Chess for FICS

Lazydroid

About this app

An unofficial Android client for the Free Internet Chess Server — freechess.org — a free, long-running chess server with players on it around the clock.

Log in with your FICS handle, or as a guest with no account at all, and the
whole server is on your phone: live games, real clocks, chat, and a chess
engine that runs on the device.

NOT AFFILIATED WITH FICS
This app is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the Free Internet
Chess Server. "for FICS" describes the server it connects to, nothing more. A
FICS account is free, and you can also play as a guest.

PLAY
• Presets from 1-minute bullet to 30-minute games, or set your own minutes and
increment
• Post a seek, browse everyone else's, or challenge a player directly
• Rated games with a registered handle; guests play unrated
• Drag or tap to move, with up to six premoves queued
• Draw, abort, resign, takeback and "+1 minute" offers
• Live clocks, check and material indicators, auto-promote options

WATCH
• Observe any game on the server — several at once, in tabs
• Jump straight to the top blitz or top standard game
• Follow a player, and read kibitz and whispers beside the board

ANALYSE
• Stockfish runs on your phone: no account, no server, no network
• Classical evaluation works offline out of the box; an optional neural network
(NNUE) downloads from Settings for a stronger one
• Evaluation bar and best lines in ordinary chess notation
• Post-game review: accuracy, blunders, mistakes and inaccuracies, both sides

OPENINGS
• 3,806 named opening lines, bundled with the app and entirely offline
• Walk the tree move by move, or search by name
• The line you are playing is named under the board as the game goes

THE REST OF THE SERVER
• Console for raw FICS commands, with your favourites saved
• Chat: private tells, channels and shouts
• Users list, channel list, and finger/history look-up for any player
• Server news and your private messages
• Finished games saved on the device, searchable, exportable as PGN

BUILT FOR A REAL PHONE
• Reconnects on its own after a drop, and re-joins the games you were watching
• Optional "stay logged in when idle" — FICS otherwise logs you out after an
hour without a command
• Light and dark themes, board themes, sound and haptics, all configurable
• Landscape and tablet layouts put the board and the controls side by side

FREE SOFTWARE
Chess for FICS is free software under the GNU General Public License v3, and it bundles Stockfish, which is GPLv3 as well. The full licence text ships inside the app, under Settings → Licence & source. The complete corresponding source is at: https://github.com/lazydroid/fics-client-android

What’s new

New
• Parental controls: chat and channels can be switched off, and stay off for children
• Choose your colour when you seek: white, black or either
• Post a seek as "manual" and accept each challenger yourself

Fixed
• Android 15 no longer ends the session after six hours
• After a dropped connection the board is re-read from the server
• Reopening the app no longer shows the login screen while you are connected
• Analysis no longer freezes the app

Smaller download. Unofficial FICS client.