1. Fill in the register form and click on send.
   A confirmation email is sent at the given address (so make sure it is correct!) with a link to activate your account.

   Note : if the address you typed doesn't exist, you won't be able to retrieve the mail, and thus, to activate your account.
   Furthermore, you won't be allowed to sign up again with the same login!

2. Activate your account.

A few seconds after your inscription, you will get an email with a link to activate your account.
Just click on it.

You received the confirmation email...

• Your account is probably already activated. Just try to connect with your connection information.
• It is possible (but quite doubtful) that we are having technical difficulties: (contact us).

You didn't received the confirmation email...

• First, check your spam box (Hotmail is notorious for its abusive mail filter).
• Maybe the address you gave us in the register form was incorrect.
  In that case, try to register again with a new login (and check your email address twice!).
  Sadly, you won't be able to sign up again with the same login name.

Note: if you are using Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 (or below), the layout is fixed (at 1024x768).

Mainly to be compatible with as many internet browsers as possible.

To know 10 more reasons to respect web standards, refer to this article: Pourquoi les standards du W3C ? (if someone has a similar article in English, feel free to drop us an email...)

1. First, because Internet Explorer doesn't respect web standards at all!
2. When we want to add a new option to the website, we need to spend (waste?) 40% of our time to make things more or less compatible with Internet Explorer.
   So much that the «game details» page is still not available to Internet Explorer 6 users, and doesn't display well under Internet Explorer 7.
   
3. Page rendering on this browser is not optimum, some image types are not well displayed (or even not at all).
   We can't create elaborate layouts for our pages on Internet Explorer without becoming incompatible with the other browsers!
   Especially for version 6 or below.
   

   Some examples (to the left Internet Explorer 6, to the right Mozilla Firefox):
   
   

4. Internet Explorer has the worse performances to render a page.
   Javascript¹ is dramatically slow comparing to other browsers.
5. Even if security is now a priority for Microsoft, their browser is still highly unadvised to surf the web safely.

¹Javascript is a script programming language allowing a better interactivity between a web page and the user.
We use it to display the games details, for instance.

> Pourquoi utiliser Internet Explorer ? (sarcastique) (if someone has a similar article in English, feel free to drop us an email...)

• Linux, Linux x64
• Windows XP/Vista/2000/2003
• Solaris x86, x64
• MacOSX¹
• Windows 98 or Windows ME²
• Itanium²

¹Java 6 for MacOSX is still not available ; if you are interested, let us know : we'll send you an email when it will be compatible.
²Java 6 support is not planned for those Operating Systems.

1. 
   Download the game by following the instructions.
    
   
   Note: you must have java 6 available to install the game.
   If our automatic detection system can't help you install java 6, you can get it on Sun MicroSystems website.
   
   
2. 
   Follow the instructions and enable the option «Always trust this editor».
    
   
3. 
   The game is now installed!

Navigation bar menu:

Intelligence

This value represent the number of moves Tiffany's analyses in advance
The higher it is, the better Tiffany's will play, and the longer it will take her to play her move (especially when there are lots of pieces still in the game).
If this value is too high and you computer not powerful enough, it can take a while before Tiffany's makes her move.

Reflexion time per move

You can choose how much time Tiffany's can wait before playing her move.
The higher the value, the better Tiffany's is.

Reflexion time for n moves

This mode works like the previous one, but instead of a maximum time per move, Tiffany's has a fixed amount of time to use over n moves.

Note: Even with the same configuration, the difficulty can vary depending on your computer speed.

Note: the reflexion time decrease over time (because there are less and less pieces on the board).

1. Contract type
   This is where you choose what kind of game you want to play.

   Synchronous play

   It means that each player has at most 2 hours of reflexion time to end the game.

   Asynchronous play

   It means that the players have many hours or even days of reflexion time to play a move (this option is still not available, we are working on it).

   Official game

   The game will be taken into account for the ratings, the scores will be updated at the end of the game.

   Practice game

   This game will not be taken into account for the ratings, and you can set handicaps for the players.

2. Configure pauses
   This option is still not available (but we are working on it).
3. Configurer the timer
   Choose the reflexion time of each player (for the whole game).
   The timer is at least 1 minute and at most 2 hours.
   The Fisher timer cannot exceed 300 seconds (5 minutes).
4. Configure handicaps
   

   A handicap means that a player has less time than the other (in the above image, the handicap would be on the Black).
   The Fisher timer in the handicap replaces the initial Fisher timer.

   Example: You choose to play with the Black, the timer³ is at 20 minutes, you add a handicap of 19 minutes on the Black (yourself). Your timer is now at 1 minute, and you can see in the handicap panel:
   => timer 1 min 00 sec
   You then choose to give yourself a Ficher³ timer of 10 seconds to compensate, while the initial Fisher timer³ is still at 0 second.

   Note: you cannot set a handicap in an official game.

5. Choose an opponent
   The contracts you create will be offered to all connected users.
   This option allow you to set requirements on who can accept your contracts, based on their Elo score.

To join a game, check the waiting games list.
Navigation bar menu:


Select a game in the list and click on "Join game".
If you don't see any interesting game, you can offer a new contract: "Offer a game".

You can also join currently playing games as a spectator:
Navigation bar menu:

Navigation bar menu to list the connected players:

Note: you cannot play more than one game with the same opponent.

Note: the timer goes on even if the window is closed.

However, we know very well that many people would use this possibility to cheat. This is why we let the timer run. If it is your turn to play and your opponent is disconnected, play your move as usual, then wait for him/her to come back or for a timeout...

Note: when ONE player disconnect the game is not canceled, but the timer keeps running.

To forfeit a game, you just have to click on the white flag:

Of course, you will loose the game...

To cancel a game, both players must agree. When you want to cancel a game, click on this icon:

Your opponent will then be asked if he/she agrees. If so, the game will be canceled.

Note: you cannot forfeit or cancel a game if it is already finished.

Navigation bar menu:


Click on "New chatroom".

You can choose its name.

/HELP

Help message.

/CLEAR

Clear the text area.

/QUIT ([why])¹

Quit the chatroom (without closing the window).

/NUDGE ([user])

Send a nudge to someone or to everyone.

/WIZZ ([user])

Same as /NUDGE.

/PRIVATE ([user])

Start a private chat with someone.

/INVITE ([user])

Invite someone in the chatroom.

/RENAME [new name]²

Rename the chatroom.

/KICK [user] ([why])

Kick a user.

/PROMOTE [user] [GUEST|USER|MODO|ADMIN]³

Promote a user.

/DELETE ([why])

Delete the chatroom.

¹the parenthesis mean that the reason is optional.
Example: you can type "/QUIT" or "/QUIT sorry I must leave now".
²here, the new name is mandatory.
³you can choose which role to give to the user:
Example : "/PROMOTE manu MODO"

GUEST

Promote (or demote) to guest

USER

Promote (or demote) to user

MODO

Promote (or demote) to moderator

ADMIN

Promote (or demote) to administrator

Guest

A guest cannot send messages on the chatroom.

User

A user can only send messages on the chatroom.

Moderator

A moderator can kick and promote guests or users up to moderator.

Administrator

An administrator has the same rights as a moderator, but can promote or kick users up to administrator.
He/she can also rename and delete chatrooms.

Note: if you hide the chatroom, you won't be notified of new messages.

• The pieces must be squares and have the same size (100x100px at least).
• The chessboard must be at least 800x800px and divided into 8x8 squares, the borders are not taken into account for the size restriction.
• The chessboard must be available in 2 forms: one for the white player and the other for the black player (reversed).
• The images can be scaled down without losing too much quality.

Note: when you play a game, you are automatically promoted administrator on the game chatroom!

If you want to help us improve Chess-Mind, you can send us a screenshot or even a video if possible (do you know jing?)

• Your pseudo on Chess-Mind
• Your operating system (Windows, Linux...)
• Your connection speed (modem, cable, ADSL, optic fiber...)
• Date and hour when the bug happened
• What were you doing just before
  Example: I clicked on button a, then filled up the contract b (with c), then I did y and the bug happened.
• Is the bug reproductible?
• If it happened during a game, who was your opponent?

Note: if you are already connected, you must restart the game to switch the language.