Other good sites are
http://www.chesscenter.com/twic/twic.html (the week in chess)
http://susanpolgar.blogspot.com/ (Susan Polgar's Chess Blog)
http://www.chessninja.com/dailydirt/ (chess ninja)
http://www.chesscafe.com/ (chess cafe)
http://www.angelfire.com/games/SBChess/frontpage.html (Sarah's Chess page - batgirl)
http://www.xs4all.nl/%7Etimkr/chess/chess.html (Tim Krabbe's page)
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Lab/7378/chess.htm (some guy named Wall)
You play on Yahoo? My condolences. Go to freechess.org (FICS) for a MUCH better site for free blitz and slow real time games.
--Fromper
To billwall:
Thanks, I added these sites to my favorites.
To Fromper:
What you do not like on Yahoo ? I think for blitz it's OK.
Maybe they've improved the interface at Yahoo in recent years, but when I played there 5-6 years ago, the java interface locked up regularly. Also, the place is full of spammers and very immature behavior. While there will be a little of that anywhere, Yahoo has more than their share of idiots.
FICS (freechess.org) is a site for more serious players, and the moderators there are pretty good about dealing with the occasional abuse that does come up. And there are quite a few interfaces to choose from, so there are plenty of ways to connect and customize your view to the site.
--Fromper
this is a very good page too A.J.'s chess home page
http://www.geocities.com/LifeMasterAJ/index.html
Interestingly enough, the reason I don't play at Yahoo anymore is because I was accused of cheating every other game.
Cheating is a real issue with online chess, but the paranoia of it I think is what is the real downfall of online chess. I'm not that strong a player, but I've been around the block a time or two and am capable of a coherent game now and then.
Seems like any time I played any kind of decent game there I got messages accusing me of using computer help.
Cheating and accusations of cheating are everywhere, but it was the accusations of cheating that seemed out of control to me at Yahoo.
I don't know why you got banned from Yahoo chess, everybody knows that yahoo allows people to use this cheat http://www.pcnet-online.com/downloads/chess-buddy-yahoo.htm and they allow this because they know younsters/and some other cheaters would not play chess there otherwise, I think the thing works on pogo too, that's why most people switched to sites like ICC and FICS
I wasn't banned, I just got tired of all the accusations. Seems like every other person I played accused me all throughout the game that I was cheating. One person told me I knew more than 5 moves of theory in both our games.. therefore I was a cheater.
I'm sure there are some very quality players at yahoo chess, but I seemed to keep bumping into all the paranoid people.
hmm... the 5 favorite topic didn't survive long.
"we're going to fix this issue of bad behavior (cheating, rudeness) in online chess. i have been working with stanford econ professors on the topic. i'm serious :)"
I'd really love to hear more about this.
"everybody knows that yahoo allows people to use this cheat..."
That's not true. I didn't know such a specific cheating tool existed. I wonder how strong "Chess Buddy" is? Yahoo has a nice board and pieces. Everything else about it falls short. But I do sometimes meet up with a friend there to play a nice long game.
"Seems like any time I played any kind of decent game there I got messages accusing me of using computer help."
I've had this happen on occassion even though, since I consciously strive for unorthodoxy, my moves tend to be about as non-computerish as you can get. I tend to believe that people will make accusations to assuage their loss of face or whatever it is they feel from losing a game. Plus, if they accuse you of cheating, they might believe that by making you think that they feel you cheated, they might diminish any joy you received from beating them. .. and then there are the paranoid too...
There are so many really good chess sites out there, that I couldn't possibly limit myself to five choices.
You are right about people's intentions with the accusations, the problem is it did rob me of some of my joy.
And I apologize if I led the thread astray.
www.chessvideos.tv is a growing site. Very cool stuff there.
But of course, www.chess.com is where I spend almost all of my chess time on the net.
Hmm... I'll say one and reserve my other 4 for another day (probably never).
I love the "live blitz games" there. A grandmaster plays and talks while he plays so you get to hear a lot of what he's thinking about.
My 5 favorite chess sites:
1. chesspro.ru (professional chess site, but most of the articles in Russian)
2. chess.com
3. chessbase.com
4. games.yahoo.com (on-line blitz games)
5. chessgames.com
Do you know anything better ?