Legal

Terms of Service

Last edited 31 July 2026

Draft — not yet in force. This document was written by reading the application’s own source code and describes what the software actually does today. It has not been reviewed by a lawyer and it has not been approved by the site owner. The owner must review it, fill in every [PLACEHOLDER], and decide what to publish before this page is presented to players as binding.

Who these terms are between

These terms are an agreement between you and [OWNER LEGAL NAME](“we”), who operates chess chess chess at [SITE ADDRESS]. Questions and notices go to [CONTACT EMAIL]. They are governed by the laws of [JURISDICTION]. Those four values are not recorded anywhere in this software, so they are left blank on purpose rather than guessed.

What the service is

chess chess chess is a free online chess site. Alongside ordinary chess (“Pure”), it offers a card-driven variant (“Chaos”) whose cards bend the rules, plus mini-games, a board-map editor, a rated ladder, friends, and in-game chat. You can play a local game, a game against the computer, or an online game against another person.

Accounts and sign-in

Signing in is handled by ChatGPT. We never see or store a password. When you sign in, the request arrives carrying your email address, and we create a profile for you the first time we see it. Your username is derived from your email address and you can change it, along with your display name, from your account settings.

You are responsible for what happens under your account. Do not share it, and do not create an account if you are below the minimum age for the service in your country ([MINIMUM AGE]).

Fair play

The point of the site is a fair game. In an online match the server, not your browser, decides what is legal, what a card does, whose clock is running, and what a mini-game round scored. Mini-game results are settled by replaying the input record you submit; a score your browser simply asserts is never accepted. You agree not to:

use an engine, another person, or any outside help to choose your moves in a rated game;
modify, automate, or replay traffic to the game API in order to gain an advantage;
deliberately stall, abandon, or lose games to move your own or another account’s rating;
run multiple accounts to farm rating, tokens, or card rewards;
send abusive, hateful, harassing, or unlawful messages in chat or in any name you choose.

If we believe an account is doing any of this we may reset its rating or currency, remove content it created, or close it. There is no formal appeals process yet; if you think a decision was wrong, write to [CONTACT EMAIL].

Tokens, cards, cosmetics, and ratings

Tokens, style points, cards, board and piece skins, and ladder ratings are entries in our database, not property and not currency. They cannot be bought with real money, cannot be sold or transferred, and have no cash value. We may rebalance the card set, the reward rates, or the rating formula at any time, and a rebalance can change what you hold. If your account is deleted — by you or by us — everything in it goes with it.

Content you create

You keep ownership of the board maps you publish, the custom cards you forge, the names you pick, and the messages you send. By publishing a map or a custom card you give us permission to store it, show it to other players, and let them play it, for as long as you keep it published. You are responsible for making sure you have the right to publish what you publish.

We may remove content that breaks these terms or that we are legally required to remove.

Games in progress

Online games are stored on our servers, are subject to time controls, and can end without your input — a clock can expire, a disconnected player can be claimed as having abandoned the game after the reconnect window, and an unstarted room can be cleaned up. Finished games are written to a permanent record that both players can see in their history. A game record belongs to both players: if one of you deletes their account, the other keeps the game, with the departed player shown as a deleted player.

Availability, and no warranty

The service is provided as-is and as-available. We do not promise that it will be online, that a game will not be interrupted, that a rating will never be recalculated, or that stored data will never be lost. We may change, suspend, or discontinue any part of it, including the whole site, at any time. To the fullest extent the law allows, we disclaim all warranties and are not liable for indirect or consequential loss arising from your use of the service.

Ending your use

You may stop using the service at any time, and you may delete your account from your account settings. Deletion is described in detail in the Privacy Policy — in short, everything that is only yours is erased, and games you played are kept in your opponent’s history with your name replaced. We may suspend or close an account that breaks these terms.

Changes to these terms

We may update these terms. When we do, the date at the top of this page changes. If a change materially affects you, we will try to make that visible in the app rather than only here.