Is it worth getting a paid subscription here?

General opinions and advice would be nice.

I've had this account for years but I haven't used chess.com in quite a while. However, I have been playing daily, for about an hour a day, on lichess, for a long time. I'm not a strong player - just a beginner. Don't have any use for autistic stuff, but the chess analysis thing here might be of some interest to me if it helps me to become a stronger player. Not if it's just a little man in the corner of the screen saying "well done, good boy" though. I can see how that adds to the fun, but it's also a bit exploitative of autists and the like.

Oh, and another thing. How bad is the cheating problem here? Long story short: lichess seems to have quit dealing with cheats some time ago, and cheats (people using engines) make me furious (which is the real reason I'm a refugee from lichess). The insta-move thing where it's obviously automated is easy for a system to detect, but the regular sort (where the player takes longer pauses after making a mistake to consult an engine, then miraculously turns the game around and never makes a mistake in that game ever again) is a real scourge.

Thanks

I think the analysis is pretty good at pointing out big blunders and offering chances for you to improve by retrying the move.  In this position from your last game, your rook is hanging.  Your move didn't address that problem.

There are at least a dozen places you could look at the analysis and possibly learn something.

As far as Cheating Detection methods,  Chess.com doesn't reveal that.  There has been a lot of publicity recently related to it which you could certainly find without any difficulty.  If you want to discuss it, you have to join the Cheating Forum club.

What Cheating Forum club? You're a member, are you? I am not interested in overrated data- and probability-driven heuristics which don't work. I am not an autist - when an opponent is obviously cheating, as a normie, you know it immediately, and you should have a facility to report this. Lichess does, but the site is led by other autists who are too deeply into their maths and analysis to rate common sense. They are themselves cheats: if I lose on lichess, I lose a gazilion points on my rating, and if I win I gain between 1 and 3 points, on average. They don't like me because I reported cheating activity and complained on their forum that they (the moderators) are useless. 

The issue with chess in general is that you're dealing with autists. Overreliance on data, evidence, proofs, probability, etc. That's why nobody seems to understand ANY of the body language or facial expressions of that kid who cheated vs Magnus. Overdetection is bad but so is underdetection.

Hmm.  I don't know if relying on statistics and data analysis makes you an autist and chess.com is an online game place, so there's not a lot of body language or facial expressions to rely on.

/  At any rate, Chess.com doesn't allow "normies" to make unfounded accusations in the forum.  If you want a discussion of your methods versus those of the Fair Play team, feel free to join the Cheating Forum club.

Hey IndicHash. I'm a Diamond member going on 2 years now. I recommend membership if you want to improve. The Beginner lessons and challenges are awesome. The Game Analysis feedback "justbefair" showed is awesome too! Some things on lichess are better in my opinion but chess.com's content is way more extensive.

This whole "normie" / "autist" conversation is unnecessary and lends itself towards to unfounded prejudices.

I notice a lot more people sandbagging, on top of other people who cheat. 

I've been paying since 2010 I believe but I seldom use the training available .

I been posting in the forum, the blogs, joined about 10 groups and play daily matches with them . . .

I was a Diamond 💎 for one year but never used what was offered . . .

I enjoy chess . Com and don't mind the fees charged which are more than reasonable . . .

So I think the overall consensus is that a subscription will be helpful.

Thanks a lot for all the info and advice.

Consistently utilizing the resources provided with a subscription...will be helpful...and a lot less expensive than a coach. You don't need a coach to teach Beginner to Intermediate Level Chess. There are 30 "Fundamentals" Lessons (with exercises) on here in the guided lessons section.

Get a subscription for 1 month (like $6) and do 1 of those lessons a day I GUARANTEE THAT YOUR CHESS WILL TAKE A QUANTUM LEAP from your current level.

try it out one month, if you like it, keep it and if not just end the subscription. I had premium on and off for my first year. I paid for it when I felt I was gonna use it more and put it off when I felt I was gonna use it less.

Yeah, I was thinking, it's not pricey, and getting better at chess isn't easy for anyone. One month wouldn't hurt, so might as well give it a try. I'll sleep on it tonight and make a decision tomorrow. Thanks again

50/50 then, eh. We'll see.

I was looking for this question. I recently joined and am enjoying the puzzles. I get only 3 puzzles daily as a non premium member. But, I really enjoy solving them. Planning to buy the subscription soon for those unlimited puzzle features and lessons. Never used analysis that much since I consider myself to be an intermediate level player and not an expert to analyse the 'why' behind every move. But, I need to study a lot to be that level player. Puzzles are much better here when compared to lichess puzzles. 

i imagine you're never completely getting away from cheaters when playing online. could always try to find people locally to play in person... not that i know anyone around my area, which is why i play online.

I've had a subscription for enough time now to say that yes, for now it's really good.

I actually find the puzzles more interesting than the chess games. I think if you spend about an hour a day on chess, it's a no-brainer. 

You do get a lot of non-neurotypicals in chess. Online chess is not really a social activity - perhaps its polar opposite... The puzzles may have more of a future than online chess in general. Just thinking. Anyway, I don't know how the leagues work nor how this guy managed to challenge me to a 24-hour-per-turn chess game (which was cool) but if I choose "play online" I just get rapid games against a random opponent. I'm sure I'll figure it out.

I don't have a paid subscription because the forum is so toxic. If the forum was more aggressively moderated to weed out trolls and immature people I would consider it, but chess.com seems to want to emphasize "free speech" over civility, so that's that. It's their website, so it's not up to me.

If the OP is having problems with cheaters, maybe finding a club to join would help. There are some clubs here with decent people in them. Just play people within your club. 

yea the engine WILL beat you up and yell