» List all questions and answers

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). Nalimov endgame tablebases, or any other books/programs/tools that show the exact moves to make for a guaranteed win/draw from a given position on the board, are not permitted. 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 have a concrete evidence that someone is cheating, please submit a formal complaint. Please make sure it is not a mere "I suspect my opponent is using a chess program", or "his/her moves feel too computer-like".

A: Yes, it is possible to play faster games and many players on GameKnot make their moves multiple times per day (see "average time per move" stat on the player's profile page). The reason why the very short time controls are not officially supported by GameKnot: we have players from all over the world and many different time zones, so the time difference can put one of the players in a significant disadvantage. Also, not all players have access to a computer every day (e.g. playing from workplace or school).

However, we also support the Fischer/incremental time control with as little as +1 day added to the clock after each move. It is used in mini-tournaments, and you can select it when challenging another player to a game directly. Please refer to question #20 for more information about the Fischer/incremental time control.

A: The higher of the two ratings — when the first move was made and when the last move was made — is used when calculating the rating adjustment after the game is over.

For example, if player A plays against player B and their ratings were 1300 for player A and 1400 for player B when the game was started, but just before the game ends their ratings are 1250 (A) and 1450 (B). The following ratings will be used: 1300 for player A (1300>1250) and 1450 for player B (1400<1450), when calculating the rating difference for the Elo formula. The only exception to this rule is if the player hadn't completed the first 5 rated games yet when the game was started, in which case the rating at the end of the game will be used for that player (everyone has a provisional rating of 1200 during their first 5 rated games).

» More about the rating system.

A: Please see here for more information.

A: Unless any of the chess rules or any of the GameKnot rules have been violated, unfortunately there is nothing that can be done about the game. If you find someone's behavior annoying, please simply add that person to your ignore list. You'll still have to finish the game though, so the best solution is to remain calm, always make your best moves and crush your opponent on the board.

A: Every player has the right to make their moves at any time as long as it is within the time control set for the game. Unless any of the chess rules or any of the GameKnot rules have been violated, unfortunately there is nothing that can be done about the game. If you find someone's behavior annoying, please simply add that person to your ignore list. You'll still have to finish the game though, so the best solution is to remain calm, always make your best moves and crush your opponent on the board.

A: We do not allow inappropriate or adult ads on GameKnot. Please rest assured that our goal has always been to make GameKnot into the best and safest places to play chess on the Internet, and allowing excessive or inappropriate ads would simply be a step in the wrong direction.

What you are seeing is most likely produced by so called "adware" or "spyware" programs hiding on your computer. They usually "piggyback" on a innocently looking free program or software package that you have downloaded and installed on your computer. They contain a hidden module that hooks into your web browser and shows excessive ads (pop-ups, banner ads, text links, etc.) on the websites you visit, including GameKnot, without our authorization or knowledge. Also, visiting "shady" websites (hacking/cracking, pirating music/software, adult, etc.) can lead to spyware installed on your computer, as they can exploit newly discovered security flaws in your web browser. They behave similar to computer viruses, so you can also get spyware by opening untrusted e-mail attachments, etc. etc.

Unfortunately, there is nothing that we can do about adware/spyware on a user's computer from our end, so please make sure that your anti-virus protection is up-to-date and always observe safe and prudent practices when dealing with software downloads and e-mail attachments.

» More about adware/spyware.
» Free spyware detection and removal tools: Anti-Malware, Ad-Aware, SpyBot Search and Destroy.

A: If you click on the link and nothing happens, most likely it is because of a pop-up window blocking software that is installed on your computer. Many of GameKnot's features work in a pop-up window, so if you have them blocked or disabled on your computer, you will not be able to use them.

Many web browsers have pop-up blockers built-in, however they are usually smart enough not to interfere with the non-advertising pop-ups. Third-party standalone software packages that have pop-up blocking functionality are much more likely to cause this problem. Please simply add GameKnot to the safe list or the exceptions list of your pop-up blocker to avoid this problem.

Also, please refer to question #17 for possibly relevant information.

A: Please visit the following page for the detailed description of GameKnot's rating system.

A: Unless you selected "remember my login info" check-box when logging in to GameKnot the last time, you will see the ads on the front page the next time you log in. The reason is, the web server doesn't yet know that it is you, until after you log in. As soon as you log in to GameKnot, all advertising will disappear from the website.

If you are still getting pop-ups and other 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: Please rest assured that GameKnot is completely free from any viruses and other malicious content. We have several security measures in place to prevent it, both on the servers and remote inspection and detection. A few reasons why your anti-virus software might be erroneously triggered when visiting our website:

• Your computer is infected by spyware that is interfering with your web browsing. Please check your computer using one of the latest anti-spyware products, for example: Windows Defender, Ad-Aware, SpyBot Search and Destroy.
• Your computer is infected by a hidden virus that was not detected by your anti-virus software. Please make sure that you have the latest version of your anti-virus software, that your virus definition files are up to date, and that you have done a recent full scan of your computer. You might want to try an alternative anti-virus software package to ensure your computer is not infected.
• Anti-virus software can sometimes mistakenly identify innocent code as a virus. Please report the problem directly to the company that made the anti-virus software package installed on your computer.
• If you are using Microsoft Windows, please always promptly install all the latest security updates using Windows Update.

A: The system time on all GameKnot servers is automatically synchronized with several independent atomic clock servers on the Internet. 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 how to request a reinstatement for a time-out game.

A: Unfortunately, we are unable to reverse the results of any games that have ended -- they've already been recorded in the past game histories and factored into the ratings and stats for both you and your opponents. You should be able to simply win more games to earn back the lost rating points -- it's just a matter of time.

Also, please refer to question #8 for more information on how to request game reinstatement.

A: Depending on how busy the GameKnot server is at the time, it can take up to 30 minutes for a timed-out game to be processed by the system and reflected in your rating and stats.

A: Please rest assured that we closely monitor all GameKnot servers 24/7 with an automatic notification to GameKnot staff if there are any problems or slow response.

Most often the slow page loading is caused by a temporary Internet traffic congestion on the way from your computer to GameKnot servers. Try accessing the website during a different time of day or using a different Internet connection.

Make sure to do a complete scan of your computer for viruses and spyware, as they might be overloading your system as well.

Also, it has been reported previously that some of the Internet security software packages can cause the slow loading of the pages on some systems. If you have any of the antivirus or firewall programs installed on your computer (McAfee, Norton, etc.), try temporarily disabling them to see if it helps.

If you have previously installed any third-party add-ons or extensions for your web browser, try temporarily disabling them to make sure they don't interfere.

If none of this helps, and you are absolutely sure it has nothing to do with your computer or your Internet connection, and the problem persists for more than a couple of days, please contact your ISP and they should be able to run some tests to see if there are any issues in the network segment between your computer and GameKnot servers.

A: The "green dot" is never shown for your own user name as it will be always on -- you need to be online to be able to check it. Besides, you can probably already tell whether you are online or not. So it has been decided to conserve the screen space and bandwidth and never show it for the player's own user name.

A: Stalemate is a situation on the chess board, when the player whose turn it is to move has no legal moves available but is not currently in check. The game is automatically declared a draw in such situation. Most often this happens when one of the players has only a King remaining on the board and all squares around it are under attack, but not the square the King is occupying at the time.

A: The player playing white is always listed first (i.e. on the left side of "vs."). For example, if you see "opponent_A vs. opponent_B" in the description of a game, opponent_A is playing white and opponent_B is playing black.

A: As per the chess rules, if the current position on the chess board appeared 3 or more times, the game can be declared a draw by either of the opponents. The other player's approval is not required, and the game ends immediately and is recorded as a draw for both players.

Please note that simply repeating the same move 3 or more times might not be enough, as the entire position on the board has to be repeated, including all castling possibilities and capture en passant targets.

It is not required that the same position occurs three times during the consecutive moves. However, it usually happens this way in practice, typically with one of the Kings being subjected to a perpetual check.

To declare the draw in a game due to the threefold repetition rule, please use "Declare▼" link located directly below the game board.

It is a perfectly valid strategy in chess to force the game to end in a draw, if otherwise the player is facing losing the game.

A: As per GK tournament rules, if the winner of the tournament group had exceeded the rating limits for the section, he/she is automatically moved to the next higher section and the player with the next higher score who has the rating within the limits will advance to the next round instead.