ChessWorld - Newbies FAQ's

Look at the top menu and roll your mouse over the Opponents menu**    when you will see a list of options appear. The most appropriate for a newcomer are probably the Suggest Opponent, or Suggest Variety options.

If you choose Suggest Opponent you will see the name of a suggested opponent. You may click on that if you wish.

If you choose Suggest Variety you will see a list of 5 players and you may select any, or all, of them. Before you make a selection, you should check the time limit for the game(s). Do you have the time to make moves every day, for example, or would you prefer a more relaxed time period? Only you can make those decisions but by making careful choices before you embark on the game you will be more likely to be playing a game that you will enjoy.

The number of players that you will see may be less than the maximum because you are already playing one or more game(s). The limit for Guest Members is 5 concurrent games at any time, with the exception of games in our special Guest Welcoming Tournament.

** Some of the options on the Opponents menu are only available to Full Members. In those cases the screen will advise you.

Making moves on ChessWorld is easy!

Simply click on the piece you want to move and then click on the square where you want the piece to be, (the 'destination' square). If you are happy with that position, then simply click on the  Confirm  button.

If you decide that you have made a mistake, or a weak move, you can cancel the move, provided that you have not clicked the  Confirm  button, of course, by simply clicking the  Undo  button.

That's easy too!

Just click on the  Next  button and the game board will show you the move that your next Opponent has made.

When you are playing multiple games those that are waiting for you to move are displayed in the order 'longest waiting' to 'newest waiting'. As you make a move you can press the  Next  button and the next game on the list will be displayed.

If you would prefer to leave that game for the time being and move on, simply press the  Skip  button.

Full Members may play as many concurrent games as they wish, and may to choose rated or unrated games, whichever they prefer.

Guest Members are normally limited to a maximum of 5 unrated games at a time. However, if you have enrolled in, or have been invited to one of our special Guest Welcoming Tournaments, this limit does not apply.

Full Members can always play in rated games if they prefer the competitive element.

Guest Members can, normally, only play in rated games if they have have enrolled in, or have been invited to one of our specialist Guest Welcoming Tournaments. However, if you are invited by, or choose, a site Welcomer, any games with that player will be rated.

Whenever your opponent makes a move we immediately Email the details to you.

Because we use this system it is important that you make sure that you always maintain your Email address. If you remove your Email address, or change it into an invalid address, you will no longer have the convenience of being able to check the progress of your games without visiting the site and checking your game load from an appropriate menu option.

Occasionally, your ISP may delay, misroute or block your Email traffic. Clearly, such events are beyond our control. However, in case of doubt, be assured that ChessWorld always posts move notification Emails. If you have any queries about this topic please refer to the Email section in the General FAQ.

If you are only playing one game and it is not your turn to move, you will not see the game board. The best way to avoid this happening to you is to play several games at the same time. If you do this you will always see the last board that you played on and, if an opponent has made a move, that game will be automatically displayed.

When you first started playing on ChessWorld you probably tried the suggestions described in Q. I'm new here, so how can I start playing? above.

You can still use those options as and when you wish, but you may find that the easiest way to find an opponent is to go to the Opponents menu and click on Opponents . . . Quick List Search. You will see a list of available opponents and you can select whichever one you wish. You may wish to play someone with a higher, or lower, rating than yourself, or may want to consider the time limit for that particular game, or you may feel that you would prefer to meet a player from a different Country.

The choice, as with everything on ChessWorld, is yours!

Yes. If you are a Full Member, go to the Opponents ... Detailed Search menu where you will be able to choose from a number of different options that will allow you to specify the exact type of opponent that you wish to play.

If you are a Guest Member you cannot use this option.  However, by carefully checking some of the suggestions that you are presented with when you access the Opponents ... Quick List Search you will almost certainly find an opponent that meets your particular interests.

As a Guest Member you can send unlimited invites to your Referrer or Welcomer. You cannot send invitations to other players but you can, of course, always select opponents by using the relevant options on the Opponents menu.

Yes, of course you can!

You can often learn a lot about the game by observing how other players deal with a particular position. A quick and easy way to see what has just been played is to visit the Games Gallery, which you can visit by clicking on the Community ... Games link.

You could also spend a little time browsing around the FAQ pages - after all you are already here! - or you can look at our Site Features, which you can view by pressing the link on the Help menu.

As you already know, we use your Email address to contact you and confirm your Registration. We also use your Email address to notify you about any moves that are made by your Opponent(s) and, as you become eligible, to notify you that you have been invited to one of our unique Guest Welcoming Tournaments.

If you ever need to contact our HelpDesk, we can only reply to you directly on that Forum. As a courtesy to you, we also Email a copy of our reply, which you may wish to keep for future reference.

If you should ever lose, or forget, your password, your Email address is the only way that you can be reminded. This is for your security - if you are ever in this situation, all you need do is visit the login page, enter your Nickname, or your current Email address, (which you entered when you registered or subsequently modified), and then click on the  Email My Password  button. The Email is automatically generated and cannot be viewed by anyone other than the addressee.

Opportunities to join one of our unique ChessWorld Guest Welcoming Tournament are available to all Guest Members. On every play page there will be a clickable link to join one of our auto-enrol 4 player All-play-All format Tournaments with a 3 day time limit providing each player with a total of six games, three with each color. As soon as the enrolment is completed the Tournament starts so that there is minimum waiting time.

We also offer, at regular intervals, the opportunity join one of our 10 player All-play-All format Tournaments with a 7 day time limit which provide each player with a total of 18 games, nine with each color. These Tournaments are Invitation based and may take a little longer to complete the enrolment process. Whilst there are no specific guidelines we generally offer these opportunities to those Guest Members who have demonstrated their interest in playing chess on ChessWorld.

As we feel that our Tournaments offer extra opportunities, we allow Guest Members to take part in these extra games over and above our normal limit of five concurrent games. Tournament games are always rated, which allows our newer Members an ideal opportunity to not only enjoy the challenges of Tournament play but also the chance to begin to build up their playing record.

If you wish to take part in one of our auto-enrol Welcoming Tournaments, simply click on the link that you will see on the 'play' page. This will place you in the next available Tournament and will match you with players who have a similar ChessWorld rating. As soon as the Tournament is fully enrolled it will start, normally within a few hours. Remember that it is your turn to make the first move with White!

If you receive an invitation for one of our other Welcoming Tournaments, and you wish to take part, simply accept it, otherwise please click on the 'Decline' option.

Because we send out multiple invitations it is possible that the particular Tournament will already have been filled. In such cases, you should still accept the invitation as by so doing your name will be placed on an internal 'waitlist' and will then be available for us to place in the next available Tournament.

This process is carried out at regular intervals, and, under normal circumstances, you should be placed in a Tournament within 2 or 3 days of your initial acceptance.

Yes, subject to our current operating policy. We offer each of our Guest Members the opportunity to play in at least one of our Welcoming Tournaments so that they have the opportunity to sample one of our most popular features. Because these Tournaments provide the opportunity for multiple rated games, a feature normally only available to Full Members, we do, in fairness to those Members, restrict the number of invitations to each Guest Member.

Occasionally, however, and at our absolute discretion, we may organise 'second tier' Welcoming Tournaments especially for those Guest Members who have shown that they are committed to the site. There is no fixed schedule for such extra Tournaments and they are only made available to selected Members. Actively soliciting Admins, or the HelpDesk, for an invitation would generally be regarded as a reason to remove you from further consideration.

We have found that by offering places for 10 players in our larger Guest Welcoming Tournament we can be quite certain that, even if one or two players drop out, or perhaps just lose interest, there are still enough games and opponents to provide an interesting competition.

The larger ChessWorld Guest Welcoming Tournaments, which are offered by Invitation, are always configured for 10 player All-play-All. We also offer a smaller, 4 player All-play-All format which is set up automatically. If you are eligible for one of these you will see a trophy icon in the Messages area of the Play page. These are set up according the ability range and start as soon as four players have been enrolled. Some of our Full Members also, from time to time, organise small, albeit unofficial, invitation Tournaments for newcomers.

That depends! As we state in the Member Assistance And Fair Play section of our Terms and Conditions the use of certain forms of assistance, and, especially using chess engines, is not allowed. However, as ChessWorld is, in effect, a Correspondence Chess organization, those forms of assistance that are allowed in conventional Correspondence Chess are allowed, for example, Opening Books and similar textual reference material.

No, ChessWorld does not provide the facility to play such games.

However, it is possible that you will meet opponents from time to time who may well be on-line at the same time as yourself. In such cases, and subject to you both agreeing, it would be possible to play games quite quickly, even if you did not manage to finish them in one session.

A useful and interesting alternative if you want to play some rapid games at times is to take advantage of our Play like the Masters feature. This is available, via the Improve ... menu, for Full Members only. This feature allows you to select any one of the many thousands of games in our Masters Collection, and then take the part of one of the players. You can then try to emulate the play of the Master: when you make the correct move the screen responds with the next move of your virtual opponent and you can then attempt the next move.

It is possible to play these games as fast, or as slow, as you wish and they provide a unique opportunity whereby you will always find an opponent whenever you wish. This is the unique ChessWorld advantage over conventional Blitz games where you may have to wait for a period of time before you can even locate an opponent..

Usually, your Referrer is the person that you identified when you completed your original subscription details. However, if you did not specify a particular Member you will be allocated a Referrer from our pool of Members.

The importance of your Referrer is that, when, or if, you decide to become a Full Member, and pay the Full annual subscription yourself, they will be awarded two free months on their own subscription. We do this as an encouragement for our Full Members so that they are rewarded for either introducing you to the site, or for their various efforts in offering you advice and support.

Yes, you can. As long as you have not already made the decision to join us as a Full Member, we can change your current Referrer to any person that you wish to nominate.

If you wish to take advantage of this facility, and ensure that your Referrer gets due credit, please contact the HelpDesk with the name, and if possible, the UserID of the person you wish to nominate as your referrer.

Do not upgrade your Membership until you have checked on your homepage that the correct name for your Referrer is shown.

This video feature is provided from time to time as a service to new Members and will automatically disappear after several visits to the site. However, if you find it to be obtrusive you should visit the My Stuff ... My Moves page and change the current Preferred move score option from the current setting show a 'very' shorthand PGN ... to another choice.

We are sorry that you did not find something to interest you on ChessWorld, but we do understand that we may not offer the particular features or functions for which you are looking.

To leave us, all you need to do is visit the My Stuff ... My Email page, delete your Email address, replace it with an asterisk, (*), and then press the  Submit  button. After that we will not be able to contact you in future and your Account with us is effectively closed.

Welcome to the ChessWorld experience!

Joining us is easy - click on the link in the Unlock the secrets pop up box, or visit My Stuff ... My Subscription .

Whichever you choose you will be taken to our Subscription page where you will be given the relevant information on current subscriptions and methods of payment. If you have a credit card you may use either of our Agents, PayPal or RBS WorldPay, with absolute confidence. They handle all of the processing regarding your credit details and, after verifying your payment, inform us of the successful transaction. Your credit details are not passed to us at any time. We do urge you to keep a copy of any electronic receipt that our Agents may issue until such time as you have confirmed your Full Membership.

If you do not have a credit card you may pay us directly. The details, and the address to use, are given in our Top 10 FAQ's - Q. Can I pay for my subscription without a credit card?

There is no single easy answer!      However, if you are interested in improving your game, or you are interested in exploring the potential of a favourite opening, for example, then, as a Full Member you would have access to our extensive and authoritative Masters Collection database which you can access from the Improve ... Learn from the Masters menu.

If you would like to play a virtual opponent in 'real time', then you can use the Improve ... Play like the Masters feature.

If you want to play more concurrent games than the limited number that are available to Guest Members then, as a Full Member you would have no limit on your game load whatsoever - except, perhaps your available time!

If you enjoy the challenge of All-play-All Tournament play, then, after you have played in one of our unique Guest Welcoming Tournaments your opportunities for further Tournament play are limited. As a Full Member you may play in as many Tournaments as you wish.

If you are interested in the more direct challenge of playing in a Knock Out Tournament then, as a Full Member you would have unlimited opportunities.

If you want to join one of our many Teams, available in any of our affinity based Leagues, as a Full Member, you would be free to choose a Team, or affinity group, that interests you.

If you want to enjoy, not only reading, but contributing to any of our wide range of Forums you would have no limitations - other, perhaps, than your creative ability.

If you want the pleasure of meeting chess players and enthusiasts from around the world then you have almost unlimited opportunities.

Finally, perhaps the fact that ChessWorld, as the leading International On-line Chess provider, has many thousands of active Members, who play every day, providing a challenging range of Opponents 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, may help persuade you!