Chess

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I've never really played. Is there anywhere online where one can learn the game? Or is it better to get some software? Probably best of all to have someone teach me but I don't know anyone that plays.

To get any good you really have to spend time reading book. Learning openings etc.
Apart from that chess.com is good. Or was - i haven't looked in ages.

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From The Automated Chess Rating Utility



However I don't really have any idea what that means (let alone how accurate that little test is) as I know absolutely nothing about chess ratings. Is this the standard system or is FIDE different?

I thought ELO was obsolete these days? I was 1480 ish as a young teenager. Online i tended to score much higher because a lot of people don't take it seriously and you skim a few points overtime someone gets bored half way through.