The Free Internet Chess Server (FICS) is a web portal where people from all over the world play chess. Features include a player rating system, international tournaments and the ability to follow and discuss other people's games.
Though it is possible to play anonymously, to create a user account visit www.freechess.org. Players may see their games at http://ficsgames.org.
To start FICS use
Scid vs. PC currently does not support the commercial ICC Chess Server, but could do so by tweaking the string matches in "fics.tcl". FICS and ICC have a shared history.