Main Help Page
FAQ

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The main client window
The new game window
The game window
The preferences window
The server stats window

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Rating system

Rating system Math

Playing games

Games Types

Supported Rule Sets

Supported time systems

Tournaments

Swiss Pairings

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Information for help editors
Help Discussion
Recent changes

Translations Available (click a flag to view):

Help for KGS Main Window

The KGS main window is the first thing you see after logging in. It has chat rooms, game lists, and menus that let you set up games.

File menu commands:

• "Message of the Day" displays a dialog with the current message of the day
• "Set Preferences" displays a dialog in which you can change a few of the ways you interact with KGS. For example, you can change its font size, language, and warning sounds.
• "Server Stats" opens a window where you can see statistics for the go server.
• "Upload SGF File to..." has a submenu that list all of the rooms that are currently open. After selecting one of the rooms from the submenu you will be presented with an open file dialog. After you select the file to be uploaded a new Demonstration game window will appear with the sgf file you selected. (Caution: large sgf files may have long load times. this is dependent on the upstream of your connection and the processing/memory capabilities of your system. SGF files that do not conform to SGF standards may cause unpredictable behavior of Cgoban3.) See also how to use Review functionality.
• "Upload (P) SGF File to..." works exactly the same way as the previous menu item, except that the demonstration game that is created will be private.
• "Log Out" logs you off the server. You can also log off by clicking the close box (X) in the upper right of the window.

Play Go menu commands:

• "Automatch" toggles on/off the automatic searching for players who match your Automatch preferences (once a partner is found by Automatch, the game will start automatically, so make sure you are ready before clicking). Note that you should not leave an Automatch game, even if it less than 10 moves long, or you will be marked as an escaper
• "Automatch Preferences" brings up a window containing options for setting the type of game you would like Automatch to find for you.

A tab for each room you have open

The main menu

This tab is pale because it is the room you are now in

This tab is blue because someone has chatted in the room since you last looked

Buttons

People in the room

Their ranks

These icons indicate prizewinners, admins, etc.

People above this line are my "buddies"

An evented game

Game offers, in bold type

The type of game: Rated, Free, etc.

Games being played, in normal type

You can move this bar up and down

The chat for the room

Unicode characters are supported

This is where you type in your own chat. But please read the KGS Terms of Service first.

The user saying this ought to read the FAQ about escapers.

The names of people making game offers

Their ranks

Descriptive game titles written by people offering games

White
Black

You can hover over games in this list for more information, and right-click to join a game or re-order the list

You can right-click on any name in this list for a menu about the person and the list

Sliders, to let you see what else is in the panels

This button takes you to this help page

Number of moves made in each game

Number of people watching each game

User menu commands:

• "Register" makes your account permanent if you are a guest.
• "Edit Personal Information" brings up your account information. You can look at your game history here, change your info, email, home page, and other settings.
• "Upload Picture" brings up a dialog where you can specify the picture that appears with your info, and alongside your name when you play a game. The picture you choose to upload must be a JPG, must not exceed 141x200 pixels, and must not exceed 7Kb. It will not appear immediately, uploaded pictures are checked for acceptability first, which may take a day or so.
• "Read Messages" allows you to read any messages that were sent to your account while it was off line.
• "No Chats" is a toggle that when checked will cause any incoming private chat request to be ignored.
• "Buddy List" opens a new window that will allow you to edit your Buddy list. Buddies show up in a special section at the top of user lists in both rooms and games to make it easier to find your friends.
• "Censor List" works just like Buddy List with the exception that this is a list of users you have censored. You cannot see any text written by a censored user and game challenges from them are ignored.
• "Fan List": when a user in your fan list plays a game it will show up in the "Fan Games" tab.
• "View User's Information" brings up a dialog where you type a user's name to look at that user's information. More easily, you can see user information by right-clicking on a user's name.
• "Leave Message" Selecting this menu item will also bring up a dialog requesting a user name. After entering the correct information a new message window will be displayed. When the message is sent one of two things will happen. If the user is currently online a new private chat room will open. However if the user is currently offline the message will be stored until that user next logs in, and you will be returned to the main rooms window.

Rooms menu commands:

• "Room list" displays a new window with all the rooms on the server listed in a tree view.
• "Create New Room" lets you create a new room. In order to make the room permanent you must ask a senior admin and request your room be made permanent, they will consider your case carefully based on its merits
• "[]Open Games" opens/closes the "Open Games" tab on the Rooms screen. The "Open Games" tab displays a server wide listing of all open games.
• "[]Active games" Similar to "[]Open Games" this will display a tab with all of the active games listed.
• "[]Fan Games" opens/closes a tab with all of your fan games listed. (see information about "Fan list").

Windows menu:

The Windows menu has a line for each KGS window that you have open. Clicking on the line transfers your focus to that window.

KGS Plus menu:

• "About... " tells you what the KGS Plus service is, and how you can subscribe to it.
• "See schedule" shows you the schedule of KGS events.
• "Recent Lectures" gives a list of recent past KGS lectures. You can select one to see the lecture. If you have not subscribed to KGS Plus, some of them will be greyed out, and not available to you.
• "Saved Lectures" gives a complete list of past KGS lectures. Select a year and month to get a list of lectures for that month, then select a (non-greyed out) lecture to see it.

Help menu commands:

• "Help" opens a browser window displaying this page.
• "KGS Terms Of Service" takes you to the page detailing the KGS terms of service.
• "About..." gives your client's version number, etc.

Chat Rooms The rooms window will contain a Tab for each of the rooms that you are in.

Each room has the following parts:

• The top set of buttons:
• The "Custom Game" button. Press this to create a new game.
• The "Resume Game" This button allows you resume games that are unfinished. If the opponent is online when a game is resumed they will be notified via a dialog on their screen.
• The (Split Pane) button. You can use this to Split the current room into a new pane. Start with the room that you want to see most, then click on the Split Pane button to put that room permanently at the bottom, with the other rooms accessible by tabs at the top.
• The (Close) button. Click this to leave the room.

• Next is the list of games. Bold games are waiting for another player. Click on the games to join them as either a player or an observer.
• On the right is the list of all players in this room. Left-click on a player to start a conversation with them (the conversation will appear in the main client window). Right-click on them for a list of options, including the ability to view their stats/results/etc. Players who haven't done anything in 10 minutes will become grey to indicate that they may not be paying attention to KGS right now. Admins will have stars next to their names.
• In the lower left are the messages that people have said in this room.
• On the very bottom is a field where you can type your own messages.

Note that this page is under construction. In the meantime you can check the FAQ which has a few questions about escapers, and technical problems you may encounter with the client.