tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7067401836144518837.post8211686058477774026..comments2024-02-07T03:18:23.921-05:00Comments on Livingston County Chess Blog: LCCC is Alive On Line…..at Chess. ComNik Faldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11612344156293368237noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7067401836144518837.post-53098750300217086632013-04-02T20:26:23.443-04:002013-04-02T20:26:23.443-04:002. Most current members of the chess community
(a...2. Most current members of the chess community <br />(a bigger audience and pool of players)<br />-----------------------------------------<br /><br />You want to go for quality over quantity in all cases here. <br />Having a bigger pool of fish isn't going to make you or anyone else a <br />stronger player. ;-)<br /><br />3. Able to play for free if you don't want to or can't buy and <br />upgraded account (very important for some LCCC members)<br />---------------------------------------------------------------<br /><br />You get what you pay for, and I suspect that, like most <br />things that start out "free", chess.com won't be free for long.<br /><br /><br />4. Chess tactics trainer available<br />-----------------------------------<br /><br />OK, but ICC also has:<br />* TrainingBot, which quizes you on real tactics taken from real ICC <br />games. It kibitzes the goal, the author, and the difficulty level. If you <br />don't get the solution, it gives hints.<br />* ProblemBot, which "...is similar to TrainingBot except that it is for <br />chess compositions. It has fairly practical positions often adapted from real <br />games and most of its puzzles are unusual-looking positions with surprising, <br />subtle and often quite beautiful answers."<br />* Attack! A regular weekly feature with GM Larry Christiansen on tactics and <br />attacking chess.<br /><br />5. Chess openings trainer available<br />------------------------------------<br /><br />Try the the opening survey series by ICC GM Ronen Har-Zvi <br />(http://www6.chessclub.com/chessfm/index/ronen/index.html) and the How to Win <br />series by GM Boris Alterman. Ronen's series is a treasure trove of practical <br />knowledge about all kinds of openings. GM Alterman discusses the various <br />strategic themes and concepts needed to play middlegames. There are many other<br />GM training videos ... too many to list here. All sorts of materials for <br />beginner, intermediate, and advanced players.<br /><br />Maybe I'm biased, but for my money, ICC has a tremendous amount of features. <br />It is the only chess server/service I'm aware of that actually does live <br />coverage of major chess events with GM commentary. I can save all my games <br />that I play and download them to my computer at home.<br /><br />I'm eager to see your report. One more thing: when you do decide to start the <br />trial, use the older Blitzin interface, not the newer Dasher. Dasher is <br />utterly horrible -- worse than putting background images on webpages. <br />Why ICC promotes this junk as a replacement for Blitzin, I have no clue.jcmorrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04373051963131928238noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7067401836144518837.post-42778612010672914162013-04-02T20:19:06.596-04:002013-04-02T20:19:06.596-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.jcmorrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04373051963131928238noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7067401836144518837.post-33466336530192255012013-04-02T17:08:55.872-04:002013-04-02T17:08:55.872-04:00Chess dot com was picked by the VP and a few other...Chess dot com was picked by the VP and a few others based on(in order of importance to me but not necessarily by the others):<br />1. Most current members of the LCCC already there (important for getting started - we can always move if the Club decides later)<br />2. Most current members of the chess community (a bigger audience and pool of players)<br />3. Able to play for free if you don't want to or can't buy and upgraded account (very important for some LCCC members) <br />4. Chess tactics trainer available<br />5. Chess openings trainer available<br /><br />ICC was ommitted because;<br />1. Only a 30 day trial membership<br />2. Only 30,000 members (current Wikipiedia numbers from 2013 article) to nearly 7 million on Chess dot com (because of the ability to play for free).<br /><br />I personally will sign up for the free 30 day trial at ICC to give it a try, and write an article for the blog about the experience.<br /><br />Chess dot com vs ICC - from a wood pusher's perspective!<br />Nik Faldohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11612344156293368237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7067401836144518837.post-35914098061619130112013-04-02T12:10:16.945-04:002013-04-02T12:10:16.945-04:00Who's idea was it to pick chess.com? The Inte...Who's idea was it to pick chess.com? The Internet Chess Club (ICC) http://www.chessclub.com/ has by far the best content and player services of any internet chess offering. The live coverage of the recently concluded Candidates Tournament was worth the nominal membership fee alone. There are millions of master games in the archives all organized by ECO code, there are tons of instructional videos and lectures, and the number of highly-rated titled players as members reads like a whos-who list of GMs and IMs. <br /><br />IMHO chess.com is a distant 2nd option to ICC. I suggest that folks who are serious about improving their games should try it out.jcmorrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04373051963131928238noreply@blogger.com