******************* A Quick IGS Help File *******************

Welcome to IGS, the Internet Go Server.  IGS is a facility that 
allows many people to log on and play go, watch go, and talk about 
go (and occasionally other things).  It generally has from 100 to 
250 players signed on, from 9 dan professionals to 30 kyu 
beginners.  We hope you get many hours of pleasure from it, but not 
so many that you lose your job, or drop out of school!

This is a short file to help you use IGS.  For more complete 
information, look around the official Go archive ftp site
"bsdserver.ucsf.edu" in the "Go" directory, and subscribe to
the Go newsgroup "rec.games.go". The Go archives are also mirrored
at "igs.nuri.net" and "ftp.pasteur.fr".

 Here are some hints on how to get going on IGS:

1. Where is IGS right now?
2. What the heck do I do now? (a summary of some important 
commands)
3. What is the rating system? How does it work?
4. Are there clients for IGS?
5. What is IGS like?
6. IGS games archives

*************************************

1. Where is IGS right now? 

Currently, IGS is physically located in Seoul Korea:

        TO CONNECT TO IGS: 

                  telnet igs.nuri.net 6969
              or  telnet 203.255.112.3 6969

  If you have problems telneting to igs.nuri.net 6969,
  try the 'IP' address instead, which is 203.255.112.3 6969

  For VMS people:
                  telnet igs.nuri.net /port=6969
              or  telnet 203.255.112.3 /port=6969

              or  telnet /port=6969 igs.nuri.net
                  telnet /port=6969 203.255.112.3 

  ALTERNATE IGS PORT NUMBER (7777)
  Some sites have blocked the telnet port number 6969 due to heavy
  IRC use, and some IGS players have been unable to telnet to IGS
  as a result. However, there is an alternet IGS port number. 
  If you are experiencing problems, try port number  7777

                  telnet igs.nuri.net 7777
              or  telnet 203.255.112.3 7777

  For VMS people:
                  telnet igs.nuri.net /port=7777
              or  telnet 203.255.112.3 /port=7777

              or  telnet /port=7777 igs.nuri.net
                  telnet /port=7777 203.255.112.3


=====> Important Note: Remember the port number. Without using
       the port number, you cannot connect to IGS.

*************************************

2. So what the heck do I do now???

First, all 'internet' users need to register. First time users
can register with:

#> register <account name you want> <email address to mail password>

   Example:  register goplayer goman@violet.berkeley.edu
   See   help register   on IGS

After a few seconds to a few hours you should receive your registration
letter in the mail. This letter will contain your new password and
other useful information that will become apparent later, so save this
save this letter for reference.

Providing you have made no typos, and you have received your registration
letter, you can telnet to IGS and begin using the commands. Without
registration the commands available to you are restricted.


A really useful command is: help commands

This will give you a list of commands, and you can get help on any 
of them.

Here are a few to check out:

password - Do this to change your password from the evil random one 
that you have originally.

rank - This command allows you to set your rank.  The one you set 
before your first game is your seed rank, for rating purposes.  If 
you have never played go before, start with 30k.

match - This command allows you to ask for a game.  A brief note 
here:  It is generally good IGS etiquette to ask for a game via 
"tell" (see below) before issuing the match command.  This is also 
superior to shouting for a game.

who - This lets you see who is logged on, their ranks, and whether 
they are playing, looking for a game, open to the possibility of 
playing, or not interested in playing.

user - This is similar to "who" but tells you the country of the 
people listed, and their preferred language, if it isn't English.

stats - with no parameters, gives your own stats.  stats <name> to 
get someone else's stats.

games - Lists the games being played.

observe - observe <game #> allows you to watch and kibitz a game

kibitz - kibitz <message> or ' <message> make a comment while 
observing a game.

A quick etiquette note: When kibitzing on a game, limit your 
comments to the game.  For information on a chat channel, do "help 
yell".

A further note: When commenting on hi-dan, or professional games, 
employ some courtesy and discretion.  IGS is fortunate that it 
attracts so many strong players and pros here, and criticizing a 
pro's play in a rude fashion, or questioning his (or her) strength 
is no way to encourage any of them to return.  Please remember to 
eliminate personal comments about the player, as it is simply rude.  
Also, recall that many pros do not speak English as a first 
language, extra care should be taken with the tone of kibitzes.

Finally, if you wish to know who the strong player is, do "stats 
<person>".  If they haven't put their name in the info line, then 
they obviously wish to remain anonymous, and asking who they are in 
a kibitz serves no purpose.  It can get ridiculous, because 50 
people will ask who the player is, and it makes it difficult to 
watch the game.  Any such speculation should be kept strictly to 
the channels (do "help yell" and "help channel" to learn to use 
them).

info - info <message> allows you to put anything in your info 
field.  Your name, a serious message, a silly message..Whatever.

address - This is automatically set with the email address you used 
to register your account.

toggle - There are various flags to be set on your account.  Do a 
help toggle to see an explanation of them.

tell - use tell <person> <message> to talk to another person.

shout - use shout <message> to send message to whole IGS.  Use this 
sparingly, for things you really need help with.

************************************

3. What is the rating system? How does it work?

As I said before, the rank command allows you to set your initial 
rank in the IGS rating system.  Until you have played 20 games, 
that number will appear as your rank when people "stats" you, or 
look at you in "who" output. After 20 games, your computer 
generated rating will appear there.  It will look like 15k* (for 
example).

You should be aware that the ratings on IGS are about 2-3 stones 
stronger than those of the AGA, among others.   The ratings are 
generated by a computer algorithm, and are different than most club 
ratings in this way. It might help not to think of the IGS rating 
in the same way you think of your "real world" rating.  IGS ratings 
are unique, and measure something that is slightly different than 
your normal go strength.  Some people don't take the go on IGS as 
seriously as they do normally, they might have a glass of wine 
while they are playing.  These people are typically a stone or so 
weaker on IGS.  Some, on the other hand, take IGS very seriously, 
and find that they play better when they are away from the 
distractions of a go club, alone by their computers.  These players 
might be stronger on IGS.  The purpose of the ratings on IGS is to 
ensure that it is easy to find the appropriate handicap when you 
play others.  Don't take them too seriously.

For more detailed information on the rating system, do "help 
rating" on the server, and follow the See also: pointers.

**********************************

4. Are there any clients for IGS?

You've discovered that you don't like watching the ascii boards 
scroll by, and you want something better.  Well, thanks to some 
great programmers donating their time, there are many options.

All of the clients are available for anonymous ftp on 
bsdserver.ucsf.edu, in the directory Go/clients, they are mirrored 
at; ftp.pasteur.fr:pub/Go; rzis1.rz.tu-bs.de:pub/go; and 
igs.nuri.net:/Go.  Also if you have access to a WWW client, try 
jansteen's home page at:
<http://www.cwi.nl/~jansteen/go/go.html>

Reproduced from README on bsdserver.ucsf.edu (thanks to Adrian 
Mariano):

 Size   Filename             Description ----            ---------
 259384 aigcsounds.lha       AmigaIGC sound effects and a player
 101426 aigcutilities.lha    AmigaIGC AmigaGuide and Installer
  99109 amigaigc077.lha      IGS client for Amiga
 169217 gs1.35.sea.hqx       GoServant, Mac interface to IGS
  11381 help.dos             Help with setting up tgigc or pcigc
  64076 igc075.zip           IBM PC, ethernet with Clarkson packet 
drivers
  40706 igc0751.sh.Z         Ascii client for the IGS
  50574 kgo11.tar.Z          X11 client for IGS
 194560 kgo_vms_v11.tar      VMS version of kgo
 382507 nextgo-2.5.3.tar.Z   GO board for NeXT, IGS client, Smart-
Go display
 127221 pcigc51x.exe         Self extracting PC IGC version 5.1
  65136 pcigcsrc.zip         Source code for PC IGC version 5.1 
(Borland C)
   5264 protocol.Z           Information about IGS protocol
  59392 stigcbin-1.9.zoo     IGS client for Atari ST
 111906 stigcsrc-1.9.zoo     IGS client source for Atari ST
 137755 tgigc20.zip          Telego IGC -- EGA/VGA PC client for 
IGS, req mouse
 150539 tgigc20x.exe         Same thing, self extracting
 156940 wigc1_3.zip          Winsock client for MS-Windows
 469663 winigc55.zip         Client for MS-Windows
 824535 xgospel-1.9.tar.Z    X11 client for Internet Go Server
 147172 xigc_v3.61.tar.Z     X11 Client for Internet Go Server

A few notes on compiling clients and getting help.  There is a set 
of instructions on unpacking the files on the ftp server in the top 
directory.  Most of the clients have README files with them, plus 
some decent documentation.  Read them!  If this is not enough, 
message the *person that wrote the client*.  DON'T ask the IGS 
administrators.  They have NOTHING to do with the clients. 

If you use a client, you will be in the 'client mode', and should
you telnet to IGS without it, you may find your prompt has changed
and looks like:

  1 5    
  
Don't panic if you don't see your familiar prompt, just complete
your login and enter your password, then enter   toggle client
Also you may start seeing coordinates of moves if you observe a
game instead of the usual board. If this happens, just enter
  toggle verbose

See   help toggle   on IGS.

*************************************

5. What is IGS like?

IGS has some obvious, and some not so obvious differences from the 
normal go club you might be familiar with.  The most obvious 
difference is that you don't see your opponents, who are likely 
very far from where you are.  IGS has players who log on regularly 
from all over the world, from Australia to Finland, and all points 
in between.  With so many different cultures on IGS, there are some 
occasional conflicts.  Although English is generally the language 
of the internet, many people on IGS are not fluent in it.  Try to 
avoid saying things that can be misunderstood as insulting.  It is 
important to be careful when you deal with people who can't see you 
smile, and can't tell by your tone of voice when you are joking.  
Most problems that stem from misunderstandings can be solved by 
concentrating on being polite. Remember that the person you are 
talking to could be an 8 year old girl in Germany, a well respected 
50 year old man in Korea, or even a computer program running on a 
machine in California USA.  Go is becoming more and more a truly 
international game.  If you are polite and considerate, you will 
develop friendships with people all over the world!

Often people will have problems with their connections to IGS, try 
to be patient with them if they do, and warn prospective opponents 
if you have a bad connection.

*************************************

6. IGS game archives

  The IGS games archives are now available by anonymous ftp at:

             igs.nuri.net  or  203.255.112.3

  The IGS games archives are updated everyday at 4am, Korean time.

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask them on IGS.  You 
will be surprised how friendly and helpful the typical IGSer is.

Good luck!


&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

A quick thanks to the administrators who got IGS going, and keep 
IGS going.  Also thanks to the client writers! 

  The IGS administrators are:
         artemis  artemis@nuri.net
         fmc      fmc@pasteur.fr        tim     tcasey@adobe.com
         taeha    taeha@nuri.net        tweet   tweet@igs.nuri.net

  Questions or comments on IGS should be sent to igs-adm@igs.nuri.net.



One more note: Ken Warkentyne, Olli Lounella, and Frederic Chauveau 
have written an excellent piece on IGS etiquette.  It is available 
for ftp from bsdserver and the mirrors.  It is highly recommended: 
everyone enjoys IGS more when people adhere to simple rules of 
etiquette.

This FAQ is a revised version of the original written by rjs, and 
owes a good deal to the assistance of tweet.  Any errors are mine, 
and I would appreciate corrections or suggestions via email to 
angus@halcyon.com

        That's it for now.  See you on IGS!

Rob (rjs 16k)           rjs@citi.umich.edu
Clyde (angus 7k*)       angus@halcyon.com

igs-adm@igs.nuri.net

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       /|  |\          tweet@pasteur.fr    tweet@igs.nuri.net
                                igs-adm@igs.nuri.net