CHECK OUT THIS WEB SITE FOR CHESS PLAYERS : WEBPOINTERS.Byline: Robin Lind How do you unwind when you're at work and find yourself momentarily pushed beyond the limits of practical productivity? Bother someone else? Play computer solitaire solitaire or patience, any card game that can be played by one person. Solitaire is the American name; in England it is known as patience. There are probably more kinds of solitaire than all other card games together. ? Net surfing? They're questions that ought to be of interest to office workers and their managers, especially those in a Dilbert-like setting where every minute may be monitored by your computer (and Catbert the Evil Human Resources The fancy word for "people." The human resources department within an organization, years ago known as the "personnel department," manages the administrative aspects of the employees. Director). Is the employee playing a game with his computer goofing off, recharging his batteries or honing the edge of essential skills? Following Thanksgiving's traditional overindulgence o·ver·in·dulge v. o·ver·in·dulged, o·ver·in·dulg·ing, o·ver·in·dulg·es v.tr. 1. To indulge (a desire, craving, or habit) to excess: overindulging a fondness for chocolate. I found myself in the company of a Washington lawyer, a New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of investment banker Investment Banker A person representing a financial institution that is in the business of raising capital for corporations and municipalities. Notes: An investment banker may not accept deposits or make commercial loans. and a Cornell undergraduate, all looking to the Web for relief. The banker pointed us to a free chess game site called Fixation which was written by Yale computer science student Adam Miller Adam Wain Miller (born November 26, 1984, in Plano, Texas), is a right handed pitcher who is currently a top prospect in the Cleveland Indians organization. He started the 2006 season as a starting pitcher with the Double A Akron Aeros. . Fixation, a Macintosh client for Free Internet Chess Servers The Free Internet Chess Server (FICS) is a volunteer-run Internet chess server. It was organized as a free alternative to the Internet Chess Club (ICC), after that site began charging for membership. and Internet Chess Club, allows users to register with anonymous ``handles'' and then play others from around the world who are logged in at the same time. Each player earns a rating based on wins, losses and draws. Usually a half dozen or more are logged on at any one time. When you log in you can see who is connected and what their ratings are, issuing challenges to those whose ratings are close to your own. If another player accepts your challenge, a large chess board appears on a new screen and the game begins. (White moves first, of course.) Each player has a limited time to move. If you run out of time you forfeit the game. The outcome determines future rankings. It's intellectually stimulating. It's relaxing. It's quick. Because it's connecting you to an actual person there is an element of quirky unpredictability that can't be had from playing against a computer. It's the sort of thing the Internet is good at. Obviously it is hard to gauge an opponent's strength when he is anonymous. Fixation, however, allows you to exchange ``conversation'' with your opponent between moves by typing messages on the parent screen. ADDRESS BOOK Fixation http://chess.onenet.net/chess/ Adam Miller http.//powered.cs.yale.edu:8000/tildemiller/comp/mystuff.html CAPTION(S): Box Box: ADDRESS BOOK (See text) |
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