Effective Date: May 29, 2026
Last Updated: May 29, 2026
These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your access to and use of the LobbyChess platform, including its website, chess gameplay features, chat, rooms, tournaments, moderation tools, security systems, and related services (collectively, the "Service").
LobbyChess is operated by LobbyChess.com ("LobbyChess," "we," "us," or "our"). By accessing or using the Service, creating an account, participating in chat or games, or otherwise using interactive features, you agree to these Terms and our Privacy Policy.
If you do not agree to these Terms, do not use the Service.
LobbyChess is a general-audience chess and community platform. It is not directed to children.
You may browse publicly available, non-interactive portions of the Service only in accordance with applicable law and these Terms.
You must be at least 16 years old to:
By creating an account, beginning an interactive guest session, or using interactive features, you represent that you are at least 16 years old.
We do not currently offer a parental or guardian consent workflow for users under 16. Users under 16 may not create accounts or use interactive LobbyChess features unless and until we provide an expressly supported youth-access programme.
LobbyChess is not intended for children under 13. If we learn that a child under 13 has provided personal information or used interactive features, we may restrict or disable access, stop further collection or use where appropriate, and process deletion or anonymisation requests using the procedures then available to us. Some historical or security-related records may remain where deletion is not yet technically implemented, is necessary for security or legal purposes, or is otherwise permitted by applicable law, as described in our Privacy Policy.
Paid memberships, if launched, will initially be available only to users aged 18 or older.
Any initial Video Chess or live audio/video feature will also be limited to users aged 18 or older and will be subject to additional terms, safety requirements, and privacy disclosures before launch.
LobbyChess may permit use through:
Interactive guest sessions are not anonymous in the technical sense: we may process session identifiers, technical information, security events, gameplay activity, and related records as described in our Privacy Policy.
You agree to provide accurate information when creating or maintaining an account and not to impersonate another person, falsely claim authority, or create accounts intended to evade moderation or enforcement.
You are responsible for:
You may not sell, transfer, lend, share, or permit another person to use your account for rated, competitive, moderated, or paid-feature activity.
LobbyChess uses session-based authentication, real-time connection controls, moderation systems, and security monitoring to help protect accounts, games, and the Service. We may invalidate sessions, terminate connections, require reauthentication, restrict access, or take other security actions where we reasonably believe it is necessary to protect users or the Service.
The Service may include:
Features may differ depending on account status, guest access, age eligibility, moderation status, technical limitations, or future membership eligibility.
Some LobbyChess functionality may be provided free of charge. Free access does not guarantee:
We may identify certain features as experimental, beta, preview, or limited-release features. Such features may be modified, withdrawn, limited, or discontinued at any time.
LobbyChess may later offer paid membership features, such as Persistent Rooms, enhanced room capabilities, premium tools, or Video Chess access.
Unless and until paid services are expressly launched with separate Subscriber Terms and applicable checkout disclosures:
LobbyChess is intended for honest chess play. You agree not to cheat, assist cheating, manipulate competition, or undermine the integrity of games or ratings.
During any live, rated, competitive, tournament, or otherwise fair-play-regulated game, you may not use or obtain assistance from:
You may not:
LobbyChess may permit engines, AI tools, analysis boards, educational tools, or automated assistance outside live play or within expressly designated training, analysis, bot, or experimental environments. The availability of such tools does not permit their use during games where assistance is prohibited.
Where we reasonably believe a fair-play violation occurred, we may:
LobbyChess may publish a separate Fair Play Policy. Once published, that policy will be incorporated into these Terms by reference.
You agree to use LobbyChess respectfully, lawfully, and without harming other users or the Service.
You may not use the Service to:
You may not, without our express written permission:
Good-faith security research may be governed by a future Vulnerability Disclosure Policy. Unless such a policy is published or express written permission is granted, testing against the live Service is not authorised.
Users should report suspected cheating, abuse, harassment, unsafe conduct, security concerns, or policy violations through available reporting channels or by contacting us at support@lobbychess.com.
LobbyChess may publish a separate Community Policy. Once published, that policy will be incorporated into these Terms by reference.
"User Content" means content you submit, transmit, display, or make available through the Service, including:
You retain any ownership rights you hold in your User Content.
By submitting User Content, you grant LobbyChess a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to host, store, transmit, reproduce, display, moderate, analyse, process, adapt for technical display, and remove that User Content as reasonably necessary to:
This licence does not transfer ownership of your User Content to LobbyChess.
You represent that you have the rights necessary to submit your User Content and that it does not:
We may review, restrict, remove, preserve, or disclose User Content where reasonably necessary to operate or secure the Service, enforce policies, investigate misconduct, comply with law, or protect users.
Moderation may involve automated tools and may not always be accurate. We do not guarantee that all harmful content will be detected or removed immediately.
Our collection, use, retention, processing, and disclosure of personal information and technical information are described in our Privacy Policy.
By using the Service, you acknowledge that the Service processes information as described in the Privacy Policy.
LobbyChess uses security and abuse-prevention systems, including LobbyShield, to identify suspicious behaviour, protect accounts and gameplay, enforce restrictions, investigate abuse, and protect the Service.
These systems may process technical and activity information, such as:
LobbyChess may use automated or AI-assisted systems to assist with content moderation, abuse prevention, or safety review. Automated moderation may be incomplete, inaccurate, or unavailable. Human or administrator decisions may override automated outcomes where appropriate.
LobbyChess may offer public, private, invite-based, temporary, or other room experiences. Availability and features may change over time.
Users participating in rooms remain subject to:
LobbyChess may remove, restrict, archive, disable, or moderate rooms or room activity where needed to enforce these Terms, protect users, maintain service integrity, or comply with law.
No user acquires ownership of a room name, room URL, community space, or room feature merely by creating or participating in it.
LobbyChess may later introduce Persistent Rooms as a paid or restricted-access feature.
Persistent Rooms are not "permanent rooms" and will not represent perpetual ownership or guaranteed indefinite hosting. Before Persistent Rooms are offered for payment, LobbyChess will publish additional terms describing:
LobbyChess may offer tournaments, scheduled events, experimental competitions, or other organised gameplay.
You agree that:
LobbyChess does not guarantee that every scheduled tournament or event will occur, complete without interruption, or produce a permanent public record.
At the time these Terms are initially published, paid memberships may not yet be available. These Terms do not require LobbyChess to launch any paid service or premium feature.
Before LobbyChess accepts payment for subscriptions, premium features, Persistent Rooms, Video Chess, or other paid offerings, we will publish separate Subscriber Terms and any legally required purchase disclosures.
Those supplemental terms will address, as applicable:
Unless expressly agreed in written supplemental terms, LobbyChess does not offer:
Video Chess, live audio/video rooms, or similar audiovisual features are not authorised or governed for general launch under these Terms alone.
Before enabling Video Chess, LobbyChess will publish a Video Chess Addendum or equivalent supplemental terms describing:
If launched, Video Chess is expected initially to be:
We may investigate conduct and take action where we reasonably believe that you have violated these Terms, an incorporated policy, applicable law, or the security or integrity of the Service.
Actions may include:
We may suspend or terminate your account or feature access for reasons including:
Information about account access, deletion, chat deletion, data-export limitations, and manual request procedures is described in our Privacy Policy.
Unless and until an automated user-rights workflow is implemented, requests may require manual review, and some historical, security, moderation, game, or technical records may remain stored as described in the Privacy Policy.
Users may submit a request for review of an enforcement action by contacting us at support@lobbychess.com. We do not guarantee reversal of any enforcement decision.
Except for User Content and third-party materials, LobbyChess and its licensors own the Service, including its software, design, branding, text, interfaces, features, security systems, and related materials, subject to applicable open-source licences.
You may not copy, sell, distribute, modify, create derivative commercial services from, or exploit LobbyChess materials except as permitted by law, open-source licence, or express written permission.
If you voluntarily provide suggestions, feedback, ideas, or recommendations about LobbyChess, you permit us to use that feedback without obligation to compensate you, provided we do not claim ownership of unrelated proprietary materials you provide.
If you believe content on LobbyChess infringes your rights, contact support@lobbychess.com with sufficient information to identify the content and the nature of your claim.
LobbyChess may later publish a more specific copyright-notice procedure.
The Service is provided on an "as available" basis. We may experience downtime, latency, data loss, bugs, interruptions, service degradation, failed connections, matchmaking failures, moderation errors, or feature unavailability.
We may add, modify, restrict, suspend, or discontinue features, including free features, experimental features, moderation functionality, security tools, rooms, tournaments, AI-assisted tools, and future premium or video functionality.
Where paid services are later offered, material changes affecting paid benefits will be handled under applicable Subscriber Terms and applicable law.
We do not promise indefinite storage of accounts, games, chat, rooms, settings, analytics, or other records except where expressly stated. Our current retention and deletion practices are described in the Privacy Policy.
To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, the Service is provided "as is" and "as available," without warranties of any kind, whether express, implied, or statutory, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, non-infringement, availability, accuracy, security, reliability, or uninterrupted operation.
Without limiting the above, LobbyChess does not warrant that:
Some jurisdictions do not allow certain warranty exclusions, so some of the above may not apply to you.
To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, LobbyChess and its operators, officers, employees, contractors, affiliates, and service providers will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for loss of data, loss of use, loss of goodwill, service interruption, lost gameplay opportunities, lost tournament participation, or other intangible loss arising from or relating to the Service or these Terms.
For the free Service, to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, LobbyChess's aggregate liability arising from or relating to the Service or these Terms will not exceed US $100.
If paid services are later offered, the Subscriber Terms may define an applicable liability cap for claims relating specifically to paid services, subject to applicable law.
Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability that cannot legally be excluded or limited, including any rights available under applicable consumer-protection law.
To the extent permitted by applicable law, you agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless LobbyChess and its operators from claims, damages, liabilities, costs, and expenses, including reasonable legal fees, arising from:
This section does not apply where prohibited by applicable law.
These Terms are governed by the laws of Washington, USA, without regard to conflict-of-law rules, except where mandatory consumer-protection laws provide otherwise.
Any dispute relating to these Terms or the Service will be resolved in the courts located in Washington, USA, unless applicable law requires another forum.
We may update these Terms from time to time.
If changes are material, we may provide notice through:
The updated Terms will state a revised effective date. Your continued use of the Service after the effective date of updated Terms means you accept the revised Terms, unless applicable law requires additional consent.
If paid memberships or recurring subscriptions are later offered, material changes relating to price, renewal, cancellation, refunds, or paid feature access will be handled under the Subscriber Terms and applicable legal notice requirements.
The following policies are or may become part of the LobbyChess rules governing use of the Service:
| Document | Status |
|---|---|
| Privacy Policy | Applies upon publication and governs data processing |
| Fair Play Policy | To be published; once active, incorporated by reference |
| Community Policy | To be published; once active, incorporated by reference |
| Subscriber Terms | Required before any paid membership launch |
| Video Chess Addendum | Required before any live audio/video launch |
| Vulnerability Disclosure Policy | May be published to govern authorised security reporting |
If supplemental terms conflict with these core Terms for a specific feature, the supplemental terms govern that feature to the extent of the conflict.
For general support, policy questions, reports, privacy requests, or legal notices, contact:
LobbyChess
Email: support@lobbychess.com
Privacy Requests: support@lobbychess.com
Security Reports: support@lobbychess.com