Editing Internet Chess Club (section)

==History==
The first [[Internet chess server]] (ICS), programmed by Michael Moore and Richard Nash, was launched on 15 January 1992.<ref>[http://www.freechess.org/Events/Anniversary/ "Internet Chess Anniversary – History"], [[Free Internet Chess Server]], Retrieved 14 September 2009.</ref> Players logged in by [[telnet]], and the board was displayed as [[ASCII]] text. Bugs in the server software allowed illegal moves, false checkmates etc. Over time more and more features were added to ICS, such as [[Elo rating system|Elo ratings]] and a choice of [[Graphical user interface|graphical interfaces]]. The playing pool grew steadily, many of the server bugs were fixed, and players began to have higher expectations for stability.

Later on in 1992, [[Daniel Sleator]] (darooha) volunteered to take over as head programmer, and began a large overhaul of the server code. He addressed, among other issues, the frequent complaint that players would lose blitz games on time due to Internet lag. In 1994, he copyrighted the code, and began receiving purchase offers from companies wanting to commercialize the server. On 1 March 1995, Sleator announced his intentions to commercialize ICS, renaming it the Internet Chess Club, or ICC, and charging a yearly membership fee. The membership is free for players with a [[Grandmaster (chess)|Grandmaster]] or [[International Master]] title.

Some programmers who had worked on the original ICS became unhappy with what they saw as the commoditization of their project. Led by Chris Petroff, they formed the [[Free Internet Chess Server]] (FICS), which to this day continues to allow everyone to access all features for free.<ref name="History of ICS">[http://www.edcollins.com/chess/fics-icc.htm "Pawns Call King a Rook"], Brad Stone, Retrieved 14 September 2009.</ref>

On 29 May 2007, the [[World Chess Network]] was bought by the Internet Chess Club. It was then merged with [[Chess Live]], another Internet chess server acquired by Internet Chess Club from GamesParlor. The result of the acquisition and merger was the formation of World Chess Live, a new Internet chess server that merged features of both services.<ref>{{cite news |title=WCL – Press release |author=Joel M. Berez and Martin Grund |publisher=World Chess Live |date=29 May 2007 |url=http://www.worldchesslive.com/trywcl/pressrelease.html |access-date=6 September 2011 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110810181908/http://www.worldchesslive.com/trywcl/pressrelease.html |archive-date=10 August 2011 }}</ref> World Chess Live merged into, and become part of, the Internet Chess Club on 19 March 2012.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.worldchesslive.com/ |title=Welcome to World Chess Live |publisher=World Chess Live |access-date=2 July 2012 |archive-date=17 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120617084054/http://www.worldchesslive.com/ |url-status=usurped }}</ref> For some years, the [[Spanish language|Spanish]] on-line chess portal JaqueMate.org had technological support provided by ICC. The portal closed on 30 April 2013 with members transferred to ICC.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.jaquemate.org/noticias/ver_noticia.aspx?iCode=880 |title=JaqueMate cierra. ICC te abre sus puertas |publisher=JaqueMate.org |date=30 April 2013 |access-date=30 April 2013}}</ref>