What are the best websites to learn chess?
The world wide web is probably the best resource for chess right now.
The internet broke the repertoire of knowledge that can be received by an individual due to its accessibility. Chess in particular has never been easier to study due to the rise of many platforms out there, you just have to find it.
But I understand it can be confusing to choose from the plethora of websites that can be seen in the search, so I did my own analysis. I compiled these very helpful websites that will help you learn chess on a maximum level.
If you are somewhat experienced (just like me) you might have seen or heard some of this before, but likely have never tried them. Well I did, and if you are a beginner you will gain a lot of insights into which online medium would suit you best.
Without further ado, let’s get started.
What is the best website to play chess?
Chess.com is the largest chess network that offers games against other players, free engines, training, threads, and large databases help players improve on various aspects of their game. One can play in multiple time controls and have their own rating for reference.
Website #1 Chess.com
This platform is the biggest out there in the community when it comes to playing chess, it is hosted by professionals who have been playing for years. They initially started this site to only play the game but eventually spread into blogs, engines, chess training, and coach sessions.
I especially like the daily puzzles, it will help you to learn something new just by opening the site. You can also host the engines for free to analyze some of your games (though additional features require membership) but I found that you didn’t really need to pay to put up some lines.
They include a lot of different time controls from bullet (1-2 min.), blitz (3-5 min.), rapid (8-10 min.), and classical (15+ min.) which includes diversity for the players.
They also have a rating system that is much closer to the real-life rating numbers (unlike with Lichess which are more inflated) and are harder to earn (at chess.com).
Lichess (another free-to-play platform) is their competitor but is kind of limited in the number of players than chess.com.
It is still good however I recommend chess.com more if you are looking to improve since they have other lessons that assist in your development.
What are the best websites available for chess training?
The best websites to train with chess are Chess24.com which offers free videos and live viewing, Chesstempo.com for its chess engine feedback, Chessgames.com for reviews of famous games, and Chesspuzzle.net for challenges via puzzles.
Website #2 Chess24.com
This is another site similar to chess.com with the major difference being I don’t recommend it for playing informally, but their tournaments are more practical.
You can actually track your progress and be paired with players of similar strength unlike with chess.com where you get to play with professionals.
They also have a modified version of Stockfish that is more relatable (fewer notations) to beginners than with cheas.com.
Some videos exist on their site that are more applicable for semi-advanced players (unlike chess.com which is more beginner-centric) and is therefore useful for training.
They also have free viewings of the latest chess games from professionals which you can view to gain interesting insights.
There is a commentary that expresses opinions on each position (in the game) where you can even use to guess a move, and see how it would fare in a competitive environment.
Website # 3 Chesstempo.com
This one also allows playing chess games (which I don’t recommend) but provides a lot of interesting lessons for their visitors.
They have an opening training where you can layout the chosen opening repertoire and see where you have deviated based on their computer.
There also exist endgame training where you get to play against a computer and see some of the sub-optimal moves that have been played.
You will receive the so-called endgame rating if you choose to participate in this one, which reflects progress.
And finally, they have a tactics training where you get to train with tactics and would be given a chart to track your progress.
The statistics would be useful to gain feedback on how hard you need to work before reaching a certain level and is therefore pretty helpful.
Website #4 Chessgames.com
This one is the largest chess database that I could find out there which hosts a variety of historical games. It is after all hard to find games that have been played decades ago, and this site easily helps you analyze that.
They have a search that would enable visitors to easily browse from thousands of games in order to find the one they are looking for. You can categorize everything from people, positions, years, etc. to find the hidden bits that can unexpectedly be valuable.
Every listing (games) in the record has a tread on the bottom where players can discuss their thoughts on the game. You can find ideas that you have missed on the actual record to gain a lesson or two from that listing.
Website # 5 Chesspuzzle.net
As the name of the site suggests it is pretty straightforward, a platform dedicated only to express chess puzzles. There are daily puzzles that contain fruits that could unexpectedly be helpful on various aspects of the game, as well as other variations of chess puzzles.
Such as chess puzzles taken from recently played games, the most popular puzzles, the most difficult puzzles ever (as they say), and many more.
They also have different levels and leaderboards that would make the training resemble the one you see on video games, which is more entertaining.
They will also give you this number after each puzzle solved in order to track your progress in the leaderboard, just like a rating. This interesting mechanic personally appears to be really helpful to me, though I have yet to try its full leverage (so you should test it).
What is the best website to give free chess ebooks?
The best website to give free chess ebooks is chessable.com ranging from a variety of topics such as tactics, planning, and defending, though one would need to sign up for this privilege to be available (and only up to a limited number of times).
Website # 6 Chessable.com
I have heard for a long time that this site gives free ebooks but have been unable to confirm it myself, until this day. If you go to the homepage you don’t really see anything since you need to sign up in order to enjoy the privileges.
Once you sign up though it is absolutely amazing, there is a repertoire of e-books that you can choose (more than 30) all for free. Each free ebook is around 75 pages long (or more) which is comparable to a paid one in terms of sheer length.
You have 5 slots (chances) to choose which ebook you can start from all of their options, basically, you can do this for a long time. What I found is that the maximum amount of ebooks you can acquire is just 5, however I think there are ways to get around this by just searching online.
What are the best websites to host chess articles?
The best websites to create chess articles are wegochess.com and ichess.net, discussing various topics in the opening, middlegame, and endgame, as well as common questions made by players with corresponding statistics and references.
Website # 7 Wegochess.com
I know this sounds cheesy since this is self-promotion and all that stuff, but this community that I’m building is really valuable. I am sharing tips and tricks on this website that are not necessarily available from other information out there using my years of experience.
I am also tackling some weird questions that other bloggers are not willing to take, giving sort of diversity to the information. The articles are usually really meaty (and also lengthy) to just give the full answer to everything.
Some of the articles include various statistics, personal research, interviews, etc. that would give you a new perspective on chess.
If you just want to hang out and read something related to this hobby, then it might be worth checking out some of the things I talked about to see whether you like it or not.
Website # 8 Ichess.net
This one is another website that I recommend to create relatable articles, they pick the interest of the readers really smoothly. They have these awesome graphic designs in their blogs as well as some statistics (although I personally think some articles can perform better).
Nevertheless, I still believe that they are one of the best players out there since their team also consists of professionals. They even write articles move by move of very specific openings, which reflects their dedication to giving information.
On the side, they are actually an e-commerce platform selling ebooks and chess-related products to their readers. I myself enjoy some of the things they write, and I try to improve the quality of my articles as them being my inspiration.
What are the best websites to answer interesting chess questions?
Quora.com and Chess subreddit (from Reddit) host a lot of curious and interesting chess topics shared by players of all strengths. Different individuals who have the knowledge to answer the question will come up and provide interesting insights for all viewers.
Website #9 Quora.com
Now this sounds funny but hear me out for a second, quora is where really beginner-people ask questions to everyone. This is what I meant by writing to answer weird questions, things that people are asking but something that other people don’t necessarily like to write about.
You can find thousands of such questions being answered in quora by people who share this hobby and are relatable. I found really good answers in quora (surprisingly) some even have statistics and personal research, it is kind of funny being a discussion forum.
For me it is like reading the news, you don’t know what will turn up whether it will be good or bad. I have found myself reading for hours in just about anything related to chess (on this website), so try it sometimes and see if it works for you.
Website #10 Reddit.com (“Chess” subreddit)
With Quora the information is much more dispersed, you have to look for golden fruits on there. Though I personally think that it has some value (being unpredictable) some people just want to go to a page and scroll.
A subreddit is basically just like a Facebook page, where specific people gather to talk about the focus of the subreddit. And the chess subreddit (created for chess people) contains very interesting memes, issues, and discussions that a lot of people would be interested in.
I personally do not subscribe to this since I am not a Reddit guy, but I understand that some people find value in this so I recommend it. I have just visited the subreddit a few moments ago and I really think it could be helpful for some enthusiasts.
Are you satisfied with the best chess websites mentioned?
Believe me when I tell you that there are so many websites about chess out there often looking similar in their functionalities. It’s really hard to find the one you are looking for so I made the search a little bit easier, I wouldn’t recommend things I think were bad.
There is probably something out there that is better than the one I mentioned, but I have not yet confirmed it. If I know I will update this article, but you can be assured that I have tested all these sites and they are credible.
I personally learned a lot by making this article (since some of these sites I’ve never seen, so I have to test them). I will consider spending some time with my own recommendations, sleep well and play chess.
