Any old internet chess games?

[John McKenna]

The first Internet chess server (ICS), programmed by Michael Moore and Richard Nash, was launched on 15 January 1992. Players logged in by telnet, and the board was displayed as ASCII text. Bugs in the server software allowed illegal moves, false checkmates etc...

(Internet Chess Club Wikipedia)

Does anyone have an internet chess game older than the following?

[Event "G/5'"] [Site "USCL"] [Date "2002.02.17"] [Round "?"] [White "Martian"] [Black "Professore"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D02"] [Plycount "132"] 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 Be7 5.O-O O-O 6.b3 b6 7.Bb2 Bb7 8.Nbd2 c5 9.c4 dxc4 10.Nxc4 Nc6 11.dxc5 Bxc5 12.Qc1 Rc8 13.Rd1 Qe7 14.Qf4 Rfd8 15.h4 h6 16.Bxf6 Qxf6 17.Qxf6 gxf6 18.a4 Kf8 19.Nfd2 Ke7 20.e3 Bb4 21.Nf3 Ba6 22.Rxd8 Rxd8 23.Rc1 Bxc5 24.Nfd2 Nb4 25.Ne4 Nd3 26.Nxc5 Nxc5 27.Na5 Rd2 28.Nc6+ Kf8 29.Nb8 Bd3 30.Rc3 Rb2 31.Nc6 Rxb3 32.Rxb3 Nxb3 33.Nxa7 Nc5 34.Bc6 Bc2 35.Kf1 Bxa4 36.Bxa4 Nxa4 37.Ke2 Ke7 38.Nc6+ Kd6 39.Nd8 Ke7 40.Nc6+ Kd7 41.Nd4 Nc5 42.f3 Kc7 43.e4 Nd7 44.Kd2 Ne5 45.f4 Nc4+ 46.Kd3 Nd6 47.f5 Kd7 48.h5 Nb7 49.Nb5 Nd6 50.Nd4 b5 51.g4 e5 52.Nc2 Nb7 53.Nb4 Nc5+ 54.Ke3 Kd6 55.Nd5 Nd7 56.Kd3 Kc5 57.Ne7 b4 58.Ng8 b3 59.Kc3 b2 60.Kxb2 Kd4 61.Nxh6 Kxe4 62.Nxf7 Nf8 63.g5 Kxf5 64.gxf6 Kxf6 65.Nxe5 Kg5 66.h6 Kxh6 1/2-1/2

[Alan Walton]

Don’t think I have them saved; but definitely would have played before that

I remember being able to play on ICC at university by installing the package off the network, this was around 1998-2000

Prior to that I had also been playing on FICS

[Paul McKeown]

Well, I remember playing games on Compuserve, before the advent of the web.

Are you specifically asking about chess on web servers?

[Roger de Coverly]

Well, I remember playing games on Compuserve, before the advent of the web.

ICS style servers allowed blitz play. Compuserve allowed postal style play and had one of the first chess discussion forums. But did Compuserve support Blitz and did it pre-date ICS? We're talking early 1990s or possibly even late 1980s. Universities were networked very early on, so rig ups to play chess are likely to have been invented. You could also communicate with the machine using tetetype, so video displays aren't necessary.

[Paul McKeown]

There were a couple of front-ends available, which you could download and install, but like everything in Compuserve, it cost limbs to use. Perhaps 1994, 1995 or 1996? Of course, there were also plenty of pbm channels on Compuserve, as you say.

[Paul McKeown]

I think the big innovation about FICS and its commercial descendant (making no comment on the controversy), was the automated pairings, rather than agreeing to meet.

[John McKenna]

Well, I remember playing games on Compuserve, before the advent of the web.

Are you specifically asking about chess on web servers?

Chess played in the early days of the internet, between two humans, and preferably not via email.

E.g. not Valvo,M v. Deep Thought, 1989 Unix Mail Internet match

But, games prior to, say -

Kasparov,G v. McShane,L Internet simul 1995/04/12

Either from your own collection or trawled up from the Internet.

Edit -

I think the big innovation about FICS and its commercial descendant (making no comment on the controversy), was the automated pairings, rather than agreeing to meet.

"... The first Internet chess server, named the Internet Chess Server (ICS), started in January 1992. The software was coded, supported, and operated by volunteers until 1995, when administrators began charging players for membership and changed the name to ICC...

Several former ICS programmers saw the commercialisation of ICS as an exploitation of their work.

This group, led by Chris Petroff and Henrik Gram, developed FICS as an alternative to the paid model, giving users free, unrestricted access. The server debuted on 3 March 1995...

In 1998, the Free Internet Chess Organization (FICS) was organized as a nonprofit organization...

In 2007, the legal entity was involuntarily dissolved. The server is still maintained and administered by volunteers... "

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_In ... ess_Server