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Frequently Asked Questions




Tactics Questions


How do I use the tactics solving interface?

When arriving at the solve tactics page a problem will be presented for solving. You will be first shown the last move of the opponent, then it us up to you to choose the correct sequence of moves. Pieces are moved by clicking and dragging them to their new position. If you decide not to move the piece you are dragging, you can drop it back on its original position. If you select the correct sequence of moves you will be shown your rating change and if the "continue on correct" option is selected you will automatically be given another problem to solve.

If you enter a wrong move, the problem will be marked as incorrect. If the "continue on failed problem" option is not selected you will then be able to move forwards and backwards through the correct moves using the directional arrows at the bottom of the board (or the arrow keys). To move on to the next problem, click the "Next Problem" button. Use the "Give Up" button to fail the current problem.


How do I know whose turn it is to move?

The color of the knight in the top left of the screen (labeled "To Play") indicates the color of the pieces you are controlling. The board is also rotated (so your pieces start at the bottom) if your are playing as black.


What is the time display used for?

The digital time display in the top left corner is the amount of time taken to solve the current problem. This is used for determining your rating change during blitz rated problems.


What are the blitz and standard rating types?

The blitz rating type uses the amount of time taken to solve the problem in order to calculate your ratings change after a win. Standard ratings only depend on correctness and ignores the time taken. You can choose the rating type of the next problem by selecting either "Standard" or "Blitz" for your tactics problem set from within the preferences dialog.


What is the mixed rating type?

The mixed rating type uses a hybrid standard/blitz rating adjustment, and includes both winning and non-winning (sometimes called "defensive") problems. Problem attempts are rated the same as standard mode if they are solved under 5 minutes, i.e. time will not be used as part of the rating adjustment, and only correct/incorrect matters. If the time exceeds that level, the problem is rated in a similar way to the blitz rating method, i.e. you start to get less reward for a correct solution if you take longer than the average solution time across all users. The main differences being that there is no bonus for fast solving, there is no "time after first move" penalty, and the minimum average time you are measured against will be at least the no time-adjustment threshold of 5 minutes. This means for problems at your current rating you should be able to take at least 10 minutes before you start to lose rating points on a correct solution.

Note, that non-winning problems in mixed mode may include positions where the material is currently close to even (up to around a pawn down), but the position is lost in the long term. Here the best move will be the move which gives the best chances of holding a draw in a theoretically lost posiition.


Can I mark a problem as a favourite so I can return to it later?

Gold members can do this with the personal tag system. On the solving page, click on the "Personal Tags..." button, then click the "Create New Tag" button. Choose a name such as "My Favourites". This new tag will now show up in the tag list, and you can tag any problem you like with the new tag. To see your favourites, go to the problem search page, and using the advanced search, search for the problems with that tag by selecting it from the list of tactical tags. You can also create custom sets if you would like to solve the problems you have tagged as favourites. You can use any of the advanced problem search features with these sets such as spaced repetition etc. You are not limited to just one favourites tag, and could create more specific favourites such as "My favourite problems I got wrong".


How do I see where the position was heading after the correct move sequence?

For tactical sequences that do not end in mate, the ongoing moves suggested by computer analysis can be viewed. After the problem has been marked, or when in problem viewing mode, the full analysis of the 'best' line as seen by the chess engine is shown on the right of the board. Silver and Gold members see more details including the alternative lines at each point (and for gold members the full computer analysis for those lines). The moves in the line can be clicked on to view that position on the board.


How do I finish a tactics session?

To make the current problem the last for this session click in the 'Last Problem For Session' box. When using 'continue on correct' or 'continue on incorrect' mode, this step is important as it avoids losing rating points at the end of a session because closing the window or clicking on another link when a problem is live will cause the current problem to be marked incorrect. Note: It is important to remember that 'Last Problem For Session' means you will not get another problem served, it does not apply to any problem that has already been served. This means you must still complete the current live problem after clicking the 'Last Problem For Session' box, or risk losing rating points.


What are problem tags?

Tags allow users to tag problems with the category they think most appropriate for the current problem. The tags for the current problem are shown under the problem rating in the top left corner of the tactics display. These are designed to characterize the nature of the tactics found within the current problem. If you are logged in, you can vote for new tags, add votes for existing tags, or if you disagree with a tag, you can cast a vote against it. All votes are tallied up and if votes for a tag outweigh votes against, then the tag will be displayed. When problems are first added to the system, they have no tags.


How does the Chess Tempo tactics rating system work?

The rating system is inspired by an idea implemented at the Chess Tactics Server. CTS treats both problem solvers and the problems as opponents with their own ratings and adjusts their rating after problem completion (or failure) based on the Glicko ratings system.

For blitz style games, time taken to solve problems is considered and an extra bonus is given for problems solved quickly. The solver gets a larger rating increase for problems solved quicker than one standard deviation from the average time taken for that problem. For problems solved faster than average but less than one standard deviation from the average, the normal Glicko based adjustment is made. If the problem is solved in slower than average time then the Glicko rating adjustment is reduced in proportion to how much slower than average the problem was solved. Very slow solutions may result in losing rating points, however you will never lose more points than you would if you simply got the problem wrong.

When calculating the average time taken on a problem, only correct solutions are included, time taken from incorrect attempts are not used to calculate the average time a problem takes to solve.

It is important to note that after a recent change to time handling in blitz mode, time taken after the first move is punished more severely than time taken before making your first move. The intention of this feature is to discourage 'incremental' guessing to try and solve a problem, rewarding users who sum up the situation before making their move sequence. Users who prefer to use an incremental approach may still do so, however their rating will be lower than users at the same level who think out the solutions first.

Normal Glicko adjustments are made for standard ratings with no penalty for time taken. Problems marked incorrect cause the rating of that problem to increase and the solver's rating to decrease as dictated by normal Glicko rating calculations. Normal Glicko adjustments are also made for blitz problems that are marked wrong (i.e. the time taken in blitz is ignored when making rating adjustments for incorrect problems).


How are tactical problems chosen for each user?

Each user has a chance of receiving any of the problems in the system. However it is more likely that problems with a rating close to the rating of the user will be chosen. As the user rating increases, so does the probability that they will be given more difficult problems.


How are tactical problems generated?

The Toga II chess engine is used to evaluate positions from real games and a purpose built application examines the computer analysis and directs the engine in order to discover tactical positions and their resulting moves. Finding the positions and moves takes a great deal of computing time, therefore the tactics finder is designed to run on multiple machines with a central controller aggregating the results. Some attempt is made to determine ambiguous positions and these are discarded. The tactics finder application is not perfect and "bad" or incorrect problems can slip through, when found these problems are used as test examples to help improve the quality of the problem generator.


Why are some tactics as simple as taking a piece left hanging?

As the tactics are taken from a database of real games, occaisonally games with hung pieces are encountered. These could be eliminated, however it has been decided to leave them in. Some players (i.e. myself :-) ) can still miss these simple opportunites, so it was decided making them part of the problem set may be useful. Those players who don't make these mistakes should have ratings high enough that they don't get presented with these problems very often. Paying members can also produce unrated custom problem sets that exclude all the problems tagged as "Hanging Piece".


I think a problem is incorrect, what should I do?

If you think you've found a problem where the solution is wrong or ambiguous the best thing to do is to add a comment to the problem. Providing details and proposed move sequences helps greatly in responding to problem reports. '1. Nf3 also wins' is much more useful than, 'This problem sucks.' :-)


I played a move I am sure leads to a winning endgame, but was marked wrong, why did this happen?

Playing moves that don't lead to relatively short term material advantage, but instead require a long and drawn out endgame before material advantage can be achieved can be risky in Chess Tempo tactical problems. The engine may not have been able to see far enough into the future to see the endgame reach a position of material advantage, and hence your move may be given an evaluation below what it deserves. While frustrating, this seems reasonable given that the tactical problems are about finding tactics, not playing for long term endgame wins. To avoid losing rating points in these situations, if you see a solution that you think wins due to leading to a winning, but long endgame, you may want to consider looking more carefully for a more immediate tactical solution.


What is the threshold for a move to be given a "try again"?

Alternatives, or "try again" moves are moves that were below the best move in computer evaluation terms (by at least 1.5 pawns), but were still evaluated above 1.75 pawns. This means any move that leads to a position where you are up at least the exchange (without compensation for the opponent) , should either be marked correct or receive a "try again" response. If you are winning the exchange , you still need to be careful that the opponent does not have any pawns or even large positional compensation for the exchange, as this may be enough for the evaluation to fall below the 1.75 threshold. The same is true for winning a piece , where too much compensation may bring the evaluation below 1.75. Note that the evaluation is in terms of the final position, not how much material you have won. So if the position starts out with you being a piece down, and you play a move that only wins a piece, bringing you back to even, there is a good chance that move will fail, as it will be below the 1.75 threshold for the final position, and a much better move will be available. A consequence of these rules is that winning a single pawn is almost never the correct solution to a problem on Chess Tempo, although there are rare cases where tactics may lead to situations where you are several pawns (and no pieces) in front at the end of the tactic. Some users find alternatives annoying, but it is important to keep in mind that including these types of problems in the set allows a degree of realism that would not be possible otherwise. The games these tactics came from all have lots of situations where more than one good move is possible, and indeed your own games will include many such situations. The alternative system allows a wider range of realistic situations to be presented to the user, without marking users wrong for playing "good" , but not "best" moves.


Endgame Questions



What is the difference between the two endgame rating modes?

"Practice" mode allows users to stray from the most efficient (fastest winning) line. As long as the position is still winning the user can play any move. If a drawing or losing move is played the problem is marked incorrect. If the user mates their opponent (or converts into a more easily won endgame) then the problem is marked correct. The rating adjustment for correct problems depends on how accurate the player was. If the player always played one of the perfect moves (of which there may be more than one at any point) then they receive maximum points, otherwise they will receive a reduced score based on how many sub-optimal moves were made.

The default mode, "Theory" forces users to follow the path of the shortest solution to the problem. Moves that take longer to mate will get a "try again" response and the user must look harder for the fastest win. The problem continues until the user has either mated their opponent, converted into a more easily won endgame or played a move which leads to a draw or loss. The rating method is similar to "Practice" mode, except that instead of total moves played impacting the outcome, it is the extra moves that would have been used if the longer moves had been allowed. For positions where you attempt to play more than one sub-optimal move, the move with the longest length to mate is used for rating purposes.

The first mode is closer to how play proceeds in a game, however the second mode can be useful in showing players the most efficient way to win.


Where do the endgame problems come from?

An endgame problem generator processes millions of real games, extracting endgame positions of interest. If the positions meet certain criteria they are then added to the endgame problem set.


What does the "Play Best" button do?

The "Play Best" button plays the best move for you in the current position. However there will be a large penalty for using the button, so be careful how often you use it. Each time you use "Play Best" there will be a certain number of moves added to your "sub-optimal" move count (used in calculating your rating if you succeed). The penalty for using "Play Best" will be a minimum of 10 moves. If you have made any previous attempts then the penalty will be longest attempt you had made already for the current position plus an extra 5 move penalty (or 10 moves if this number is still less than 10). The purpose of "Play Best" is to provide an alternative to completely giving up and thus to allow users a chance to learn more about a position which they may feel otherwise completely lost in.


What does the "Blitz" button on endgame problems do?

The "Blitz" button allows you to take the option of solving endgame problems under the clock. The "Blitz" button is intended for use on endgames which you feel may be easy to mate , but not easy to play perfectly. After clicking the "Blitz" button, the clock changes to a count down timer and you have until the clock reaches zero to solve the problem. Similar to Practice mode (irrespective of whether you were in Theory or Practice mode to start with), you are able to make any move you like (as long as it is still winning). You will not be punished for moves that take longer than the shortest path to mate. If you solve the problem within the time limit, you will get full points for getting the problem correct. There are no rewards for fast times, you will be marked the same if you have 1 second left on the clock or 50 seconds. If you run out of time, get the problem wrong, or reach a drawn position then you will marked incorrect. You can only choose to blitz a problem before your first move. The number of seconds you have to solve the problem is defined by the function MAXIMUM(60,DTM*3.0+10) where DTM = Depth to mate. The time used before you press the blitz button is also included in the time allowed, so the longer you take to press the blitz button, the less time you will have to solve the problem once the clock starts counting down. When using the blitz button you are required to mate the opponent, currently there is no pruning done when using the blitz option.


Will endgame problems with more than 5 pieces be provided?

At the moment space restrictions on the server don't allow 6 piece endgames to be processed. Once this is resolved 6 piece endgame positions will be placed in the problem set.


I thought I played the best move in a position, but got punished, what is going on?

The endgame training tool currently uses the shortest distance to mate as the measurement of best moves. This means that to make perfect play all your moves must lead to the quickest mate. This can sometimes lead to situations where the most obvious move (for example promoting or taking an opponent's piece) may not always be the quickest way to mate. In these situations the server will treat takes or promotions as equivalent to the shortest mating move (as long as taking or promotion doesn't extend the length of the shortest mate by more than 2 moves). In addition, moves that might not immediately take a piece or promote, but may lead to a take or promotion on the next move will also be allowed as long as the total sequence doesn't increase the moves to win by more than 3 moves. In the future, distance to conversion endgame tables will also be used, and this will allow a larger set of these "not shortest but still ok moves" to be allowed.


Will endgame problems that require a user to draw instead of win be provided?

There are currently technical issues with providing quality problems based on draws. It is hoped that obtaining depth to conversion (instead of depth to mate) endgame tables will allow drawing problems to be added to the system.


What does the '[45% (55 extra)]' display at the bottom of the problem correct notification for endgames mean?

The percentage is an indication of how close to a full point you receive for the problem. This depends on how many sub-optimal and "Play Best" button presses were made. 100% is equivalent to a full point, 50% to a draw and 0% to a loss. If the player scored 45% then if the problem was rated the same as the user it would be expected that the user would lose points and the problem would gain points, although it is possible to get a score below 50% and still gain points if the problem was rated higher than the user. The '(55 extra)' indicates how many extra moves were punished. This may be different to the extra moves that were actually played, as some extra moves are not punished (for example some slower moves that convert to a simpler endgame) and 'Play Best' button usage causes extra moves to be added.


What are the annotations after the moves in the move list?

The annotations show moves that were not the best move in the position. For example M10(M8) shows you played a move that was mate in 10 where the best move was mate in 8. L10(M2) shows that you played a move that leads you to lose (i.e. be mated) in 10 moves where the best move would have had you mate in 2. D(M3) indicates a move that draws when you could have mated in 3. You can hover your mouse pointer over the other moves to find out how many moves they are away from mate.


Why did the endgame problem end before mate?

The starting positions of some endgames are very difficult, but if the position is played well they often convert to very easily won endgames. When this happens the problem is marked correct so that higher rated players don't have to play endgame positions they are already very good at and can concentrate on spending time on the more difficult problems in the set.


How do I examine a side variation when viewing an endgame problem?

When you are navigating the moves in a problem by moving forward using the arrow button or arrow keys, the computer will play the best move which is highest in the legal move list. If you wish to examine non-optimal or alternative best moves then you can either click on the move in the legal move list or use the mouse to enter the desired move. If you are already at the end of the current move list then your move will be added to the end of the main line. If there was already a move played at that point then your move will be added to the move list as an alternative line which you can now play down (you can click back on any move in the main line to begin navigating down the main line again).


Play Online Questions


What type of assistance am I able to receive when playing online?

Computer assistance such as using a computer engine or tablebases are not allowed during games played on Chess Tempo. When detected, computer use may lead to account removal and permanent banning. In correspondence games, you are allowed to use opening research materials, including opening books and computer databases with opening statistics. Non-correspondence games must be played without any form of assistence. Games must be played by the owner of the account, and assistance from other players may not be used. You are also not allowed to play games across multiple account names. If you believe an opponent has breached these rules, please do not make public allegations in the forum, but instead report the issue directly to admin@chesstempo.com.


What are the different rating types?

Time based rating types are defined by the estimated length of the game. Estimated time for games with no increment is simply the initial time on the clock. Time for games with an increment are calculated by assuming the game will go for 40 moves. For example, 5 minutes start time with a 12 second increment would lead to an estimate time of 5*60+12*40 which equals 780 seconds, or 13 minutes, leading to a classification as a blitz time control. Increasing the increment to 18 seconds would produce 5*60+18*40, giving an estimate of 17 minutes, which would now be classified as a rapid time control.
The following rating types are defined:

  • Bullet - Estimated time of less than 3 minutes.
  • Blitz - Estimated time greater than or equal to 3 minutes, and less than 15 minutes.
  • Rapid - Estimated time greater than or equal to 15 minutes, and less than 1 hour.
  • Long - Estimated time greater than or equal to 1 hour, and less than 12 hours.
  • Correspondence - Estimated time of 12 hours or greater.

What is Vacation and Sleep?

Vacation and sleep are both designed to allow the user a period of time when their clock will be prevented from ticking. They are both restricted to correspondence games only, so games less than 12 hours are not impacted by vacation or sleep. Vacation allows users to take extended time off and is designed to allow people who may have extended periods away from their computer to continue their correspondence games without losing on time. Vacation time is not unlimited, and accumulates gradually over time. Sleep is similar to Vacation , but is designed for short term periods where play is not possible. Sleep allows for very short correspondence time controls that would be impossible otherwise. For example, a game in 1 day is difficult to manage, as players need to sleep at some point during the 24 hours the game would run over. Without some way of the players stopping their clock while asleep, the winner may be determined simply by the time zone or sleep patterns of the players. Sleep allows you to pause your clock on all correspondence games while you are sleeping, making these types of time controls feasible. You have a maximum of 10 hours of sleep time for each period that sleep mode is entered. Once invoked, all of your sleep is used. This means you can play before the 10 hours has expired, but you will not get more sleep time until at least 10 hours after your previous sleep time elapsed. To enter vacation or sleep mode, use the menu item in the playing menu while on the playing page. Please see the vacation and sleep section of the user guide for more details.


Does the playing server adjust for network lag?

Yes, the playing server will adjust for the time it takes your moves to reach the server, and for your opponent moves to reach you. This means your clock will only be adjusted for time you actually spend thinking , not time spent transmitting moves to and from the server. The clock of your opponent will be similarly adjusted. If your opponent is experiencing lag, this may lead to extra time being added to their clock displayed at your end, where your opponent is being credited for the time their move took to travel across the network. Note that lag is only credited up to a maximum of 2 seconds. If you are experiencing network problems where it takes longer than this for your moves to be transmitted, then you will only receive lag compensation for the first 2 seconds.


Is there a setting to allow moves to be confirmed before sending them to the server?

Yes, there is a confirm move option that can be turned on in the board settings. Click on the settings icon on the top left corner of the playing board or use the Board Settings option in right action menu in the mobile web app.


How do I see how I perform in different openings?

If you click on the "My Chess Games" option in the Chess Database menu you will arrive at your game archive page. An opening explorer view of your own games is shown on the right. Above the opening explorer is a repertoire selector, choose either black or white and use the explorer stats to see how your performance differs in different opening lines with those coloured pieces.

After you have completed a game, you can also examine how your opening compared to the play of higher rated players. You can either click on the game in your game archive page or use the Explore in DB option in the action menu straight after completing game. If you used the Explore in DB option, then the full opening explorer stats will already be displayed, and you can move through the game to see the opening stats for each position. If you launched the game from your game archive page, you will need to change the Repertoire selector above the opening explorer to "Full Database" to see stats for all games, instead of just your own. Use the database subset selector at the top of the page to restrict the rating range of the players in order to compare the stats across different player strengths. If you would like to see how often you played into the current line in other games, switch the Repertoire selector back to the colour you played the current game under.


How do time controls work on Chess Tempo?

Chess Tempo uses three factors to determine the time control. The start time, the increment time, and maximum time. The start time is the initial time on the clock, the increment time is the time added to the clock after each move, and maximum time is the maximum time above which the increment will have no impact. For example if you have a start time of 5 minutes, an increment of 10 seconds, and a maximum of 5 minutes, and use 5 seconds on your first first move, the clock will not go up to 5 mintues and 5 seconds, but instead will be capped at 5 minutes.

Using the combination of start, increment and maximum time allows a lot of flexibility in time controls. For example you can create a correspondence time control of "1 move every 3 days" by using a start time of 3 days, an increment of 3 days, and a maximum time of 3 days. If you think you normally move once every day, but need the flexibility of a playing longer than that during busy periods, a larger maximum and start time might be useful. For example, a start time of 10 days, increment of 1 day and maximum time of 10 days may offer the flexibility you are after, without having to go to 1 move every 3 days. As long as you had been playing at 1 move per day for some time, you could take a week off, and still have 3 days left of your initial time. Playing slightly faster than 1 move per day after you return would allow you to build your reserve back up to 10 days, should you require another period without playing every day.

Time controls are sometimes displayed in the following form START_TIME+INCREMENT_TIME<MAX_TIME. So a rapid game of 15 minutes with a 10 second increment would be written as 15min+10sec. The same time control, but with a maximum time of 20 minutes would be written as 15min+10sec<20min.


How do draws work on Chess Tempo?

Where practical, Chess Tempo tries to model the FIDE laws for draw claims and draw offers. Draws requiring claims such as 50 move rule, and drew by repetition are not automatically marked draws, but require the user to explicitly claim them using the claim draw button in the actions menu. When chosing the draw claim action, you have the option of trying to claim the draw immediately, or to claim it after your next move. In the latter case the draw claim is sent along with your move to the server. Draw offers to your opponent can be made at any time (on either your move or the move of your opponent), and remain valid until your opponent next moves. If you feel your opponent is making an annoying number of draw offers, you can click the ignore all button to ignore any subsequent offers from your opponent during this game.


How do I turn email notifications for correspondence games on/off?

If you gave permission for Chess Tempo to email you when you registered your account, then all correspondence email notifications will be turned on by default. To turn them off, or turn them on if you had previously not given permission for emails to be sent, you can go the Playing tab in your preferences. Individual options exist to turn notifications on/off for opponent moves, game status updates (game start, game over, draw offer/rejects), and low time warning. Low time warning emails are sent whenever it becomes your turn and you have less than 12 hours to go on your clock.


Can I download PGN with timestamps holding my move timings?

Yes, if you go to your game archive page, and look at the results list, the PGN download button in the far left column of each result line will allow you to download a PGN that contains both the elapsed move time for each move, as well as the clock time at the time of the move. Together these should allow you (or your coach) to see where you are allocating your time, and identify issues with time trouble, or shallow thinking. Move times are stored in a standard format that allows software that complies with the standard to recreate the clocks as you play through the game.


How can I check my games for blunders after they are over?

If you have a gold membership, you can use the UCI engine analysis feature to analyse your games. This allows you to install any of the top engines such as Stockfish, Komodo and Houdini on your own machine, and have them analyse your completed games. After installing and setting up the UCI engine, you can use the Explore in DB option in the action menu to look at the game in the database view. Clicking on the "Engine Analysis" header, and then clicking the "Annotate" button will bring up a panel showing the annotate game options. Once you have chosen your options, click start, and the engine will begin analysing your game.



Achievement Badge Questions


Why did I only receive points the first time I reached an all time high solved/won record?

For each period (hour/day/week/month/year) all time high achievements can only be achieved after completing one previous period, and then only the first record for that period is rewarded with points. Your badge will still be updated with the current record, but you will only get points for the current period the first time you pass the previous record. So for example if you got 3000 problems correct last year, then reach 3001 in June in the current year, you will receive points for the achievement at that point, but not when you get 3002, 3003 etc in the same year. To receive the achievement points again, you will need to pass the record you set by the end of the year in the following year.


I suspect another user is unfairly gaining achievement badges or points, what should I do?

Please do not name the user publicly. Send an email to admin@chesstempo.com with your suspicions. Those caught manipulating the system may be blocked from using site features. Types of behaviour that may lead to blocking include running automated tools to gain achievement points and using multiple accounts to gain points, such as up voting comments or playing games against each other.


Why am I not getting achievements as expected when playing games?

To avoid people playing large numbers of games against very low rated opponents in order to earn achievement points, only games played against players that are no more than 250 rating points below your rating are used for achievement processing. This means that games against opponents more than 250 points below your rating will not be counted for achievements such as runs of won games, playing specific activity streaks or total games played. However, these games will be counted for overall activity streak calculations, just not the ones that are specific to playing.


Why did I receive an achievement for reaching an all time high record, but it was not an all time high?

The achievement system only tracks achievements made after the achievements were first put in place. This means that previous all time high records, such as your highest previous rating, or highest rated problem correct or player beaten are not considered. It was decided this was fairest, especially for long term site users who may have achieved previous records when rating inflation was less well controlled than it is now, making it hard to achieve new records.


What is the difference between a weeks based streak and a days based streak?

A days streak is an activity streak based on performing the activity on consecutive days. A weeks streak is based on activity over consecutive weeks. So a 4 week Weeks streak is not the same as a 28 day Days streak, as the Weeks streak can be achieved with activity in only 1 day of each of the consecutive weeks.


How are the day and week calculated for daily and weekly streaks, and when does the month or year start for achievements based on those periods?

For daily streaks, the day ends at midnight in the timezone set on the machine you are currently using. If you are using a laptop and moving through countries while updating your timezone for each country, you should keep this in mind when trying to keep a daily streak going. For weekly streaks the first day of the week is Monday , so you have to complete at least one relevant activity from Monday to Sunday to keep a weekly streak active.

Monthly and yearly achievements such as total correct/won in a month are based on the calendar month or year, rather than when you start the activity. So a monthly total won achievement will start on the 1st of the month, and a yearly total won achievement will start on the first day of the year.


I should have achieved a rating based achievement, but did receive an achievement badge, what went wrong?

Several rating based achievements require a stable rating before they can be achieved, this avoids issues like setting all time high rating achievements due to large jumps made with an unstable rating that are later very hard to re-achieve.



General Questions


Am I allowed to use a computer to help me answer problems?

Computer assistance (using an engine or tablebases) are not allowed when doing rated problems. When detected, computer use while the problem is live may lead to rating point reductions. Repeated computer assistance may lead to account removal and permanent banning. Note, that users are welcome to use computers to analyse the problem after the problem is complete. The prohibited behaviour referred to here is where the user inputs the live position into a chess engine and uses the computer analysis to attempt to enter the correct moves, thus artificially increasesing the user's rating.


Using multiple active accounts is also not allowed, as this can allow the user to gain unfair advantages.


If users suspect others of inappropriate computer use, please do not make allegations in the forum, instead email richard@chesstempo.com with your concerns.


How do I see all recent comments?

The view problems page has an "All Comments" tab that allows you to see a table of all comments in the system. By default the comments list is sorted by most recent first, but you can also sort by username, problem # and commenter rating by clicking on the relevant column headings. Clicking on the problem # for any of the comments loads that problem and allows you to view the problem, all its comments, and add to the comments if desired.


How can I see a list of all problems in the system?

The view problems page has an "All Problems" tab, this displays a table with all currently enabled problems. Clicking on the appropriate column headings allow you to sort problems by that columns criteria. Multiple clicks on the column heading allows you to change the order of the sorting.


How do I change the size of the board/pieces?

The preferences link in the upper right of the screen (underneath the user detail display) allows users to choose chess piece style and piece size.


How do I view my statistics and recent problems?

The stats page (linked to via the navigation bar at the top of all Chess Tempo pages), shows the user's recent problems, summary stats (current rating, highest rating, highest rank etc) and graphs of the user's tactics and endgame progress.


Can I see a ranked list of all users?

The users page shows a list of active users. By default an active user is a user with an RD below 70. This value can be changed to see a list of less or more active users. By default users are shown with their blitz rating, but any rating type can be chosen. The users list can be sorted by clicking on the column header of the required sort field.


Why do you ask for user's FIDE/USCF ID numbers?

Two main reasons. Firstly having a user's FIDE or USCF id number allows Chess Tempo to verify and display any titles the user may hold. Both FIDE and USCF also provide a search interface to see historical rating changes for the user. This allows us to do statistical analysis comparing the relationships between real game ratings and chess tempo user ratings. By looking at what is common between users who improve their over the board rating whilst using Chess Tempo and those who don't it will be possible to provide better advice on "best practice" approaches to tactics training using Chess Tempo. Providing your ID is completely optional, so don't worry if you don't have one, or prefer not to enter it.


Which engines are available via the cloud engine UI?

  • Komodo - Komodo was the winner of the Season 7 & 8 Top Chess Engine Championship. Komodo also won the 2015 World Computer Blitz & Rapid Championships.
  • Stockfish - Stockfish is the leading open source chess engine, and runner up to Komodo in the Season 7 & 8 Top Chess Engine Championship.


The versions of Komodo and Stockfish are the latest available public release.


What is the source of the historical ratings for older players in the game database?

Ratings for players prior to the availability of official FIDE ratings are estimates provided in the player spell checking files used in SCID and compiled by Franz Nagl. These appear to be sourced from "The Rating Of Chess Players, Past & Present" published by Arpad E Elo (1978) and the ChessMetrics estimate from Jeff Sonas. Ratings for modern era players are all taken directly from the ratings published by FIDE.



Where did the icons and textures used in the board interface come from?

The icons were produced by Mark James and the full set can be found at Silk Icons.
They are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License.

Other icons used on the site are the Fugue Icons and the Geosilk icons, both distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License.

Most of the textures used to display the board squares are supplied by either Spiral Graphics Inc. or CG Textures.

"Default Icon" set by interactivemania is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 .The icons used in the user guide are designed by WooThemes

The Celtic, Eyes, Fantasy, Spatial and Skulls chess pieces were created by Maurizio Monge - see http://poisson.phc.unipi.it/~monge/chess_art.php

The Wiki chess set was created by Colin Burnett (Details at Colin's wikipedia page).

Thanks to Eric Bentzen for permission to use the Berlin and Alpha chess pieces, and to Felix Kling for allowing us to use his shaded Merida and Good Companion chess pieces

Another thank you to Gorgonian who supplied SVG versions of several piece sets. You can see more of his work at his Chess Piece Downloads page.

Other chess piece attributions go to Armando H. Marroquín (Condal, Kingdom, Leipzig, Merida), Matthieu Leschemelle (Case) and David L. Brown (Good Companion).

Noun Project Icons
  • Tick - Check by Lloyd Humphreys from the Noun Project
  • Streak badge - counting by Magicon from the Noun Project
  • Streak badge 2 - Fire by Hello Many from the Noun Project
  • Upset badge - scales by Sergey Demushkin from the Noun Project
  • All time high badge - champion by Nicolas Vicent from the Noun Project
  • Total time badge - Total Time by Prasad Ghone from the Noun Project
  • Calendar total badge - Calendar by Simple Icons from the Noun Project
  • Comment Like badge - comment by Sergey Demushkin from the Noun Project
  • Material search badge - Chess by Juan Pablo Bravo from the Noun Project
  • Endgame symbol - Chess by EliRatus from the Noun Project
  • Play chess symbol - board game by Piotrek Chuchla from the Noun Project
  • GTM symbol - Question Mark Pawn by Till Teenck from the Noun Project
  • Blitz Symbol - Lightning Bolt by Cezary Rudaś from the Noun Project
  • Bullet Symbol - Bullet by Lucid Formation from the Noun Project
  • Rapid Symbol - Stopwatch by Ilsur Aptukov from the Noun Project
  • Long Symbol - Snail by aLf from the Noun Project
  • Correspondence Symbol - envelope by Arthur Shlain from the Noun Project
  • Mixed symbol - combine by Stephen Plaster from the Noun Project
  • Theory symbol - Book by Ryzhkov Anton from the Noun Project
  • Practice symbol - evacuation by Arthur Shlain from the Noun Project
  • Hour symbol - timing by Hugo Heneault from the Noun Project
  • Day symbol - One Day by Muneer A.Safiah from the Noun Project
  • Week symbol - One Week by Muneer A.Safiah from the Noun Project
  • Month symbol - One Month by Muneer A.Safiah from the Noun Project
  • Year symbol - Candle by Pham Thi Dieu Linh from the Noun Project
  • All Time High Rating - Graph by Simple Icons from the Noun Project
  • Add favourite - Heart by Oleg Frolov from the Noun Project
  • Rating Range - range by Arthur Shlain from the Noun Project
  • Attempt filter - Repeat by Arthur Shlain from the Noun Project
  • Motif filter - strategy by Garrett Knoll from the Noun Project
  • Opening filter - Data Filter by Andrew Forrester from the Noun Project
  • Board Setup - Tactics Based by Till Teenck from the Noun Project
  • Load Game PGN - Load by Mundo from the Noun Project
  • Training Target - goal by Dima Lagunov from the Noun Project
  • Gold Membership - gold by Creative Stall from the Noun Project
  • Run Badge - Runner by Em L from the Noun Project
  • Tactical Wizard - Wizard by Wes Breazell from the Noun Project
  • Einstein - Einstein by Roman Rusinov from the Noun Project
  • Guru - Guru by Jasmine White from the Noun Project
  • Prodigy - Brain by Blake Ferguson from the Noun Project
  • Steamroller - Steamroller by Mike Ashley from the Noun Project
  • Monster - Monster by Joel McKinney from the Noun Project
  • Ninja - Ninja by Jonathan Gibson from the Noun Project
  • Raptor - raptor by Raf Verbraeken from the Noun Project
  • Underdog - Dog by Isabel Foo from the Noun Project
  • Time bomb - Time Bomb by Mister Pixel from the Noun Project
  • Time Flies - Time Flies by Andreas Wikström from the Noun Project
  • Time Lord - Tardis by Arancha R from the Noun Project
  • Time Warp - Black Hole by Rohit Arun Rao from the Noun Project
  • Mountain Climber - Mountain Climber by Juan Pablo Bravo from the Noun Project
  • Finish Line - finish line by Luis Prado from the Noun Project
Game Icons

Analysis Board and Problem Commenting Questions


What is the analysis board?

The analysis board is a chess board that can be launched from the tactic and endgame boards, it allows you to manually enter any legal moves you like, thus providing a way of investigating alternative lines in a problem. Variations and sub-varations can be added if needed. After you have finished analysing, you can copy your analysis to be shown as a new comment for the problem being analysed.


How do I launch the analysis board?

Use the analysis board button () shown below the board. You must have finished solving the problem (or be in problem viewing mode) to be able to launch analysis boards, they can't be launched on a live problem. If you want to pre-fill the board with existing moves then you should select the last move in the move sequence you wish to copy before clicking the analysis board button.


How do I copy my analysis to a new problem comment?

There are two ways of copying your analysis. You can either use the "Copy to Comment" button which will copy all moves and annotations to a new problem comment, or if you only want to copy some moves, then you can highlight the required moves with the mouse by dragging the mouse cursor over the moves and then click "Copy Selection to Comment". When the comment is saved it will have a mini-analysis board that can be viewed above the analysis, allowing others to easily view your analysis on a board while reading your comments. After the analysis text has been copied to the problem comment, you can add text above or below the analysis moves, and if you are careful you can edit the analysis directly, although this is not recommended, as it may create illegal moves, and prevent your analysis from being correctly shown. If you want to add comments within the problem comment editing box, you must use PGN comment format and insert comments within braces, for example 1.Nf3 { forking the king and rook } (this applies only to the new comment edit box, not the comment entry boxes on the analysis board). When editing analysis in the problem comment edit box, make sure not to introduce carriage returns into the text, as this may lead to corrupted comments. You can also use the Copy Comment buttons more than once to copy multiple analysis lines to the new problem comment if required.


I have entered a variation that I want to make the main line, how do I do that?

Use the "Promote Variation" button. First click on any move in the variation you wish to make the main line and then click the "Promote Variation" button. If the variation was directly off the main line, then the variation will become the main line, and the old main line will become a variation of the new main line. If you have sub-variations (i.e. variations with variations within them), then "Promote Variation" will do the same thing, swapping the sub-variation with the parent variation. If you don't want the old main line after you have promoted the new line, you can delete the old main line variation by selecting the first move in the old main line and then deleting it using the "Delete to End" button.


How do I delete moves that I have entered?

Later moves may rely on earlier moves to have occurred in order for them to be legal, for this reason you can't delete individual moves unless they are at the end of a variation. To delete a single move or sequence of moves at the end of a variation , select the starting move of the moves you want deleted and then click the "Delete to End" button. Any variations of the line you are deleting will also be deleted, you can delete any variation without removing the main line by clicking on the first move of the variation and clicking the "Delete to End" button.


How do I add comments to a move?

Because comments can be placed before or after moves, two annotation entry boxes are provided, the first is for comments that are to be shown before a move, and the second for comments to be shown after a move. Comments are usually auto-saved when you leave the comment area, however if you want to drag a piece on the board after making a comment then you should use the "save" button to make sure your comment is saved before moving onto the next move. If you want a comment to appear at the start of a variation then you should select the first move in the variation and use the "before move" comment entry box, this will make sure that the comment will remain attached to the variation if you promote the variation at some point, this will not happen if you use the "after move" comment box on the move before the variation. To delete or edit a move comment you have previously made, click on the move the comment is attached to, and then delete or edit the text as required.


When copying my analysis to a new comment, how do I control which colour pieces will be shown at the top and bottom of the mini-board shown in the problem comment?

Choose the board orientation you prefer by clicking on the board flipping button (the black/white button in the bottom left of the board) before you use the "Copy to comment" or "Copy Selection to Comment" buttons. This option is only available if you have chosen to display board co-ordinates on the analysis board in your preference setting.


When reading problem comments, can I make the mini-boards attached to comments display automatically without pressing the "Show Board" button?

Yes, the "show comment boards automatically" option in your preferences will display the boards without requiring any button presses. However, this option is only recommended for those running the latest browsers on reasonably faster computers. Older browsers, such as Internet Explorer 6.0 and 7.0 are very slow when loading pages with many comment mini-boards on them. Internet Explorer 8.0 is also quite slow , but may be acceptable on very fast computers. Firefox 3.5 can take a while, but for most pages it should be acceptable. The latest versions of Safari and Google Chrome should be able to handle large numbers of comment boards fairly easily.


How do I reply to a comment by adding lines to a mini-board shown in an existing comment?

Mini-boards shown in comments all have their own "analysis board" button. By selecting the end of the line you would like to analyse, and then clicking the mini board's analysis button you can launch a new analysis board , add more lines and comments and then use the "Copy to Comment" or "Copy Selection to Comment" buttons as you would if using an analysis board launched from the main problem board. Note that mini-boards are essentially analysis boards in their own right, and you can add variations to them by dragging the pieces around on the mini-board (variations added to existing mini-boards are not saved unless they are copied as a new comment from an analysis board launched from the mini-board).


How do I insert a static board into a comment, showing only the position, and no analysis?

The show FEN button () beneath the problem board can be used to show the FEN of the current board. The dialog showing the FEN also has a "Copy to Comment" button, which allows you to copy the FEN to a comment, when the comment is displayed a mini-board showing the current board position can be displayed. Note this is not an analysis mini-board, and does not allow piece movement (although you can launch a seperate analysis board from the static FEN mini-board). Note that this doesn't replace the "Show PGN" button available to Premium users, as it doesn't allow you to automatically download the position into your engine, and is missing information such as the move numbers from the original game.


Can I change the size and appearance of the analysis board?

Yes, use the analysis board display options in your preferences. The mini-boards embedded in the comments use the same settings as your normal problem board preferences, only the size of the board is ignored (displayed comment boards always use the viewing user's board preferences, not the preferences of the user who created the comment).


How can I view replies to comments I have made?

The 'View Problems' page has a 'My Comments' tab which shows all of the comments for each problem you have commented on. The problems which have had comments added most recently are shown first which allows you to see any new comments.


How does the problem comment voting work?

By clicking on the up or down arrows shown on each comment you are voting on the quality of the comment. If a comment receives several down votes, it may be hidden from the default comment view. The current score for a comment is shown between the voting arrows, a positive score indicates more people voted for the comment than against it, a negative score shows that overall, people disliked the comment. You can view hidden comments by using the "Show All" button. Users who have their comments consistently voted down may have their new comments hidden by default, meaning that even without any down votes, people will need to use the "Show All" button to see their comments. When a user has almost all their comments voted down, they may eventually have their commenting ability disabled altogether. Please read and follow the comment voting section of the Problem Comment Guidelines before starting to vote on others' comments. Following the problem comment guidelines when writing your own comments is also a good way to avoid having your comments voted down.


Can I edit or delete my own problem comments?

Yes you can, but only if your comment was the last comment to be made on a problem, the reason for this restriction is that if other comments have been made since yours, they may have referred to your comment, so removing your comment would disrupt the flow of conversation. For comments you are able to edit/delete, an edit and delete button will appear at the top of the comment. If you've made a comment about a line that you later think may have been incorrect, then it is probably better to edit your comment rather than delete it, as others may also have had the same confusion, and your comment may be able to help them understand the position better.


Engine Analysis Questions


Can I analyse games I have played elsewhere?

Yes, if you want to use the annotate game feature on external games then you can use the paste button () beneath the board on the game database page to input the PGN or move list of your game into the move list. You can then use all the engine analysis features on this game. When you are finished you can save the analysed game back to your machine using the download button under the moves list ().


How should I interpret the evaluation numbers shown in the analysis panel, and output into the move list?

The interpretation of the evaluation scores depend partly on your preference settings. If "Evaluation from white's View" option is selected then the evaluation next to each analysis line will be positive if white is ahead, and negative if white is behind, and black is ahead, this is a common convention used in many popular chess applications. If this option is not selected then the evaluation for each line is positive if the player to move is in front and negative if the player to move is behind, this is the same method used in the tactics evaluation display. Moves are coloured green, red or blue, depending on whether they leave the player to move ahead, behind or in an even position.

The "Evaluation from white's View" option choice only impacts the evaluations shown in the engine analysis output panel. If an evaluation is inserted into the move list, it will always use the "Evaluation from white's View" method. This avoids having the sign of the evaluation constantly flip as the side to move changes, which can make scanning a move list annotated with evaluations quite difficult. When reading evaluations inserted in a move list they can be interpreted as the evaluation of the position that arises after the previous move. Another way of intepreting the inserted evaluations is that they show the evaluation that would arise if the next player to move played the best move according to the engine.

Irrespective of which method of evaluation output is used, the evaluation is always in terms of pawns. So +2.5 would indicate a margin of two and a half pawns. Engine evaluations are made up of both positional and material factors, although positional factors will rarely equate to more than a pawn&39;s worth of material. Some engine will output very high evaluations in the endgame to indicate an endgame position which is deemed to be a clear win, but where mate has not yet been determined. These evaluations may be very high, and may not have a direct correspondence with pawn units.


Why are some of the engine line moves coloured orange?

If the move played in the game at the position being analysed appears in the engine best lines list, then the moves in the matching engine line will be coloured orange up to the point that they still match the line in the game.


How do I use the engine to annotate a game?

You can annotate a sequence of moves with the engine evaluations using the "Annotate" button. First select the move where you want analysis to begin (jump to the start of the game if you want full game analysis), and then click the "Annotate" button. You will be asked to choose the threshold difference before the best engine line will be inserted into the move list. For example if the threshold is set to 0.5, then any move that is at least half a pawn worse in evaluation than the best engine line will be inserted into the move list. The length of the line can be specified, choose 1 for length if you only want the best move and not the full line to be inserted. The Maximum depth and thinking time are interpreted by the engine as the first of the values to be met. So for example if 10 seconds and depth 10 is specified, then the engine will move to the next move as soon as either 10 seconds has been used, or depth 10 has been reached , whichever happens first. Note that some engines will not exit immediately after a given time is reached, as they may finish analysing the moves at the current depth level before finishing with the current position.


How do I copy engine analysis lines into the move list?

You can copy engine analysis into the move list by clicking on a move in the line you want to copy. The line up to and including the move you clicked on will be inserted into the move list, along with the analysis for the line.


What does the Engine Lock/Unlock button do?

When an engine is locked, you can move around in the move list and insert engine lines into the move list and traverse those lines without the engine changing the position it is currently analysing.

Once an engine is unlocked, it tracks the currently selected position, so as you move around the move list, the engine stops analysing the previous position, and starts analysing the current position.


How do I quickly play the best line during engine analysis?

You can click the "Play best move button" or press the space bar and the current best move will be played and inserted into the move list. If the engine is "unlocked" it will automatically move onto the next position and start analysing.


Premium Member Questions


Do you provide free premium membership to master level players?

We currently offer free gold membership to players holding FIDE GM and IM titles. A condition of your membership is that you agree to supply your FIDE id, this is not displayed to other users, but is used to attach title information to your username which is visible to other users. Your FIDE id is also used to collect site usage stats based on your current rating (but again no personally identifying information is shared with other users). If you hold a GM or IM title, and want to apply for a free membership, please send the following details to the admin@chesstempo.com email address:

  • Your name and FIDE id
  • A digital scan of photo identification that can be used to identify you , for example a copy of your drivers license or passport.
  • Your current Chess Tempo username.


How do I perform a problem set search?

Go to the problems page, click on the "all problems" tab then click on the "Advanced Search..." button. Choose your search criteria, then click the "Search" button and the problem list will return with only those problems matching your search criteria.


How do I create a user defined problem set?

Follow the procedures to perform a problem set search and then click on the "Create Problem Set" button. The search criteria will be used to create a new problem set which includes only the types of problems specified in the search. These problem sets are dynamic and if problem status changes over time the included problems are automatically updated. For example if you create a problem set which includes problems you got wrong then new mistakes will be automatically added to the set. Similarly if you create a set with a rating range of 1500-2000 and in the future problems have their ratings updated to fall within that range then they will automatically be included in the problem set.


How do I select an extended or user created problem set?

Extended and newly created problem sets are selected using the same interface used to select between normal rated problems (i.e. via the preference dialog's problem set selector). Silver and Gold members should see additional problem set options. User defined problem sets can be found under the "Personal" folder in the problem set selection interface. Both tactics and endgame problems will have a different "Personal" folder.


How do I view the start position of a problem in PGN format?

When viewing a problem in the tactics or view problems page you can view the start position in PGN format by clicking on the "Show Start PGN" button. You can paste the PGN into your chess engine to perform further analysis on the position.


How do I cancel my auto-renew subscription?

When you subscribe using an auto-renew, Paypal emails you instructions on how to cancel your subscription. If you are unable to find this email then you can also find the instructions at the Paypal HelpCenter. After cancelling your subscription, you are still able to use your membership up until it expires, cancellation only prevents any further recurring payments from being made.


If you are having problems cancelling your auto-renew subscription, please email admin@chesstempo.com


I intended to cancel my yearly auto-renew subscription, but forgot. I no longer use the site, but have been charged for another year, can I get a refund?

Yes, if you contact Chess Tempo via email at membership@chesstempo.com within 2 weeks of your membership renewal, then a full refund will be provided. Note that refunds under these conditions only apply for yearly subscriptions.