Why should I continue to pay $99 for Chess.com when, often as not, I end up having to switch to Lichess because Chess.com can't even load? Very frustrating.
The website isn't loading? Trying clearing your cache. It helps.
One of the apps? Reinstall it?
Try
Thanks for the suggestions, but...I'm using a browser (Firefox) not an app. And if I come back later without clearing my cache or closing my browser, like after I've spent some time over at Lichess, then Chess.com starts working again. Plus, before it stops working altogether, Chess.com starts running really slowly. Sometimes it recovers to normal speed but often it just stops working. So it doesn't seem like a cache problem to me? More like the Chess.com servers are overloaded? Could this be region-specific, if other people aren't experiencing it?
Chess.com just announced that Opera browser is now recommended. https://www.chess.com/news/view/opera-launches-new-custom-chess-browser
You should not follow this advice towards a Chinese browser. From Chess.com's FAQ: https://support.chess.com/article/3750-how-do-i-update-my-browser
For very long time Chess.com has not supported Opera and there are good reasons to stay away from this Chinese browser (already since 2016).
Thanks for the suggestions, but...I'm using a browser (Firefox) not an app. And if I come back later without clearing my cache or closing my browser, like after I've spent some time over at Lichess, then Chess.com starts working again. Plus, before it stops working altogether, Chess.com starts running really slowly. Sometimes it recovers to normal speed but often it just stops working. So it doesn't seem like a cache problem to me? More like the Chess.com servers are overloaded? Could this be region-specific, if other people aren't experiencing it?
As far as I'm aware, there haven't been server issues recently. For regular browsing, you'll get a lot of data through the CDN the site uses and if your flag is correct, it will be US based and probably regional. For rated live play, the servers are in the US as well.
If you have plug-ins or add-on to your browser, one if then could be causing issues.
https://support.chess.com/article/4720-online-chess-performance-optimizations
https://support.chess.com/article/213-how-do-i-fix-my-disconnect-lag-issues
So, I finally got this sorted out and it's not a problem with chess.com after all. My mistake. It turned out to be my WiFi adapter. What confused me was that it started out only affecting certain websites (chess.com being the one I use most often) and not others (like Lichess, for whatever reason). But today the WiFi adapter finally gave up the ghost altogether. Now that I've swapped it out chess.com is working beautifully again.
My apologies for the faulty diagnosis and premature accusation! And thanks to everyone who offered suggestions.
PS I'd change the title of the post to indicate the problem is solved, but the editor won't let me. Maybe one of the moderators can...
Why should I continue to pay $99 for Chess.com when, often as not, I end up having to switch to Lichess because Chess.com can't even load? Very frustrating.