{ "meta": { "attribution": "Anchor Terminal (https://www.anchorterminal.com)", "attributionRequired": true, "credit": "CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link the page or API address you took it from (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)", "docs": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/docs/", "generatedAt": "2026-11-04", "license": "CC-BY-4.0", "method": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/", "methodology": "0.7", "openapi": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/openapi.json", "preview": false, "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "terms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data" }, "tool": { "slug": "chess-com", "name": "Chess.com Published-Data API", "vendor": "Chess.com LLC", "vendorUrl": "https://www.chess.com", "kind": "http-api", "category": "hobbies", "summary": "Chess.com's Published-Data API is a keyless, read-only REST API returning JSON-LD for public player profiles, ratings, monthly game archives with PGN, clubs, tournaments, team matches, country lists, the daily puzzle, streamers and leaderboards.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/chess-com", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/chess-com.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/chess-com.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/chess-com.json", "dns": "chess-com.grade.anchorterminal.com", "license": "Proprietary service. The API page sets no terms of its own; the Chess.com User Agreement (25 March 2026) applies to the site", "transports": [ "http" ], "packages": [], "auth": "none", "authNotes": "No key, account or OAuth. Requests go to https://api.chess.com/pub/... as plain GETs. Chess.com asks for a recognisable User-Agent with contact details so it can reach the caller before blocking it (https://www.chess.com/news/view/published-data-api). A separate OAuth 2.0 server for identity exists for approved partners through a request form, with its documentation on a Notion page our reader could not render.", "pricing": "free", "pricingNotes": "No price, plan or login. The API page states no fee and no commercial terms. Serial requests are unlimited; parallel requests may get 429.", "priceSummary": "Free", "where": "local", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 on the API page, in the Postman collection or in the developer club resources (checked 3 November 2026).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": 0, "popularity": { "githubStars": null, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-11-03" }, "docsUrl": "https://www.chess.com/news/view/published-data-api", "capabilities": [ "hobbies.games" ], "tags": [ "hosted", "no-auth", "keyless", "free", "read-only", "closed-source", "maintenance-mode", "chess" ], "lastRelease": "2024-11-10", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 40.8, "grade": "E", "agentReady": false, "rank": 1207, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 1349, "categoryRank": 4, "methodology": "0.7", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 58, "maintenance": 5, "payments": 50, "reliability": 30, "schema": 48, "security": 35, "transparency": 54 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "breakdown": [ { "key": "reliability", "name": "Reliability", "weight": 16, "effectiveWeight": 20, "score": 30, "points": 6, "reason": "Read with the hosted lines. No status page, since status.chess.com has no DNS record and the API page links none (0). No readable incident history (5). The limit is a policy rather than a number. Serial requests are unlimited, parallel requests may get 429 depending on load, and abnormal activity can get an application blocked (5 of 15). 429 is documented, every endpoint is a read so retries are safe, ETag and Last-Modified allow 304 responses, and 410 marks data that will never return; no Retry-After or backoff figure (10 of 15). No SLA (0). The API is in production with no beta label, though in maintenance and bug-fix only mode since mid-December 2024 (10). 0 + 5 + 5 + 10 + 0 + 10 = 30.", "checked": "2026-11-03" }, { "key": "performance", "name": "Performance", "weight": 10, "effectiveWeight": 0, "pending": true, "points": 0, "reason": "Pending. Latency is measured per call by our probes, which haven't run yet, so this run doesn't score it. Its weight is shared across the assessed categories until the first probe window closes." }, { "key": "schema", "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "weight": 13, "effectiveWeight": 16.25, "score": 48, "points": 7.8, "reason": "No OpenAPI file. The only machine-readable description is a Postman v2 collection of 22 GET requests in seven folders with empty descriptions, no examples and no variables (10 of 25). No llms.txt (404) and no Markdown docs (0). The documentation page explains each endpoint's purpose, refresh interval and caveats, such as the 3 per cent of players on the old site whose games lag, and says plainly what the API cannot do (14 of 20). Inputs are path segments only, meaning usernames, URL IDs, ISO country codes with listed exceptions, the ten title codes and year and month; responses are JSON-LD with some optional fields (8 of 15). Example URLs and a curl walkthrough, a response code table and a game result code table, but no error body (11 of 15). No version in /pub paths, the page last reviewed on 10 May 2022 under a header updated 22 April 2026, the club CHANGELOG thread ends in January 2018, and later changes were posted in forum threads (5 of 15). 10 + 0 + 14 + 8 + 11 + 5 = 48.", "checked": "2026-11-03" }, { "key": "ergonomics", "name": "Agent ergonomics", "weight": 13, "effectiveWeight": 16.25, "score": 58, "points": 9.43, "reason": "No field selection; a monthly archive returns every game of the month with PGN, while stats, profile and is-online endpoints are small (10 of 25). No pagination or filters beyond the month, time control and title segments (8 of 20). Response codes are documented with what to do on each (update the URL on 301, use the cache on 304, stop on 410), with no error body (12 of 20). Every call is a read, safe to repeat, with ETag and If-None-Match to skip unchanged data (18 of 20). No parameters beyond the path and no key, with unofficial wrappers only (10 of 15). 10 + 8 + 12 + 18 + 10 = 58.", "checked": "2026-11-03" }, { "key": "security", "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "weight": 14, "effectiveWeight": 17.5, "score": 35, "points": 6.13, "reason": "No credential at all. There is nothing to leak or rotate, but Chess.com can identify and block a caller only by User-Agent and traffic pattern (10 of 30). Read-only by design, with private data such as chat and conditional moves excluded (18 of 20). Usernames, club descriptions, tournament names and PGN headers are user content with no guidance on treating them as untrusted (5 of 15). No log or usage view for the caller (0 of 15). No security.txt is served, the User Agreement names no disclosure route, and the only route is the support contact page; no bug bounty or certification found (2 of 20). 10 + 18 + 5 + 0 + 2 = 35.", "checked": "2026-11-03" }, { "key": "payments", "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "weight": 10, "effectiveWeight": 12.5, "score": 50, "points": 6.25, "reason": "Read with the hosted rubric. No x402, MPP or L402 (0). No fee is charged and no login exists, but no page says the API is free or sets commercial terms (10 of 20). Free with no card (20). Keyless, so an agent calls it with no signup (20). 0 + 10 + 20 + 20 = 50.", "checked": "2026-11-03" }, { "key": "tasks", "name": "Task success", "weight": 10, "effectiveWeight": 0, "pending": true, "points": 0, "reason": "Pending. Task success needs the category task suites run through each tool, which haven't run yet, so this run doesn't score it. Its weight is shared across the assessed categories until then. A data provider's data-quality score is published on its listing now and becomes half of this category when it's scored." }, { "key": "maintenance", "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "weight": 7, "effectiveWeight": 8.75, "score": 5, "points": 0.44, "reason": "Read for a closed service. The last published change is the live games by time control endpoint of 10 November 2024, and the API has been in maintenance and bug-fix only mode since mid-December 2024, per the staff post of 10 January 2025 (0 of 30). No dated changes in the last 90 days (0 of 20). The Developer Community club has staff admins and locked status threads; the newest user threads on 3 November, an HTTP 500 on match endpoints and a stats endpoint failure, show no staff reply on the index (5 of 15). No official SDK or MCP registry entry, only third-party wrappers (0 of 15). No package or CI (0 of 10). 0 + 0 + 5 + 0 + 0 = 5.", "checked": "2026-11-03" }, { "key": "transparency", "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "weight": 7, "effectiveWeight": 8.75, "score": 54, "points": 4.72, "note": "editorial 34, provenance 74", "reason": "Closed service. The API page sets no terms and says only to respect brand assets and credit the daily puzzle. The User Agreement of 25 March 2026 bars robots, spiders, data mining and AI tools on the Services and the building of game databases, while its section 2(C) says game records can be accessed, used and monetised by anyone, so which rules govern an API caller is unclear (8 of 30). The privacy policy of 25 March 2026 gives no fixed retention periods, names only Google among providers, lists EEA and UK representatives and transfer mechanisms, and says nothing on AI training (12 of 30). The maintenance status was announced with a date, 410 marks removed data, and 2017 changes were announced in the club; no written notice period and the 8 August 2024 backend changes were posted as they happened (8 of 20). Processing in the United States and wherever providers sit, with no subprocessor list (6 of 20). 8 + 12 + 8 + 6 = 34.", "checked": "2026-11-03" } ], "assessment": { "date": "2026-11-03", "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "notes": { "ergonomics": "No field selection; a monthly archive returns every game of the month with PGN, while stats, profile and is-online endpoints are small (10 of 25). No pagination or filters beyond the month, time control and title segments (8 of 20). Response codes are documented with what to do on each (update the URL on 301, use the cache on 304, stop on 410), with no error body (12 of 20). Every call is a read, safe to repeat, with ETag and If-None-Match to skip unchanged data (18 of 20). No parameters beyond the path and no key, with unofficial wrappers only (10 of 15). 10 + 8 + 12 + 18 + 10 = 58.", "maintenance": "Read for a closed service. The last published change is the live games by time control endpoint of 10 November 2024, and the API has been in maintenance and bug-fix only mode since mid-December 2024, per the staff post of 10 January 2025 (0 of 30). No dated changes in the last 90 days (0 of 20). The Developer Community club has staff admins and locked status threads; the newest user threads on 3 November, an HTTP 500 on match endpoints and a stats endpoint failure, show no staff reply on the index (5 of 15). No official SDK or MCP registry entry, only third-party wrappers (0 of 15). No package or CI (0 of 10). 0 + 0 + 5 + 0 + 0 = 5.", "payments": "Read with the hosted rubric. No x402, MPP or L402 (0). No fee is charged and no login exists, but no page says the API is free or sets commercial terms (10 of 20). Free with no card (20). Keyless, so an agent calls it with no signup (20). 0 + 10 + 20 + 20 = 50.", "reliability": "Read with the hosted lines. No status page, since status.chess.com has no DNS record and the API page links none (0). No readable incident history (5). The limit is a policy rather than a number. Serial requests are unlimited, parallel requests may get 429 depending on load, and abnormal activity can get an application blocked (5 of 15). 429 is documented, every endpoint is a read so retries are safe, ETag and Last-Modified allow 304 responses, and 410 marks data that will never return; no Retry-After or backoff figure (10 of 15). No SLA (0). The API is in production with no beta label, though in maintenance and bug-fix only mode since mid-December 2024 (10). 0 + 5 + 5 + 10 + 0 + 10 = 30.", "schema": "No OpenAPI file. The only machine-readable description is a Postman v2 collection of 22 GET requests in seven folders with empty descriptions, no examples and no variables (10 of 25). No llms.txt (404) and no Markdown docs (0). The documentation page explains each endpoint's purpose, refresh interval and caveats, such as the 3 per cent of players on the old site whose games lag, and says plainly what the API cannot do (14 of 20). Inputs are path segments only, meaning usernames, URL IDs, ISO country codes with listed exceptions, the ten title codes and year and month; responses are JSON-LD with some optional fields (8 of 15). Example URLs and a curl walkthrough, a response code table and a game result code table, but no error body (11 of 15). No version in /pub paths, the page last reviewed on 10 May 2022 under a header updated 22 April 2026, the club CHANGELOG thread ends in January 2018, and later changes were posted in forum threads (5 of 15). 10 + 0 + 14 + 8 + 11 + 5 = 48.", "security": "No credential at all. There is nothing to leak or rotate, but Chess.com can identify and block a caller only by User-Agent and traffic pattern (10 of 30). Read-only by design, with private data such as chat and conditional moves excluded (18 of 20). Usernames, club descriptions, tournament names and PGN headers are user content with no guidance on treating them as untrusted (5 of 15). No log or usage view for the caller (0 of 15). No security.txt is served, the User Agreement names no disclosure route, and the only route is the support contact page; no bug bounty or certification found (2 of 20). 10 + 18 + 5 + 0 + 2 = 35.", "transparency": "Closed service. The API page sets no terms and says only to respect brand assets and credit the daily puzzle. The User Agreement of 25 March 2026 bars robots, spiders, data mining and AI tools on the Services and the building of game databases, while its section 2(C) says game records can be accessed, used and monetised by anyone, so which rules govern an API caller is unclear (8 of 30). The privacy policy of 25 March 2026 gives no fixed retention periods, names only Google among providers, lists EEA and UK representatives and transfer mechanisms, and says nothing on AI training (12 of 30). The maintenance status was announced with a date, 410 marks removed data, and 2017 changes were announced in the club; no written notice period and the 8 August 2024 backend changes were posted as they happened (8 of 20). Processing in the United States and wherever providers sit, with no subprocessor list (6 of 20). 8 + 12 + 8 + 6 = 34." }, "sources": [ { "what": "Published-Data API documentation", "url": "https://www.chess.com/news/view/published-data-api", "seen": "2026-11-03" }, { "what": "Postman collection", "url": "https://www.chess.com/postman/collection-dev.json", "seen": "2026-11-03" }, { "what": "Developer Community club", "url": "https://www.chess.com/club/chess-com-developer-community", "seen": "2026-11-03" }, { "what": "club forum index", "url": "https://www.chess.com/clubs/forum/chess-com-developer-community", "seen": "2026-11-03" }, { "what": "staff post, Public API status (10 January 2025)", "url": "https://www.chess.com/clubs/forum/view/public-api-status", "seen": "2026-11-03" }, { "what": "staff post, backend updates (8 August and 10 November 2024)", "url": "https://www.chess.com/clubs/forum/view/backend-updates-with-potential-api-impacts", "seen": "2026-11-03" }, { "what": "CHANGELOG thread (2017 to 2018)", "url": "https://www.chess.com/clubs/forum/view/changelog", "seen": "2026-11-03" }, { "what": "User Agreement (25 March 2026)", "url": "https://www.chess.com/legal/user-agreement", "seen": "2026-11-03" }, { "what": "privacy policy (25 March 2026)", "url": "https://www.chess.com/legal/privacy", "seen": "2026-11-03" }, { "what": "about page", "url": "https://www.chess.com/about", "seen": "2026-11-03" }, { "what": "security.txt path (not a security.txt)", "url": "https://www.chess.com/.well-known/security.txt", "seen": "2026-11-03" }, { "what": "support contact article", "url": "https://support.chess.com/article/346-contact-us", "seen": "2026-11-03" }, { "what": "robots.txt, api.chess.com (Disallow: /)", "url": "https://api.chess.com/robots.txt", "seen": "2026-11-03" }, { "what": "robots.txt, www.chess.com", "url": "https://www.chess.com/robots.txt", "seen": "2026-11-03" }, { "what": "MCP registry search", "url": "https://registry.modelcontextprotocol.io/v0/servers?search=chess", "seen": "2026-11-03" }, { "what": "RDAP for chess.com", "url": "https://rdap.verisign.com/com/v1/domain/chess.com", "seen": "2026-11-03" } ], "openQuestions": [ "unchecked: the live API behaviour, response shapes and headers. api.chess.com/robots.txt disallows every path for every agent, so no endpoint was requested; the notes rest on the documentation page and the Postman collection.", "unchecked: the OAuth 2.0 server documentation on chesscom.notion.site, which rendered only a title to our reader. It is for approved partners through a request form and is not the graded surface.", "Whether the User Agreement's bar on robots, data mining and AI tools applies to Published-Data API callers. The API page invites programmatic use and names no governing terms; section 2(C) says game records may be used by anyone. Recorded as a fact, not deducted.", "The article header shows an update of 22 April 2026 while the body says it was last reviewed on 10 May 2022; what changed in April 2026 is not stated.", "firstReleased is 21 July 2017, the date the CHANGELOG thread records the documentation and first endpoints going live. lastRelease is 10 November 2024, the live games by time control endpoint.", "Whether staff replied to the HTTP 500 and stats failure threads of September to November 2026; the forum index shows reply counts, not authors." ] }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "A keyless, read-only API that returns a player's monthly game archives with PGN, ratings, clubs and tournaments, with ETag caching and a documented 429 rule. It has been in maintenance mode since December 2024, with no status page, no contract file beyond a bare Postman collection, and a User Agreement that bars robots and AI tools from the Services.", "bestFor": "An agent reading a named player's games, ratings and club or tournament history with no setup, or pulling the daily puzzle.", "strengths": [ "No key or account, and GET https://api.chess.com/pub/player/{username}/games/{YYYY}/{MM} returns a month of games with PGN", "ETag and Last-Modified on responses, with 304 on If-None-Match, and gzip and HTTP/2 supported", "Serial requests are unlimited by policy, with a documented 429 for parallel bursts and a 410 for data that will never return", "Endpoint families for players, titled players, games, clubs, tournaments, team matches, countries, puzzles, streamers and leaderboards", "A Developer Community club with staff admins where backend changes and the maintenance status were posted" ], "weaknesses": [ "In maintenance and bug-fix only mode since mid-December 2024, with the documentation last reviewed on 10 May 2022", "No status page, no rate limit figures and no error body format; recent club threads report HTTP 500 on match endpoints and stats endpoint failures", "No OpenAPI or llms.txt; the Postman collection has 22 requests with empty descriptions and no examples", "The User Agreement bars robots, spiders and AI tools from retrieving or data mining the Services and from building game databases, while the API page says nothing about which terms govern it", "Monthly archives return whole months with no pagination, filtering or field selection" ], "agentNotes": [ "Send a User-Agent with an app name and contact address, as Chess.com asks, and make requests one at a time; parallel calls can draw 429 or a block", "Cache by ETag and send If-None-Match; most endpoints refresh only every 12 to 24 hours, so re-polling sooner returns the same data", "Fetch /pub/player/{username}/games/archives first, then one month at a time; a 410 means stop asking for that URL and a 301 means update it", "Expect reads only. There is no way to play a move, join a club or read private games, so hand those to the person", "Check the Developer Community club before relying on an endpoint, since the API is in maintenance mode and backend changes can affect it without notice" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "E", "methodology": "0.7", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 40.8 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 58, "maintenance": 5, "payments": 50, "reliability": 30, "schema": 48, "security": 35, "transparency": 34 }, "provenanceScore": 74, "checked": { "categories": { "ergonomics": "2026-11-03", "maintenance": "2026-11-03", "payments": "2026-11-03", "reliability": "2026-11-03", "schema": "2026-11-03", "security": "2026-11-03", "transparency": "2026-11-03" }, "last": "2026-11-03", "oldest": "2026-11-03", "stale": false, "staleAfterDays": 90 }, "scoreHistory": [ { "date": "2026-11-03", "grade": "E", "kind": "listed", "method": "0.7", "score": 40.8 } ] }, "connect": { "http": "curl -A \"my-app (contact@example.com)\" https://api.chess.com/pub/player/hikaru/stats" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/hobbies.games", "tool": "https://letme.dev/chess-com" }, "notable": [ "The API is read-only, and the page says \"You cannot send game-moves or other commands to Chess.com from this system.\" Private data such as game chat and conditional moves is excluded (https://www.chess.com/news/view/published-data-api)", "Since mid-December 2024 the Public API is in a maintenance and bug-fix only mode and \"is no longer being actively updated\", per a staff post of 10 January 2025 in the Developer Community club (https://www.chess.com/clubs/forum/view/public-api-status)", "Serial requests are unlimited; parallel requests may get 429 depending on load, and abnormal activity can get an application blocked. ETag and Last-Modified allow 304 responses, and a CDN caches most endpoints for 12 to 24 hours (https://www.chess.com/news/view/published-data-api)", "The page's documentation was last reviewed on 10 May 2022, though the article header shows an update of 22 April 2026; the club's CHANGELOG thread ends in January 2018, and the last published change is the live games by time control endpoint of 10 November 2024 (https://www.chess.com/clubs/forum/view/backend-updates-with-potential-api-impacts)", "A Postman collection of 22 GET requests in seven folders, with no descriptions, examples or variables, is the only machine-readable description (https://www.chess.com/postman/collection-dev.json)", "The User Agreement of 25 March 2026 bars robots and spiders that retrieve, index or data mine the Services and automated or AI tools that access, scan, scrape or data mine them, and bars building chess engines, training models or game databases from the content, while section 2(C) says User Game Activity records can be accessed, used and monetised by anyone (https://www.chess.com/legal/user-agreement)", "api.chess.com/robots.txt disallows every path for every agent, so no endpoint was requested. No status page, since status.chess.com has no DNS record. www.chess.com/.well-known/security.txt is not served", "The official MCP registry has no chess.com namespace; third-party wrappers such as io.github.pipeworx-io/chess (0.2.1, 31 October 2026) and io.github.mrfentmen/chesscom-mcp front the API (https://registry.modelcontextprotocol.io/v0/servers?search=chess)" ], "area": "everyday", "details": [ { "label": "Surface listed", "value": "The Published-Data API at https://api.chess.com/pub, read from the documentation page on www.chess.com, the Postman collection, the Developer Community club and its staff threads, the User Agreement, privacy policy, about page and the MCP registry on 3 November 2026. api.chess.com disallows every path in robots.txt, so no endpoint was called" }, { "label": "Endpoints", "value": "Player profile, stats, is-online, current daily games, to-move, archives list, monthly archive (JSON and PGN), live archive by time control, clubs, matches and tournaments; titled players; club profile, members and matches; tournament, round and group; daily and live team matches and boards; country profile, players and clubs; daily and random puzzle; streamers; leaderboards" }, { "label": "Rate limits", "value": "Serial access unlimited. Parallel requests may be answered 429 depending on load. Abnormal activity can get an application blocked; a User-Agent with contact details is requested" }, { "label": "Caching", "value": "ETag and Last-Modified with 304 on conditional requests. A CDN serves most endpoints with 12 to 24 hour refresh; streamers every 5 minutes, leaderboards when updated, the random puzzle with about 15 seconds of latency" }, { "label": "Response codes", "value": "200, 301 (update the URL), 304, 404, 410 (never available), 429. No error body is documented" }, { "label": "Status", "value": "Maintenance and bug-fix only mode since mid-December 2024, per the staff post of 10 January 2025. Bugs are reported in the club forum" }, { "label": "OAuth", "value": "A separate OAuth 2.0 identity server for approved partners and connected boards, requested through a form in the Developer Community club; its documentation on chesscom.notion.site did not render for our reader" }, { "label": "Terms", "value": "Chess.com User Agreement of 25 March 2026 (Chess.com LLC, Orem, Utah) with no API section. It bars robots, spiders, data mining and AI tools on the Services and the building of chess engines, training models or game databases from content" } ], "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Chess.com LLC", "domain": "chess.com", "domainRegistered": "1994-08-11", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://www.chess.com/legal/user-agreement", "privacy": "https://www.chess.com/legal/privacy", "statusPage": "", "changelog": "https://www.chess.com/clubs/forum/view/changelog", "securityTxt": "none", "checked": "2026-11-03", "notes": [ "Chess.com LLC, 877 E 1200 S #970397, Orem, UT 84097, is named in the User Agreement and privacy policy, both last updated 25 March 2026, under Utah law. Chessable Spain S.L. and Chessable Ltd. are the EEA and UK data protection representatives.", "www.chess.com/robots.txt disallows /admin, /game/, /stats/ and register redirects for every agent and names no Anthropic agent; the pages read are allowed. api.chess.com/robots.txt is `User-agent: *` with `Disallow: /`, so no API endpoint was requested.", "The User Agreement section 4(C) and 4(D) bar robots, spiders and automated or AI tools from retrieving, indexing, scanning, scraping or data mining the Services, allow search and AI answer engines to index public pages for results but not for training, and require written authorisation for other AI use. Recorded as a fact; the API page itself invites programmatic use.", "No status page found (status.chess.com has no DNS record). www.chess.com/.well-known/security.txt returned a page that says to report security problems through the contact page, not a security.txt file. www.chess.com/llms.txt returns 404.", "RDAP (Verisign) gives chess.com a creation date of 11 August 1994." ], "score": 74, "checks": [ { "check": "Legal entity named", "value": "Chess.com LLC", "points": 20, "max": 20, "state": "ok" }, { "check": "Domain age", "value": "chess.com, registered 1994-08-11 (32 years)", "points": 15, "max": 15, "state": "ok" }, { "check": "Endpoint on the vendor's domain", "value": "chess.com", "points": 15, "max": 15, "state": "ok" }, { "check": "Terms of service", "value": "read, states 6 of the 7 things a reader expects, and has 3 clauses that cost points", "points": 3.1, "max": 10, "state": "part" }, { "check": "Privacy policy", "value": "read, states 8 of the 8 things a reader expects", "points": 10, "max": 10, "state": "ok" }, { "check": "Status page", "value": "not found", "points": 0, "max": 10, "state": "no" }, { "check": "Changelog", "value": "published", "points": 10, "max": 10, "state": "ok" }, { "check": "security.txt", "value": "not found", "points": 0, "max": 10, "state": "no" }, { "check": "People named", "value": "3 named with their role, none with a public profile", "points": 7, "max": 10, "state": "part" }, { "check": "Support route", "value": "help pages, a community", "points": 5, "max": 5, "state": "ok" } ], "policies": [ { "kind": "terms", "url": "https://www.chess.com/legal/user-agreement", "state": "read", "readAt": "2026-11-03", "statedDate": "2026-03-25", "words": 12098, "points": 3.1, "max": 10, "expected": [ { "key": "terms.date", "label": "Gives the date it was last updated", "found": true, "quote": "Last updated: March 25, 2026", "says": "Last updated 2026-03-25" }, { "key": "terms.law", "label": "Names the governing law or courts", "found": true, "quote": "THESE TERMS, AND ANY ADDITIONAL TERMS, WILL BE GOVERNED BY AND CONSTRUED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAWS OF THE STATE OF UTAH, WITHOUT REGARD TO ITS CONFLICTS OF LAWS PRINCIPLES.", "says": "The law of and Construed In Accordance" }, { "key": "terms.liability", "label": "States a limit on its liability", "found": true, "quote": "EXCEPT AS MAY BE PROVIDED IN ANY ADDITIONAL TERMS, TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT WILL CHESS.COM'S TOTAL LIABILITY TO YOU IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR ACCESS TO AND USE OF THE SERVICES AND YOUR RIGHTS UNDER THESE TERMS EXCEED THE AMOUNT PAID BY YOU TO US DURING THE PREVIOUS 12 MONTHS FOR ALL…", "says": "Capped at the fees paid in the 12 months before the claim" }, { "key": "terms.termination", "label": "Says how the agreement or account can be ended", "found": true, "quote": "If you fail to provide the required registration, or if we have reasonable grounds to suspect that your Account has been created for an improper purpose or in violation of these Terms, we may suspend or terminate your Account and refuse any and all current or future use of the Service." }, { "key": "terms.changes", "label": "Says how changes to the terms are announced", "found": true, "quote": "If you do not cancel your Subscription to the Services within seven days after receiving notice of Updated Terms as described above, or if you continue to use the Services after receiving notice of Updated Terms, then you agree to comply with, and to be bound by, the Updated Terms.", "says": "Gives seven days of notice before a change" }, { "key": "terms.use", "label": "Lists what users may not do", "found": true, "quote": "You agree not to engage in any unlawful activities or harm others while using the Services." }, { "key": "terms.sla", "label": "Refers to a service level or uptime commitment", "found": false } ], "toKnow": [ { "key": "terms.automated", "label": "Restricts automated access", "found": true, "quote": "You may not use automated or artificial intelligence (AI) tools to access, scan, scrape, data mine, copy, or use the materials or content in the Services;", "costsPoints": true }, { "key": "terms.benchmark", "label": "Restricts benchmarking or competitive use", "found": true, "quote": "You may not use automated or artificial intelligence (AI) tools to access, scan, scrape, data mine, copy, or use the materials or content in the Services; for the purpose of developing training, or improving an AI model, machine-learning system, dataset, or competitive product or service.", "costsPoints": true }, { "key": "terms.nonotice", "label": "Says the terms or the service can change without notice", "found": true, "quote": "We are not required to notify you in the event that we change any of our policies unless the laws of where you reside require us to notify you.", "costsPoints": true }, { "key": "terms.cutoff", "label": "Says access can be ended without notice or for any reason", "found": true, "quote": "We may remove any Content on the Service for any reason and may suspend or terminate users or reclaim usernames at any time without liability to you." }, { "key": "terms.arbitration", "label": "Requires arbitration or waives class actions", "found": true, "quote": "THESE TERMS REQUIRE YOU TO ARBITRATE ANY DISPUTES YOU HAVE WITH US AND YOU WAIVE THE ABILITY TO BRING CLAIMS AGAINST US IN COURT, TO HAVE ANY DISPUTE HEARD BY A JUDGE OR JURY, OR TO BRING ANY CLAIMS AGAINST US IN A CLASS ACTION FORMAT." } ], "notes": [ { "date": "2026-11-03", "text": "Any automated access or AI use involving the content beyond search and answer engine indexing needs prior written authorisation, which Chess.com may grant or withhold at its discretion.", "quote": "Any other automated access, AI use, model training, or dataset creation involving our content requires prior written authorization from Chess.com." }, { "date": "2026-11-03", "text": "Each account is for one person's personal, non-commercial use, and any commercial exploitation of the Services or access to them is prohibited.", "quote": "You agree not to reproduce, duplicate, copy, sell, trade, resell or exploit for any commercial purposes, any portion of the Services (including your Chess.com username), use of the Services, or access to the Services." }, { "date": "2026-11-03", "text": "Submitted content carries a perpetual, irrevocable, sublicensable licence that includes the right to publish and monetise it, and the licence survives account deletion or termination.", "quote": "Such license grant will continue after you delete your Chess.com account or if we otherwise disable, suspend or terminate your Chess.com account pursuant to this Agreement." } ] }, { "kind": "privacy", "url": "https://www.chess.com/legal/privacy", "state": "read", "readAt": "2026-11-03", "statedDate": "2026-03-25", "words": 6047, "points": 10, "max": 10, "expected": [ { "key": "privacy.date", "label": "Gives the date it was last updated", "found": true, "quote": "Last updated: March 25, 2026", "says": "Last updated 2026-03-25" }, { "key": "privacy.collected", "label": "Says what personal data is collected", "found": true, "quote": "We may collect the following categories of personal information when you open an account with us and use our Services, without competing in sanctioned games or winning prizes:" }, { "key": "privacy.retention", "label": "Says how long data is kept", "found": true, "quote": "We retain personal information for as long as necessary to provide our Products and Services and fulfill the transactions you have requested, or for other business purposes, to comply with our legal obligations, resolving disputes, and enforcing our agreements.", "says": "For as long as needed, with no period named" }, { "key": "privacy.processors", "label": "Says who else receives the data", "found": true, "quote": "For your security, we do not store your credit card number in our databases but we and our payment service providers may retain only the first six digits and/or last four digits to identify your Account and respond to your requests and questions and to process the payment" }, { "key": "privacy.sale", "label": "Says whether personal data is sold or shared for advertising", "found": true, "quote": "We do not sell or share for cross-context behavioral advertising or use for targeted advertising any of the other categories of Personal Information we collect.", "says": "Says it does not sell personal data" }, { "key": "privacy.rights", "label": "Says what rights people have over their data", "found": true, "quote": "This Policy also provides information about rights you may have under the California Consumer Privacy Act, the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR“) as well as any other applicable international, national, and state laws and regulations." }, { "key": "privacy.contact", "label": "Gives a privacy contact", "found": true, "quote": "You may contact us at the locations or in the manner described below or at Support if you have any questions, complaints, or other issues related to this Policy and issues related to your information." }, { "key": "privacy.transfers", "label": "Says where data is transferred or stored", "found": true, "quote": "…to ensure adequate protection, including adequacy decisions by the European Commission or UK government, standard contractual clauses approved by the European Commission or UK Information Commissioner's Office, binding corporate rules and other legally recognized transfer mechanisms, as relevant.", "says": "Relies on standard contractual clauses" } ], "toKnow": [ { "key": "privacy.sells", "label": "Says it sells personal data or shares it for advertising", "found": true, "quote": "When we engage in digital advertising in the United States, we may sell the following categories of personal information (according to the broad definition of “sell“ under select state privacy laws), share them for purposes of cross-context behavioral advertising, or use them for targeted advertising: personal identif…" } ], "notes": [ { "date": "2026-11-03", "text": "Cancelling an account does not delete personal information; it is kept so the account can be reopened, and permanent deletion needs a separate request on the My Data page.", "quote": "Please bear in mind that after an Account is canceled, the PI and other Account information is not deleted permanently." }, { "date": "2026-11-03", "text": "Public profile information can be used by any person or entity for their own purposes, and games, posts and comments stay public after a deletion request.", "quote": "By including information in your profile, you understand that the information that is public can be used by any person or entity for their own purposes." } ] } ] }, "humans": { "slug": "chess-com", "checked": "2026-11-03", "company": "Chess.com LLC", "people": [ { "name": "Erik Allebest", "role": "Co-founder and CEO", "founder": true, "bio": "Erik Allebest co-founded Chess.com in 2005 with Jay Severson and has been its CEO since the site opened in May 2007. Chess.com's own article says he bootstrapped the company from his savings after pitching more than a dozen investors, and CVC's announcement of 25 June 2026 quotes him as Founder and CEO.", "bioSources": [ "https://www.chess.com/article/view/chesscom-ceo", "https://www.cvc.com/media/news/2026/cvc-capital-partners-invests-in-chess/" ], "page": "/people/erik-allebest/" }, { "name": "Jay Severson", "role": "Co-founder", "founder": true, "bio": "Jay Severson co-founded Chess.com with Erik Allebest in 2005. They met in their first year of college, where Jay was president of the chess club, per Chess.com's article on its CEO. His current role is not stated there.", "bioSources": [ "https://www.chess.com/article/view/chesscom-ceo", "https://www.chess.com/about" ], "page": "/people/jay-severson/" }, { "name": "Danny Rensch", "role": "Co-founder", "founder": true, "bio": "Danny Rensch, an International Master, joined Chess.com in 2009 and is described as a co-founder and the public face of the company in Chess.com's article on its CEO.", "bioSources": [ "https://www.chess.com/article/view/chesscom-ceo" ], "page": "/people/danny-rensch/" } ], "peopleNote": "Chess.com's about page gives the founders' first names and 2005 as the founding year; its article on the CEO gives the full names of Erik Allebest and Jay Severson and names Danny Rensch as a co-founder who joined in 2009. The Developer Community club lists staff admins jdcannon, bcurtis, erik, andreamorandini and Martin_Stahl by username only, so they are not recorded as people. No first-hand page links a personal LinkedIn, X or GitHub account, so none is recorded. The company accounts come from the about page and the GitHub organisation from the developer club's links. Investors come from Chess.com's own news post of 14 January 2022 and CVC's announcement of 25 June 2026; the company said financial terms stay private.", "companySocial": { "x": "https://x.com/chesscom", "github": "https://github.com/ChessCom" }, "support": { "urls": [ "https://www.chess.com/support", "https://support.chess.com/" ], "community": [ { "label": "Chess.com Discord", "url": "https://discord.gg/chesscom", "kind": "discord" }, { "label": "Developer Community club forum", "url": "https://www.chess.com/clubs/forum/chess-com-developer-community", "kind": "forum" } ], "contactEmails": [ "legal@chess.com" ], "contactUrls": [ "https://www.chess.com/support" ] }, "sources": [ "https://www.chess.com/about", "https://www.chess.com/article/view/chesscom-ceo", "https://www.chess.com/club/chess-com-developer-community", "https://www.chess.com/news/view/published-data-api", "https://support.chess.com/article/346-contact-us", "https://www.chess.com/news/view/chesscom-gets-major-investment", "https://www.cvc.com/media/news/2026/cvc-capital-partners-invests-in-chess/", "https://www.chess.com/legal/user-agreement" ], "ownership": { "status": "private", "checked": "2026-11-03", "sources": [ "https://www.chess.com/news/view/chesscom-gets-major-investment", "https://www.cvc.com/media/news/2026/cvc-capital-partners-invests-in-chess/", "https://www.chess.com/legal/user-agreement" ] }, "investors": [ { "name": "General Atlantic", "kind": "vc", "rounds": [ "Growth investment (closed 31 December 2021)" ], "lead": true, "url": "https://www.generalatlantic.com/", "source": "https://www.chess.com/news/view/chesscom-gets-major-investment", "quote": "a major investment from General Atlantic, a leading global growth equity firm", "page": "/investors/general-atlantic/" }, { "name": "CVC Capital Partners", "kind": "other", "rounds": [ "Fund IX investment (25 June 2026)" ], "lead": true, "url": "https://www.cvc.com/", "source": "https://www.cvc.com/media/news/2026/cvc-capital-partners-invests-in-chess/", "quote": "CVC Capital Partners IX has agreed to invest in Chess.com, the world's largest online chess platform", "page": "/investors/cvc-capital-partners/" } ] }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/chess-com.json", "live": { "slug": "chess-com", "securityTxt": { "url": "https://chess.com/.well-known/security.txt", "state": "valid", "checkedAt": "2026-11-04T15:54:48.967557845Z" }, "updatedAt": "2026-11-04T15:54:48.967557845Z" } } }