Which is the best server to play online chess ?

[cooldalek]

icc has a better quality of player

I can easily maintain a rating of around 2000 on playchess but only 1600 on ICC

Also, the admins on ICC are helpful. On playchess, they're rude.

I find FICS to be good too

[Daniel Mehrmann]

My favorites:

1. ICC
2. Playchess
3. FICS (free)

Best,
Daniel

[bedouin]

Incidentally which is the best site to play online was asked on the web but they included correspondence sites as well. However the questions are still useful and the Original Poster can check them and review against his experience :-

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a) Do lots of people play there? (i.e., how often are the game rooms empty?)
b) Is there a broad range of skill levels? (i.e., are there too many experts or too many beginners?)
c) Are the board layouts and controls high quality and easy on the eyes?
d) Are there options such as timing of games, turning off timing, move retraction, board rotation, etc.?
e) Does the site save game histories or allow you to email game histories to yourself?
f) Does the site have tournaments? If so, are they at convenient times or can users initiate tournaments?
g) When you play someone of a similar rating, are they likely to be at a similar skill level?
h) Is it an English speaking site? [Obviously this applies to my linguistically impoverished brain]
i) Does the site attract mean people?

[ArmyBridge]

By the way.. who knows where a can get database of playchess or ICC?, I´ve been looking for games of comp vs comp in special i like to get Zanzibar 64 bit vs Deep Junior

[Albert Silver]

Any idea ?

Free or Paid Membership?

either,it's Playchess!

Free PlayChess is nothing special. You have no rating, cannot enter the main playing hall, nor the engine room, even to see who is online.

I like Convekta's Chess Assistant Club. The interface takes a bit of getting used to, but it is very rich in features. They organize tournaments almost permanently, including team events, and their system is the best I've seen. Games start automatically once pairing is announced, and there is an interactive crosstable that shows games played (by clicking on the score *in* the crosstable), or games being played still.

There are also correspondence sections, and messaging services.

Albert

[swami]

Free PlayChess is nothing special. You have no rating, cannot enter the main playing hall, nor the engine room, even to see who is online.

No,With trial Version you can do anything the member does with some limitations like sending applauses and evaluating the player,but with the limitation of 30 days,but I have heard from many friends that their account haven't been expired and they had been using the same trial account for over a year,so I guess they had not set the automatic expiry settings and sysop must know who use trial membership in order to delete their account.

I like Convekta's Chess Assistant Club. The interface takes a bit of getting used to, but it is very rich in features. They organize tournaments almost permanently, including team events, and their system is the best I've seen. Games start automatically once pairing is announced, and there is an interactive crosstable that shows games played (by clicking on the score *in* the crosstable), or games being played still.

There are also correspondence sections, and messaging services.

I see,I will check it out if i have time,Thanks.

[rdan1987]

A player rated 2000 on playchess will have 1800 rating on ICC.....there isn't such a big difference(400 points) ....

[VP]

A player rated 2000 on playchess will have 1800 rating on ICC.....there isn't such a big difference(400 points) ....

This is a typo for sure.
BTW, I use playchess, but am planning to shift over to ICC, which I have heard is really good...
As regards the level of players, you can always challenge higher rated players if you want, and soon you will reach a higher rating where you can play good games against similar rated opponents.

Two plus two equals five regards,

[Terry McCracken]

A player rated 2000 on playchess will have 1800 rating on ICC.....there isn't such a big difference(400 points) ....

This is a typo for sure.
BTW, I use playchess, but am planning to shift over to ICC, which I have heard is really good...
As regards the level of players, you can always challenge higher rated players if you want, and soon you will reach a higher rating where you can play good games against similar rated opponents.

Two plus two equals five regards,

There is no question, ICC is the number one site. However, if you hook up with friends to play, FICS is the way to go imo and of course, it's free.

Terry

[bedouin]

No,With trial Version you can do anything the member does with some limitations like sending applauses and evaluating the player,but with the limitation of 30 days,but I have heard from many friends that their account haven't been expired and they had been using the same trial account for over a year,so I guess they had not set the automatic expiry settings and sysop must know who use trial membership in order to delete their account.

That is a fallacy. Both ICC and PlayChess trials cannot be taken advantage in the manner you have described. With ICC you cannot sign up for continuous trials.