ChessGames

This free Firefox plug-in brings the world of Grandmaster chess matches to your PC. Installing ChessGames places a small knight on your Firefox status bar. Using a variety of single mouse clicks you can replay many well-known chess matches or open chat windows to communicate with other chess fans.

Right-clicking the icon opens a list of Grandmasters. You merely pick a name and Firefox opens a Web site dialog that contains matches played by that Grandmaster. Click on a match and watch it replayed using standard chess notation and basic board and piece graphics. You can easily control playback speed, pause, or reverse play. Left-clicking the Firefox icon opens a search box to locate matches played by lesser-known Grandmasters. However, you can search only by name, not date. Middle-button clicking opens a simple chat box and chess menu. During testing we found few people online looking to play.

ChessGames takes few resources, and while decidedly low-tech, easily recreates watching the play of many famous chess matches. A submenu of matches by date or a listing of important matches would have been a helpful addition. Nevertheless, true chess fans will appreciate the quick access to the matches of their favorite Grandmasters.