The Computer / Internet Committee was formed by the merger of the Computer Chess and Computer Communications Committees last August.
The Committee�s primary concerns during the year had to do with the USCF web site, the upgrading of the office computer system, and the Tournament Administrator program. There were a number of delays in these areas due in part to the transition in the office and related factors.
As expected, the World Wide Web continued to grow as a means of communication. The Delegates in August of 1996 passed a motion that clearly mandated that the site was to be maintained and improved, but this proved to be a problem as funding was not made available for that purpose. The result was that the operation of the web site was transferred from Websong Publishing to Engage Games Online in December, 1996. Engage had generously volunteered to host the site on a no charge basis. While they provided a server they did not provide the timely maintenance required of what is primarily an information site. An important opportunity was missed as the Christmas Catalog made its debut after Christmas and had significant problems when it did appear. The CIC outlined a number of problems with the website in general, and the catalog in particular, that needed attention. Another opportunity developed with the Kasparov-Deep Blue match. By the time of the match, thanks to John MacArthur and the office staff, a satisfactory catalog was online but there was still no online ordering of merchandise, renewal of memberships, or payment of rating fees. Availability of the catalog online was sufficient for a significant increase in phone orders for merchandise (approximately double the normal volume).
The Kasparov-Deep Blue match resulted in unprecedented visibility of chess in the news media and especially on the Internet. IBM�s official site for the match was linked to many of the highest visibility locations on the Internet. The IBM site included a direct link to US Chess Online (www.uschess.org) so that people who never knew of USCF could reach our site by clicking on a link that they found while on the IBM site. Our site, running on Engage�s server, received over 3 million "hits" during the time of the match. Websong publishing provided additional servers at no charge to handle the volume from game 5 forward. Thanks to Engage and Websong for their support.
"Chess Life Online" was added to the site in 1997 and quickly became one of its most popular features. It provided current news, games, and other information in a timely manner. The Correspondence and Scholastic areas have been enhanced and the "Guide to Scholastic Chess" is online. A new area for beginners has recently been implemented.
As of the deadline for this report plans are to hire Jaderiver Designs to maintain and develop the site. The remaining problems, including timely updates of ratings, TLAs, news, and other information, should no longer be a problem. Alternative measures are also in place in the event of further delays.
The web is now truly a mass media publication and the issues involved with the web site are becoming more editorial than technical. I propose that for 1998 and the future the editorial content of the web site (and there should be a web editor as soon as possible when finances allow one) be considered as within the scope of the Publications Committee. The Computer / Internet Committee will remain available for technical support of the Publications Committee and will jointly review feedback and web issues with the Publications Committee. At this point US Chess Online needs to be recognized for what it is - a very widely read publication - and it should be treated as such.
The Policy Board in May, 1997, committed to a policy of having a web site second to none.
The Computer / Internet Committee has reviewed the status of the Tournament Administrator program and has looked at the problem of upgrading the software under two parallel efforts. One idea was to hold a competition among volunteer programmers to develop DOS, Windows, and Mac versions acceptable to the office, the CIC, and Tournament Directors. Calls for volunteers were made and several people have volunteered for this project. The other idea was for USCF to get out of the software production business and simply certify third party software for use in submitting rating reports. This would allow more than one program to be used for submission of rating reports and give the author(s) full control over the software. Certification would be based on output submitted to the office. The committee has also recommended that certified rating report programs as well as pairing programs be carried in the USCF Catalog subject to normal selection criteria for products to be included in the catalog.
The Computer / Internet Committee has made itself available to the office for advice about the upgrading of office systems. The CIC will continue to consider HTML/Java/ActiveX standards as an ongoing project but has no recommendation at this time.
Respectfully submitted,Myron Lieberman, Chairman