RetroMate

A Free Internet Chess Server front-end for modern and retro computers.

What is FICS, the Free Internet Chess Server?

FICS is a free chess matchmaking service hosted at freechess.org:5000 using Telnet. Log in using guest as the user and type help to explore. FICS supports a variety of game modes (standard, blitz, crazyhouse, wild, suicide, etc.). You’ll find several bots to play against, and human players are usually online as well.

Conception

RetroMate was originally proposed by Oliver Schmidt. He suggested the idea and offered to provide a framework using IP65 so I could focus on developing the game. Without Oliver, this project would not have happened.

Platforms

As of 10 July 2025, RetroMate runs on:

• Apple II
• Commodore 64
• Atari XL
• SDL2-based systems (Windows, Linux, macOS)

View Screenshots (below)
Watch Video on YouTube

8-bit Requirements: Hardware / Emulators

The 8-bit versions use IP65, or SwiftLink/Turbo232, so you’ll need hardware, or an emulator with IP65 support. Recommended emulators for IP65:

• Apple II: AppleWin
• Commodore 64: VICE
• Atari XL: Altirra

Recommended hardware for Swiftlink/Turb0232:

• Commodore 64 : TeensyROM

For AppleWin and VICE to work on Windows, you will need npcap. It can be downloaded from https://npcap.com/#download.
I have found many versions of VICE (I have 5 x64.exe's on my system right now), and with only 1 was I able to configure RRNet and get it working.
The Apple II version needs to know in which slot the Uthernet card is. The program and launcher have this in their file name. By default, they are called rmate3, which indicates the network card is in slot 3. Rename both according to your own needs.

Code & Development

The Apple II, Atari XL, and C64 versions are built with cc65 and written mostly in C. The high-resolution drawing code - originally created in 6502 assembly, by Oliver Schmidt, for cc65-Chess is reused here.

The SDL2 version is entirely in C and has been compiled using Clang, GCC, and Visual Studio 2022.

Using RetroMate

Offline Menu

Before connecting:

• Set your FICS account and password (or use a guest account - default).
• Optionally, configure a different server or port.

Game Setup

Choose from several game types:

• Standard, Blitz, Lightning, Untimed: Classical chess with varying time controls.
• Crazyhouse, Suicide, Wild (0–5, 8, 8a, fr): Chess variants.

Settings:

• Rated: Available to registered users. Set to "Yes" to play rated games.
• Use Sought: If "Yes", look for existing opponent requests. If "No", the game sends a new seek request with the following options:
  • Start Time: Minutes on your clock at game start.
  • Increment Time: Seconds added after every move.
  • Min/Max Ratings: Try to find players within this skill range.

Default time settings:

• Standard: 15+0
• Blitz: 5+2
• Lightning: 2+2
• Others: 3+0

Note: For Wild 0 and 1, castling must be done in the terminal using o-o or o-o-o.

Terminal View

Use the menu or press TAB or CTRL+T to switch to the Telnet terminal. Here you can use FICS commands directly. Press ESC, TAB, or CTRL+T to return to the game board.

Useful Terminal Commands

• finger: View your account info (e.g., GuestXXXX)
• match <user>: Challenge a specific user
• games: List all active games
• observe <game#>: Watch a game in progress
• unobserve [game#]: Stop watching a game
• resign, abort: Resign or request abort
• say <text>: Send message to your opponent
• sought: View active seeks
• seek [params]: Advertise a new game request
• refresh, logout, help [subject]

RetroMate is stateless - you can, for example, observe multiple games at once (not practical, but supported).

Chess Board Controls

• Use arrow keys or WASD to move the cursor
• RETURN: Select a piece and confirm move
• CTRL+S: Say something to your opponent
• ESC: Show/hide the menu
• TAB or CTRL+T: Toggle to/from terminal

Even when it’s not your turn, you can select a piece to prepare your move - useful for fast games.

UI indicators:

• Shows players' names and sides/colors
• "Next" = who moves next
• "Last" = last move made
• Status updates (from e.g., say, resign, checkmate) appear below "Last:"

Mouse Support

In the SDL2 and C64 (1351 mouse supported) versions:

• Left-click = RETURN
• Right-click = ESC
  The mouse appears not to work well under Vice, but it works very well on real hardware.

Building RetroMate

RetroMate uses CMake. Typically:

mkdir build
cd build
cmake .. -G "Unix Makefiles" -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=$VCPKG_ROOT/scripts/buildsystems/vcpkg.cmake
make  # or ninja/nmake depending on generator

SDL2 Setup (via vcpkg)

For Linux (including WSL):

sudo apt install curl libtool
# I had already installed, in the past, at least: build-essential cmake ninja-build clang
git clone https://github.com/microsoft/vcpkg.git
cd vcpkg && ./bootstrap-vcpkg.sh

# Add these to ~/.bashrc
export VCPKG_ROOT=/your/path/to/vcpkg
export PATH=$PATH:$VCPKG_ROOT

# Install dependencies
vcpkg install sdl2 sdl2-ttf sdl2-image

Build Targets

The build targets are

* apple2
* atarixl
* c64
* sdl2

Each has a _test target (e.g., make c64_test) to run in emulator if detected.

Emulator/Tool path variables

Variable	Tool Searched For
VICE_HOME	x64sc x64 & c1541
APPLEWIN_HOME	applewin AppleWin.exe
CP2_HOME	cp2
ATARI_HOME	Altirra
DIR2ATR_HOME	dir2atr
CC1541_HOME	cc1541 (if not using c1541 from Vice)

Tool download URLs

Disk Image tools	URL
CiderPress-II (cp2)	https://ciderpress2.com/
dir2atr (Atari)	https://www.horus.com/~hias/atari/
c1541 (C64)	Included with VICE distribution
cc1541 (Alternative to 1541)	https://bitbucket.org/ptv_claus/cc1541

Release History

Release	Title	Date
Beta	Apple 2	6 June 2025
V1.00	apple2 atarixl c64 sdl2	8 July 2025
V1.01	SwiftLink/Turbo232	23 July 2025
V1.02	CBM 1351 mouse	7 August 2025

Screenshots

Apple II

Atari XL

Commodore 64

SDL2 (Modern Platforms)

Contact

swessels@email.com