How to Find and Play People of Similar Skill Level

Playing people of similar skill level to yourself has many advantages. First, chess if much more fun if you do not win or lose every single game that is played; otherwise the game becomes quite boring. Also, improvement is very difficult if every game played is either lost or won. Finding people of similar skill level is not difficult when the game is first learned, for most people are approximately the same strength as a raw beginner. Once a small time investment has been put into learning the basics of chess strategy, however, it quickly becomes clear that other sources of players must be found. Big cities usually have large chess clubs (for example, the Manhattan Chess Club) that allow players of many different levels to find each other. More rural areas usually require players to find other sources. The internet has revolutionized chess, and services such as the Internet Chess Club allow people from around the world to play chess against one another.

Hyperlinks to the Internet Chess Club and other sites for finding good opposition may be found in the Links section of the main page.

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