How do u contact friends in live chess?

I find it really hard to get in touch with people in live chess.  Either they are in a game or I am and when i click watch game and it says iv entered chat the other person doesnt see any texts I send... I assume this is another privilage reserved for premium users.  Also if one of us challenge the other its easy not to notice it among all the other challenges, or if the other person is in a game.  I thought this meebo chat bar would solve this, but it doesnt even appear in Live Chess!  Or is it just my comp?

A few points:

1. It's no different for paying members.

2. Friends are easily contacted, challenge them to a game, this will alert them to your presence (the game can be aborted, if necessary).

3. Try calling their user-name in the general chat-box, sometimes works.

4. Leave a message at their turn-based homepage asking them to speak in the chat-box, you can then right-click on their user-name and challenge them to a game.

I know nothing of Meebo but hope that the above will help you until LiveChess gains more functionality.

When you challenge someone, it only shows up in the challenge box which isnt accessible during a game... And if you're not in a game its still not very easy to notice, u should get an alert box accross the screen like in other online games.

Yes, far from ideal but until Chess.com performs an upgrade (there's always one pending) we will just have to make the best of it. Patience is a virtue, and hey! it's free!

When you watch a game, it doesn't show the players what you write to avoid kibitzing. If you talk in between games it will show the message. I think other observers can see what you write though.

I say this having never observed, but sometimes people observe my game

Thx for the replies, the site is good and and i appretiate that its free, but would be good if they made it easier for friends to stay in touch when in Live Chess.

Texting is popular these days.

If u mean the chat bar at the bottom, it disappears when u enter Live Chess, anyone know why that is?  If its to stop players helping others out while observing a game (kibitzing) its unnecessary, if people really wanted to do that msn would work fine.

It would be good to be able to click a button and watch previous games you played be re-enacted move by move