Play against the computer has been changed for the worse?

No he was right. He said that he can't do a couple of things in "finish against the computer". Those features you said were possible are not possible in "finish against the computer" but available if you want to start a new game.

I think it is also not possible to change the difficulty or setting during a normal game with computer. A quick fix to both problems is to make everything adjustable during the game.

One thing you can do (for now) is to manually remove the bar and hint move using inspect element of your browser. But I don't know how to change the difficulty.

Thats a super answer - thanks for thinking outside the box!  it wont help my son though - he's only 9, and I want him to spend his training hours doing chess, not learning html!!

Yes, this playing against the computer is definitely for kids and children. NOT so much - the millions of adult customers who are felt in the dark. NO wonder - they tried to sneak this in without any announcement. 

It had been in beta for about a month, with a short break to fix some bugs.

The site rarely announces upcoming changes and rolls them out to beta first usually.

There should ALWAYS be an option to continue playing the classic version. This was known in the '90s. Wordpress recently rediscovered this lesson the hard way (and they quickly made a Classic version plugin available).

Document changes and rollout with announcements. Many software upgrades have died horribly to bring us this information lol.

Or maybe the site is teaching the world that playing Chess doesn't necessarily make you savvy or or alert to what the real world is; in which case it was a wonderful lesson. Now looking for a new site to just play simple games at lunch break during lockdown.

Yes, this is BALONEY. They always make announcements when its good news. When the news is horrible - SILENCE. Here's hoping a new website will come along offering the same exact concept that Chess.com. blatantly threw away. Their absolute best feature - GONE.

I liked the old version a lot better, this new one reminds me of chesskid. I also liked the old live chess better, its harder to join tournaments now. I do like all the variants, but the new play vs. computer isn't good. I just hope they don't change the puzzles.

I completely agree. I filed a bug report about it and never heard back. Then I cancelled my subscription.

In the new play-against-the-computer screen, I noticed that there is a "strength" adjustment calibrated by ranking points at the BOTTOM of the screen of characters. I haven't tried it out, but that might be a way to mimic what the old game system offered. Just in case it helps someone.

I hope I'm not being too harsh, I appreciate that the online computer game is offered. Documentation is really important though, and it would be so much better to have some announcements and context for the change.

The context is that it used to be Stockfish 11 chess computer programming with lots of options and features. This new baby childish model is a slap in the face to the millions of adult Chess.com customers.  

Quick update: I just cancelled my membership over this.

Reviewing my games, and playing key positions against a computer at various levels of difficulty, has always been the most fun part of the site for me. (Oh, the computer says I was up +3 here, but I still lost? Let me try it against the comptuer at 1500, then 1600, etc.).

I might be OK with them removing it. But the fact that I've been a paying customer for a while, and have submitted formal feedback on the site about it with no reply, just makes me feel like I'm throwing away money. I get why they might not reply to a thread here with (presumably) a lot of non-paying users. But it feels disrespectful to be a paying customer and have them not reply to me.

I agree that this website has a problem replying to situations they don't like. If the problem is an easy one they give a snappy answer. At times, I have waited over 6 months for Chess.com to reply to me.

Personalities? Seriously?  ROFLMAO  You just handed each of us a boat anchor for site usage instead of of a life preserver. Please make it an option if you must. Personalities is an answer in search of a problem. Really, it spoils my site experience to the point that I won't play while it is thrust in my face. There are easier sites out there for what I want to do. DUMB customer service move BONEHEADS.

Okay, got an email from the site that mentioned the "Personalities," so that was a form of communication and documentation. It was nice to see some recognition of the change. Still wish there was an option to play the old way.

I miss the old game a lot: it gave immediate, clear feedback on how stupid each of my moves were, so it helped me improve as I played. I hate the green arrows that flash everywhere before I can make my own dumb move—I want to screw things up on my own and then slap my forehead, not just follow the program's directions like it's a video game. 

I think marketers were hired, this is the kind of thing they do.

The funny part is that my 25 year old Kasparov chess computer has a much higher ELO rating and has many more options and features. It still works! Chess.com has gone backwards at least 25 years. This is a hilarious 3 stooges type slapstick comedy.

How many people WANT to play a 2700 rated computer?

like hiikuroo

Hikaru can't even beat @Hikaru-BOT

There's only 1 specific time that I want this. Oftentimes I will get into a "won" endgame and then blow it. I like to go back, and find a position where I can beat the computer at my level. Then go back and raise the difficulty level. It's fun to see how high I can go. In some positions, I can eventually get to the highest level.

But again, this is a rare case, and I rarely start there.

This really shows that chess.com's product management is very weak. As is their customer service. It's very disappointing, and so many parts of the site are wonderful.