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Up Topic The Rybka Lounge / Chess / Where to play online chess?
- - By Gambit-man (**) Date 2012-04-17 22:03
Hi all,
disenchanted by the changes (and lack of support for those who are having difficulty with those changes) on chess.com, i'm now looking around for somewhere else to play online.
I'm a serious, mediocre player, i like a mix of blitz (5min+5sec/move) and turn-based games.
I've looked around for a good alternative, some have really garish looks, some i cannot see without first completing a registration. I have no objection to registration, so long as i know i'm gonna play there regularly, but i don't want to be giving out my details to everybody.

i run Win7, and currently have no preference on whether the new place is browser-based or requires a client to play. Somewhere that has certain chat/forum options might be worthwhile too.

Any suggestions? A screen shot or two could be helpful in making my mind up.
Parent - - By Barnard (Bronze) Date 2012-04-17 23:09
register on playchess.com,always is there someone to play blitz chess
Parent - - By Gambit-man (**) Date 2012-04-18 11:28
i played there with my free membership when i bought Fritz. i found it to have a few annoying bugs, and i've since heard of other people having problems with their membership entitlements. good for the user interface (Fritz), but lacks a forum area. still worth considering though
Parent - - By siah (***) Date 2012-04-19 10:07
What bugs did you find on chessbase?
Parent - By Gambit-man (**) Date 2012-04-19 10:23
losing server regularly, inability to give applause (sometimes), inability to chat (sometimes)
Parent - - By Labyrinth (****) [us] Date 2012-04-17 23:57
I really miss icc, just can't spare the cash to renew the account.

Internet Chess Club is cool!
Parent - - By Gambit-man (**) Date 2012-04-18 11:25
used to play there too, many years ago. like you, the membership rates were off-putting back then, what are they now?
the downside was the lack of forums to converse with friends... has that improved?
Parent - By Labyrinth (****) [us] Date 2012-04-18 12:08
I don't know on either question. It's been a while :-( Too long ;-(
Parent - - By Strider (**) Date 2012-04-18 07:20
www.gamecolony.com
Parent - By Gambit-man (**) Date 2012-04-18 11:22
had a look there just now, can't see the screen without first registering. any screen shots?
Parent - - By JhorAVi (***) [ph] Date 2012-04-18 17:18
I can recommend two and they are Free.

1. ChessOK.com   You need to download their great chess client but Note most people here are Serious Russian Chessplayers.
2. Chesscube.com The BEST of the BEST!! Community is big, Chess here is FUN with plenty of chats and pretty girls too!
Parent - - By Gambit-man (**) Date 2012-04-18 18:46
just had a look at your suggestions, i actually had a quick look at chesscube yesterday too, but saw more detail today. i see there are tournaments with prizes, some of those even have a free entry. i noticed yesterday that the site itself looks more professional than any other i've seen. i don't like the look of the standard piece set though, but i see that others are available (for a cost). is there some sort of currency thing going on there? perhaps you could give me more information about this?

chessok looks to me to be the one with the more similar feel to chess.com, although i see the play is trough a dedicated client. it kinda reminded me of a cross between the ICC and Chess Assistant.

Further investigation is required, but these two so far look like better options then others i have seen. many thanks:grin:
Parent - - By JhorAVi (***) [ph] Date 2012-04-19 17:23 Edited 2012-04-19 17:27
Yup at chesscube.com there is currency to use for side bet. But you are given some free amount everyday and additional sum if you join tournaments. It's up to you how you budget them by not loosing too often against the woodpushers :)
You can change the pieces from the options but i'm not so sure. One thing I love about chesscube.com is that your seek challenge is automatically adjusted according to your rating and there is score status during matches.

As for ChessOK.com, well, it's the best dedicated client out there. Nothing comes close not even the paid clients. But it's only for serious blitz because there's no socialization relief unlike the more chat friendly chesscube.com
Parent - - By Shaun Brewer (****) [gb] Date 2012-04-20 09:44 Edited 2012-04-20 09:50
I have not tried ChessOk :red:, how easy is it to get slower games a minimum of 30 minutes each. The interest is for my son he plays mostly on chess.com however you have to wait a while for slower games.

I like the idea it is less social - he wastes a lot of time 'chatting' rather than playing :wink:

Oh his rating is currently 1706 Elo (standard), 1786 Elo (rapid) calculation based on his current ECF ratings.
Parent - - By JhorAVi (***) [ph] Date 2012-04-20 13:45
Sadly, people who play online chess are interested in blitz.  Luckily, there are many artificial low rated personalities your son can play against in chessmaster software. For rapid improvement, a much better than playing online game is chesstempo.com.
Parent - By Shaun Brewer (****) [gb] Date 2012-04-20 14:39
thanks for your reply - I will check out chesstempo.com.

It has been a while since I have played against an engine (weakened or not) and even longer since I played seriously, however I was always disapointed in the style did not feel like I was playing a person.

However next weekend I will have access to a strong player and coach (approx) 2250Elo - I will get him to play some of the Chessmaster and Fritz personalities to see if he thinks any of them are a reasonable approximation for a human opponent.

* Actually I will start a new thread asking are there any engines which give a reasonable approximation for a human opponent.

Thanks again

Shaun
Parent - By Mark Eldridge (****) [gb] Date 2012-06-04 11:35
Chesscube is good.
Parent - - By siah (***) Date 2012-04-20 05:47
Is chessOk, chess assistant club?
Parent - - By Uly (Gold) [mx] Date 2012-04-20 07:29
It's ChessPlanet.
Parent - By siah (***) Date 2012-04-21 20:02
Yes, No? :lol:
Parent - By Gambit-man (**) Date 2012-04-22 23:53
having given chesscube, it's not for me. when looking for a game on the seek chart, got myself into a completely different stakes game from what i was looking for. the table moves so quick i couldn't track it with my mouse
Parent - By dragon49 (****) [us] Date 2012-06-03 22:13
Play friendly correspondence games here.
- - By Garvin Gray (****) Date 2012-04-18 08:02
Are you looking for computer, or non computer chess games? Correspondence or real time?
Parent - By Gambit-man (**) Date 2012-04-18 11:24 Edited 2012-04-18 15:25
not something i had really considered before, i'm used to playing by myself, but since i have all the kit needed for computerised chess, perhaps it's worth considering.
do you have something in mind?
something that has a mix of blitz and turn-based would be ideal, but i realise that perhaps that might come from two separate websites
- By Gambit-man (**) Date 2012-04-18 21:13
lmao, been playing over on chesscube, 5 games in total, against two different opponents. i've already been accused of cheating! is that place full of sore losers or have i just been unlucky?
here's the game:-
[Event "ChessCube Game"]
[Site "www.chesscube.com"]
[Date "2012.04.18"]
[Round "-"]
[White "gambler_heart@chesscube.com"]
[Black "gambit_man@chesscube.com"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "1736"]
[BlackElo "1604"]
[Time "21:44:05"]
[TimeControl "300+3"]

1. e4  Nf6 2. e5  Nd5 3. c4  Nb6 4. d4  d6 5. Nf3  Bg4 6. Bf4  Nc6 7. d5  Nxe5 8. Bxe5  dxe5 9. Be2  Bxf3 10. gxf3  e6 11. Nc3  Bb4 12. dxe6  Bxc3+ 13. bxc3  fxe6 14. Qb3  Qf6 15. c5  Nd5 16. Qxb7  O-O 17. Qc6  e4 18. c4  Qxa1+ 19. Bd1  Nc3 20. Kd2  Qb2+ 21. Bc2  Rad8+ 22. Ke3  Rxf3#  0-1
- - By Uly (Gold) [mx] Date 2012-04-19 02:59
I suggests FICS and the BabasChess interface.
Parent - - By Labyrinth (****) [us] Date 2012-04-19 04:34
Babies got vavas
Parent - By Uly (Gold) [mx] Date 2012-04-19 07:39
*Checks urban dictionary*

Oh yeah, BabasChess is on Spanish "Saliva Chess".
- - By siah (***) Date 2012-04-19 10:11
Is there anywhere as crowded as chessbase?
Parent - By siah (***) Date 2012-04-21 20:06
At least one thousand people every time?
Parent - - By jps7 (**) [in] Date 2012-04-23 13:01
Hi Gambit,

Best place to play chess is Internet Chess Club.

jps7
Parent - - By Mark Eldridge (****) [gb] Date 2012-06-04 11:38
Internet Chess club interface is just so confusing.
Parent - - By Labyrinth (****) [us] Date 2012-06-04 12:51
Really? I found it incredibly straight forward. I especially liked the 5-minute button :-D
Parent - By Mark Eldridge (****) [gb] Date 2012-06-04 13:01
Yes really. The layout is not as user friendly as Playchess imo.
Parent - - By Uly (Gold) [mx] Date 2012-06-04 17:11
What I hated about ICC was having to register a new account every two weeks...
Parent - By Mark Eldridge (****) [gb] Date 2012-06-04 19:11
Agreed
- By ChessKing [pk] Date 2012-05-25 07:02
I think Infinity Chess is nice site to play chess online.

http://www.infinitychess.com
- By sarciness (***) [gb] Date 2012-06-28 08:05 Edited 2012-06-28 08:08
ICC as others have asid is good- you can get blitz and rapid easily against extremely strong opposition. Long games seem to be hard to get everywhere. The video lectures are great on ICC.

FICS I also use. Usually if I want a long game, I put out a seek on both sites to double my chances.

ICC also has Team 45 45 league http://team4545league.org/index.html
and ICC and FICS both have STC bunch for long, competitive games. http://stcbunch.net/
Up Topic The Rybka Lounge / Chess / Where to play online chess?

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