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World Chess Network
With hundreds of places to play chess online, here are a few of my favorites. I will review each chess site and provide my opinion and rating of each. Interface is better, not as many players as ICC.
After about 5 years of playing online chess I have found no site better than World Chess Network! Through the years I have played on practically every site out there and I always find myself back at WCN when looking for a great game of chess. A couple of the reasons this site is so great are... the easy-to-use layout of the site, instructional and fun events, and wonderful community! WCN's hourly events are like no other sites. The banter matches, predict-a-move contests, and master challenges are absolutely fantastic! Not to mention the great prize tournaments too! One of the other great benefits there is the chess instructors you can hire, both titled and strong non-titled players for one-on-one lessons at unbelievable rates, far cheaper than any other site I have ever seen!
If you have never been to WCN I encourage you to at least try it out. Click on the World Chess Network banner above to get started with a FREE trial of WCN or pay for a member account!
Player rating = /10
1 year membership: $49.95
2 year membership: $79.95
1 year student membership: $20
Internet Chess Club
Biggest
The biggest chess server out on the web today. There is almost always something going on at ICC, never ending games, hundreds of tournaments, and tons of lectures. This site is one of the best in live broadcast coverage of major chess tournaments all over the world! This site has many features; the main drawback is that you have to type a lot of the commands in. It does take a little while to get familiar with, but once you get used to it it's not a big problem.
Click on the ICC banner above to get started with a FREE trial of ICC or pay for a member account!
Player rating = 9.7 of 10
7 Day Trial: FREE
1 year membership: $49
2 year membership: $89
1 year student membership: $24.50
Play Chess
This site is pretty well designed and does have a fair amount of strong players. One of the things that makes this site unique is that you have the option to bet on your games using playchess money, ducats. Before the game starts you can agree with your opponent that the player who wins gets, say... 5 ducats, and then the loser would lose 5. The main drawbacks to this site are: The site time is based off of Europe which makes the event times for people in the US sometimes inconvenient but better for other people. The admins(sysops) there are almost never at there computers so you will have to message them and wait a couple hours-days for a response. And the site is sometimes confusing with the different languages there because a lot/most of the people there are from Europe (unless you speak these languages).
Click the playchess banner above to get started with a FREE trial of playchess or pay for a member account!
Player rating = 9.2 of 10
1 year membership: $31.50
Red Hot Pawn
Red Hot Pawn supports turn-based online chess with thousands of people from all over the globe. You choose who and when you play. Games don't have to be finished in one sitting - your opponent doesn't even have to be online as you make your moves. You can also play multiple simultaneous games.
• An active chess community with over 100,000 members.
• All boards viewable online, so there is no need to set up a conventional board for your games.
• Quick start options for new users, either use a wizard to find suitable opponents after registration or offer a game to anyone using the 'open invite' feature.
• Feature-rich interface including an interactive analysis board for experimentation with lines or reviewing the game history.
• Optional email notifications when it is your turn to move, each including a quick link direct to your board.
• Private notebook for each player in every game.
• Over the board messaging system, chat to your opponents as you move.
• Chess tournaments in a variety of formats.
• Chess clans allowing team play in challenge and league formats.
Player rating = 8.6 of 10
Playing on RHP is FREE however subscription is optional and you will get the following
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• No more annoying ads.
The complete removal of all adverts from this site. No longer will ads distract you from your games. |
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• Unlimited concurrent games.
Play as many simultaneous games as you are comfortable with - without restriction. |
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• Enter tournaments.
Compete in the highly competitive 'Red Hot Pawn' tournaments. |
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• Join Clans.
Play exciting team based play in 'Red Hot Pawn' clans. |
Also, by becoming a subscriber, you become a trusted member of this site - so further features become available to you, such as increased customisation of your profile, that cannot be made available to non-subscribers.
1 year membership: $29.95
Monthly membership: $5.95
Chess Live
Chess Live is also designed pretty well, but does have a lot of different windows and tabs that sometimes can get confusing before you get familiar with the site. CL does have some really great people who love to help and a lot of options to customize to your likes! The main thing about this site I don't like is the lack of strong players (to play or even watch).
Click the Chess Live banner above to get started with a FREE trial of Chess Live or pay for a member account!
Player rating = 8.6 of 10
1 year membership: $49.95
2 year membership: $79.95
1 year student membership: $29.95
Free Internet Chess Server
For the people looking for a site to play for free, FICS is my favorite site. It has a fair amount of players and some of them are pretty good. Although it doesn't have as many features as other sites do, it does have a lot for being a free site. In my opinion it is worth the $50 a year for the sites above, but with FICS being a free chess site, I can't really complain.
Click the FICS banner above to get started with your FREE member account!
Player rating = 7.2 of 10
Free membership
Yahoo Chess
To begin access to the Yahoo site, Yahoo! Games you must have a Yahoo account, which gives you access to a wide range of services and games. Fill out the registration form; pick a password and you're ready to Yahoo. The longest step of this process is to complete the form and finding a unique handle; the download process is near transparent to the user.
Yahoo has an area for chess with reasonable graphics, rating system and players ranging from beginners to masters playing on a regular basis. Finding a game is not a problem, at any time of day or night. Tournaments are occasionally available and visual trophies are added to the members profile upon winning the event.
Dedicated to enjoying games, this site is void of opportunities to study the art of chess. Your own games can be saved via e-mail, and you have the opportunity to watch others but no analysis, lectures or other events are available for the serious player.
Player rating = 7 of 10
Free membership
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