Those of us that remember being online when it was referred to as “modeming” likely remember playing games like chess over e-mail. Each player would have a board set up by their computer and moves would be e-mailed one-by-one in standard chess notation. Games would take a while since there would only be one move every day or two. Sure, it was slow, but that was also what made it fun. People could have done the same thing through a chat room and finished a game in a night, but e-mail games flourished even in the early 90s because as you played a game, conversations would ensue and new connections would be made.
I was somewhat surprised to find out that this concept of the slow game has moved to the web on ItsYourTurn.com. A number of games are available, from Go to Chess and everywhere in between, and the games are conducted through the web site (though notifications are made through e-mail) with players allowed anywhere from a few days to a few weeks per move. I recently started a game of Go with a person in Colombia. We’ve played five moves in two weeks, which is a comfortable pace. Sometimes it’s nice to slow down…
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