The learning tools: tactics trainer, chess mentor, the videos. Its a shame that a site this good, has to be ruined by the forums. As they say: "Youre only as strong as your weakest link"
Sounds like your time is well-spent! Forums can become a distraction, but it's also a great tool to have when you have. I know I've come to read some forums and I see tons of ideas that members post! Thanks for sharing this with me! 
the social aspect such as how people can get to share knowledge and get to know each other, and how we all can play, learn and grow through friendly competition !!
Absolutely! It's crazy to think it's this easy to get someone's good opinion and often times bad ones too! However, the connection Chess helps all members make is pretty outstanding!
yeah the forums are a big distraction, instead of getting good at chess, i've gotten sucked in by all the chit chat.
aaaaaah sorry brenda, but that guy stuzzicadenti is best avoided. trust me.
It provides so much help to improve your chess skills even for those who don't go to a club and haven't learned chess from a teacher, like me.
I just raised both my hands for this! It's so true! I know I've learned so much not only from members but from the tools this site provides. That doesn't mean my game has improved .... YET! =p
What I like:
Some of the Chess TV
I liked in particular the PRO Chess League, the way it ran at the start of the year.
What I dislike:
Too much blitz played and showcased at the top level rather than rapid. Perhaps they should run a rapid version of TT too.
Thanks for sharing this!! I'll be sure to pass this along!
Yes, I cheated by some ambiguous standard of modern on-line chess play. I came to a position that was difficult. I read through some books on the system and then ran some tests using Chessbase (this all happened 5 years ago when engine software was new and accesible to consummers). I guess my question then is why do these software developers create powerful engines if not to be used? Chess.com forbids us from using them, but all the greatest grandmasters to date use these engines in post game analyisis to better understand their opponnent's knowledge of the game and to predict oppenent strategy and opening theory. So the Chess.com double-standard is pretty hypocritical. Magnus Carlsen uses Chessbase to analyze potential strategies against the world's greatest players who, in turn, use Chessbase engines to find a counter-strategy pre-tournament. So if Magnus Carlsen and his coaches use Chessbase to create pre-emptive, pre-game strategy prior to playing a tournament, does that mean they are cheating?
This is a little off topic, regardless, I'm glad you're still on Chess.com! Have a great day!
The learning tools: tactics trainer, chess mentor, the videos. Its a shame that a site this good, has to be ruined by the forums. As they say: "Youre only as strong as your weakest link"
Sounds like your time is well-spent! Forums can potentially become a distraction, but it's also a great tool to have when you have. I know I've come to read some forums and I see tons of ideas that members post! Thanks for sharing this with me!
Thanks for the reply. But i did not say the forums were a distraction. I said that the forums ruin this site. But i also know that this isnt going to chnage anytime soon. I still have lichess!
Hmmmmm... I'll go with "the chess"
Yes, I cheated by some ambiguous standard of modern on-line chess play. I came to a position that was difficult. I read through some books on the system and then ran some tests using Chessbase (this all happened 5 years ago when engine software was new and accesible to consummers). I guess my question then is why do these software developers create powerful engines if not to be used? Chess.com forbids us from using them, but all the greatest grandmasters to date use these engines in post game analyisis to better understand their opponnent's knowledge of the game and to predict oppenent strategy and opening theory. So the Chess.com double-standard is pretty hypocritical. Magnus Carlsen uses Chessbase to analyze potential strategies against the world's greatest players who, in turn, use Chessbase engines to find a counter-strategy pre-tournament. So if Magnus Carlsen and his coaches use Chessbase to create pre-emptive, pre-game strategy prior to playing a tournament, does that mean they are cheating?
Buck the simple answer to your question is No. There is nothing stopping you pre-tournament or purely for training to use an engine. However if you use it during a game on the site then you will be banned.
To discuss the matter of cheating further, or to learn more about cheat detection, please join the Cheating Forum: https://www.chess.com/club/cheating-forum
Chess.com takes cheating very seriously: see https://www.chess.com/article/view/chess-com-fair-play-and-cheat-detection, https://support.chess.com/customer/en/portal/articles/1444879-fair-play-on-chess-com-what-you-need-to-know and https://www.chess.com/blog/DanielRensch/cheating-on-chesscom.
Cheaters are banned when they are detected. There are various tools that are used to keep them from returning without permission; these tools are familiar to anyone who has run an online forum.
However, discussions of cheating in the main forum is not permitted, as it tends to become very heated and result in lots of public accusations, many of which are completely unfounded; you might be surprised how many cheating reports we get about low-rated players after a game that was a complete blunderfest. If all these reports were aired in public, it would just cause an ugly flame war.
To report a suspected cheater to the Support team, please select Report Abuse under the Help menu, or use this link: https://support.chess.com/customer/portal/emails/new. All reports are investigated, even if there is no immediate visible action.
That post is too absurd to be serious, in my opinion.
Yes, I cheated by some ambiguous standard of modern on-line chess play. I came to a position that was difficult. I read through some books on the system and then ran some tests using Chessbase (this all happened 5 years ago when engine software was new and accesible to consummers). I guess my question then is why do these software developers create powerful engines if not to be used? Chess.com forbids us from using them, but all the greatest grandmasters to date use these engines in post game analyisis to better understand their opponnent's knowledge of the game and to predict oppenent strategy and opening theory. So the Chess.com double-standard is pretty hypocritical. Magnus Carlsen uses Chessbase to analyze potential strategies against the world's greatest players who, in turn, use Chessbase engines to find a counter-strategy pre-tournament. So if Magnus Carlsen and his coaches use Chessbase to create pre-emptive, pre-game strategy prior to playing a tournament, does that mean they are cheating?
Buck the simple answer to your question is No. There is nothing stopping you pre-tournament or purely for training to use an engine. However if you use it during a game on the site then you will be banned.
And they will just open another account...getting banned isnt much of a punishment, or deterrent.
Yes, I cheated by some ambiguous standard of modern on-line chess play. I came to a position that was difficult. I read through some books on the system and then ran some tests using Chessbase (this all happened 5 years ago when engine software was new and accesible to consummers). I guess my question then is why do these software developers create powerful engines if not to be used? Chess.com forbids us from using them, but all the greatest grandmasters to date use these engines in post game analyisis to better understand their opponnent's knowledge of the game and to predict oppenent strategy and opening theory. So the Chess.com double-standard is pretty hypocritical. Magnus Carlsen uses Chessbase to analyze potential strategies against the world's greatest players who, in turn, use Chessbase engines to find a counter-strategy pre-tournament. So if Magnus Carlsen and his coaches use Chessbase to create pre-emptive, pre-game strategy prior to playing a tournament, does that mean they are cheating?
Buck the simple answer to your question is No. There is nothing stopping you pre-tournament or purely for training to use an engine. However if you use it during a game on the site then you will be banned.
And they will just open another account...getting banned isnt much of a punishment, or deterrent.
Can we get back on topic please
Yes, I cheated by some ambiguous standard of modern on-line chess play. I came to a position that was difficult. I read through some books on the system and then ran some tests using Chessbase (this all happened 5 years ago when engine software was new and accesible to consummers). I guess my question then is why do these software developers create powerful engines if not to be used? Chess.com forbids us from using them, but all the greatest grandmasters to date use these engines in post game analyisis to better understand their opponnent's knowledge of the game and to predict oppenent strategy and opening theory. So the Chess.com double-standard is pretty hypocritical. Magnus Carlsen uses Chessbase to analyze potential strategies against the world's greatest players who, in turn, use Chessbase engines to find a counter-strategy pre-tournament. So if Magnus Carlsen and his coaches use Chessbase to create pre-emptive, pre-game strategy prior to playing a tournament, does that mean they are cheating?
Buck the simple answer to your question is No. There is nothing stopping you pre-tournament or purely for training to use an engine. However if you use it during a game on the site then you will be banned.
And they will just open another account...getting banned isnt much of a punishment, or deterrent.
Can we get back on topic please
Very PC non answer.
Well, I'm glad we all enjoy Chess.com in our own ways!!!
Hope you guys have a great day! Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Adios!
Let's make it an hasta luego.
The community, the features and all the things you can do, and say. Chess.com is the dream of chess universalists like me.
Daniel rensch!
He's pretty amazing! No doubt all his Youtube videos and all of the material he's done for the site have had an incredible impact on so many of our users!