Clubs & Info
Altmax Chess Race
- Can you be the first player to reach a rating of 2000? Interesting
concept.
Brainsturgeon
- Provides a framework and message boards for three different "chess
pyramids" (similar to a ladder system). Fight your way to the top.
Games are played on the Yahoo! games site.
Cheating
On Internet Chess Servers - No, not how to do it, but how to stop
it.
Chess
Kamikazes - Home page of a club of gambit-players on the Yahoo!
chess site.
Ed's
Ever-Growing Chess Page - Ed Collins' page has lots of good info
on internet chess, including comparisons of different servers and a
page devoted to Winboard.
STC
Bunch - Club of online players (ICC & FICS) dedicated to Slow
Time Controls. Join them if you have a hard time finding a game longer
than 5 minutes on the chess servers.
Yahoo!
Chess Clubs - Whole bunch of chess clubs on the Yahoo! Games site.
Most of them are a joke (the above Chess Kamikazes are an exception).
Places To Play (Real-time)
Note: In general, you will find stronger, more
numerous, and more polite players on the chess-only based sites than
you will on the sites offering multiple games.
One-on-One Computer Opponents
Amyan
- A java chess engine to be your opponent.
BrowserChess
- Play beginner-level chess against a remote computer.
GNU Webchess
- Play against GNU Chess via the web.
Java
Chess - Another java-based engine.
tkChess
- Play this one using HTML or java interface.
The
Turk - Experimental chess engine. Play using web interface.
Chess Only Servers
Caissa's Web - Java-based
server offers a 30 day trial; after which they offer a couple of different
membership options.
ChessAnyTime
- Chess-only server with java client.
ChessNet - Free
chess server; a bit more blitz-obsessed than the others. They provide
a graphical interface for download, or you can use a java interface
from their web site.
Chess Rally
- Online play is one of the features of this piece of software. Also
includes the ability to play against an engine or over a peer-to-peer
network. To get all the online features requires purchase of the full
version.
FICS
- Free Internet Chess Server. An excellent place! Although nearly
identical to ICC, it is somewhat less popular. Totally free! Graphical
interface needed.
InterChess
- A place to play online brought to you by GM Yuri Averbakh. You must
download their proprietary software.
Internet
Chess Club (ICC) - The most popular
place to play for serious chess enthusiasts, and you can usually find
at least one GM hanging around. Has a subscription fee (well worth
it), although you can observe games and play unrated for free. Graphical
interface needed.
InstantChess
- Type in a handle, and you'll be playing in seconds against a random
opponent. Also has a subscription for a fee if you want to maintain
a rating.
Kung-Fu Chess
- Chess is now an action game! An amusing, if not nerve-racking diversion.
Play online instantly.
U.S. Chess Live
- Chess server provided by the U.S. Chess Federation. Previously open
only to USCF members, it is now available to everybody.
World Chess
Network - Free site offers live play (you must download their
interface), along with some good extras GM lectures, news, etc.
Multiple Game Sites (with Chess being one of those games)
Blip! - Multi-game
Shockwave (plug-in) site, trying desperately to be hip.
GameColony
- Java game site from the Chesslab.com people.
GamesPark -
Multi-game site requiring the Shockwave plug-in.
GameSite 2000
- Requires download of their software, but offers a pretty decent
chess interface.
Internet Gaming Zone
- Microsoft's big multi-player site, offering oodles of games.
Playlink - Multi-game
site. You must download their software.
Playsite - This
java-based site offers rated play and tournaments, and has been around
longer than most of the others.
Pogo - Yet another
site featuring multiple games. They also provide the games for Excite,
Netscape, etc.
Vog - Multi-game
server from Russia. Decent interface.
Yahoo! Games -
Yahoo!'s game site is very similar to the other java-based sites,
offering a variety of games.
Places To Play
(turn-based / correspondence)
Note: Info on correspondence and e-mail chess
is on the correspondence
page, including sites which organize e-mail matches and tournaments.
A1-H8 Club - Basic
interface and tournaments.
Atlantic Chess
- Offering basic web-based correspondence style play.
Chessfriend
-- Commercial site organizes CC tournaments with cash prizes.
ChessWorld.net
- Probably the best site for turn-based play. Offers tournaments, leagues
for different skill levels, and team play.
GameKnot - Turn-based
chess server.
GMTA Chess -
Basic interface and tournaments.
GoldToken - Chess
& other classic board games. Turn-based.
ItsYourTurn.Com
- Very nice site. Also offers checkers, reversi, go-moku, etc.
Net-Chess
- Good correspondence site automatically locating opponents for you
and providing a web interface.
Red Hot Pawn
- Email chess, web interface.
Stan's NetChess
- Stan runs a darn nice site with an attractive interface and an easy
way to find opponents.
Graphical Interfaces
Note: If you are going to play on the Internet
Chess Club, Chess Net, or FICS, you're probably going to want one of
these:
Java
CoffeeHouse
- Java interface (no download) works within your web browser to connect
to the server. Workable. [ICC only]
Chess.Net
Java - Play on ChessNet in your browser. [ChessNet only]
Jin -
Cross-platform chess client written in Java.
Windows
Blitzin
- Not my favorite, but a very popular interface for ICC (this is their
"official" interface). Note: Blitzin reportably now has
the capability to "spy" on your computer to see if you are
running other chess software. [ICC only]
Chessbd
/ Slics - This shareware interface with lots of features has been
around a long time. Very powerful, everything is customizable, but
some people find it too complicated. Also works great as an PGN viewer.
Chess
Client - Freeware program with decent features (including excellent
bughouse support). No longer being developed.
WinBoard
- This wonderful piece of freeware is probably the most popular of
all the chess clients. It's a triple threat: can be used as a PGN
reader, as a front-end for many popular chess engines (including Crafty),
and of course as a online interface. A must have!
Mac
Fixation
- Popular interface for the Mac. You can find extra piece sets here.
IC
Macintosh - Fancy interface for the
Mac for ICC only. [ICC only]
Unix
Xboard
- The Unix version of Winboard.
DOS
ZIICS
- Old DOS program can only be used with a shell internet account,
no PPP/SLIP connections.
