It's very likely that this is planned or under development already, though I figured there wouldnt be any harm to bringing it up.

In the tournaments and home page there should be a chat or activity list.

Home page: You can then see who's online and who you can play against. It'll be easier to challenge them to a game (currently, you're limited to only those you knew from before and strokes of luck when you both search for an opponent at the same time). Will also help to see what's going on, and develop the community a bit more.

Tournaments: It's nice to have the ability to have a friendly chat with those you are competing against while you wait for others to finish. Was just a part of the Alpha Tournament, and I noticed that unless the person was on IRC or you were against him (ingame chat), there was practically nothing you could do to establish a form of communication.

Thank you for your time
-Red

I think chat for the lobby and tournament modes is one of the top priorities right now. Stay tuned.