Introducing... Live Chess 4!
Greetings, Chess-lovers!
Today, we are thrilled to finally unveil a completely redesigned user-interface for Live Chess! This was a huge undertaking and has obviously had a major impact on the look and feel of Live. Of course, a number of "work-flows" have been changed in the process, to streamline common actions.
Here are the highlights:
Live Premium and Live Simple have converged; basic users can now enjoy a more robust interface than ever!
Creating a new game challenge is now super-fast & dead-easy! We've added preset Seek buttons for eight of the most popular time controls; just click your preferred clock-setting and you're ready to play! If you want a little more control, the fields below allow you customize your seek - now with a ratings range that's relative to your own! (Set it & forget it!)
What's more, we have also made it much easier to start a new game as soon as the previous game ends. When the game is over, hit "Rematch" to challenge the same opponent (colors reversed), or hit the "New 5 | 2" button (the actual button will match the time control of the game you just finished) to fire off another Seek instantly.
We've added greater convenience by integrating Settings directly into Live, under a new "gear" icon to the far right of the Console. (No more having to get out of Live to change your options!) Most of the options will be familiar, but we've added the ability to pick and choose which information tabs you want to see in the Live interface - so if all you want to see is your "Friends" tab, you can easily do that.
Finally, the whole thing is just plain better-looking! :)
We are loving the new system and we're sure you will too! So try out the new Live and play around with your options; set up your favorite tabs. Overall, spend less time configuring challenges, & more time playing games!
(Please note that we've added a new FAQ to describe the major differences in the new interface.)
Cheers!
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2011.07.20 Update:
Thanks for all your feedback, everyone! We learned a lot in a day and made some really positive changes just now..
Many small UI improvements & bug fixes, including...
The game-chat area is now larger by default (although you can always adjust by dragging the slider above the Console; mouse over to see it).
The game-chat area is now larger by default (although you can always adjust by dragging the slider above the Console; mouse over to see it).- Bug is fixed on the Chat-text input; text is no longer hidden at far right.
- Font sizes for Chat have been slightly increased.
- You may continue to review the position from your last game as you await an answer to your new Seek
- Seek button is now highlighted for a second after you press it, to help indicate the system is responding (if you’re not looking at the Console, it can be hard to tell). We’ve got something even better coming soon!
- Pop-outs are easier to move around
- We slightly reorganized the New Game tab controls for better clarity
We also adjusted the ratings-range control for new Seeks!
You now have two fields to specify EITHER a relative range for your own rating ( “-50” & “+100” for instance), or an absolute range (“1400” & “1600” for example). The only restriction is that, either way, the range must include your own rating.
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2011.07.21 Update:
Yet more changes today!
- Bug fixes
- New "waiting state" for the New Game tab, to make it clear that you are waiting to be matched
- Finally, the return of free-form ratings ranges! If you want to play vs a ratings range that is totally above (or below) your own, you can now do so once again! Relative range values ("+" or "-") are still capped at 500, but you don't have to use them: just enter a min and max rating instead.
That's it for now!
