Terms of Service

1. Eligibility

1.1

You must be at least 13 years of age to create an account and use the Service.

1.2

If you are between 13 and 17 years of age, you confirm that your parent or legal guardian has reviewed and agreed to these Terms on your behalf. ChessOnes may request evidence of parental consent at any time.

1.3

If you are under 13 years of age, you may not use the Service. Any account found to belong to a user under 13 will be immediately deleted.

1.4

By creating an account, you confirm that all information you provide is accurate and truthful, and that you meet the minimum age requirement.

1.5

The Service is not available to individuals who have previously been permanently banned from ChessOnes, or to users in jurisdictions where access to the Service is prohibited by applicable law.

2. Platform availability

2.1

ChessOnes is currently available exclusively as a web application, accessible via a compatible browser on any internet-connected device.

2.2

Mobile applications for iOS and Android are planned for future release. When mobile apps are launched, updated or supplemental Terms will be published where necessary to address any platform-specific conditions.

2.3

We do not guarantee that the Service will be available at all times. We reserve the right to perform maintenance, push updates, or temporarily suspend the Service. We will provide reasonable advance notice of planned downtime where practicable.

3. Accounts

3.1 One account per person

Each individual may maintain only one active ChessOnes account at any time. Creating or using additional accounts (multi-accounting) is a violation of both these Terms and our Fair Play Policy and may result in permanent banning of all associated accounts.

3.2 Accurate information

You agree to provide accurate, complete, and current information during registration and to keep your account details up to date. We collect your year of birth solely for the purpose of verifying minimum age eligibility. ChessOnes is not responsible for any issues arising from inaccurate account information.

3.3 Account security

You are solely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your login credentials. You must not share your account with any other person. You agree to notify us immediately at security@chessones.com if you suspect unauthorised access to your account. ChessOnes is not liable for any loss arising from your failure to maintain account security.

3.4 Username standards

Your username is publicly visible across the platform. Usernames must not impersonate any real person or organisation, contain offensive or discriminatory language, or infringe any third-party intellectual property rights. ChessOnes reserves the right to change or remove non-compliant usernames at any time without prior notice.

3.5 Social login

If you register via Google or Facebook (Meta), your ChessOnes account is linked to that social login. You authorise ChessOnes to receive and store the profile information shared by those services in accordance with your privacy settings on those platforms.

4. The Service

4.1

ChessOnes provides an online chess platform that currently includes:

• Online chess games against other players (rated and unrated, multiple time controls)
• Play vs. Friends
• Play vs. Bots (computer opponents at various skill levels)
• Tournaments (including Arena formats)
• Learning content (courses, puzzles, and interactive tools)
• Community features: public forums, private messaging between users, and in-game chat
• Player ratings and public leaderboards

4.2

We reserve the right to add, modify, suspend, or remove any feature of the Service at any time. Where a change is material, we will notify users via the platform or email before it takes effect.

4.3

We are not liable for any loss or inconvenience caused by temporary unavailability of the Service due to maintenance, technical failure, or events outside our control.

5. Free access and future paid features

5.1

ChessOnes is currently free to use. No payment, subscription, or financial commitment of any kind is required to access any feature of the Service at this time.

5.2

ChessOnes intends to introduce premium paid features in the future. Before doing so, we will:

1. Provide clear advance notice to all existing users;
2. Publish updated Terms of Service covering pricing, subscription terms, cancellation rights, payment processing, and refund policies; and
3. Obtain fresh agreement to the updated Terms from all users before any charges are applied.

5.3

No feature that is currently free to all users will be moved behind a paywall without the advance notice described in Section 5.2.

5.4

No payment information is collected or required to create or use a free ChessOnes account.

5.5 Enforcement note

In the event of a permanent ban for Fair Play violations, any premium subscription or paid feature access that exists at the time of the ban will be forfeited with no right to a refund. By accepting these Terms, you acknowledge and accept this consequence as a condition of using the Service. This clause will remain in effect when paid features are introduced.

6. User content

6.1 Definition

"User Content" means any content you submit, upload, or post to ChessOnes. At launch, the platform supports the following types of User Content:

1. Profile avatars — an image you upload to represent your account publicly
2. Forum posts — text content you post in ChessOnes public community forums
3. In-game chat — messages exchanged with opponents during or after a game
4. Private messages — direct text messages sent to other individual users

This section governs all of the above. Additional content types may be introduced in future and this section will be updated accordingly.

6.2 Your ownership

You retain ownership of the intellectual property rights in any User Content you create. By submitting User Content to ChessOnes, you grant ChessOnes a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable, and transferable licence to use, reproduce, display, distribute, and adapt that content solely for the purpose of operating, improving, and promoting the Service.

6.3 Content standards — all User Content

Regardless of type, all User Content must comply with the following standards. Content must not:

• Be unlawful, defamatory, threatening, harassing, abusive, or discriminatory
• Contain sexually explicit or pornographic material of any kind
• Violate any third party's intellectual property or privacy rights
• Constitute spam, unsolicited advertising, or commercial solicitation
• Impersonate any real person, organisation, or ChessOnes staff member
• Contain malware, viruses, or any code intended to harm users or the platform
• Facilitate cheating, collusion, or any violation of the Fair Play Policy
• Target or demean any person based on race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or any other protected characteristic

6.4 Profile avatars

You may upload one profile picture or avatar image to represent your ChessOnes account. Your avatar is publicly visible to all users of the platform.

Avatar images must not:

• Depict sexually explicit, graphic, or violent imagery
• Use the likeness of another real, identifiable person without their clear consent
• Reproduce a copyrighted image, logo, or trademark you do not own or have licence to use
• Depict content that is hateful, discriminatory, or violates any applicable law

ChessOnes reserves the right to remove any avatar that violates these standards and to replace it with a default image without prior notice.

Technical note: Avatar images are uploaded to and stored on Amazon Web Services (AWS) infrastructure. By uploading an avatar, you consent to this storage arrangement as described in our Privacy Policy.

6.5 Forum posts

ChessOnes features public community forums where users may post text content. Forum posts are visible to all registered users of the platform and may be indexed by search engines.

You are solely and personally responsible for all content you post in the forums. Forum posts may only contain text. Embedding images, links to external sites, or any form of executable content in forum posts is not permitted at launch.

ChessOnes moderators may edit, remove, or lock any forum post or thread that violates these Terms, without prior notice. Repeated or serious violations may result in suspension of your forum posting privileges or termination of your account.

6.6 Private messages

Registered ChessOnes users may send direct private text messages to other individual users. Private messages are not publicly visible and are delivered only to the intended recipient.

Private messages are subject to the same content standards set out in Section 6.3. While ChessOnes does not routinely monitor private message content, we reserve the right to review messages where a report of a violation has been submitted by another user, and where such review is permitted by applicable law.

If you receive a private message that violates these Terms, please report it using the report function available within the messaging interface.

6.7 In-game chat

ChessOnes provides an in-game chat feature for communication between players during and immediately after a game. In-game chat is subject to the same content standards in Section 6.3. In-game chat may be reviewed in connection with Fair Play investigations or reported conduct violations.

6.8 Content removal and moderation

ChessOnes reserves the right to remove, edit, or restrict any User Content that we determine, in our sole discretion, violates these Terms or our Community Standards. We are not obligated to monitor all User Content but will act on reported violations. Repeated violations may result in restriction of content features, account suspension, or permanent termination.

6.9 Game records

Game data (move sequences, results, timestamps, rating changes) generated on the platform is owned by ChessOnes and forms part of the competitive record. Game records may be retained and displayed publicly even after account deletion, in attributed or anonymised form at our discretion.

7. Prohibited conduct

In addition to the restrictions in the Fair Play Policy, you agree not to:

1. Reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble, or attempt to extract source code from the platform or any part of its underlying technology
2. Use automated bots, scripts, crawlers, or scrapers to access or collect data from the Service without ChessOnes' prior written authorisation
3. Harvest, collect, or store personal data of other users from the platform
4. Attempt to probe, scan, or test the vulnerability of the platform or circumvent any security or access control measures
5. Use the Service to transmit spam, bulk unsolicited messages, chain letters, or any other form of mass unsolicited communication
6. Exploit bugs, glitches, or unintended features of the platform (report these instead to security@chessones.com)
7. Use the Service in a manner that places unreasonable load on our infrastructure or interferes with other users' access
8. Commercially exploit, resell, or sublicence any part of the Service without ChessOnes' prior written permission

8. Intellectual property

8.1 ChessOnes platform

The ChessOnes name, logo, brand identity, platform design, software, code, databases, rating system, course content, and all other platform materials (excluding User Content) are the intellectual property of ChessOnes LLC or its licensors, protected by applicable copyright, trademark, and intellectual property laws.

8.2 Licence to you

Subject to these Terms, ChessOnes grants you a limited, personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to access and use the Service for your own personal, non-commercial use only.

8.3 Feedback

Any feedback, suggestions, or ideas you provide to ChessOnes regarding the Service may be used by us freely and without any obligation to compensate you.

8.4 Chess moves

The individual moves of a chess game are not copyrightable. ChessOnes does not assert intellectual property ownership over the moves you play in your games.

9. Fair play

All use of the Service is subject to the ChessOnes Fair Play Policy (chessones-frontend-v2.vercel.app/fair-play), which is incorporated into these Terms by reference. Violations of the Fair Play Policy constitute violations of these Terms and may result in account suspension or permanent ban, with no right of refund where applicable.

10. Termination

10.1 By you

You may delete your ChessOnes account at any time through your account settings. Upon deletion, your access to the Service ends. Certain data may be retained as described in the Privacy Policy.

10.2 By ChessOnes

We reserve the right to suspend or permanently terminate your account at any time for:

• Violation of these Terms or any incorporated policy
• Fraudulent, abusive, or unlawful activity on the platform
• Extended account inactivity (reasonable notice will be given before closure)
• Compliance with applicable law or a lawful order

10.3 Survival

The following sections survive termination of your account: 6.2 (licence to existing User Content), 6.9 (game records), 8 (intellectual property), 11 (disclaimers), 12 (limitation of liability), 13 (indemnification), and 14 (governing law).

11. Disclaimers

11.1

The Service is provided "as is" and "as available," without any warranty of any kind, whether express or implied, including but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement.

11.2

ChessOnes does not warrant that the Service will be continuously available, error-free, free from viruses or harmful components, or that defects will be corrected.

11.3

ChessOnes does not warrant the accuracy or completeness of any ratings, leaderboard standings, game records, or learning content displayed on the platform.

12. Limitation of liability

12.1

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, ChessOnes LLC, and its members, managers, officers, employees, and agents shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising out of or related to your use of, or inability to use, the Service.

12.2

Our total aggregate liability to you for any claim arising under or in connection with these Terms shall not exceed USD $100. (This cap will be updated when paid features are introduced, at which point liability will not exceed the total amount you paid to ChessOnes in the 12 months preceding the claim.)

12.3

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited, including liability for fraudulent misrepresentation, death or personal injury caused by our negligence, or any liability that cannot be limited under applicable consumer protection law.

13. Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless ChessOnes LLC and its members, managers, officers, employees, and agents from and against any claims, damages, losses, liabilities, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of or related to:

1. your use of the Service;
2. your User Content;
3. your violation of these Terms; or
4. your violation of any rights of a third party.

14. Governing law and dispute resolution

14.1 Governing law

These Terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New Jersey, United States, without regard to its conflict of law provisions.

14.2 EU and UK consumer rights

For users in the EU or UK, nothing in this Section removes your right to rely on the mandatory consumer protection laws of your country of residence that cannot be waived by contract.

14.3 Informal resolution

Before initiating any formal legal proceedings, you agree to contact ChessOnes at legal@chessones.com and attempt in good faith to resolve the dispute informally. We will endeavour to respond within 30 days and to reach a resolution within 60 days.

14.4 Binding arbitration

If informal resolution fails, any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service shall be resolved by binding individual arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) under its then-current Consumer Arbitration Rules. Either party may seek interim injunctive relief from a court of competent jurisdiction pending arbitration.

14.5 Jurisdiction for non-arbitrable claims

For any disputes not subject to arbitration, you agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in New Jersey, United States.

15. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms at any time. We will notify you of material changes by email and via a prominent notice on the platform at least 14 days before the changes take effect. Your continued use of the Service after the effective date of any update constitutes your acceptance of the revised Terms. If you do not accept the updated Terms, you must stop using the Service and delete your account.

16. Miscellaneous

16.1 Entire agreement

These Terms and all incorporated policies constitute the complete and exclusive agreement between you and ChessOnes regarding the Service, superseding any prior agreements or understandings.

16.2 Severability

If any provision of these Terms is held to be invalid or unenforceable, that provision will be enforced to the maximum extent permissible, and the remaining provisions will continue in full force.

16.3 No waiver

Our failure to enforce any right or provision of these Terms will not constitute a waiver of that right or provision in the future.

16.4 Assignment

You may not assign or transfer your rights or obligations under these Terms. ChessOnes may assign its rights in connection with a merger, acquisition, or restructuring without restriction.

16.5 Force majeure

ChessOnes will not be liable for any failure or delay in performance caused by circumstances beyond our reasonable control, including natural disasters, internet or infrastructure outages, governmental actions, or third-party service failures.

16.6 Language

These Terms are written in English. Any translations provided are for convenience only. In the event of any conflict, the English version prevails.

17. Contact