Play chess by chat, email or IM with anyone.

Use the Chess by Chat software to play correspondence chess. Download the software to your desktop and open it. It doesn't even need installing. You will be presented with a chess board:

Main window:

Easy to use:

Just make your move then communicate it to your opponent by chat, email or instant messaging. Your opponent makes his move and communicates his move to you the same way.

Optionally Copy / Paste your moves with your opponent for speed:

To make the process of communicating moves quicker and easier, your moves are automatically copied to the clipboard so you can simply paste them into your chat box. Similarly you can just copy your opponents move from the chat box to the clipboard then click the button marked “Paste coordinates (or PGN) of move”. Your opponents piece will be moved automatically.

Or you can just communicate the moves however you like and manually move the pieces. The choice is yours.

Main features:

• The software is simple to use, making it easy to play correspondence chess with anyone.

• Create, save and load as many chess games as you like.

• View the current nominal value of the chess pieces on the board and those pieces lost.

• View a history of all the moves made in plain text or in PGN format.

• Scroll backward or forwards through games. Replay your own games or those of chess masters.

• Clocks are available to show how long the current move is taking and the total time taken by each player.

• Optional visual alert if the current move is taking more than a specified number of seconds.

• Notifications for check, mate, stalemate, threefold repetition, 50 move rule and draw by insufficient material.

• For beginners: Options to show all legal moves available for a piece and to show what pieces are currently under attack.

• Play against the computer: Three difficulty levels, suitable for total beginners to intermediate players.

• Feature to let the computer make the next move.

• Choice of using coordinates or algebraic notation (English PGN) for communicating moves.

• Feature to graphically set up the positions of the chess pieces wherever you want, so you can play from specific game positions.

• Select from a range of different types of chess pieces.

• Choose whatever colours you want for the 'white' squares, 'black' squares, background etc.

• Load, save or paste PGN games / browse the moves of games between grand masters.

• Feature to load and save game positions in FEN format.

• Show people on chat (email etc) your current game position in FEN notation or plain text / figurine text.

• Create an image of the current chessboard and pieces and place it on the clipboard or save to file.

• Feature to paste games into the software using figurine algebraic notation (FAN).

• Integral document editor to keep notes about each game played and to record your wins, losses and draws.

Easy to use

The software is very intuitive and you can start using it immediately.

Registration:

Chess by Chat can be downloaded and used immediately free of charge for personal use and does not need to be registered. However, if you like the software please consider registering it and paying a small donation. I need to eat and pay bills. Registration is by PayPal and is quick, easy and secure. Register now

Chess by Chat does not contain any adverts, trojans, adware, spyware, viruses or any other malware. No third-party software is bundled with it. All the features are fully functional and it does not have a built in expiry date.

Please tell others about this software. The more widely it is used the higher the likelihood that I will continue to support it and add new features. If you have any suggestions for improvements please contact me.

Internet Links:

Please feel free to add a link to the Chess by Chat web page from your own website, blog or social networking page; preferably with some good comments about the software.

Windows XP:

Chess by Chat is designed for Windows 7 and Windows Vista. However it will also run on Windows XP provided it has Microsoft Network Framework 3.5 installed. This is free to download from the Microsoft web site: Click here to download Microsoft Network Framework 3.5

Avisoft Ltd. Company registered in England, number 3128640.

Avisoft is a registered trademark of Avisoft Ltd