What you think of FIDE Online Arena and chess.com?

When FIDE Online Arena announced a year ago or so, that they offer (beside cheating protection what might be a delicate topic whether it is technically possible or not..) the first official online rating, I thought: wow, they soon gonna catch chess.com and a new nr. 1 is on the horizon. But then the FIDE people made a decisive mistake and decided to erase weekly all ratings of players who are not premium. As people don't like to start every week from scratch, there are nowadays the same 1000 players online at their Arena who have been online once year ago, no progress at all.

But some weeks ago FIDE had a new idea: the first titles for amateur players are available! You can become an Arena International Master if you are rated above 1700 (Fide Master above 1400), and so on.. You might find this laughable, but do not underestimate it: as FIDE's online chess profiles are connected with identity scans, Google results show this titles on premium place. So if somebody googles your name, one of the first results (if not the first result at all) is: Chess FIDE Arena International Master. Sounds for somebody who is not into chess, quite impressing, doesnt' it? So I am sure, FIDE Online Arena will make their way, just a matter of time, as they can offer things, no other chess site can offer = official FIDE ratings!

Well, now chess.com. First I must state, that their ratings are by far to low in bullet (probably also in blitz, but I do not play blitz there) since they changed their calculations some years ago. All people who were once rated > 2000 there, are now 1700 or 1800. I am rated there 100 to 200 pts below my FIDE rating and who likes to play online 200 pts below one's official FIDE rating??? I for sure not!

Apart from that, I hate their forums. Tons of trash talk, chit-chat and trolls who play 2 games of chess per months but have 10.000 points for 20.000 forum posts. How said somebody 2 weeks ago on their forums: chess.com is like the Kardashians: huge, successfull but trash. Well, thats right. Hopefully the lichess forums never end that way.

Don't like chess.com!

FIDE Arena? Where the GM Thipsay impostor (the "feel the bits" man) still plays, you mean? :P

You can't charge for a service and let cheaters get away simply because they've paid up. Not to mention that FIDE Arena requires a Windows-only client to play -- that's an area that almost any chess service outshines it in. And finally, they provide FIDE ratings, sure, but they also use the outdated Elo system, much like FIDE itself, because they know that switching to a newer one and better one would cause a mass exodus of players (and therefore money).

If they find enough people willing to pay money for essentially worthless credentials, then they're doing nothing wrong.
on chess.com: one of the better Chess sites on the Net, but I came to hate the majority of the people using their forums ... it wasn't always that "cliquish".

I've accumulated some experience at FIDE Online Arena, and besides the somewhat ridiculous titles (but okay, that's business...), I've found they have their fair share of cheaters : I don't know how efficient their Ace-guard system is ?!

No idea about FIDE Arena. However, the rating deflation at Chess.com is shocking. My rating was dipping into the 1300s while over here it's broken the 2200 mark at one point.

Yay for necroposting. This thread is nearly a year old. o.0

My bet would be on lichess.

I am AFM and I have 1701 rating blitz there. Anyway lichess is much better.