponent able to "add time" to his clock?

If your opponent seems to be adding time to his/her clock, this is what is happening: Your opponent makes a move at a certain time. Either he/she has poor connection, or you do, and it takes a while for your opponent's move to get to your computer, and when you get it your opponent's clock will show the time at which he/she actually made the move. This is also explained in the Clocks-Way of Acting file in the RTC room.

Q: What if I made a move, but after a while of waiting it shows that I timed out

If this ever occurs it means that, while you were playing the game, you lost connection and didn't realize it. After it has occurred, there is nothing you can do about it, except, for future games, to refresh if your opponent is taking a while to move so you make sure you haven't lost connection.

Q: What if it says I timed out during a game, but I still have time left on my clock?

This event is caused if you have more than one Internet page of Chesshere open. What happens in this situation is that having two pages of Chesshere open causes your time to decrease on one page and on the other look normal. The one you are playing on will make it appear normal, while actually you will be losing time. If you accidentally open up two pages, it is best if you close one of them immediately if you are in a RTC game. Most of the time this only happens if you have two pages of Chesshere open on the RTC page.

Q: My opponent disconnected and window pops up to say I resigned

Make sure you didn't play with two browsers opened on chesshere. Moreover The principle of chesshere server based on one server with 2 end user points
We can control on the server but we can't control on the internet connection and the computer performance of the end users points So sometimes there are disconnections from the server that we can't control
keep the game id and send all the details to chesshere support center

Q: inappropriate language

Please do not use inappropriate language while playing on chesshere
your account will be deleted and we will ban your IP FROM USING CHESSHERE.

You someone insulted you during your experience at chesshere please send chesshere support center his name and some details about this case and we will take care of it

Q: I can not login to chesshere

We got a lot of complains about duplicate accounts So we decide to restrict the option of playing from same pc unless you have at list one premium account
so due to new measures to stop duplicate account, it is now not possible to use multiple account from a unique computer,

as a premium member you allowed to sign up with free accounts from the same computer so you can buy only one membership and let your family members play from the same computer

Q: Activation mail

Thank you for registering at chesshere
Before you start to, you will need to verify your email address. A registration email has been sent to your mailbox and should arrive in your inbox within few minutes.
Please activate your account by clicking on the link placed on the verification email

Q: How do I castle

To castle, click the king and then click on the slot that is two squares to the right or left, depending on which side you want to castle.

Q: I cant chat or use the messaging system

if you are under the age of 13 the chat and message features will be disabled

Q: How to play with my friend

First you need to invite your friend to chesshere by the invite a friend button on the right top panel
After your friend will register and login to chesshere he will be added automatically to your friends list
You can check your friend list via your account page and then click on his name go to his account page and challenge him to a correspondence chess or realtime chess game

Q: can i play on chesshere (RTC) with two browsers ?

you are not allowed to play in a RTC tournament on chesshere with more than one browser open to the RTC game. If you do so you will be forfeited.

Q: Can I challenge more than 1 player at a time in RTC?

You can now make up to 3 challenges with different time controls. Once one of you challenges is accepted the other two will disappear. Please do not post the same challenge more than once.

Q: How many members can I have on my team?

In order to create a team you have to be a premium member. But, there are a few teams out there that were created before we decided on this rule and we are not going to eliminate an existing team. However, we are implementing a new rule regarding all Correspondence chess teams. For every team there has to be a ratio of 1-6, so there has to be a premium member for every 6 non-premium members. If you maintain this ratio as a team captain there is no limit on how many members you can have! But if you have 1 premium member and 6 non-premium members then you will not be able to add another member unless he/she is a premium member or someone on your team becomes a premium member.

Q: How can I use the Chess Forums?

All members, both premium and free users, are allowed to post in the Chesshere Forums. However, only premium members can start a new Topic (new thread). Non-premium members can still post in the existing threads. HOWEVER, it is very important for everyone to know that you are not allowed to post abusive messages against another member or create negative threads agains Chesshere.com If you want to debate a subject, then do that, but DO NOT attack another team members character, the administrators of Chesshere.com, nor the site itself. Anyone who does that will lose their ability to post or be kicked off the site.

Q: How do I download a pgn game?

We encourage people to download their games after they are over to prevent the temptation of getting advice on an active game. However, to D/L a game in pgn format you have to go and open that game. Then click on 'PGN' at the bottom right and scroll down and click on 'Get Pgn'. The PGN formatted game will appear at the top right of the screen. Copy & paste the game from the popup.

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