As most of you are aware by now, the start of T55 will be delayed. Here is a summary of the situation.

The account of the FICS Head Admin was compromised on Thursday. FICS was shut down completely to prevent further damage. FICS admins are working to restore the server, but it may take time to travel to the physical location of the server. They are considering taking the chance to perform needed hardware upgrades while the server is down. Thus it is not possible to give a firm date for the return of FICS and TeamLeague, but it is unlikely to be before Friday, July 26.

A temporary server has been set up (fics2.freechess.org, port 23 or 5000). However, it is running using a personal Internet connection, and will not support as many users logged on as the real FICS. Furthermore, all games played on the temporary server, rating changes, messages, etc. will be erased once FICS returns.

Team entry for T55 will remain open. We have decided to wait to approve submitted teams and changes. Thanks to all players for their patience, and to the FICS admins for their work to bring the server back online.