Chess Links and Information

Chessopolis http://www.chessopolis.com/ is a general chess information site that includes book reviews and other resources as well as a link directory.

Let's start with the other resources first. The book review section contains what looks to be 80 or 90 reviews. They're listed in categories, with the ratings available in a graphic to the left of each listing. Warning: you do have to be a chess player to get the most out of the reviews. ("Gufeld, in 42 pages, purports to prepare the average player to play the black side of the Dragon variation of the Sicilian Defense. Preposterous!") However, reviewer Randy Bauer does make it clear when a book is more suited for amateurs or for particular levels of play, making the reviews useful if you're just getting started in chess and need pointers to books.

Coffee Break Chess, an irregular newsletter, has 31 issues available on the site going back to February 1999. There's a listing of current tournaments, a discussion group, and a chess file download section that was not as easy to navigate as I would have hoped.

The links directory itself is set up in a rather unusual way. The middle part of the page is new links. The categories themselves -- which include clubs, computer chess, and variants -- are on the left side of the screen. Click on a category on the left and the contents of the category appear in the middle. (If there are subcategories of the main category, they will all appear in the middle.) Annotation is consistent but not exceptional.

Posted to Entertainment-Games-Chess