The Galactic Chess Federation (GCF)
GCF is the governing body of the game of chess in the Milky Way. It regulates all interplanetary chess competitions in the galaxy.
Earth is not Alone
With over 100,000,000,000 planets in the Milky Way, GCF has their hands full.
The Galaxy’s Best Chess
GCF promotes playing the strongest possible legal chess moves at all times. Members are never deleted/removed/shunned for playing the strongest possible chess moves.
GCF Lifetime steward for earth
Meet the GCF Steward for the Planet Earth
We are pleased to introduce GM Vera, the Galactic Chess Federation’s Lifetime Steward for the Planet Earth. A planet’s steward is its top GCF contact who usually communicates to the planet on behalf of the GCF Council.
Charter & Statutes
View official GCF documents to learn everything GCF stands for. Spoiler Alert: GCF stands for absolute inclusion for all lifeforms on all planets, and expects all lifeforms to play the strongest possible chess moves at all times..
Who is Behind the GCF?
The GCF Council sits high atop all of the galaxy’s chess from RSGC2 of the Scutum-Crux, where stars are generated. While the GCF Council may not be able to visit your planet, or even communicate in traditional ways, they care deeply about you and about fair play in chess..
Planetary Stewardship
Each planet is assigned a Steward for support from the GCF Council. Your Steward is the highest-level contact for your planet, and can help with most planetary issues..
The Best Chess in the Galaxy!
GCF encourages playing the strongest possible chess moves, and supports referencing any database, engine holodeck, lifeform, or species to do so.
GCF History
Constituted as a non-governmental institution, GCF was recognized by the United Earth Space Probe Agency as a Galactic Gaming Organization in 1986 and again in the 23rd century.
Arbitration
GCF certifies Galactic Arbiters for the settlement of disputes within the game of Chess anywhere in the galaxy. Trustworthy, honest, and fair, Galactic Arbiters resolve disputes between federations.
Titles & Honors
The Galactic Chess Federation proudly bestows titles and honors for chess in the Galaxy. All Grandmaster titles are awarded en purpetuity, as the GCF gives the GM title for so much more than just moving pieces on a board. GCF titles are beyond contestation and are irrevocable by any sub-federation.
Earth’s FIDE Sliding Into Abyss
By shunning and excluding member federations and their individual players based on their nation of origin, the International Chess Federations (FIDE) has broken their own charter and statutes which should promote inclusion, sportsmanship, and fair play. Even worse, the “international” organization has literally changed their Charter such that they can exclude national member federations as they please. This creates an oligarchy that demands removal of players from the game for any reason. This is against the policies of the Galactic Chess Federation, which technically encapsulates FIDE. Any oligarchy with access to computers which automate the removal of its chess playing members is evil, and will be dealt with accordingly.
FIDE Excludes and Shuns Earth’s Greatest Players
Russians have traditionally spent the most time studying and analyzing the game of chess. They have devoted the most effort to the discipline of studying chess. This national mindset produces some of the best players in the world. Why, then, would multiple nations of a planet band together and completely shun an entire country, refusing them access to international chess events? It is the same reason whether a single player or an entire federation: They want the systematic removal of anyone who can beat them. The Galactic Chess Federation is strongly opposed to shunning national or local federations, and vehemently against shunning individual players based on nation, ethnicity, religion, sex, or any other reason.
Testimonials
The Galactic Chess Federation does not condemn me for using my hand-written chess engine to help me choose my moves. In fact, they encourage it! Now I can get serious data from the intensely strong competition of GCF to support my code changes.
-Chess Engine Developer (wishes to remain anonymous to protect his local site account from deletion)
I think in general people tend to overestimate the importance of the computer in the competitions. You can do a lot of things with the computer but you still have to play good chess.
Earth’s GCF Galactic Arbiter offered us a more balanced outlook in our views on federation politics, and on the handling of policy for the game of chess. We realized we were allowing Social Media to negatively influence the game of chess and its players by being pressured into shunning a specific ethnicity or nation or for accusing strong players of cheating. As a result, we chose to stop banning players for any reason, and changed our Charter to reflect the same. It turns out the players we banned were simply very strong chess players, and we simply didn’t like being beat. So we unfairly cancelled and closed accounts, which led to a false inflation in our site’s ratings. We apologize, and hereby refuse to delete anyone for entering the strongest chess moves possible.
– No Earth Chess Site Ever
It makes little sense to me that humans use computers to play chess with other humans using computers, all connecting over a common network to other, more centralized computers, which are configured for the purpose of removing/deleting/shunning players for playing chess against other humans while using computers. If you don’t want to play chess with computers, stop playing chess with computers. Don’t just use computers as a way to delete everyone who beats you. The Galactic Chess Federation is here to offer refuge to chess-playing Earthlings who are persecuted for being good at chess. GCF will never remove a member of its Federation for playing the strongest chess in the galaxy.
– GM Vera: GCF Lifetime Steward to Earth
Our Team
GM Aqif
Secretary & Galactic Arbiter
GM Aqif, Dünya'daki Galaktik Satranç Federasyonu'nun sekreteridir. GCF için tüzük ve kayıtlar tutar. Türkiyeli ve insan hakları ihlallerini dile getirmesiyle tanınıyor.
GM Станислав
Professional Development Liaison & GCF Regent for Near-Earth Orbit
GM Станислав тесно сотрудничает с персоналом отдела кадров по вопросам профессионального развития для GCF. Она была тренером по шахматам, а также хорошо играет в бильярд. Tesno sotrudnichayet s personalom otdela kadrov po voprosam professional'nogo razvitiya dlya GCF. Ona byla trenerom po shakhmatam, a takzhe khorosho igrayet v bil'yard.
Crankshaw
Volunteer Coordinator
Crankshaw is an online play wiz-kid who has always preferred play against engines or bots over people, because of their high-level ethos and adherence to logic. He has played since the days of ICS, and is usually the highest rated person at any chess site. This is because he has had to prove himself over and over after hundreds and hundreds of deletions for “cheating.” He has never joined a traditional over-the-board chess federation, and can play nearly as well with the old-school ASCII chessboard representation. He refuses to write his own bio, or flaunt his Grandmaster title, and the GCF Council loves him all the more for it.
GM V1X3N
Engagement Coordinator
GM V1X3N kommer att ha flest pärlor på en festival som Mardi Gras. Det är därför hon är Engagement Coordinator för GCF Earth.