All Dressed Up; Nowhere To Go

Searching for a better way to pass the time, I decided chess was still fun. But playing against the computer sucks, so I went in search of online competition. The problem is I can’t find any place to play. In the past, I’ve played at Yahoo!, POGO, and some random small site that’s since defunct.

Sure, there are a ton of sites out there. But I can’t find anything that really draws me.

What am I looking for in a chess site?

• Preferably, a site dedicated to chess and not a hundred various games.
• I want to play in real-time and not “correspondence” games. I’m not talking 5 or 10 minute blitz games, but 20 or 30 minutes with added time per move is perfect.
• Something flash based, not a downloadable app or java.
• Aesthetics! No, I don’t expect eye candy, but jazz things up with rounded edges or shading! Just because it’s a simple game doesn’t mean it has to be ugly.
• Likewise, make the site easily navigable and intuitive. Extras? Forums? Guides?
• Player ratings are, of course, a must have.
• There needs to be a range of skill among users, so it’s easy to find a good match.
• It’s got to be free. I’m not going to pay to play chess. And I don’t want to be limited with a “free” or “trial” account.
• It’s gotta play nice with a #$^% dial-up connection.

That last prerequisite is pretty lame, but consider this – I did end up finding a site that satisfied all of these other requests. uChess seemed like a great fit. Just chess, slim, flash-based and attractive enough. But I register an account, try to play, and I end up getting booted from the first three games I try. How bandwidth intensive can chess be? Jebus!

For now, I’m checking out Yahoo! Games and POGO again. Going to review my accounts on both sites, and see which I prefer playing on. But if I find some place else, I’m totally there.

Suggestions?