- SchemingMind
Infobox Website
name = SchemingMind
caption =
url = http://www.schemingmind.com/
commercial = yes
type = Correspondence chess server
language = English
registration =
owner = Austin Lockwood
author = Austin Lockwood
launch date = 2002
current status = active
best clan =
revenue =SchemingMind is a global
correspondence chess server founded in 2002 by Austin Lockwood.Features
SchemingMind supports not only standard
Chess , but alsoChess960 ,CrazyHouse ,Atomic chess ,Shatranj and almost 40 other chess variants (see [http://schemingmind.com/variants.aspx complete list] ).Fischer clock is used fortime control . The following clocks are available:
* 5d+12h (5 days of initial time, 12 hours increment, 10 days limit)
* 10d+1d (10 days of initial time, 1 day increment, 30 days limit),
* 30d+1d (30 days of initial time, 1 day increment, 45 days limit),
* 30d+3d (30 days of initial time, 3 days increment, 60 days limit).Holiday is available in case of longer absences - up to four weeks a year.Games are rated using
Glicko rating system . Separate rating is used for every variant.Competition format:
* free challenges,
* double round robin tournaments,
* knockout tournaments,
* pyramids,
* dropouts (see below),
* friendly team matches,
* team leagues.Dropout is a SchemingMind specific tournament scheme invented as intermediate step betweenknockout and Swiss. Swiss-like pairing is being used, every loss is worth 3 points,every draw is worth 1 point, players who gets more than a specified limit (six or eight, depending on tournament) are eliminated, the tournament is won by the sole remaining player, or the player with leastpoints if a few remained.
SchemingMind is mainly used through the web interface with JavaScript-based playing board, butthere are alternatives:
* WAP (mobile) interface (reviewing games in progress, making moves),
* [http://www.xfcc.org/ XFCC] is supported, so any XFCC client can be used (for the same purpose).It is possible to play
International Correspondence Chess Federation games from SchemingMind interface.Annotated opening database (so called Game Explorer) is available.
Affiliations
SchemingMind is a member organisation of the British Federation for Correspondence Chess (BFCC).
Membership
SchemingMind offers limited free membership and payable subscription.
Free membership is limited to 15 simultaneous games and one tournament entry every 6 weeks. Also someadvanced site features (like team captaincy or openings database) are not available to free members.
Full membership offers unlimited access to all site features.
The subscription is offered on yearly basis and may be bought for personal use or in the form of a gift token.
History
SchemingMind was created in 2002, initially as private, invitation-based project.
Public registration is available since April 2003. A few site announcementswere posted thorough 2003 to chess newsgroups and forums. All critical site features(including most variant games) were already available at this time.
External links
Player resources:
* [http://www.schemingmind.com/ Official site]
* [http://wiki.schemingmind.com Documentation site] (free registration required)
* [http://mekk.waw.pl/mk/eng/chess/art/smtuning/index Firefox Extension]Reviews, notes, etc
* [http://www.uschess.org/cc/dunne/march07dunnecolumn.pdf "The Check is in the Mail" March 2007 edition contains SchemingMind review by Alex Dunne (the Correspondence Chess director of USCF)]
* SIM John C.Knudsen [http://www.correspondencechess.com/syndication/articles/0025.htm names SchemingMind among his recommendations in Correspondence Chess Starter Kit]
* [http://www.scca.org.uk Social Correspondence Chess Association] [http://www.scca.org.uk/tournaments.html organises some of their tournaments on SchemingMind]
* [http://www.wildchess.org/links.php WildChess marks SchemingMind as recommendation]
* [http://virtual.parkland.edu/lblackburn/Atomic/atomic.html Atomic Book] [http://virtual.parkland.edu/lblackburn/Atomic/Introduction/online/online.html names SchemingMind as one of the two correspondence atomic sites]
* [http://mekk.waw.pl/mk/szachy/art/korespondencyjne/polecane Correspondence servers review in Polish recommends SchemingMind as top choice]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.