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I don't have a lot of opportunity to play serious OTB games, so I'd like to play chess online. On chess.com, though, the longest standard time control is 30 min per person, presumably there are not many players wanting to play at longer time controls there. I prefer to have more time, though.

Is there a website where there are enough people willing to play 1 to 1.5 hour (per person) games, so that you are paired within a reasonable amount of time (say, 15 minutes)? (Preferably based on online rating, of course.)

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    I used to play on FICS several years ago. I don't remember games there being limited to 30 minutes per player. (Not posting as an answer because I'm not sure this is correct. Dec 25, 2015 at 17:42
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    Lichess, Chess24, and chess.com should all be big enough to provide enough opponents, regardless of rating and time of reflection. Aug 26, 2020 at 20:59

5 Answers 5

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On chess.com, there are at least two groups of people interested in games with long time controls (e.g. 90'+30'' and 45'+45''): the Slow Chess League and the Slow LIVE Chess Association.

They have regular Swiss style tournaments where you have to agree on a date with your opponent under pretty elaborate rules (including penalties for not showing up).

This is not exactly what you asked (random, instantaneous pairing), but probably the better way. The problem with long time controls online is not only finding people who want to play, but discouraging people from losing interest and quitting.

As far as I know, these were founded on ICC when chess.com didn't exist yet. So maybe there is something similar on ICC.

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  • The Slow Live Chess Association is a great group. The ICC does have some slow chess leagues. They're spoken about a lot in another slow chess chess.com group called the Dan Heisman Learning Center.
    – user2137
    Dec 27, 2015 at 10:31
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In chess24 you can choose 90'+30" games and they have a lot of users.

I haven't played a game that long so far but I believe that the matching time can suit you.

EDIT: I have just tried to play a 60'+30" game and I got paired in less than two minutes.

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    Does chess24 have correspondence chess? Their iOS app is brilliant, but I love correspondence chess so I still play on chess.com - their app has improved but chess24 is more complete.
    – user2137
    Dec 27, 2015 at 10:34
  • @BU982T No, but I don't know if they are considering to implement it soon. You can send them an email, they usually answer pretty quickly. I agree, the app is superb.
    – S -
    Dec 27, 2015 at 10:50
  • in my experience, chess24 has much less players than lichess and chess.com As you get better, it will be pretty much impossible to find a game for this time control in my opinion. Aug 26, 2020 at 21:29
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ICC has a large number (around 1,000) of players who play games at SD 45 d/45 in a league called the Team 45 45 League. Due to the amount of time required to play a game, all games are scheduled at a time mutually agreed upon by the players themselves. Captains select who will play on the 4 boards in each round.

You will need an ICC membership to play, and a compatible client (they use Blitzin and Dasher).

For more information, see the Players Handbook at http://www.team4545league.org/

There is also a group at ICC called Chess9030 who play in a league at SD 90 d/30 controls. See their website at http://www.chess9030.com I don't know how large their membership is, but I've observed that their games take place less frequently than those of T4545.

While there are occasionally pickup games at controls longer than 30 minutes, they are unusual on ICC.

Good luck!

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The Lichess4545 League runs various slow time control tournaments on lichess. Their primary league is a 45+45 team tournament with games once a week, but there's also the Lonewolf league which is normally a 11 round swiss tournament with a 30+30 time control and various others that are accessible to players that have played in the league. Personally, I have greatly enjoyed both of these.

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There is an online chess league, All Nations Chess League, pretty much the same as a regular chess league, but online. I used to play there 7 years ago, at the time they were playing league matches on playchess.com, probably the same today too. ANCL community was quite respected in playchess.com.

They build teams from several Elo ranges(like 1200-1400, 1400-1600, ... 2000-2200 etc), so no matter which team you are in, you will have some very strong friends in your team, which greatly contributes your self improvement.

I recommend you to play there.

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