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  Ah, e-mail chess. My favorite of the different ways to play chess on the internet. E-mail chess originates from correspondence chess, but works much faster and cheaper for everyone. No stamps or cards to fill out, you just send off your message in chess notation and keep track of the moves between you and your opponent. Plus, for the usual $20.00 per month of internet access just about anyone pays anymore, its very cost-effective. Playing e-mail chess on the internet has quite a following. There is a news group dedicated to it (rec.games.chess.play-by-email), and many clubs and organizations exist to facilitate playing in leagues, or just make it easier to find people to play against. Some of those organizations are:
The rules for playing are the usual chess guidelines, but playing is quite unique. You trade e-mail messages following algebraic chess notation to indicate your moves. There is also a format that most of the organizations use called PGN (Portable Game Notation). The PGN format is used to record games and also by many programs to make e-mail chess easier. Basically, the format combines headers with algabraic notation. It is transmitted in e-mail messages and provides a common, open way to track games. The IECC and IECG also have descriptions of the PGN format on their web pages. E-mail chess programs generally have a chess board that you move around on and they generate the PGN message for you. If you are going to play e-mail chess, I highly recommend getting one of the following programs: Windows 95 / 98 / NT / 2000 / XP
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