Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. Who is playing? When is the next game?

   On IGS type "help motd" for specific information on the upcoming games.

2. Why can't my client observe the game?

   The professional matches use a special "pmatch" command which combines a number of features needed for this tournament. By now all of the clients should be updated to correctly view this kind of match. Please try loading the lastest version of your client before disturbing the TD. Please do not bother the IGS administration with questions about clients.

   More information is available on IGS clients.

3. (new for 2000)What happened to Jimmy Cha and Michael Redmond? Why aren't they playing this year?

   Both Mr. Cha and Mr. Redmond are active, professional players, and were unable to accommodate this year'sv tournament into their schedules.

4. Where can I learn more about what happened at the 2002 NAMT playoff?

   Information is available regarding the NAMT Committee report and various responses to it.

5. Why aren't the clocks set correctly?

   The time control for the Promotional Round games is one hour basic time, and then 20 moves in 15 minutes for overtime. For the Challenger Round it's 75 minutes basic time and 20 moves in 15 minutes.

   We are not, however, using the IGS clocks to monitor the games. Instead, there are referees who are on-hand for each player keeping track of the time used. The IGS clocks are set to an arbitrarily large number to avoid them running out. There are a number of reasons for doing this:

   1. Net lag is no longer a factor. Only the time actually used by the player is counted.

   2. The many of the players are not using IGS directly. They use a regular board and have a "scribe" who transfers the moves to IGS. Using manual timing, the time required to transcribe moves is not counted as part of the move time.

   3. If time expires on an IGS game, the game is closed, and cannot be restarted.

   4. If referees and TDs need to communicate, the game does not have to be stopped.

   The TD will query the time remaining for each side approximately every 15 minutes and report the time to the observers.

6. Why aren't comments being recorded in the game file?

   The professionals have requested clean game records, and it was felt that it would be easier for everyone if IGS could generate this automatically. Given the large number of observers for these games it would be extremely difficult to find the useful kibitzes among the chat.

7. Why don't I see any kibitzes?

   When observing a game, don't forget to type "toggle kibitz on" and "toggle chatter on".

8. What if I have a question that isn't covered here?

   Kibitz and chatter should only be used for game-related comments. A channel will be set up for observers who wish to chat about non-game, or general tournament issues.

    
   To find out what channels are in use type:
   
       chan
   
   The Masters Tournament channel should be clearly labled.
   
   To enter a channel type:
   
       ; \#
   
   where # is the number of the channel desired.
   
   To talk in a channel type:
   
       ; 'message'
   
   and everyone in the channel will see 'message'.
   
   

   The TD will monitor this channel to help answer questions, time permitting. You may also send e-mail to the tournament committee by clicking on a name below:

   	Name	IGS Login
   Tournament Director	Chen-dao Lin	cdlin
   Assistant Tournament Directors	Jeff Shaevel	shaevel
   	Don Wiener	donw
   	Chuck Robbins	chuck
   Coordinators	Larry Gross	le144
   	Mike Bull	goemad