If you were a player who was in the learning stages, I suppose I'm around 1500 or so (actual provisional ranking is 1825, but that is crazy as it's based on 3 games), where would you get a membership?

Obviously the only reason to get a membership at chess.com is the learning material, and, since I can play for free at chess.com, this also seems like the only reason to join ICC. So I guess the real question is which of these two sites have better learning material? Are there any other factors that weight the decision?

I feel like this question has been poised before, and that I've seen it, but times change and I'm curious what people think now.

The videos on ICC >>>>> anything else on the net for learning material, imo.

yea I'm also in the process of choosing my main site


ICC is cheaper then dimond (if you want the same service level on chess.com)

if you are a student you can get your subscription doubled

from what I heard it has a stronger player pool

The only thing I do not like and it's not necessary bad is their console (I like default sounds and chess board look in their blitzln gui)

good sides of Chess.com are that it has a realy good tactiacal trainer, large player pool and it's played from the browser

I can't compare fairly, since I have never checked out ICC, but I can say that chess.com has a lot of really good training material for a Class player. I think their tactics trainer is quite good, I think Chess Mentor is FANTASTIC, and they have more videos than I could ever watch all of, and most of them are very good quality. Player pool's not really an issue at the Class levels, you'll have no trouble finding games at chess.com (though for better players it does become a major factor).

Are ICC's training materials even better? Quite possibly. I definitely think chess.com gives a good opportunity to improve your game a lot, at least around my levels.

I've been at Chess.com since 2008 or so. I just signed up for ICC this year, I am rated 1250 or so. I don't use learning materials at either site, I prefer books.

The player pool at ICC is much more competitive. The interface is much better at ICC (dasher or blitzin). IMO ICC is just much more professional.

I prefer Playchess.com to both if you have Fritz!

ICC videos are probably better and it's probably the best site for good players (>1800). Not a lot of learning materials though, but best site if you are looking to play against strong opponents as most masters play there.

But for a beginner, there are much more training materials at chess.com. I'd even say that up to 2000 chess.com is pretty decent, though live play doesn't offer enough competition from this level. However, you can play correspondence chess which is IMO a very good way to improve.

So if I were you I'd go for chess.com. Don't forget to subscribe to chesstempo too (it's free).

I just wanted to add a little more. I am really getting sick and tired of Chess.com. Like I said, I have been there since 2008. Almost nothing has been improved in those five years, and the site is very buggy. Beyond that here are some of my main complaints:

-Cheating: Chess.com is absolutely overrun with cheaters. There is rampant engine use. Banned cheaters return by simply signing up for another account. Many users also have multiple accounts. Staff seemingly has no control over this.

-Censorship/Transparency/Corruption: Criticism of the site is not allowed. Threads questioning their policies are simply deleted. Site policies are not public information. Some cheaters are allowed to stay because they are friends with the right people. Other banned cheaters are allowed to return. The emphasis is clearly not on making Chess.com the best chess server but on turning the largest profit.

IMO, the cheating detection at ICC is the best available. And the fact that you pay to join, means you will only play against others who have committed financially as well. I think this is the only way internet chess will succeed in the future.

http://www.chess.com/cheating

http://livingrevolution.co/2013/08/0...-my-dream-job/

http://nypost.com/2013/11/16/chess-c...not-a-cheater/

http://www.chess.com/groups/forum/cheating-forum

Yeah, the number of cheaters on chess.com is simply amazing but it's hardly a problem if you are a beginner.
And in fact, cheating is only a problem if your goal is to "win". If it's just to improve it doesn't matter that much.