Well, Xanthos, that's all i have to go on, my rating in all three. I'm talking about 2/12 blitz. And FICS is my lowest rating and i've played on all three for years now. And i'm talking at least 100 pts. Maybe other people have experienced differently. Let's hear from them. One would think, logically, that Playchess would be toughest because of Fritz association. I do find Playchess people are up on openings, but once they get in middle game they will make a weak move. I'm speaking generally. Of course there are players on all three that can whip me to a frazzle.
Originally posted by buddy2Thanks for the compliments.
If you want a detailed comparison, chech Wulbgr' s site. I'm not sure of spelling, but he's a player on RHP and is objective. Basically, it's a trade-off. I don't think ICC will disappear soon, like 21. It actually makes money. Nowadays lots of people play on line and don't go to tournaments and eat stale sandwiches and wander around some motel for hours waiting for the next game. Sad but true.
http://www.angelfire.com/poetry/wulebgr/reviews.htm
ICC has improved their interface since I updated my reviews. It still has more players online at most times than playchess. ICC offers far more opponents especially for players at or above expert level.
I haven't renewed my ICC membership in nearly two years, but play there as a guest from time to time. On playchess, you cannot finger an opponent that is offline as you can at ICC. Both offer live broadcasts of major GM/IM tournaments, and usually have master commentary. Playchess offers more visuals during these broadcasts (of no value to those with dial-up connections), and saves some for viewing later for the price of a ducat or two.
I've played a lot at FICS the past two years. The lag problem has grown so severe there that I'm not enjoying my time there much anymore. When I played at ICC, I played a lot of 5-minute games with the server selecting my opponent. Players with noticable lag are excluded from this pool. Playchess also seems to monitor lag, but I think ICC does more in this area.
I was able to renew my playchess membership with the serial number from an old version of Fritz that I found for $10. I bought Fritz 9 this past winter and will enter the serial number when my current account runs out. As long as I buy one new engine per year, playchess is free.😉
- Joined
- 21 Apr 06
- Moves
- 4211
Originally posted by Wulebgr"On playchess, you cannot finger an opponent that is offline as you can at ICC"
Thanks for the compliments.
http://www.angelfire.com/poetry/wulebgr/reviews.htm
ICC has improved their interface since I updated my reviews. It still has more players online at most times than playchess. ICC offers far more opponents especially for players at or above expert level.
I haven't renewed my ICC membership in nearly two years, but play th n my current account runs out. As long as I buy one new engine per year, playchess is free.😉
Press ctrl+u and type in their name. You can look people up when they are online or offline.
Players on ICC right now = 2400
Players on Playchess right now = 3580
"I do find Playchess people are up on openings, but once they get in middle game they will make a weak move."
I noticed the same thing. Playchess player seem much more knowledge about the openings. However, I'm not sure if this is representative as a whole. On ICC I've almost exclusively played against guests. On the other hand, on PC, I've always played against 1500+. SO that may be a more likely explanation.
Originally posted by buddy2What's the rating range like on all three? What's the average rating? What percentile are you in on all three?
Well, Xanthos, that's all i have to go on, my rating in all three. I'm talking about 2/12 blitz. And FICS is my lowest rating and i've played on all three for years now. And i'm talking at least 100 pts. Maybe other people have experienced differently. Let's hear from them. One would think, logically, that Playchess would be toughest because of Fritz a ...[text shortened]... eaking generally. Of course there are players on all three that can whip me to a frazzle.
Pure rating comparision takes none of these factors into consideration.
Dunno, XanthosNZ. I haven't taken anything into consideration except my results that's why i'd like others to chime in. Playchess is mostly Europeans, Germans specifically. I wouldn't go so far as saying Europeans are weaker players, but that's another difference I haven't mentioned. It could even be psychological. My FICS graphics might be more intimidating, who knows? Another point someone brought up was that the lag time at FICS with some players is a problem. I've played some games where I was waiting more than 3 minutes for one move when i was playing 2/12 blitz. What's the point. Usually i just add those people to my don't play list and resign the game. Anyway, these are all personal observations. If you really want to know and do a study, it might be helpful to people choosing a blitz site. I'm just a dabbler. When i get beaten too many times at one site, i switch to see if the new environment will help me any, in the same way people switch from one machine to another in a casino, when they think a "one-armed bandit" is no good.
