Chess for Ramadan, and beyond

Ramadan approaches. The moon is full tonight, so unless it changes its habits, it will herald in a new Holy Month of Ramadan in 15 days time. And unless Qatar changes its normal practice, all the bars will close for the month, leaving me with more than a little free time of an evening. That's why I've joined GameKnot, an on-line Chess website.

At GameKnot you play against real people, in real time if you want (and both are logged in), or simply when it suits you, provided you don't exceed the maximum allocated time per move. Games are recorded and analysed (by computer) and each player is assigned a rating based on performance. The default entry rating is 1200, but after a few games you start to move up or down as deserved, until you reach your natural level. The idea is that you then don't have to play against time-wasters or waste the time of Grandmasters - everything is relative!

The graphics and functionality of the GameKnot site are superb, as are some of the features like move by move game analysis (see above, my first completed game).

Paranormal visitors are invited to follow Paraglider's Progress as displayed in the GameKnot widget in the side panel. Or better still, join up and test your chess. All in the spirit of Ramadan, of course!