intro2

COMMUNICATING

  Communications among users are of two types: (a) messages, and (b) requests. 
Messages basically involve conversations among users; the server merely
transmits the messages.  Requests are different because they involve the
server doing something about or during a chess match.


MESSAGES

  Suppose you want to say something to one or more users.  There are several
commands you could use:

    command      function
    -------      --------------------------------------------
    message      Send a user a message to be stored, even if the user is
                 not logged on at that time
    tell         Talk to one user, or users on one channel
    xtell        Talk to one user, but allow for a continuing conversation
                 with another user
    channel      Listen to tells sent to a given channel
    say          Talk to the user you are playing chess with (or just
                 played a game with)
    shout        Talk to all users who are open to shouts
    cshout       Talk to all users who are open to shouts; message must be
                 about chess
    it           Special kind of shout
    kibitz       Talk to all players and observers of a specific chess game
    whisper      Talk to all observers of a specific chess game
    censor       Prevents a given user's messages from reaching you

  Read more about these commands in their own help files.  But, in general,
"message" works like an answering machine, "tell" and "say" are like normal
one-to-one conversations, "shout", "cshout" and "it" are for group talks,
and "kibitz" and "whisper" are for commenting on a chess match you are
observing.  Please observe chess server etiquette guidelines when using these
commands.


REQUESTS

  Users need to make agreements about the kinds of chess matches they will be
playing.  They also need to make agreements about various situations during
the play of a chess match.  Requests serve as ways to reach agreements as well
as take the agreed upon action.  For example, users need to request the start
of a chess match.  When a match has been agreed upon, the server will start a
match between those two users.  During a match, one player may need to
adjourn; if an adjournment is agreed upon, the server will stop the match and
save the game so that it can be resumed later.  Read intro6 for more
information about chess matches and these special requests.

  USEFUL HINT: At times, a lot of messages from various users will come across
your screen.  To help you notice when a user has sent a message or request to
you personally (rather than to users on FICS), you can set the
highlight variable to to make them readily apparent (see highlight).

See Also:  etiquette  intro6  [and the individual commands]

[Last modified: June 16, 1995 -- Friar]