Play Chess Online at FIDE Arena: Exciting FAQ

Alexandra Kosteniuk's Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) 2013

Hi everyone, 

With its FIDE online ratings and highly advanced anti-cheating protection, FIDE Online Arena has generated great interest from chess players around the world. In the short period the limited test version of the arena has been operational, 2889 members have registered in 10 days, and over 30.000 games have already been played, 8.132 of those in the very popular Sit & Go tournaments.

We would like to invite chess players to visit FIDE online arena and see what's on offer; taking out FIDE online arena guest membership is simple and completely free. Just click here. http://arena.myfide.net

Upgrading to full membership
The current version of FIDE online arena is for testing purposes only and has only guest members. Full membership will be available only from October, which is when FIDE online arena becomes fully operational. At that time you will be able to upgrade from guest to full membership if you wish. Full members enjoy many benefits including FIDE online ratings, advanced anti-cheating protection, participation in master simuls and challenges, statistical analysis, free interactive master lessons and training facilites, a games archive, scheduled and Sit & Go tournaments.

Here are the answers to the questions most frequently asked by FIDE Online Arena members.

FAQ's

Will there be official FIDE scheduled tournaments and other events on the arena?
Yes, once FIDE online arena bcomes fully operational in October, full members will be able to participate in a a wide variety of official FIDE events.

Are my games saved?
From October, all full members' games will be automatically archived in PGN format onto a folder in their computers. The current test version of FIDE online arena has only guest members, for whom the most recent 5 games are available (lobby; details; played events). These games can be replayed immediately or saved as PGN files. Individual games can be saved one by one in PGN format at their conclusion by both guest and full members.

Why do some players have stars and crowns next to their names?
The users who have crown symbols and Fairness Index star ratings next to their names are members of national arenas who have access to the FIDE online arena for testing purposes only. They are not members of FIDE online arena. The current test version has only guest members, whose games are not monitored by the anti-cheating system. From October, all full members of FIDE online arena will receive a Fairness index star rating, which shows how many games they have played without breaching FIDE online arena's anti-cheating rules and code of conduct. Guest members of FIDE online will be able to upgrade to full membership from October.

How can I add a member to my Friends or Ignore Player list?Select and right click on the members name in the Players window; you will see a drop-down menu and you can select the option you want.

Is the interface multi-lingual?
This is only a limited test version of the site; a multi-lingual interface and support services will be available in the future

How can I reduce the size of the chessboard?
The size of the chessboard can be adjusted when playing by using the cursor at the bottom right-hand side of the chessboard

What are Sit & Go tournaments?
Sit and Go tournaments are fun mini-tournaments that start as soon as there are enough participants (a minimum of four players). From October, when FIDE online arena becomes operational, there will be FIDE online rating variation for Sit & Go tournament games played by two full members.

How can I challenge a player to a game?
To challenge players, open the Players menu (to the right of 'Lobby News') and click on 'challenge player' (after you have selected an individual player from the list of players on display) or 'challenge all'. You can then decide on the details of your challenge, including the time control, multiple game challenge, immediate start or negotiated, etc.

Do I get FIDE online ratings for games played on the test version?
The test version of FIDE online arena has guest members only. Guest players' games are not monitored by the anti-cheating system and they receive only a single non-official rating that merges their performance in all time controls.

From October, full members of FIDE online arena will receive official individual FIDE ratings for bullet, blitz and standard time controls for games played with other full members. All such games will be monitored by the anti-cheating system. Full members will also receive a single rating that merges the performance in all time controls for games played with guest members. Games between full members and guests will not be monitored.

How do I customise the board and pieces, and activate pre-moves, automatic queen promotion, etc.?

You can customise the chess board and pieces, game options, etc using the menu tools and preferences.

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