Seek Graph Help
The Seek Graph window graphically displays the current seek ads outstanding
on the chess server. You can display the Seek Graph by selecting the Seek Graph
item from the Windows menu after logging
onto a chess server. If the Seek Graph is enabled when you logoff, Fixation
will automatically re-enable the Seek Graph when you logon to another chess
server (except chess.net). The image shows the Seek Graph running on the ICC.
The seek ads are plotted with Rating versus Time. The top right displays
the current number of seek ads outstanding and the number of not shown (ns)
ads. The number of ns ads is controlled by the
Seek Graph Options. The graph is divided into three
sections with two vertical yellow lines. The leftmost section is for "bullet" (ICC)
or "lightning" (FICS/USCL) times, the middle section for "blitz" times and the
rightmost section for "standard" times.
Ad Shapes
Seek ads are shown either as circles or squares. Seeks issued by non-computer
users are shown as circles, seeks issued by computers are shown as squares. You
can prevent all computer ads from appearing by unchecking the "Show computer ads"
option in the Seek Graph Options.
Alternatively, you can use the sfilter
variable on the ICC or your formula
on the FICS/USCL to control computer ads.
Ad Colors
The color of the seek ad depends on the game type:
- green
Normal chess.
- blue
Loser's chess (i.e. Wild 17) and its variants, Giveaway (Wild 26) and
Atomic (Wild 27).
- red
Wild chess except for 17, 26 and 27.
- cyan
Unplayable ads. Ads are not playable if you do not meet the rating
range set in the ad. This only works properly if you are logged onto
an ICC server. You can prevent all unplayable ads from appearing by
unchecking the "Show unplayable ads" option in the
Seek Graph Options.
Mouse Actions
If you place the mouse pointer over a seek ad, more information about the ad
will appear in the information line at the bottom of the window. In the example
shown above:
- 208 is the seek ad number
- ProblemBot is the user that issued the seek. The user's titles are
in parenthesis. In this case, the user is a Computer and is a DM (ICC only title).
- 2000P is the user's rating. The P means its a
provisional rating.
- Wild(20) gives the type of game sought, in this case, Wild type 20.
- 30 10 provides the time (in minutes) and increment (in seconds).
- unrated means the game will not be rated.
- b means the user issuing the seek will play black.
- m means the user will manually accept or decline your match request
if you respond to the seek ad.
Some ad information may also have a trailing f which means you must satisfy
the user's formula.
If you click the ad, Fixation will send a
play command to the
server for that seek ad.
If you hold the option key while clicking an ad, Fixation will
finger the seeker
and show the results in the text window.
If you hold the shift key while clicking an ad, Fixation will
assess the seeker
and show the results in the text window.
Seeks Filtered by the Server
The ICC server filters ads received by Fixation depending on the value of
your "sfilter" variable. So if you set sfilter to "-c" (do not display
computer ads), you will not see computer ads in the graph even if you have
requested them in the Seek Graph options. The FICS and USCL servers use
the value of your formula to filter seek ads sent to Fixation.
Guest ads
Guests are unregistered users on a chess server. Guests always have a rating of
0 regardless of the rating type and can only play unrated games. As a result,
guest ads will always appear as circles at the bottom of the Seek Graph.
You can prevent all guests ads from appearing by unchecking the "Show guest ads"
option in the Seek Graph Options.
Ads during Game Play
When you start a game, the server will temporarily stop sending seek ads to
you until you the game has ended. The server does this to minimize the amount
of lag that you will have during the game. Once the game has ended, the server will
resume sending seek ads again (unless you have closed the Seek
Graph window while playing the game).
Limitations
- The window size can only be set to small, medium or large.
- The layout cannot be changed.
- If you change the settings of the Seek Graph Options,
you must close and re-open the Seek Graph for the filters to take effect.
- The Seek Graph is not supported on chess.net. chess.net uses an convoluted
seek ad format that makes it very difficult to track in the Seek Graph.
There are no plans to add support for chess.net seek ads.
Revised: November 15, 2004
