Many browsers will. Opera also can handle a direct URL to an IRC chatroom.
mIRC is actually a standalone program that does not use the browser to connect you to IRC servers.
IRC= Internet Relay Chat
Once on a chat server you can create a room, join a room, chat in a room.
This makes blitz games even blitzier.
The players can chat while the game is going on. There have also been suggestions for creating a room inside the various servers that support voice communication but so far that hasent been much agreement on which one to use.