diff --git a/app/templating/StringHelper.scala b/app/templating/StringHelper.scala
index 7dec412023..ff75545b8e 100644
--- a/app/templating/StringHelper.scala
+++ b/app/templating/StringHelper.scala
@@ -36,17 +36,15 @@ trait StringHelper {
 
   private val urlRegex = """(?i)\b((?:https?://|www\d{0,3}[.]|[a-z0-9.\-]+[.][a-z]{2,4}/)(?:[^\s()<>]+|\(([^\s()<>]+|(\([^\s()<>]+\)))*\))+(?:\(([^\s()<>]+|(\([^\s()<>]+\)))*\)|[^\s`!()\[\]{};:'".,<>?«»“”‘’]))""".r
 
-  def addLinks(text: String) = urlRegex.replaceAllIn(text, m ⇒ "<a href='%s'>%s</a>".format(
-    (prependHttp _ compose delocalize _ compose quoteReplacement _)(m group 1),
-    (delocalize _ compose quoteReplacement _)(m group 1)
-  ))
+  def addLinks(text: String) = urlRegex.replaceAllIn(text, m ⇒ {
+    val url = delocalize(quoteReplacement(m group 1))
+    "<a href='%s'>%s</a>".format(prependHttp(url), url)
+  })
 
-  private def prependHttp(url: String): String = 
-    url startsWith "http" fold(url, "http://" + url)
+  private def prependHttp(url: String): String =
+    url startsWith "http" fold (url, "http://" + url)
 
-  private val delocalizeRegex = ("""\w+\.""" + quoteReplacement(netDomain)).r
-
-  private def delocalize(url: String) = delocalizeRegex.replaceAllIn(url, netDomain)
+  private val delocalize = new lila.common.String.Delocalizer(netDomain)
 
   def showNumber(n: Int): String = (n > 0).fold("+" + n, n.toString)
 
diff --git a/app/templating/UserHelper.scala b/app/templating/UserHelper.scala
index 8fb98839f1..66168209c9 100644
--- a/app/templating/UserHelper.scala
+++ b/app/templating/UserHelper.scala
@@ -18,20 +18,17 @@ trait UserHelper {
   def isOnline(userId: String) = Env.user isOnline userId
 
   def userIdLink(
-    userId: Option[String],
+    userIdOption: Option[String],
     cssClass: Option[String] = None,
     withOnline: Boolean = true,
     truncate: Option[Int] = None): Html = Html {
-    (userId zmap Env.user.usernameOption) map {
-      _.fold(User.anonymous) { username ⇒
-        """<a class="user_link%s%s" href="%s">%s</a>""".format(
-          withOnline ?? isOnline(username).fold(" online", " offline"),
-          cssClass.zmap(" " + _),
-          routes.User.show(username),
-          truncate.fold(username)(username.take)
-        )
-      }
-    } await
+    userIdOption.fold(User.anonymous) { userId ⇒
+      Env.user usernameOption userId map {
+        _.fold(User.anonymous) { username ⇒
+          userIdNameLink(userId, username, cssClass, withOnline, truncate)
+        }
+      } await
+    }
   }
 
   def userIdLink(
@@ -47,6 +44,29 @@ trait UserHelper {
     } await
   }
 
+  def usernameLink(
+    usernameOption: Option[String],
+    cssClass: Option[String] = None,
+    withOnline: Boolean = true,
+    truncate: Option[Int] = None): Html = Html {
+    usernameOption.fold(User.anonymous) { username ⇒
+      userIdNameLink(username.toLowerCase, username, cssClass, withOnline, truncate)
+    }
+  }
+
+  private def userIdNameLink(
+    userId: String,
+    username: String,
+    cssClass: Option[String] = None,
+    withOnline: Boolean = true,
+    truncate: Option[Int] = None): String =
+    """<a class="user_link%s%s" href="%s">%s</a>""".format(
+      withOnline ?? isOnline(userId).fold(" online", " offline"),
+      cssClass.zmap(" " + _),
+      routes.User.show(username),
+      truncate.fold(username)(username.take)
+    )
+
   def userLink(
     user: User,
     cssClass: Option[String] = None,
diff --git a/app/views/lobby/log.scala.html b/app/views/lobby/log.scala.html
index d702d6e808..b972c059fd 100644
--- a/app/views/lobby/log.scala.html
+++ b/app/views/lobby/log.scala.html
@@ -4,8 +4,6 @@
 
 @base.layout(title = title) {
 
-<style type="text/css">
-</style>
 <div class="content_box">
   <h1>@title</h1>
   <br /><br />
@@ -13,7 +11,7 @@
       @messages.map { message =>
       <tr>
         <td>@showDate(message.date)</td>
-        <td>@userIdLink(message.userId.some)</td>
+        <td>@userIdLink(message.user)</td>
         <td>@Html(message.text)</td>
       </tr>
       }
diff --git a/app/views/round/watcherRoomInner.scala.html b/app/views/round/watcherRoomInner.scala.html
index 82be804537..0be6680e7f 100644
--- a/app/views/round/watcherRoomInner.scala.html
+++ b/app/views/round/watcherRoomInner.scala.html
@@ -1,12 +1,7 @@
 @(messages: List[(Option[String], String)])(implicit ctx: Context)
 
 @messages.map { 
-case (author, text) => {
-<li>
-  <span>
-    @userIdLink(author, withOnline = false, truncate = 12.some)
-  </span>
-  @text
-</li>
+case (username, text) => {
+<li><span>@usernameLink(username, withOnline = false, truncate = 12.some)</span>@text</li>
 }
 }
diff --git a/modules/common/src/main/String.scala b/modules/common/src/main/String.scala
index 6fb1e66de1..967e279121 100644
--- a/modules/common/src/main/String.scala
+++ b/modules/common/src/main/String.scala
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package lila.common
 
 import java.text.Normalizer
+import java.util.regex.Matcher.quoteReplacement
 
 object String {
 
@@ -10,4 +11,11 @@ object String {
     val slug = """[^\w-]""".r.replaceAllIn(normalized, "")
     slug.toLowerCase
   }
+
+  final class Delocalizer(netDomain: String) {
+
+    private val regex = ("""\w+\.""" + quoteReplacement(netDomain)).r
+
+    def apply(url: String) = regex.replaceAllIn(url, netDomain)
+  }
 }
diff --git a/modules/game/src/main/Event.scala b/modules/game/src/main/Event.scala
index 8ce05c0f07..5a2ffd4171 100644
--- a/modules/game/src/main/Event.scala
+++ b/modules/game/src/main/Event.scala
@@ -114,23 +114,18 @@ object Event {
 
   case class Message(author: String, text: String) extends Event {
     def typ = "message"
-    def data = JsString("""<li class="%s%s">%s</li>""".format(
-      author, (author == "system") ?? " trans_me", escapeXml(text)))
+    def data = Json.obj("u" -> author, "t" -> escapeXml(text))
     override def owner = true
   }
 
-  case class WatcherMessage(author: Option[String], text: String) extends Event {
+  // it *IS* a username, and not a user ID
+  // immediately used for rendering
+  case class WatcherMessage(username: Option[String], text: String) extends Event {
     def typ = "message"
-    def data = JsString(renderWatcherRoom(author, text))
+    def data = Json.obj("u" -> username, "t" -> escapeXml(text))
     override def watcher = true
   }
 
-  // TODO FIXME the username is @userId and there is no link
-  private def renderWatcherRoom(author: Option[String], text: String): String =
-    """<li><span>%s</span>%s</li>""".format(
-      author.fold("Anonymous")("@" + _),
-      escapeXml(text))
-
   object End extends Empty {
     def typ = "end"
   }
diff --git a/modules/lobby/src/main/Message.scala b/modules/lobby/src/main/Message.scala
index e629e21aae..b342b4af98 100644
--- a/modules/lobby/src/main/Message.scala
+++ b/modules/lobby/src/main/Message.scala
@@ -4,28 +4,31 @@ import play.api.libs.json._
 import reactivemongo.bson._
 import org.joda.time.DateTime
 
+// it is really a username, not a user ID
 case class Message(
-    userId: String,
+    user: Option[String],
     text: String,
     date: DateTime) {
 
-  def render = Json.obj("txt" -> text, "u" -> userId)
+  def render = Json.obj("u" -> user, "t" -> text)
 
   def isEmpty = text.isEmpty
 }
 
 object Message {
 
-  def make(userId: String, text: String) = new Message(
-    userId = userId,
+  def make(user: Option[String], text: String) = new Message(
+    user = user,
     text = text,
     date = DateTime.now)
 
   import lila.db.Tube
   import Tube.Helpers._
 
+  private def defaults = Json.obj("user" -> none[String])
+
   private[lobby] lazy val tube = Tube[Message](
-    (__.json update readDate('date)) andThen Json.reads[Message],
+    (__.json update (merge(defaults) andThen readDate('date))) andThen Json.reads[Message],
     Json.writes[Message] andThen (__.json update writeDate('date)),
     flags = Seq(_.NoId))
 }
diff --git a/modules/lobby/src/main/Messenger.scala b/modules/lobby/src/main/Messenger.scala
index 0d94d868f3..2a0a818943 100644
--- a/modules/lobby/src/main/Messenger.scala
+++ b/modules/lobby/src/main/Messenger.scala
@@ -1,24 +1,21 @@
 package lila.lobby
 
 import lila.user.{ UserRepo, User, Room }
-import lila.user.tube.userTube
 import tube.messageTube
 import lila.db.api._
 
 private[lobby] final class Messenger(val netDomain: String) extends Room {
 
   def apply(userId: String, text: String): Fu[Message] = for {
-    userOption ← $find.byId[User](userId)
-    message ← (for {
-      user ← userOption filter (_.canChat) toValid "This user cannot chat"
-      msg ← createMessage(user, text)
-      (u, t) = msg
-    } yield Message.make(u, t)).future
+    userOption ← UserRepo byId userId
+    message ← (userMessage(userOption, text) map {
+      case (u, t) ⇒ Message.make(u.some, t)
+    }).future
     _ ← $insert(message)
   } yield message
 
   def system(text: String): Fu[Message] =
-    Message.make(userId = "", text = text) |> { message ⇒
+    Message.make(user = none, text = text) |> { message ⇒
       $insert(message) inject message
     }
 
diff --git a/modules/lobby/src/main/Socket.scala b/modules/lobby/src/main/Socket.scala
index 59c94651f7..392070d719 100644
--- a/modules/lobby/src/main/Socket.scala
+++ b/modules/lobby/src/main/Socket.scala
@@ -39,13 +39,13 @@ private[lobby] final class Socket(
     case Talk(u, txt) ⇒ messenger(u, txt) effectFold (
       e ⇒ logwarn(e.toString),
       message ⇒ notifyVersion("talk", Json.obj(
-        "u" -> message.userId,
-        "txt" -> message.text
+        "u" -> message.user,
+        "t" -> message.text
       ))
     )
 
     case SysTalk(txt) ⇒ messenger system txt foreach { message ⇒
-      notifyVersion("talk", Json.obj("txt" -> message.text))
+      notifyVersion("talk", Json.obj("t" -> message.text))
     }
 
     case UnTalk(regex) ⇒ (messenger remove regex) >>-
diff --git a/modules/round/src/main/Env.scala b/modules/round/src/main/Env.scala
index 432d197ad7..bf6ca511d7 100644
--- a/modules/round/src/main/Env.scala
+++ b/modules/round/src/main/Env.scala
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ final class Env(
     db: lila.db.Env,
     hub: lila.hub.Env,
     ai: lila.ai.Ai,
+    getUsername: String ⇒ Fu[Option[String]],
     i18nKeys: lila.i18n.I18nKeys,
     scheduler: lila.common.Scheduler) {
 
@@ -31,6 +32,7 @@ final class Env(
     val SocketTimeout = config duration "socket.timeout"
     val FinisherLockTimeout = config duration "finisher.lock.timeout"
     val HijackTimeout = config duration "hijack.timeout"
+    val NetDomain = config getString "net.domain"
   }
   import settings._
 
@@ -72,7 +74,7 @@ final class Env(
     finisher = finisher,
     socketHub = socketHub)
 
-  lazy val messenger = new Messenger(i18nKeys)
+  lazy val messenger = new Messenger(NetDomain, i18nKeys, getUsername)
 
   lazy val eloCalculator = new chess.EloCalculator(false)
 
@@ -122,6 +124,7 @@ object Env {
     db = lila.db.Env.current,
     hub = lila.hub.Env.current,
     ai = lila.ai.Env.current.ai,
+    getUsername = lila.user.Env.current.usernameOption,
     i18nKeys = lila.i18n.Env.current.keys,
     scheduler = lila.common.PlayApp.scheduler)
 }
diff --git a/modules/round/src/main/Messenger.scala b/modules/round/src/main/Messenger.scala
index 2b9c6898ac..2fd782e6f1 100644
--- a/modules/round/src/main/Messenger.scala
+++ b/modules/round/src/main/Messenger.scala
@@ -7,8 +7,14 @@ import chess.Color
 import lila.game.Event
 import tube.{ roomTube, watcherRoomTube }
 import lila.db.api._
+import lila.user.UserRepo
 
-final class Messenger(i18nKeys: I18nKeys) {
+import org.apache.commons.lang3.StringEscapeUtils.escapeXml
+
+final class Messenger(
+    val netDomain: String,
+    i18nKeys: I18nKeys,
+    getUsername: String ⇒ Fu[Option[String]]) extends lila.user.Room {
 
   private val nbMessagesCopiedToRematch = 20
 
@@ -31,7 +37,7 @@ final class Messenger(i18nKeys: I18nKeys) {
   } yield ()
 
   def playerMessage(ref: PovRef, text: String): Fu[List[Event.Message]] =
-    cleanupText(text) zmap { t ⇒
+    cleanupText(text).future flatMap { t ⇒
       RoomRepo.addMessage(ref.gameId, ref.color.name, t) inject {
         Event.Message(ref.color.name, t) :: Nil
       }
@@ -40,12 +46,12 @@ final class Messenger(i18nKeys: I18nKeys) {
   def watcherMessage(
     gameId: String,
     userId: Option[String],
-    text: String): Fu[List[Event.WatcherMessage]] =
-    cleanupText(text) zmap { t ⇒
-      WatcherRoomRepo.addMessage(gameId, userId, t) inject {
-        Event.WatcherMessage(userId, text) :: Nil
-      }
-    }
+    text: String): Fu[List[Event.WatcherMessage]] = for {
+    userOption ← userId.zmap(UserRepo.byId)
+    message ← userOrAnonMessage(userOption, text).future
+    (u, t) = message
+    _ ← WatcherRoomRepo.addMessage(gameId, u, t)
+  } yield Event.WatcherMessage(u, t) :: Nil
 
   def systemMessages(game: Game, messages: List[SelectI18nKey]): Fu[List[Event]] =
     game.hasChat ?? {
@@ -65,11 +71,6 @@ final class Messenger(i18nKeys: I18nKeys) {
       }
     }
 
-  private def cleanupText(text: String) = {
-    val cleanedUp = text.trim.replace(""""""", "'")
-    (cleanedUp.size <= 140 && cleanedUp.nonEmpty) option cleanedUp
-  }
-
   private def messageToEn(message: SelectI18nKey): String =
     message(i18nKeys).en()
 }
diff --git a/modules/round/src/main/WatcherRoom.scala b/modules/round/src/main/WatcherRoom.scala
index 8201893736..1759dc46db 100644
--- a/modules/round/src/main/WatcherRoom.scala
+++ b/modules/round/src/main/WatcherRoom.scala
@@ -20,11 +20,11 @@ object WatcherRoom {
     Json.reads[WatcherRoom], 
     Json.writes[WatcherRoom])
 
-  def encode(userId: Option[String], text: String): String =
-    ~userId + "|" + text
+  def encode(username: Option[String], text: String): String =
+    ~username + "|" + text
 
   def decode(encoded: String): (Option[String], String) =
     encoded.span('|' !=) match {
-      case (userId, rest) ⇒ Some(userId).filter(_.nonEmpty) -> rest 
+      case (username, rest) ⇒ Some(username).filter(_.nonEmpty) -> rest.drop(1)
     }
 }
diff --git a/modules/round/src/main/WatcherRoomRepo.scala b/modules/round/src/main/WatcherRoomRepo.scala
index f7020f9c37..983fefad9c 100644
--- a/modules/round/src/main/WatcherRoomRepo.scala
+++ b/modules/round/src/main/WatcherRoomRepo.scala
@@ -10,9 +10,9 @@ object WatcherRoomRepo {
 
   def addMessage(
     id: String,
-    userId: Option[String],
+    username: Option[String],
     text: String): Funit = $update(
       $select(id),
-      $push("messages", WatcherRoom.encode(userId, text)),
+      $push("messages", WatcherRoom.encode(username, text)),
       upsert = true) 
 }
diff --git a/modules/tournament/src/main/Env.scala b/modules/tournament/src/main/Env.scala
index 0e01a2080d..51f051db6f 100644
--- a/modules/tournament/src/main/Env.scala
+++ b/modules/tournament/src/main/Env.scala
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ final class Env(
     }
   }
 
-  lazy val messenger = new Messenger(NetDomain)
+  lazy val messenger = new Messenger(getUsername, NetDomain)
 
   private[tournament] lazy val tournamentColl = db(CollectionTournament)
   private[tournament] lazy val roomColl = db(CollectionRoom)
diff --git a/modules/tournament/src/main/Messenger.scala b/modules/tournament/src/main/Messenger.scala
index 1f51b58178..4014360c86 100644
--- a/modules/tournament/src/main/Messenger.scala
+++ b/modules/tournament/src/main/Messenger.scala
@@ -1,29 +1,31 @@
 package lila.tournament
 
-import lila.db.api.$find
+import lila.db.api._
 import tube.tournamentTube
 import lila.user.{ User, UserRepo, Room ⇒ UserRoom }
 
-private[tournament] final class Messenger(val netDomain: String) extends UserRoom {
+private[tournament] final class Messenger(
+    getUsername: String ⇒ Fu[Option[String]],
+    val netDomain: String) extends UserRoom {
 
   import Room._
 
   def init(tour: Created): Fu[List[Message]] = for {
-    userOption ← UserRepo named tour.data.createdBy
-    username = userOption.fold(tour.data.createdBy)(_.username)
+    username ← getUsername(tour.data.createdBy) flatMap { 
+      _.fold[Fu[String]](fufail("No username found"))(fuccess(_))
+    }
     message ← systemMessage(tour, "%s creates the tournament" format username)
   } yield List(message)
 
   def userMessage(tournamentId: String, userId: String, text: String): Fu[Message] = for {
-    userOption ← UserRepo named userId
-    tourOption ← $find byId tournamentId
+    userOption ← UserRepo byId userId
+    tourExists ← $count.exists($select(tournamentId))
     message ← (for {
-      user ← userOption filter (_.canChat) toValid "This user cannot chat"
-      _ ← tourOption toValid "No such tournament"
-      msg ← createMessage(user, text)
+      _ ← Unit.validIf(tourExists, "No such tournament") 
+      msg ← userMessage(userOption, text)
       (u, t) = msg
     } yield Message(u.some, t)).future
-    _ ← RoomRepo.addMessage(tournamentId, message) 
+    _ ← RoomRepo.addMessage(tournamentId, message)
   } yield message
 
   def systemMessage(tour: Tournament, text: String): Fu[Message] =
@@ -31,6 +33,6 @@ private[tournament] final class Messenger(val netDomain: String) extends UserRoo
       RoomRepo.addMessage(tour.id, message) inject message
     }
 
-  def getMessages(tournamentId: String): Fu[List[Room.Message]] = 
+  def getMessages(tournamentId: String): Fu[List[Room.Message]] =
     RoomRepo room tournamentId map (_.decodedMessages)
 }
diff --git a/modules/user/src/main/Room.scala b/modules/user/src/main/Room.scala
index 0f1193381b..00aed0bbda 100644
--- a/modules/user/src/main/Room.scala
+++ b/modules/user/src/main/Room.scala
@@ -1,30 +1,31 @@
 package lila.user
 
-import org.apache.commons.lang3.StringEscapeUtils.escapeXml
 import java.util.regex.Matcher.quoteReplacement
 
 trait Room {
 
   def netDomain: String
 
-  def createMessage(user: User, text: String): Valid[(String, String)] =
-    if (user.isChatBan) !!("Chat banned " + user)
-    else if (user.disabled) !!("User disabled " + user)
-    else escapeXml(text.replace(""""""", "'").trim take 140) |> { escaped ⇒
-      (escaped.nonEmpty).fold(
-        success((
-          user.username,
-          urlRegex.replaceAllIn(escaped, m ⇒ quoteReplacement(netDomain + "/" + (m group 1)))
-        )),
-        !!("Empty message")
-      )
+  def userMessage(userOption: Option[User], text: String): Valid[(String, String)] =
+    userOption toValid "Anonymous cannot talk in this room" flatMap { user ⇒
+      if (user.isChatBan) !!("Chat banned " + user)
+      else if (user.disabled) !!("User disabled " + user)
+      else cleanupText(text) map { user.username -> _ }
     }
 
+  def userOrAnonMessage(userOption: Option[User], text: String): Valid[(Option[String], String)] =
+    cleanupText(text) map { userOption.map(_.username) -> _ }
+
+  def cleanupText(text: String): Valid[String] =
+    (text.replace(""""""", "'").trim take 140) |> { t ⇒
+      if (t.isEmpty) !!("Empty message")
+      else success(delocalize(noPrivateUrl(t)))
+    }
+
+  private def noPrivateUrl(str: String): String = 
+    urlRegex.replaceAllIn(str, m ⇒ quoteReplacement(netDomain + "/" + (m group 1)))
+
+  private val delocalize = new lila.common.String.Delocalizer(netDomain)
   private val domainRegex = netDomain.replace(".", """\.""")
   private val urlRegex = (domainRegex + """/([\w-]{8})[\w-]{4}""").r
-
-  private def cleanupText(text: String) = {
-    val cleanedUp = text.trim.replace(""""""", "'")
-    (cleanedUp.size <= 140 && cleanedUp.nonEmpty) option cleanedUp
-  }
 }
diff --git a/modules/user/src/main/UserRepo.scala b/modules/user/src/main/UserRepo.scala
index 81b27491fe..37f6cf8580 100644
--- a/modules/user/src/main/UserRepo.scala
+++ b/modules/user/src/main/UserRepo.scala
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ object UserRepo {
 
   val normalize = User normalize _
 
+  def byId(id: ID): Fu[Option[User]] = $find byId id
+
   def named(username: String): Fu[Option[User]] = $find byId normalize(username)
 
   def nameds(usernames: List[String]): Fu[List[User]] = $find byIds usernames.map(normalize)
diff --git a/public/javascripts/big.js b/public/javascripts/big.js
index 89943ba379..3a43082e0f 100644
--- a/public/javascripts/big.js
+++ b/public/javascripts/big.js
@@ -203,6 +203,10 @@ var lichess_translations = [];
     domain: document.domain.replace(/^\w+\.(.+)$/, '$1')
   };
 
+  $.userLink = function(u, limit) {
+    return (u || false) ? '<a class="user_link" href="/@/' + u + '">' + u + '</a>' : 'Anonymous';
+  }
+
   var lichess = {
     socket: null,
     socketDefaults: {
@@ -587,7 +591,14 @@ var lichess_translations = [];
         self.initTable();
         self.initClocks();
         if (self.$chat) self.$chat.chat({
-            resize: true
+            resize: true,
+            render: function(u, t) {
+              if (self.options.player.spectator) {
+                return '<li><span>' + $.userLink(u, 12) + '</span>' + urlToLink(t) + '</li>';
+              } else {
+                return '<li class="' + u + (u == 'system' ? ' trans_me' : '') + '">' + urlToLink(t) + '</li>';
+              }
+            }
           });
         self.$watchers.watchers();
         if (self.isMyTurn() && self.options.game.turns == 0) {
@@ -638,9 +649,9 @@ var lichess_translations = [];
           ack: function() {
             clearTimeout(self.socketAckTimeout);
           },
-          message: function(event) {
+          message: function(e) {
             self.element.queue(function() {
-              if (self.$chat) self.$chat.chat("append", event);
+              if (self.$chat) self.$chat.chat("append", e.u, e.t);
               self.element.dequeue();
             });
           },
@@ -1182,18 +1193,7 @@ var lichess_translations = [];
     set: function(users) {
       var self = this;
       if (users.length > 0) {
-        var html = [],
-          user, i, w;
-        for (i in users) {
-          w = users[i];
-          if (w.indexOf("Anonymous") == 0) {
-            user = w;
-          } else {
-            user = '<a href="/@/' + w + '">' + w + '</a>';
-          }
-          html.push(user);
-        }
-        self.list.html(html.join(", "));
+        self.list.html(_.map(users, $.userLink).join(", "));
         self.element.show();
       } else {
         self.element.hide();
@@ -1204,8 +1204,8 @@ var lichess_translations = [];
   $.widget("lichess.chat", {
     _create: function() {
       this.options = $.extend({
-        render: function(t) {
-          return urlToLink(t);
+        render: function(u, t) {
+          console.debug("How to render " + u + " " + t + " in chat?");
         },
         resize: false
       }, this.options);
@@ -1252,15 +1252,14 @@ var lichess_translations = [];
       }
       $toggle[0].checked = $toggle.data("enabled");
     },
-    append: function(msg, u) {
-      this._appendHtml(this.options.render(msg, u));
+    append: function(u, t) {
+      this._appendHtml(this.options.render(u, t));
     },
     appendMany: function(objs) {
       var self = this,
         html = "";
       $.each(objs, function() {
-        if (this.txt) html += self.options.render(this.txt, this.u);
-        else if (this.msg) html += self.options.render(this.msg, this.u);
+        html += self.options.render(this.u, this.t);
       });
       this._appendHtml(html);
     },
@@ -1728,10 +1727,8 @@ var lichess_translations = [];
     });
 
     var $chat = $("div.lichess_chat").chat({
-      render: function(txt, u) {
-        return (u || false)
-          ? '<li><span><a class="user_link" href="/@/' + u + '">' + u.substr(0, 12) + '</a></span>' + urlToLink(txt) + '</li>'
-          : '<li>' + urlToLink(txt) + '</li>';
+      render: function(u, t) {
+        return (u || false) ? '<li><span><a class="user_link" href="/@/' + u + '">' + u.substr(0, 12) + '</a></span>' + urlToLink(t) + '</li>' : '<li>' + urlToLink(t) + '</li>';
       }
     });
 
@@ -1757,7 +1754,7 @@ var lichess_translations = [];
       },
       events: {
         talk: function(e) {
-          $chat.chat('append', e.txt, e.u);
+          $chat.chat('append', e.u, e.t);
         },
         untalk: function(e) {
           $chat.chat('remove', e.regex);
@@ -1927,8 +1924,8 @@ var lichess_translations = [];
     var $watchers = $("div.watchers").watchers();
 
     var $chat = $("div.lichess_chat").chat({
-      render: function(txt, u) {
-        return '<li><span><a class="user_link" href="/@/' + u + '">' + u.substr(0, 12) + '</a></span>' + urlToLink(txt) + '</li>';
+      render: function(u, t) {
+        return '<li><span>' + userLink(u, 12) + '</span>' + urlToLink(t) + '</li>';
       }
     });
 
@@ -1956,7 +1953,7 @@ var lichess_translations = [];
     lichess.socket = new strongSocket(lichess.socketUrl + socketUrl, _ld_.version, $.extend(true, lichess.socketDefaults, {
       events: {
         talk: function(e) {
-          $chat.chat('append', e.txt, e.u);
+          $chat.chat('append', e.u, e.t);
         },
         start: start,
         reload: reload,
@@ -2004,8 +2001,8 @@ var lichess_translations = [];
         ignoreUnknownMessages: true
       },
       events: {
-        message: function(event) {
-          $chat.chat("append", event);
+        message: function(e) {
+          $chat.chat("append", e.u, e.t);
         },
         crowd: function(event) {
           $watchers.watchers("set", event.watchers);
diff --git a/todo b/todo
index ccff0ecc5d..8260d27244 100644
--- a/todo
+++ b/todo
@@ -82,6 +82,7 @@ stream game export
 show fen only after game is finished http://en.lichess.org/forum/lichess-feedback/please-disable-live-fen-notation?page=1
 I owe the admins decent tools
 move db game.if (initialFen) to another collection to prevent systematic loading, and doc moving
+tell opponent chat is disabled
 
 DEPLOY p21
 ----------