Check out these chess sites and keep up with the play

By RICHARD WOOD

My children have been playing a lot of chess lately and, seeing the potential to rapidly accelerate their learning of the game, I fired up my search engine.

What a surprise. While I've been getting excited about real-time strategy games such as Cossacks, tens of thousands of people around the globe have been joining chess clubs online.

Two weeks later, I still haven't got to anywhere near all of them, but I can recommend two good sites with very different approaches.

For fanatics, there is an array of sophisticated chess servers and downloadable interfaces. But my goal was jargon-free, easy-to-use sites.

Most sites operate like correspondence chess, which used the postal system. In the modern version, you play your move and an email notification tells your opponent it's his or her move.

When you get the email, it has a link to your game on the site. Using cookies in your browser you are automatically logged in and can make your move.

The specialised chess website I liked best is Red Hot Pawn - yes, really (www.redhotpawn.com). Joining is easy and you can start using it straight away. If the name puts you off, go to www.worldchess.net instead for a similar experience.

Both cater for any level and, for the keen player, have ratings, tournaments and discussion forums. You also can watch games.

Playing multiple games at once is the norm because the wait for other players to move can be lengthy.

At Red Hot Pawn, the originator of each game sets the time limit for moves, which can be up to 21 days. If you have enough games going, there's a move to play every time you come back to it.

On joining, you can play up to 10 games at once. That extends to an unlimited number of games on subscribing properly - US$5.95 ($10.23) a month or US$14.95 a year.

After a move in one of your multiple games, any other game awaiting your attention pops up.

The other way to play chess online against opponents is in real time. InstantChess (www.instantchess.com) is a superb option. You can find an opponent readily any time of day or night.

InstantChess is also just the ticket for exciting "time limited" games, including one or four-minute ones.

Be warned, they are addictive. You'll soon rip through your allocated 64 free games. After that InstantChess starts delaying the start-up, increasing the delay each time you log on.

But that hasn't stopped me, and it's inevitable I'll pay the US$9.95 for three months or US$39.99 for a year.

Also, once you join you can get a rating. Games can be rated or unrated. You can also choose to be available to play people from beginners to senior masters and which countries to play against.

It's best to keep these options as broad as possible to ensure an opponent is available. I eliminated the lower end progressively from my target until I reached a point where I was winning/losing 50 per cent each.

My children didn't like the delay between moves in correspondence chess and were only marginally more interested in the InstantChess.

But all was not lost. They do like free downloadable chess programs. These are all over the internet and most have a setting that will thrash an average player and most children.

They particularly enjoyed EG Chess, downloadable at www.earthgaming.com. It is straightforward to use and has a 3D board that can be moved around by clicking on the right-hand mouse button and moving the mouse. Settings can go from random moves to hard.

EG Chess has a medieval theme, appropriate music and, when it does a good move, says: "I've got my pitchfork, Lord." The kids found that funny.