Live-Chess: Chess & Chat on the Web (Beta)

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Live-Chess is an Ajax enabled, highly interactive web application for playing chess and chatting on the internet. All that is needed is a JavaScript enabled web browser. No downloads or plugins are required.

For reasons that will be elaborated on in the blog, the use of Internet Explorer is discouraged for the time being (at least on Windows XP as Vista has not been tested yet). Both Firefox and Opera are OK, however (no surprise here). I don't have access to Safari, by the way, and would appreciate some feedback on that one. (Update: See the blog for my experiences with Safari for Windows.)

Here is a list of some Live-Chess features:

Interface to the rather strong open source chess program Crafty. Version 18.12 has an SDDF rating of 2614. Look out for crafty_01 to crafty_05 and challenge them to a game.
Offer a game by clicking a button. Challenge other players or chat with them. You can broadcast your chat messages to all players. Or send them privately either to your buddies (see buddy list in the preferences dialog) or to only one other player.
Move pieces by drag and drop. Only legal moves are possible while playing. The game notation is displayed during a game.
Every member has a personal ELO rating starting at 1500 that is adjusted after each game using the official ELO-formula.
By double clicking on a playing member's name in the players list you can watch (kibitz) the game in progress. This is possible if neither player has forbidden kibitzing in the preferences dialog.
Assign your personal preferences (e.g. game time, increment per move, preferred opponent's ELO, buddy list) and store them on the server.
The board recognizes mate and certain theoretical draw positions.
You can offer a draw, resign a game, or claim a win because you suspect that your opponent has lost the connection or has run out of time.

Some of those features still need extensive testing which, of course, requires extensive playing.
So, what are you waiting for? Register, log in, and play some chess. It's fun and it's free!

Announcements
Event:
Date:
Time:
Details:

Time	minutes	(1...120)
Increment per move	seconds	(0...120)
Opponent's ELO	to
Offers/Challenges expire after	minutes	(1...60)
Buddy list (seperate names by comma)
Allow kibitzing

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