Internet Chess

Chess Glossary - Internet Chess - Graphic The Internet Chess scene, also referred to as Online Chess, can be split into two camps - on the one hand, you have those looking to play Games of Chess, while others are looking Information about How To Play Chess.

We look at both types, here and, as nobody really likes learning, we'll start with the Games ...

Chess Games On The Internet

On the 'net, you can find three different types of Chess game ...

Human-vs-Human Chess Games

A very good website for this is InstantChess.com.
If you want detailed analysis, you'll have to pay. But, if you're not bothered about who you play against, and you're not fussed that you can't Chat to your opponent, then enter yourself a Name, click "Start Game" and, within 5-10 seconds, you can find yourself playing against an opponent from any of the 147 countries represented.

The only bit of automation you'll find on this 'site is the animation for pieces being moved or captured. Apart from that, it's you versus another person.

For more about InstantChess.com, click here.

Human-vs-Computer Chess Games

A very good free game, of this type, is Flash Chess III.

With these types of games, you're playing against a program that has access to a database containing rules and pre-programmed moves.

If you're able to select a Difficulty setting, your choice determines how much of the database the computer program can access.

I'm not a programmer, but I imagine there'll be some sort of relative points value to distinguish between a good and a bad capture, or a move that may be better or worse ...

The larger the database, the greater the options available and the harder the game.

For more about Flash Chess III, click here.

Correspondence Chess

And yes, I realize this could quite easily fall under the Human-vs-Human category, but this has its own mention as you don't play it in a game simulation - you know, the ones that have animated moving pieces ...

No, instead, you play either via the Postal service, or using Email, and is conducted using Chess Notation (often the Algebraic Notation, as used by FIDE, for their tournaments).

For more about Correspondence Chess, click here.

Chess Information On The Internet

If you're looking to use the Internet to learn more about the game of Chess, then you'll want to know of some decent websites ...

Chess-Game-Strategies.com (us, naturally)

Lots of free video-based content, Chess Puzzles, Beginners Chess guidance, plus a useful Chess Glossary.

Wikipedia.com

It's attracted criticism, from time to time, as a haven for lazy journalists ... and, on that front, it's come up trumps for us.

Wikipedia has got a tremendous amount of content to do with Chess, and we've happily raided it on many occaisions.

So, we're lazily recommending it here.

Key pages include this lot:

ChessClub.com

Better known as The Internet Chess Club, or ICC. You have to pay a subscription to get their best content, but you can find some decent free videos on this Internet Chess 'site, if you hunt about a bit.

The CHESS.FM Video Lectures is usually a good place for a first look.