Chessgames.com

Basic membership is free, and the site is open to players at all levels of ability, with additional features available for Premium members.

[3] They developed software to integrate a chess database with a discussion forum, so that all games and players have a unique message board.

[4] This led to substantial growth in membership and interest, which has steadily increased since then due to other live events and many site enhancements.

[7] The primary criterion for inclusion in the Chessgames.com database is that one of the players should be master strength (an Elo rating of 2200 or above) to reduce low quality games and erroneous fabrications.

Prominent Chessgames.com members include former Women's World Champion Susan Polgar, former World Championship candidate Nigel Short, former U.S. Champion Gata Kamsky, chess authors Grandmaster Raymond Keene and FIDE Master Eric Schiller, FIDE Master Jonathan Sarfati, past USCF President Grandmaster Maxim Dlugy, International Master Lawrence Day, and Woman Grandmasters Natalia Pogonina and Yelena Dembo.

Grandmasters who have posted on Chessgames.com include Varuzhan Akobian, Rogelio Antonio Jr., Keith Arkell, Oliver Barbosa, Jayson Gonzales, Danny Gormally, Jon Ludvig Hammer, Arno Nickel, David Norwood, James Plaskett, Alejandro Ramirez, Yury Shulman, Wesley So, Mihai Suba, Gert Jan Timmerman, Tansel Turgut, Mikhail Umansky, Simon Kim Williams and Patrick Wolff.

[9] Chessgames.com began team play as The World in 2006 and defeated noted computer expert GM Arno Nickel.

[13] The Chessgames World Team drew four matches in a row: a 2008 rematch with GM Nickel,[14] as Black in 2009 against the former ICCF World Champion Mikhail Markovich Umansky,[15] as White in 2010 against WGM Natalia Pogonina,[16][17] and as Black in 2011 against GM Varuzhan Akobian.

In 2005, enhanced software allowed members to embed chess diagrams in their messages, which can significantly help discuss a particular position or potential variation.

The site's kibitzing may be searched by keyword for all messages to locate previous posts and find specific information.