Restless Knights
Why chess? One might wonder. Why learn chess, why teach it? In fact there are so many good reasons that I’m not even going to bother starting a blog about it. Instead I’m going to tell you that multiple research has been done on the subject over the decades and in many countries. Bottom line: Chess makes you smarter. You can read all about it in The Benefits of Chess in Education.
Looking for online chess? There are numerous places where you can do this, some better than others. The ones I find best are Chess24.com, Playchess.com, ICC and Chess.com. Chess24 has a nice look and besides playing games you have the tacics trainer, video lessons and more, plus it's also a chess news website. It's got the whole package. On Playchess and Chess.com you get a longer free trial period than on ICC, and actually you can play as long as you want for free as a guest on those two. On all these sites strong grandmasters play regularly, but don’t worry, there are also a lot of players that are your level. You’ll usually have thousands of people at any given time, eager to play, so you don’t have to wait long for an opponent. A word of warning though: Playing chess on the internet is a lot of fun, and can therefore be quite addictive! Don’t be surprised to discover that hours have gone by, and you thought it was just minutes!
For chess playing and analysis software, Houdini 4 Pro
For chess news you can for example visit ChessBase, The Week in Chess, Chessdom or ChessVibes.
On ChessBomb you can watch live games from top tournaments.
If you want the latest info on the ratings of the world’s best players, check out the 2700 chess.
For the rating of any internationally rated player, FIDE keeps track.
If you’re planning on a tourney, the FIDE Calendar keeps you informed.
An interesting facebook group, called Chess Teachers and Learners, has lots of interesting stuff about chess, with regular updates.