<s>
An	O
Internet	B-Application
chess	I-Application
server	I-Application
(	O
ICS	O
)	O
is	O
an	O
external	O
server	B-Application
that	O
provides	O
the	O
facility	O
to	O
play	O
,	O
discuss	O
,	O
and	O
view	O
the	O
board	O
game	O
of	O
chess	B-Application
over	O
the	O
Internet	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
term	O
specifically	O
refers	O
to	O
facilities	O
for	O
connecting	O
players	O
through	O
a	O
variety	O
of	O
graphical	B-Application
chess	B-Application
clients	B-Protocol
located	O
on	O
each	O
user	O
's	O
computer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
1970s	O
,	O
one	O
could	O
play	O
correspondence	O
chess	B-Application
in	O
a	O
PLATO	B-Operating_System
System	I-Operating_System
program	O
called	O
'	O
chess3	O
 '	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
theory	O
one	O
could	O
use	O
chess3	O
to	O
play	O
a	O
complete	O
game	O
of	O
chess	B-Application
in	O
one	O
sitting	O
,	O
but	O
chess3	O
was	O
not	O
usually	O
used	O
this	O
way	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
PLATO	B-Operating_System
was	O
not	O
connected	O
to	O
Internet	O
predecessor	O
ARPANET	O
in	O
any	O
way	O
that	O
allowed	O
mass	O
use	O
by	O
the	O
public	O
,	O
and	O
consequently	O
,	O
chess3	O
was	O
and	O
still	O
is	O
relatively	O
unknown	O
to	O
the	O
public	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
eighties	O
,	O
chess	B-Application
play	O
by	O
email	O
was	O
still	O
fairly	O
novel	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Latency	O
with	O
email	O
was	O
less	O
significant	O
than	O
with	O
traditional	O
correspondence	O
chess	B-Application
via	O
paper	O
letters	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
network	O
technology	O
improved	O
,	O
public	O
,	O
widespread	O
use	O
of	O
a	O
centralised	O
server	B-Application
for	O
live	O
play	O
became	O
a	O
possibility	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Michael	O
Moore	O
,	O
of	O
the	O
University	O
of	O
Utah	O
,	O
and	O
Richard	O
Nash	O
recognised	O
the	O
potential	O
of	O
an	O
Internet	B-Application
chess	I-Application
server	I-Application
and	O
created	O
its	O
first	O
incarnation	O
,	O
hosted	O
at	O
lark.utah.edu	O
and	O
accessible	O
through	O
telnet	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
John	O
Chanak	O
,	O
William	O
Kish	O
,	O
and	O
Aaron	O
Putnam	O
moved	O
the	O
server	B-Application
to	O
a	O
host	O
machine	O
at	O
Carnegie	O
Mellon	O
University	O
in	O
July	O
1992	O
,	O
and	O
took	O
over	O
its	O
operation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
it	O
was	O
buggy	B-Error_Name
and	O
suffered	O
from	O
lag	B-Application
problems	O
,	O
the	O
server	B-Application
was	O
popular	O
among	O
a	O
small	O
group	O
of	O
chess	B-Application
enthusiasts	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Over	O
time	O
,	O
many	O
features	O
were	O
added	O
to	O
the	O
ICS	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
Elo	O
ratings	O
and	O
support	O
for	O
graphical	B-Application
clients	B-Protocol
,	O
and	O
the	O
server	B-Application
was	O
made	O
more	O
stable	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
late	O
1992	O
,	O
Daniel	O
Sleator	O
,	O
professor	O
of	O
computer	B-General_Concept
science	I-General_Concept
at	O
Carnegie	O
Mellon	O
University	O
,	O
took	O
over	O
management	O
of	O
the	O
ICS	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
He	O
addressed	O
,	O
among	O
other	O
issues	O
,	O
the	O
frequent	O
complaint	O
that	O
players	O
would	O
lose	O
blitz	O
games	O
on	O
time	O
due	O
to	O
network	O
lag	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1994	O
,	O
he	O
copyrighted	O
the	O
code	O
,	O
and	O
began	O
receiving	O
purchase	O
offers	O
from	O
companies	O
wanting	O
to	O
commercialise	O
the	O
server	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
were	O
questions	O
about	O
whether	O
Sleator	O
was	O
right	O
to	O
claim	O
that	O
the	O
ICS	O
was	O
his	O
intellectual	O
property	O
,	O
since	O
he	O
did	O
not	O
code	O
the	O
original	O
server	B-Application
,	O
although	O
he	O
had	O
made	O
substantial	O
improvements	O
to	O
its	O
code	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
March	O
1	O
,	O
1995	O
,	O
Sleator	O
announced	O
his	O
intentions	O
to	O
commercialise	O
ICS	O
himself	O
,	O
renaming	O
it	O
the	O
Internet	O
Chess	B-Application
Club	O
,	O
or	O
ICC	O
,	O
and	O
charging	O
a	O
yearly	O
membership	O
fee	O
of	O
$US	O
49	O
( $US	O
59.95	O
in	O
2007	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Active	O
players	O
on	O
the	O
server	B-Application
who	O
were	O
used	O
to	O
the	O
service	O
being	O
provided	O
without	O
charge	O
were	O
not	O
pleased	O
with	O
the	O
addition	O
of	O
the	O
membership	O
fee	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
formed	O
the	O
Free	O
Internet	B-Application
Chess	I-Application
Server	I-Application
(	O
FICS	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
continued	O
to	O
allow	O
everyone	O
to	O
have	O
access	O
to	O
all	O
features	O
for	O
free	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1996	O
,	O
John	O
Fanning	O
,	O
uncle	O
of	O
Napster	B-Application
founder	O
Shawn	O
Fanning	O
,	O
started	O
Chess.net,	O
a	O
commercial	O
Internet	B-Application
chess	I-Application
server	I-Application
to	O
rival	O
ICS	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
ICS	O
protocol	O
is	O
a	O
simple	O
,	O
text-based	B-Application
variant	O
of	O
the	O
TELNET	B-Protocol
protocol	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
sparsely	O
documented	O
and	O
not	O
standardised	O
,	O
although	O
a	O
few	O
reference	O
implementations	O
and	O
several	O
clients	B-Protocol
exist	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
to	O
standalone	O
clients	B-Protocol
,	O
many	O
servers	O
also	O
offer	O
websites	O
that	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
directly	O
from	O
a	O
Web	B-Application
browser	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Over	O
the	O
years	O
,	O
several	O
Internet	B-Application
chess	I-Application
servers	I-Application
have	O
been	O
created	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
most	O
popular	O
are	O
Chess.com,	O
Chesshub.com,	O
Lichess	O
,	O
ICC	O
,	O
Chess	B-Application
Craft	O
,	O
Playchess.com,	O
FICS	O
and	O
Chesscube	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Chess	B-Application
is	O
also	O
among	O
the	O
games	O
previously	O
offered	O
by	O
non-specialist	O
site	O
Yahoo	O
!	O
</s>
