History of Chess.Com

Chess.com is an Internet chess server, news website and social networking website.[3] Chess.com has a freemium model, where some features are available for free and others for a fee. On Chess.com, users can play chess online against other users, with several chess variations available. Chess.com offers chess engines, computer analysis, computer chess, chess puzzles, and teaching resources.

History
1995: The domain Chess.com was initially founded by Aficionado, a company based in Berkeley, California, to sell a chess tutoring software called "Chess Mentor".[4]

2005: Internet entrepreneur Erik Allebest and partner Jarom ("Jay") Severson purchased the domain name and assembled a team of software developers to develop the website.

2007: The website is relaunched.[3] The site has been heavily promoted through social media.

2009: Chess.com announced the takeover of a similar chess social networking site, Chesspark.com. Chesspark founders Jack Moffitt and Brian Zisk went to work for a web search startup.[5]

November 2013: Chess.com purchased the Amsterdam-based chess news website, which provides information about chess tournaments. It was founded and owned by Dutch journalist Peter Doggers in February 2006.[6][7]

2014: The site announced that more than one billion games of chess had been played on the site, including 100 million games by mail.[8]