Index

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Welcome to KGS

Downloading and Installing CGoban, the KGS Client

CGoban Main Window

Introduction to KGS

KGS Plus

Tournaments

KGS on Android™

Terms of Service

Admin Announcements

Newbie FAQ

Main KGS Window

Set Preferences

Server Stats

"New Game" Window

Game Window

Playing Games

Game Types

Supported Rule Sets

Supported Time Systems

Tagged Games

Rating System

Rating System Math

Main FAQ

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Information for Help Editors
Resources for Help Editors
Help Discussion
Recent Changes

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Main KGS Window

Introduction to KGS  

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

• Use the line at the bottom of a chat room to say "hi" and ask questions.
  
  
  • The names of the people in a chat room are listed on the right side of the chat room window.
  • Right click on a name and then click on "talk to" for a private chat.
    --- Click on "buddy" to make a name appear at top of the list.
  • Use the "leave message" option on the user menu to get in touch with somebody who is not in the room.
  
  
• There are three ways to get a game.
  
  
  • Accept another player's game offer.  Click on one of the games in boldface at the top of the game list.
  • Make your own game offer.  Click on the Custom Game button.
  • Use the KGS automatch feature.  Click on "Play Go", the second item on the main menu.
    
    
  The quickest way to get a game is to use all three methods at the same time.
  
  
• Here is a tutorial to help you get started Playing Games on KGS.
  
  
• More questions?  Try the Newbie FAQ!
  
  
  

Rooms Window

A tab for each room you have open

main menu bar

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

Four Buttons

People in the room. Click to chat.

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 escaper FAQ.

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

Takes you to the top of this help page

Number of moves made in each game

Number of people watching each game

Rooms Window

There is a tab for each of the rooms that you are in. Each room has the following parts:

• On the left 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.
• There are four buttons on the top right:
  
  • The Custom Game button. Press this to create a new game.
  • The Resume Game This button allows you to resume games that are unfinished. Games on the drop-down menu are in italics when your opponent is on-line. Click on the game to invite them to resume the game. They will be notified via a dialog box on their screen. If you lose your connection while playing a game, log back in, and use this button to return to the game.
  • The Stack/Unstack rooms button. You can use this to split the current room into two panes. Start with the room that you want to see most, then click on the Stack/Unstack button to put that room at the bottom, with the other rooms accessible by tabs at the top.
  • The Close button. Click this to leave the room.
• On the right is the list of all users in the current 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 gray to indicate that they may not be paying attention to KGS right now. Admins have stars next to their names.
• In the lower left is the recent chat in this room.
• On the very bottom is the chat line, a field where you can type your own chat message.
• In the bottom right hand corner is a Help button that takes you to the top of this page.
  
  

Main Menu Bar

The main menu bar is at the top of the rooms window.

File menu

• "Message of the Day" displays a dialog with the current message of the day
• "Set Preferences" is how you change the way you interact with KGS. For example, you can change the font size, language, and warning sounds.
• "Server Stats" opens a window where you can see statistics for the go server.
• "Upload SGF File To ..." displays a dialog box that lists all of the rooms that are currently open. Select one of the rooms. You are presented with an open file dialog box. Select a file to upload. A demonstration game window appears that allows you to review the SGF file you selected.
• "Upload (P) SGF File to..." works exactly the same way as the previous menu item, except that the demonstration game that is private.
• "Log Out" logs you off the server. You can also log off by clicking the close symbol in the upper right of the window. After logging off, please use the quit button on the CGoban window to close the connection.

Play Go menu

• "Automatch" toggles on/off the automatic searching for players who match your Automatch preferences.
• "Automatch Preferences" brings up a window containing options for setting the type of game you would like Automatch to find for you.

User menu

• "Register":  Makes your account permanent if you are a guest. This entry is grayed out if you are already registered.
• "Edit Personal Information":  Brings up your personal information page. You can look at your account information, your game history, your rank graph, and your tagged games here, change your profile, email, password, and other settings. If you are currently playing a game, it will be in bold at the top of your game history. This is one way to get back into a game after system crash. In other words, you can use your game history to get back into the game if you lose your connection while you are playing a game. Alternatively, you can use the "resume" button.
• "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 7 kB. 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": A toggle that, when checked, causes most incoming private chat requests to be ignored. (Chats from admins and from buddies still get through.)
• "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.  They can not PM you, they can not leave you a message, and automatch does not pair them with you.
• "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 their user information window. More easily, you can access the user information by right-clicking on a user's name. The user information page has buttons that allow you to put that user on your buddy list, your censor list, and/or your fan list. You may also view the user's game history, tagged games, and rank graph. If the user is currently playing a game, it will appear in bold at the top of their game history. A click on the bold game allows you to watch that game.
• "Leave Message":  Selecting this menu item brings up a dialog where you type a user's name and a message for them. When the message is sent, one of two things happens. If the user is currently online, a new private chat room opens. However, if the user is currently offline, the message is stored until that user next logs in. That user receives the message the next time they log in.

Rooms menu

• "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 Fan List near the bottom of the User Menu.)

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-grayed out) lecture to see it.

Help menu

• "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.

Related Links

Related Links

• Introduction to KGS
  • Welcome to KGS
  • Newbie FAQ
  • The three ways to get a game
    
    • Accept another player's game offer.
    • Make you own game offer.
    • Automatch
• More links mentioned on this page.
  • Reviewing Games
  • User Information
• Automatch Overview
  • Automatch
  • Automatch FAQ
  • Automatch Preferences
  • Automatch Misunderstandings
• Other relevant links
  • The Main FAQ answers many questions.
  • All of the links in the Index Box are related to this page. The Index Box is in the upper right hand corner of every help page.
  • Having problems? Have a look at our Trouble Shooting page.
  • For cell phone users, there is an Android client.
• Etiquette
  • terms of service
  • writing in chat lines
  • playing a game
  • watching a game

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