$5 a month.....

Just saw the latest draft. Fix the typo in the Kombilo link and I'd say the Go section is ready for stickying.

That was in comparing PlayChess vs ICC's interfaces. I think BabasChess, which is probably the best interface for FICS, is just horrible. Incidentally, I'm also much more pleased with ICC's interfaces now. It just took quite alot of customization. PlayChess is very sleek right out of the box. I still think PlayChess has the best interface, but it's very close. Maybe PlayChess being a 9/10, Dasher being an 8/10 (probably a 6/10 before customization) and BabasChess being a 4/10.

Does anyone else think that $5/month is actually expensive (in absolute terms, not with reference to my nor anyone else's level of disposable income) for a site to play chess on? I think that something like $25/year would be reasonable.

it beats paying $50,000 a year to play poker.

i definitely think so, it's around the same that my OTB chess club charges and that has to cover for chess sets, clocks, other expenses, traveling costs (we have 4-5 away matches per season with average distances of 80-100 miles).

Yes, of course it is. ICC has been steadily jacking up their prices while restricting anything you can do as a guest. A long time ago you used to be able to logon and play for free as a guest, watch games, chat, etc. Then they killed guest chatting, then they killed guests observing games, then they killed guests playing and now all a guest can do is basically logon and ask how to subscribe.

They're certainly exploiting their position pretty heinously, but what can you do: they're still the best.

I'll live and die with ICC's Blitzin, but I'm an old man set in my ways.

I know I always still take my free ICC accounts when it's time, but I never bother with FICS or any other site.

For my 2 cents, ICC is still where it's at.

The more I think about it, the more I feel that perhaps FICS should be mentioned in an entirely separate portion of the FAQ than ICC/PlayChess. There's no question that FICS is massively inferior to both of the pay sites, and relative to disposable income the costs are has already been mentioned, so if you're serious about chess you should probably subscribe to one of the pay sites, and we can debate the merits of them all we want.

That said, if you want to play online chess for free, FICS is THE place to do it. Is ICC way better? Sure, but ICC isn't free. Since this forum has been created, at least 4 different threads have been created asking what the best place to play chess online FOR FREE is. It's THE most frequently asked question from people new to the forum, and FICS is the DEFINITIVE answer. It deserves special mention for that reason, imo.

For question:

"Where can I play a real life tournament?
Ask at your local chessclub. If you're in the USA, the US Chess Federation has information online about clubs and upcoming tourneys. Most other countries have the same."

You could add links to:
http://www.englishchess.org.uk/
http://www.chess.ca

added chess.com live chess and replaced Crafty and Rybka with Stockfish and Houdini.

any other updates? those are two things that get out of date fairly quickly.

I have to say: I'm absolutely amazed at how comprehensive the chess forum is here on 2p2. I really wish a place like Chess.com would take a page out of your book.

Other than here, where do those of you who are stronger players usually talk about chess online? I'm a late blooming beginner (early 30's) and have become totally consumed by the game. I'm in USCF, I play on FICS, Chess.com, and ICC, and I study the game constantly. I'm just wondering where I can go to post games and read strategy discussion that's not Chess.com.

Thanks

Welcome to 2+2!

I believe the consensus here is that the most helpful chess forum in the world is 2+2 (did you think it's only a poker forum?), so feel free to post games on this forum (you may start a special 'beginner's log' thread to put all your early games in one place).

Thank you for the welcome! I appreciate it.

I very well may start a blog in this subforum. I think it would be fun for me and readers, and it would probably help me in goal setting and keeping track of my progress, as well.

I have played poker in the past - Not much but a little. I really, really like poker. The problem is that I love chess. I spent a good year and a half trying to avoid getting wrapped up in it because I wanted to do something more 'productive', but keeled a couple of weeks ago and said enough is enough and dove right in. I bought a tournament set, a few sets of pieces, scorebooks, and I play online and OTB against friends a lot. I'm just trying to figure out how I can get a high volume of OTB USFC rated games in each week. I'm looking to play a ton.

No updates in 8 years. Perhaps something about where to play online these days?

would appear to need updating as well