Hacker News Reader

That said there are plenty of verified expert-level players there, whom are probably at least 1 standard deviation above and beyond satisfying 99.99% of the world population of people looking to play chess.^1

[1] - https://en.lichess.org/stat/rating/distribution/blitz

> There are more high level players on ICC because that's where the high level players are

It appears this is not the case, anymore. I logged in to both servers this afternoon, and counted the number of players rated over 2350. Lichess had 50, ICC had 6. I logged in again tonight and saw roughly the same ratio.

Those data points could be valid, but it's important to note that chess ratings work relative to the players involved. A site that only allowed pre-schoolers, for example, would still have 2300+ rated players.

WHAT ratings though? Ratings are not comparable across different player pools.

My Lichess & ICC ratings are typically within 50 points of each other. It's the same for a friend of mine who plays on both servers, too.

ICC is basically dead, even top players are leaving. Takes forever to get a game.