Email Chess at Chess by Message

Email chess through your web browser, entirely free!

Some features of Chess by Message are:

• Click-and-drag game board
• Player ratings
• Opponent matching
• Replayable game history
• Flexible time controls
• Export your games in "PGN" format

Jan 10 - Recent Outage

Chess by Message has recently undergone a minor hardware upgrade which we expect will improve the performance and reliability of the site. Prior to the upgrade, the server hardware was becoming overloaded at peak periods, regularly causing errors. We have already noticed an improvement.

In performing the upgrade, the server was offline for a number of days. All move clocks have been paused during 6 - 10 January to account for this.

Unfortunately due to an error in the system, a number of games were still terminated due to a player's move clock running out. We have since done our best to re-activate these games and adjust the relevant player statistics back to their correct values.

Jul 6 - Periods of leave are now possible.

Players are now able to start a "period of leave" if they plan to be without email or internet access for some time. You no longer need to worry about losing games on time limit because you were away. Just put yourself "on leave", and all your games will be automatically adjourned until you return.

You can start a period of leave from the "Preferences" or "My Details" section of the site.

Nov 21 - Now with flexible time controls

When you start a game, specify a time limit "per move" or "for the game". Under a "per move" time control, a player's clock is reset to the allowed move time (eg. 30 days) after each move.

Conversely, under a "for the game" time control, a player's clock is not reset. A player has a limited amount of time (eg. 30 days) to make EVERY move for that game. The clock counts down whenever it is that player's turn to move. So, under a "for the game" time control, be careful not to waste too much of your time too early in the game!