I recommend this club.
It provides an opportunity to play at long time controls in a semi-regulated setting.
It is run very well by fhunfi.
Some effort is needed to agree on a playing time yet nearly always the games are being scheduled and played.
I recommend this club.
No way to practise standard time control games without Chien and his club!
The best place to play. Chien is the best organizer! Thx Chien!
I have been playing in Chien's tournaments for almost a year. He is an extremely thoughtful organizer, and it's awesome that he's giving us the opportunity to have a community of serious players who like to play classical time control games!
I have enjoyed greatly playing in the long games. It is often difficult to find an opponent who is willing to play these. I am grateful to Chien for organizing and troubleshooting the tournaments. I look forward to playing in them for a long time to come.
Finding long time control games is difficult on line these days.
Chien does an excellent job organizing these tournaments
I’ve recommended this club to several friends it’s a great place to meet like minded folks and have a lot of fun
jaydrum81
Chien's events offer "as close to the classical OTB experience" as you'll ever find on-line, a great opportunity for old-timers like me that have difficulty with faster time controls.
Chien does a wonderful job reminding us all of the real purpose of chess-to enjoy the experience with others who are passionate about the game, displaying good sportsmanship and humility. The real-time slow format really helps in preparation for a real otb tournament.
Chien does a wonderful job reminding us all of the real purpose of chess-to enjoy the experience with others who are passionate about the game, displaying good sportsmanship and humility. The real-time slow format really helps in preparation for a real otb tournament.
Thank you. I try to transmit the spirit, passion, sportmanship, humility, learning attitude from my own experience
https://www.chess.com/blog/fhunfi/chess-as-lifelong-passion-and-be-a-winner-in-life
Thanks fhunfi, your tournaments are always very well organized and all players play seriously with great sportmanship
Is there an active league in chess.com at the classical pace?
https://www.chess.com/blog/fhunfi/reasons-to-join-90m-30s-chess-com-online-chess-club
Fhunfi is an excellent trainer, for a steal of a price, he will give unique and extremely useful training and opening advice.
Judit Sztaray an International Chess Arbiter and National Tournament Director,
vouch our 90m+30s club in a comment section 
"Anyone reading this comment, I can absolutely vouch for this club, if you like classical longtime control games, join the club and participate. You are amazing, thank you so much for all you do to grow Chess!
of her today posted article "Your First OTB Tournament? Here's What You Should Know!"
https://www.chess.com/blog/JuditSztaray/your-first-otb-tournament-heres-what-you-should-know
NEW!! Open for Registration!
Season 07: Swiss 45m+45s (1 Round every 2 weeks/ Total 6 rounds)
Rd-1 will start on Mon, Jun 09, 2025
Detail info and how to register at:
End of Registration date: Sat, Jun 07, 23:59 UTC
Hello anybody reading this.
I just wanted to share my personal experience and perspective for those considering attending these tournaments. I’ve participated in several of these events, and while I appreciate the classical time control format and the effort that fhunfi/chien puts into organizing, I’ve personally played many games that left me feeling quite uneasy in terms of fairness. In some cases, I later noticed accounts I had played against were closed for fair play violations, though only after many games they played against others in the tournaments had already been impacted.
I’ve also spoken with a few other players who are highly rated, who stopped participating due to similar concerns. While I can’t make any definitive claims, I think it’s worth being aware that playing online carries certain risks that are hard, if not impossible to completely avoid, even in well-structured events.
I also wanted to say that if you’re suspicious of unfair play in any of the games and tell the moderators, they will just direct you to report to lichess moderators, meaning there’s no additional review process by the tournament directors to enforce fair play. While this is totally understandable from the directors’ POV since it’s a volunteer-driven event, this does mean that playing in these tournaments makes you as vulnerable to breaches in fair play as in any other online chess game you’d play, and we already know the statistics regarding that. If you’re afraid of having 3+ hours of your day potentially gone down the drain due to fair play concerns in a classical game, playing physically in OTB tournaments or more closely monitored online tournaments are likely a better option for you and would provide more peace of mind. If you prefer a more controlled environment, OTB tournaments are a far better experience in my personal opinion.
This post is in no way meant to discredit the tournament organizer. I just wanted to voice my concerns and honest experience of playing in these tournaments.
Best of luck to everyone competing.
Hello anybody reading this.
I just wanted to share my personal experience and perspective for those considering attending these tournaments. I’ve participated in several of these events, and while I appreciate the classical time control format and the effort that fhunfi/chien puts into organizing, I’ve personally played many games that left me feeling quite uneasy in terms of fairness. In some cases, I later noticed accounts I had played against were closed for fair play violations, though only after many games they played against others in the tournaments had already been impacted.
I’ve also spoken with a few other players who are highly rated, who stopped participating due to similar concerns. While I can’t make any definitive claims, I think it’s worth being aware that playing online carries certain risks that are hard, if not impossible to completely avoid, even in well-structured events.
I also wanted to say that if you’re suspicious of unfair play in any of the games and tell the moderators, they will just direct you to report to lichess moderators, meaning there’s no additional review process by the tournament directors to enforce fair play. While this is totally understandable from the directors’ POV since it’s a volunteer-driven event, this does mean that playing in these tournaments makes you as vulnerable to breaches in fair play as in any other online chess game you’d play, and we already know the statistics regarding that. If you’re afraid of having 3+ hours of your day potentially gone down the drain due to fair play concerns in a classical game, playing physically in OTB tournaments or more closely monitored online tournaments are likely a better option for you and would provide more peace of mind. If you prefer a more controlled environment, OTB tournaments are a far better experience in my personal opinion.
This post is in no way meant to discredit the tournament organizer. I just wanted to voice my concerns and honest experience of playing in these tournaments.
Best of luck to everyone competing.
My feedback as TD (tournament director)
Note: Most of the content of my post below is initially posted by @NoemiS05 and we agreed that I re-posted it with some minor editing on my behalf as TD
Back to the history and philosophy of our club here
https://www.chess.com/blog/fhunfi/reasons-to-join-90m-30s-chess-com-online-chess-club
...If we all could, we probably would like to do OTB (Over the Board) tournaments. But that isn't really realistic for most chess players - we need to pay entrance fees, travel a lot, probably hotel stays, and maybe take a week off work or university to do each tournament. This is pretty hard.
The cool thing about having an online Classical tournament like this is that there is no fixed time for the games, so people can fit it into their day, it's free, and we can do it from home.
Cheating is a much bigger problem online surely than in real tournaments. But if we are a cheater, we are going to think, "Why should I play one 3 hours match looking at an engine when I can play and win let say 10 games of 10 minutes games within 3 hours span instead?" Is it really more likely that they would play in a tournament like this than in Blitz or 10 minutes ranked games? Looking at an engine for hours must be very boring while it takes only seconds to cheat if we want.
I think online with clubs like this if we spend all the time thinking everyone might be cheating, then it will be impossible to have any fun. There needs to be a bit of trust for the opponent being genuine, especially because it would be a very weird person who likes spending 3+ hours cheating for zero money (no prize in this tourney) when they could be winning lots of shorter games tourney (with prizes).
As long as we think that we will get much more practice benefit from this online chess tourney in the long term than the disadvantage (that is beyond our control) then it is a golden opportunity for us, otherwise we will stick to OTB tournaments only.
As by now, I (as TD) can't be the judge, and I always suggest the players themselves to do reporting to the Fair Play Department for investigation. It might take time to investigate (could be weeks, but not seldom only few days). Once their account is banned, they are automatically out of my tourney.
A lot of cheating accusations are just imaginary (even in real life Magnus Carlsen accused Hans Niemann of cheating OTB and there were no definitive evidence until now, for example).
I have been competing in these tournaments for many months. While communicating with opponents to arrange mutually convenient times to play, I’ve found them all to be pleasant, honest, respectful individuals. Likewise, when playing games, I have never had reason to suspect cheating, and my opponents often engage in conversations or analysis after the games.
Chien works extremely hard as the tournament director. He invests time to keep the pairings and results current, and spends his own money on software to manage them. Certainly, he can’t be expected to monitor fair play, something which is enormously complex.
These online tournaments are a big part of many people’s chess improvement and enjoyment journeys, offering opportunities to play longer time controls between OTB tournaments and without all the expenses. It’s sad to see doubt cast upon them.
I heartily encourage everyone who loves chess to enter Chien’s tournaments. You’ll have a great time.
I agree 100% with SHF. The only other thing I would say is anyone who cheats at on-line chess is NOT serious about getting better at chess. Why would someone spent time playing with the use of an engine and not learn anything is just plain STUPID! I’m not naive there are players who cheat on-line, but I also think it is a small majority of people who play in these tournaments.
Agree 100%. Chien does a great job of organizing and running these tournaments. He also does this on his own time and at his own expense. If any of you out there would like to contribute a small amount of money to offset his expense, every bit helps, he can be contacted @fhunfi.