Correspondence chess by email, in plain English: would you play it?

[vagarwal]

Hi all, I'm new here. I'd like to share an idea for correspondence chess and hear what you think.

The idea is to play by email, the way people used to play by post. You start a game by sending an email, then play by replying with your moves in ordinary words: "knight to f3", "castle kingside", "pawn takes on d5", "I resign". No notation needed. Your opponent's move simply arrives in your inbox.

Why email, when there are so many chess websites?

• It's simple. Chess sites are full of features, notifications and things to buy. Email is just you, your opponent and the game.
• Nothing to sell you. No memberships, no upgrades, no ads between moves.
• No new app to learn. You already know how to use email, on any phone or computer.
• Works offline. Once an email has downloaded, it's on your phone or computer. You can study the position and write your reply on a plane or in the countryside, and it sends when you're back online.
• Your games stay with you. Every move is in your mailbox, so you keep a full record of your games even without visiting any website.
• Slow in a good way. You can think about your move for a day, reply when it suits you, and get on with your life. It keeps the letter-writing feel of postal chess, without stamps or waiting a week for each move.
• No pressure to move fast. There's no clock ticking in front of you and no opponent waiting on the other side of the screen. You can take your time and play your best move, not your quickest.
• No anxiety about losing. Your opponent is anonymous and there's no audience watching. A lost game is just an email, not a public defeat. You simply start another.

You can try it for free on a site I built, https://caissahub.com. To start, email play@caissahub.com something like "I'd like a game, I'll take white". You can also see your games and the board on the website if you want to. No ads, nothing for sale, and the only thing stored about you is your email address and a nickname.

I'd especially like to know:
- Have you played correspondence chess by email or by post? What did you like or miss about it?
- Would writing moves in plain English appeal to you, or would you rather use notation?
- What would make you actually try it?

Honest opinions welcome, good or bad.

[Stephen Ham]

Hello Vibha,

What's the point in writing in "plain English" when algebraic notation is both universally understood and most efficient/concise/unambiguous?

You've already created a "plain English" website, but shouldn't you first have made a case for why "plain English" is better?

I wouldn't play it. Again...what's the point? Also, playing without a clock makes no sense as too many players will go silent after getting an inferior position.

Regards,

-Steve-

[vagarwal]

Thanks Steve for your response, and sorry for not explaining it properly in my original post.

You're right that algebraic notation is the best way to write moves, and you can use it. "Nf3" works perfectly well. Plain English is just allowed as well, not required. The site's emails show every move both ways, for example "Nf3 (knight to f3)", so players who know notation lose nothing.

The point of plain English is for people who don't know notation. Lots of casual players have never learned it, and "knight to f3" lets them play straight away instead of being put off at the first step. For a regular here, it doesn't matter.

On the clock, that's my fault for being unclear too. There is one: 72 hours per move, with reminders at 24 and 48 hours. If a player doesn't move in time, they lose the game, so going silent in a bad position doesn't work. What I meant was that there's no clock ticking while you sit at the board, so there's no pressure to move in seconds.

More generally, chess has a huge community, and people of different ages, cultures and jobs enjoy it in very different ways. Some only play over a physical board and wouldn't touch any other way. Others love blitz online, or slow correspondence games. I think email chess has its own audience too. It's probably not a large part of the chess world, but I don't believe it's negligible either.

So this isn't an attempt to replace any of the popular ways to play. It's just one more option for people who happen to like playing this way.

Thanks for taking the time to reply. This is exactly the kind of feedback I was hoping for.