Last week I stumbled upon a site which I had never seen before, Chess Any Time. You can play anonymously or you can sign up for free. By registering, you will have access to a rating and free puzzles in "Practice" mode. You can also play against a computer.
Membership is: by the month ($5.00), 6 months ($19.00), annually ($29.00) or for two years ($49.00). Membership offers unlimited live play, game storage, analysis, statistics and tournament play. They also offer special rate for tactics training. The interface is also very nice.
If you play as a guest you can create a game at your preferred time limit or you can accept a challenge. I played a few games there and was pleasantly surprised at the strength of the opposition.
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| I disconnect in lost positions |
I lost a couple of games which of course does not necessarily mean the opposition was strong, but it was challenging. As an example of what you can expect, here’s one of my “better” games played at a time limit of G10. It's a good site if you want a couple of quick games.
As happens on any site, a couple of losers disconnected when they got
lost positions. I don't understand why people do that. Resigning a
chess game does not make you a loser, disconnecting does.
[Event "Chess Any Time G10"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2019.2.8"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Anon"]
[Black "Tartajubow"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "?"]
%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
1. d4 Nf6 {Hoping to play the Budapest Gambit. } 2. Bf4 {Dashing my hopes. }
2... d5 3. Nd2 Bf5 4. e3 e6 5. c4 Bb4 6. a3 Be7 {A waste of time. Simply
6...Bxd2 was best. } 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. Bg3 O-O {This is a bad mistake. After
the better 8...Bg6 white has a good position.} 9. e4 {Funny how I missed this.
} 9... Bxe4 10. Nxe4 f5 11. Nc3 f4 {Now I was thinking I at least regained the
piece even though my position is in shambles. } 12. Nxd5 {After this the
position is equal. Correct was 12.Qg4! and if 12...fxg3 then 13.Qxe6+ and
14.hxg3 gives white a terrific attack against which there is probably no
defense. } 12... exd5 13. Nf3 {Why not just 13.Bxf4. } 13... fxg3 14. fxg3
{With 14.hxg3 white still has prospects of a K-side attack. Now it's white's
K that is in danger. } 14... Nc6 {Better was 14...c5. } 15. Be2 Bf6 16. O-O
Qd7 17. Bb5 Rae8 18. Bxc6 {After this black gets a slight advantage. Better
was to first play 18.Rc1 threatening to double my c-Pawns. } 18... Qxc6 {I did
not want to weaken my Ps with 18...bxc6. } 19. Rc1 {He needed to play 19.Qb3.
} 19... Qb6 {Attacking the b-Pawn and putting pressure on the d-Pawn. White
is on the defensive and I have some pressure. } 20. Rc2 Re4 21. Rd2 Rfe8 22.
h3 {This hidey hole for his K may come in handy. 22...c5 This gives white the
chance to eliminate his d-Pawn and equalize. Better was 22...c6 with a
minimal advantage.} 22... c5 23. dxc5 Qxc5+ 24. Kh2 d4 {Unduly risky, but I
overlooked that he could play 25.Qb3+ and 26.Qxb7. leaving me having to guard
the a and d-Ps. } 25. Re1 {Luckily white also missed 25.Qb3+ } 25... Rxe1 26.
Nxe1 Qb6 27. Nf3 Rd8 28. b4 Qd6 29. Rd3 Kh8 {The position is quite even and I
played this because I had to make a move and this doesn't hurt anything...it's
beginning to look like we are going to have a draw. } 30. Qd2 Be5 31. Nxe5
Qxe5 {There is no hope of winning and we were both getting a little low on
time so the outcome is not a sure thing. } 32. h4 h6 {Just in case...don't
want to overlook a back rank mate. } 33. Kh3 g5 {Suddenly I realized this
exposes his K, but even so it should not be in any real danger. } 34. hxg5
hxg5 35. g4 {The position is dead equal after 35.Kh2. This move allows a mate
in 11 after 36...Rd6 or 36...Rd7, which of course I didn't see. } 35... Kg7
{Black still has a winning advantage. } 36. g3 {Stockfish sees a mate in 20
moves beginning with 36...Qd5. } 36... Rh8+ {After this the engine puts my
advantage at only two Ps. That should be plenty to win. } 37. Kg2 Qe4+ 38.
Rf3 Qxg4 39. Qe2 Qh3+ 40. Kf2 Qh2+ 41. Ke1 Qg1+ {Normally my instincts are to
trade Qs, but at least here I realize to do so would lose the d-Pawn and there
would be no winning chances. Well, there would be if you were rated high
enough, but that's not me.} 42. Rf1 Qxg3+ 43. Kd1 Qb3+ 44. Ke1 Qb1+ 45. Qd1
Qxd1+ {45...Re8+ leads to a mate in 18 moves or so, but the text also wins. }
46. Kxd1 Kg6 47. Kd2 Rh3 48. a4 g4 49. Rg1 Kg5 50. b5 Ra3 51. Re1 g3 52. Re5+
Kf4 53. Rd5 Rxa4 54. Kd3 g2 55. * {The last several moves were played with
both of us having just under two minutes.} 0-1
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