Terms of Service

These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your access to and use of CipherChess — the website at cipherchess.com and the related applications and services we operate (collectively, the "Service").

By creating an account or using the Service, you agree to be bound by these Terms and by our Privacy Policy, which explains how we handle your information. If you do not agree, please do not use the Service.

You must be at least 13 years old (or the minimum age required in your country to use online services without parental consent) to create an account.

CipherChess is a chess analysis platform that helps you import, study, and improve your games. The Service is operated by:

You can reach us about anything in these Terms using the details in the Contact us section.

To use most features you need an account, which you can create with an email address and password or by signing in with Google. When you create an account, you agree to:

• provide accurate information and keep it up to date;
• keep your password confidential and not share your account with others;
• notify us promptly if you suspect unauthorised access to your account;
• be responsible for all activity that happens under your account.

You can delete your account at any time from your account settings. Deleting your account removes your personal data as described in our Privacy Policy.

CipherChess provides tools for studying chess, including game import and analysis, engine evaluation, opening exploration, repertoire building, opponent preparation, and training features. Some features are free; others require a paid subscription (see Subscriptions & billing).

We are always improving the Service, which means features may be added, changed, or removed over time. Where a change materially reduces functionality you have paid for, we will use reasonable efforts to let you know in advance.

"Your content" means the material you upload or create in the Service — for example your games, PGN files, repertoires, annotations, and study notes.

You keep ownership of your content. We claim no ownership over it. You grant us a limited, worldwide, non-exclusive licence to host, store, process, and display your content solely to operate and improve the Service for you — for example, to save your repertoire and show it back to you on your devices. This licence ends when you delete the content or your account, except where limited copies persist in routine backups for a short period.

You are responsible for your content and must have the necessary rights to upload it. Chess moves and game scores themselves are generally not protected by copyright, but annotations and commentary written by others may be — please only upload material you are entitled to use.

You can connect third-party accounts — such as Lichess, Chess.com, or Google — to import your games or sign in. When you connect an account:

• you authorise us to access the data those services make available (such as your public games and username);
• your use of those services remains governed by their own terms and privacy policies;
• you can disconnect a linked account at any time from your settings.

We are not responsible for the availability or accuracy of data provided by third-party platforms.

When using the Service, you agree not to:

• use the Service to cheat in live or online chess games, including relaying engine evaluations into games in progress on any platform;
• probe, scan, or test the vulnerability of the Service, or bypass any security or access controls;
• scrape, harvest, or bulk-download data from the Service other than your own content;
• resell, sublicense, or provide the Service to third parties as a service bureau;
• upload malicious code or content that is unlawful, infringing, or abusive;
• impersonate another person or misrepresent your affiliation with anyone;
• interfere with or disrupt the Service or the servers and networks that host it.

The Service — including its software, design, branding, logos, and databases we have compiled — is owned by us or our licensors and is protected by intellectual property laws. Except for the rights expressly granted to you in these Terms, we reserve all rights in the Service.

We grant you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to use the Service for your own, non-commercial chess study and preparation.

If you send us feedback or suggestions, you agree we may use them without restriction or obligation to you.

Some features require a paid subscription. Where subscriptions are offered:

• Pricing. Prices, billing periods, and included features are shown at the point of purchase.
• Renewal. Subscriptions renew automatically at the end of each billing period unless you cancel beforehand.
• Cancellation. You can cancel at any time from your account settings; you keep access to paid features until the end of the current billing period.
• Refunds. Except where required by law, payments are non-refundable. If you believe you were charged in error, contact us and we will review it.
• Changes. We may change subscription prices with reasonable advance notice; changes apply from your next billing period.

Payments may be processed by third-party payment providers, and their terms apply to the payment transaction itself.

The Service may link to or interoperate with services we do not control, such as Lichess, Chess.com, and Google. We do not endorse and are not responsible for third-party services, their content, or their practices. Your use of them is at your own risk and subject to their terms.

We work hard to keep CipherChess fast, accurate, and available, but the Service is provided "as is" and "as available". To the maximum extent permitted by law, we disclaim all warranties, express or implied, including fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, and any warranty that the Service will be uninterrupted, error-free, or that engine evaluations, opening statistics, or preparation insights will be accurate or lead to particular results over the board.

Nothing in these Terms excludes rights that consumer protection law grants you and that cannot be excluded by contract.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, we will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for lost profits, data, or goodwill, arising out of or relating to your use of the Service.

To the same extent, our total liability for all claims relating to the Service is limited to the greater of (a) the amount you paid us in the twelve months before the claim arose, or (b) USD 50.

You may stop using the Service and delete your account at any time. We may suspend or terminate your access if you materially breach these Terms — for example, by violating the acceptable use rules — or if we are required to do so by law. Where practical, we will give you notice and an opportunity to export your content first.

Sections that by their nature should survive termination (such as intellectual property, disclaimers, and limitation of liability) survive.

We may update these Terms from time to time. If a change is material, we will give you reasonable advance notice — for example by email or an in-app notice — before it takes effect. Your continued use of the Service after the effective date means you accept the updated Terms. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page shows when the Terms were last revised.

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of South Africa, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. If you use the Service as a consumer in a country whose law gives you mandatory protections, those protections are not affected by this clause.

For any question about these Terms, please reach out: