The New Chess.com Review/ Feedback

So, as many know chess.com is coming out with a new update. (To read more visit the official blog: http://www.chess.com/blog/webmaster/a-new-chesscom-is-coming-soon)

Try the new Chess.com! (Click here to try it)

Anyways, on the review. Initially when I logged in with the new chess.com my first reaction was "wow!". I did not believe how massive the change was. The look has been changed a lot. 

Home Page:

The home page looks very well organized. It actually looks like the android app does when you log on. It has your ongoing games, tactics, and lessons all right there in an easy to see spot. This is very nice and looks much better than the current layout of the current games

Scroll down a little bit and find the notes just as they were and then a list of activity from people you follow. It is like it is currently but a thumbnail and preview is added which is rather nice, giving you the option to check out the items being posted. 

On the right hand side, the groups you are in are nicely lined up from the time you last checked them. Much more helpful for people involved in many groups. Now we can finally see what we want to see! Other than that is looks rather normal.

Navigation Bar:

This has been upgraded big time. It is now easier to navigate the site without all the "useless junk in the way".

Here it is nice users can choose a time control right away 

All the good places people go to learn are still listed so no major change there. Notice Analysis is in place of game editor which people didn't know existed because it was in the "more" drop down

It is nice here that they moved all these things into one menu and got rid of the "More" drop down. Now it is faster to find what you are looking for. The leader board function has also been added. The forum tab, however, is worthless since it still has its own drop down like it does now.

The one thing I dislike is the "more games" option. For one, I don't know how many people use it but I am assuming not many because when I tried it there was no one online and it took 40 minutes to find a match. Not relevant to chess.com either. I am suggesting get rid of that or see how many people actually use it from this site. 

Notice also, that groups and teams have been changed to clubs. This is a much better thing to call them. Not all groups play so teams was not really fitting. It is between groups and clubs in my opinion but clubs would fit much better due to what most of them do on chess.com.

Here it is still looking nice. The log out button has been moved and the settings/ profile have been organized to be easier to navigate. Notice too, Archives are there. Now it will be simple to find recent games. There is also a nice Theme button (I hear themes will be big in the new update!)

Alerts:

Beautiful! All I can say! I love it! Now, I can click the x (appears on the right side of an alert) to dismiss it. I don't have to check the comments in order for it to get off my new comment list (thank you !!) It also sorts it by category like the old right-hand-side bar did. Now you can clear what you don't care about and have all of it in a more convenient place to be located. It even have a little subscript to alert you of how many notifications you have. Brilliant design! One of my favorite parts (as I participate in many things).

On the top there is now a faster way to get to ongoing games, messages, and settings. Along with that, a smaller search bar which does not take up as much space. 

One last thing: Don't like it on the top? Move the bar to the left of the screen! (I don't like it like that, but hey, it'll be nice to have.)

Forums and Posts:

So many nice changes here! Nailed it! 

First off, SPELL CHECK WORKS! It now spell checks forum posts like it would if you were posting a note. Maybe now people, mainly myself who makes many mistakes, will be able to post flawlessly. 

Second, Forums can now be customized like news posts! If you are an admin of a group you know what this is like! You can now insert video, realizable pictures, different fonts, and alignment to make it look more professional. Also now featuring an undo and redo button (lifesavers!).

Emoji. Yes I said it. Emoji. New emoji have come out:  Just to show a few. A whole drop down list is available full of them. 

Other than this there is no other updates. I have to say, I feel like there should be a "save" button like in news posts... That might be a good idea to add (?). I don't want to lose my work and I know for a fact this will take me some time to finish typing... Other than that, great update on the forums/ posts!

BUG: Scroll will not scroll down using the arrow while making a forum post. The re size is in the way.

Live Chess

Oh my gosh has this changed dramatically... 

The alert bar is still available in live chess AND updates when something new comes up! Now you can manage alerts while playing in live chess instead of refreshing the page to see what’s new. This will come in handy.

Introducing live chess960! Yes! Finally it has come! The chess 960 variant in live chess in addition to the turn base games. This should be huge as people become accustomed to this variant now.

Ever tired of the seeks? The new game menu? Well, it has been upgraded! Android users might recognize it and call it “app like” as it looks similar to what it looks like on the chess.com app.

This looks WAY nicer than the old live chess. I like it a lot better. What happened to the graph though? It is still there! One complaint however, it is a lot smaller and harder to tell the difference between rated and unrated. Also, the tournaments should go back to being trophies… otherwise, it just looks like another seek.

Also down below looks rather nice as well. Icons have replaced the worded tabs. It is now a better way to see archives and current games. The chat is very dull though. I think there should be a main chat room for everyone without the requirement to join a group. Otherwise the chat is dull and hardly active. It also gives people a better experience and can be monitored if needed.

Games

Very well designed. That’s the right way to describe it.

The analyze button is rather hidden. I did not know that it was there until I accidentally clicked it. It should probably open in a new window so people don’t get confused I would say (?)

Also the conditional moves button is rather hidden and should maybe say something or be more noticeable/ stand out more. The other tabs on the game all look very modern and nicely redone. Notice the bottom of the panel on the right there are different buttons… There is now a download game button (in PGN format) and a share game. This will be nice especially if people want to save their good, well played games for later analysis. Notice too how the resign and draw buttons are down there. That looks very nice and easier to find. The names being on the right as well, give the board more room and a nicer look. Now everything is in one place where you need it. Nice design.

The last part I liked is it tells you the opening. Now I actually know what variation I’m playing!

Chess.com home

The chess.com home page actually has been left alone and just changed looks wise. Everything is where it used to be (daily puzzle, log in, activity, etc.) with one big change (which I like) instead of the “I like chess.com reviews on the top which get old to look at, now there is a spot for the recent big news and trending articles.

One thing I found redundant. The amount of times social media is advertised on the home page… I counted 3. (one on the top, bottom, and one the follows down as you scroll) I think the one that follows the page is in the way unnecessary as it gets in the way and looks annoying, not to mention it is repetitive.

Vote Chess Bug

Bug that I think is a problem (only noticed it in 2 games): You can see what the other team is voting for… Now, I think this was fixed because I sent in a bug report and after that day I did not notice any other vote chess games doing it. So it looks like we are fine.

You can now download vote chess games which is nice. And in addition, you can now analyze the game like you can online games.

How do I quit/leave a game though? This is interesting. I cannot find a way to do so which might be a problem…

The archive of moves is no longer displayed when you load up the game now, instead it is showed at the bottom tab section where you would discuss moves. This is misplaced I think. People like to have the whole archive right where they can see it. I recommend moving it to make it easier. Otherwise I doubt anyone would ever click on the archive tab… Maybe for comments yes, but at least display a list of the past moves on the right panel where you can cast a vote.

Game Diagrams

Easier to use for sure! It is also nice how now there is no longer a page to choose the type and then one to enter moves… It is now all in the same window/page! Well designed. Puzzle can be selected by using the check box and FEN/PGN can be pasted in by clicking the paste button. Introducing new board themes and piece styles too! I like it!

Messages

I personally find this a problem. All messages have been grouped by contact (like email does) BUT when ChessCom bot messages you all the messages get put in the same place and it is hard to tell new from old. But hey, it now says "3 days to move" and not "3 dies to move" !

Take downs

Yes. Sadly some stuff will go and be no more. It is actually a good thing though! There are so many things on chess.com which people do not even use. This is from the article posted above:

“Yes. One of the goals of this project is to make Chess.com a leaner, more elegant site, with less old (and mostly unused) code to maintain as we move forward. So, with much deliberation and careful attention to our web-traffic analytics, we made some cuts: Photos, Chessopedia, Endless Quiz, Downloads, “Local” club & event directories, and Shop Online.
Theme customization isn’t going away, but it is dramatically simplified”

Not many people use downloads and it seemed rather pointless. Also, the Endless quiz became filled with junk, photos can be put in forums, Local events weren’t really used and hard to find, Shop online was interesting but come on, we have amazon. The chessopedia was somewhat useful though but not needed since there ARE forums and articles.  These are being cut because no one uses them so, it’s all good.

Themes

New themes are available now (about 20 of them) with high res and quality display. They look very nice. Also you can have more than 1, mix and match and still upload your own. Unlike now, they will not be stored and saved for anyone to use (kind of a waste of space since most have 0 users).

All in all, V3 looks amazing and I cannot wait for it to come out as chess.com’s official look! It has some great exciting features and very few annoying ones. A lot of bugs have seemed to have been fixed. This is going to be a major upgrade for everyone! The one thing I and many others are still waiting for though is bug house!! If chess.com can pull that one off, that would be the only thing greater than this update! Anyways, please try the chess.com if you have not already (click the try the new chess.com link at the bottom of this page).  I am looking forward to more improvements to the site and I hope V3 comes out officially soon as it should be a huge success!

You don't have to wait for it to become official. You can use it now.

My only complaints are in live chess. The little wordless icons are hard to figure out when one is in a time scramble.

Oh yeah. I agree with that. Things are not labeled. But, by official I mean where everyone HAS to use it. :)

niro2000 wrote:

Slightly concerned that the back drop to my home page is a picture from my computer that I didn't give permission to be put up. I don't appreciate the intrusion. I have not agreed to anything of this nature.  

More likely, someone with access to your computer posted it to annoy you.

The only way that could have happened is if someone on your computer uploaded the image as a custom theme. We don't have any way to access files on ANYONE'S computer without them giving the file to us.

HOWE y  can  becam member in new allert chess in  2016 year.

HOWE y  can  becam member in new allert chess in  2016 year.

lol it looks different but I get used to it

It's absolutely awful. Worst thing to happen to the internet since Y!A went purple, that caused me to delete my account and i'm not certain I won't do the same here if the option to use the old version goes.

I don't think you'll delete your account lol

I like the new site, but when creating new Daily chess games there seems to be some options missing that were on the old site.  Previously I could specify things like how many games my opponent has played, premium members only and their move frequency.   I can't seem to find these options on the new site.

Live chess still does not work....was work first few days then stop...i clean my browser ,,restart computer and on old version work on new one nothing still..im not only with this issue.live chess server currently unavailable.

BUG ALERT!!!!

In crazy house when you take a promoted queen it turns into a queen for the other player! It is supposed to be a pawn! 

I wish more people would do seeks for the variants

Bottom line is I really like the new look and want to congratulate all the people on the development team for a great job. I have encountered several usage issues and one possible bug.  If you need any additional information please message me.

1)  First the bug.  When I go to mail and click on the join the tournament/match, I get sent some place else in mail.  Workaround is to go back to V2 where there are no problems.

Usage issues.

1)  Vote Chess - I can't tell which games I have voted in and which I have not.  A real pain in the butt.

2) The Daily Chess tableau does not say what kind of a match it is;  i.e. Tournament name, Match name etc. 

 I just checked and as far as I can tell, promoted pieces turn into pawns when captured. Do you have a game where it wasn't?

Why all the rants? I think it looks good and works fine. Yes there are a few bugs but aren't chess players supposed to be patient? Gez!!

 I promoted to a queen in a game, he took it and it became a queen. I haven't promoted since.