Scrabulous makers create chess app

Rajat and Jayant Argawalla, the creators of online game Scrabulous, have now created a version of chess that can be played in the Facebook social network.

The new game, Chess Pro, can be added to your Facebook profile and already has more than 16,000 active users. It was added to the site last month and the makers are asking all surfers that add the app to report any bugs they find.

Like Scrabulous, the game doesn't require both players to be online at the same time and individuals can have more than one game on the go at once.

Scrabulous has been at the centre of a legal row with Hasbro issuing a cease and desist order to the Argawalla brothers last year. Hasbro, along with Mattel, owns the copyright to Scrabble, a board game which Scrabulous is very similar to.

Hasbro again demanded the removal of the application from Facebook in January 2008 though it remains on the social network and has more than 565,000 regular users.

When asked about the legal situation by Web User recently, both Hasbro and the Argawalla brothers declined to comment.

However, Real Networks, makers of the RealPlayer software, told Web User that it was working on an official online version of Scrabble with Electronic Arts that would be released some time later this year.

There is also another chess application on Facebook with 24,000 regular users.

Have you been playing Chess Pro or chess on Facebook? Tell us what you think of the game at www.webuser.co.uk/forums.

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