Terms of Service

If the appeal process does not resolve your problem, you agree to arbitration instead of going to court, and Lichess alone decides where it takes place. That can mean travelling far or paying costs that make a small claim not worth pursuing.

“If we're unable to informally come to a solution, you agree we will go through arbitration at a place of our choosing.”

What you can do — Put any complaint in writing early — start at lichess.org/appeal, then use the contact page — and keep copies, since written notice is required before Lichess will act on a dispute.

Lichess can suspend or close your account at any time, for any reason or none, without warning, and without ever telling you what you supposedly did. It can also put a public mark on your account saying you broke the rules, and ban your IP address or device. You can appeal, but Lichess says its word is final and it has no duty to show you its evidence.

“for any reason without warning, and without having to substantiate, clarify or otherwise provide evidence of your breach of these Terms”

What you can do — If you are marked or banned, file an appeal at lichess.org/appeal well within six months — after that Lichess may refuse to look at it.

You agree to defend Lichess and pay its costs and lawyer fees for third-party claims tied to your use of the site or what you post. This also covers anything done by someone else who gets into your account — including when you never gave them permission — and covers whatever action Lichess takes against your account if it suspects a break-in.

“You agree to indemnify us of any consequences from someone else accessing your account, or of any costs, expenses, claims or damages which arise in connection with a third party using your account.”

What you can do — Turn on two-factor authentication and never share your password, since you are on the hook for everything done through your account.

The site and services come 'as is' with no guarantees. Lichess says it is not responsible if your data is lost or corrupted, if someone gains unauthorised access to your information, if another user misuses your posts, or if the site is down. Local consumer law may override parts of this.

“You bear the entire risk as to using the website and services for your purposes and as to the quality and performance of the website and services”

What you can do — Keep your own copies of games, studies or blog posts you care about rather than relying on Lichess as your only store.

Anything you submit — games, annotations, blog posts, images — can be used, changed, published and passed on to other companies by Lichess, worldwide, for free, in any format now or invented later, without asking you or crediting you. You stay the owner, and content covered by a separate license (like code contributions) is excluded.

“You agree we can use, copy, reproduce, publish, modify, and distribute such content in any and all current and future distribution methods and media.”

What you can do — Only post content you are comfortable seeing reused or shared beyond Lichess.

The agreement is governed by French law and Lichess treats its services as provided from France. If you live elsewhere, pursuing a claim likely means dealing with a foreign legal system, and Lichess makes no promise the service is even appropriate in your country.

“As a French registered charitable organisation, our website and services are provided from our registered address in France.”

Lichess can update these terms whenever it wants. It updates the 'last modified' date and says it will announce big changes, but there is no set notice period and no way to keep the old terms — carrying on using the site means you accepted the new ones.

“From time to time, we may need to make changes to these Terms. We will edit the "last modified" date when we do, and if you continue using our website and/or services after that, we will take that to mean you have accepted the changes to our contract.”

Fair play and community rules cover cheating, boosting, sandbagging, speedruns, extra accounts, chat behaviour and more, and Lichess alone decides what breaks them. Penalties range from rate limits and chat bans to closing every linked account and banning your IP or device. Lichess may also ask for ID if it thinks you are impersonating someone.

“We reserve the right to take action beyond the examples of bad sportsmanship provided here, and to have sole discretion in determining what constitutes bad sportsmanship.”

What you can do — Read the fair play grid at lichess.org/page/fair-play before streaming, sharing an account, or opening a second account.

Money you donate is treated as a gift you give up any claim to, and it buys no extra features. Refunds are discretionary, though Lichess says it will generally refund an obvious mistake or double charge if you contact it within 14 days.

“Although refunds are at our discretion, if it's clear you made a mistake or were double charged (rather than donating and then violating these Terms) we will generally give you a refund if you contact us within 14 days of the donation.”

What you can do — If you donate the wrong amount or get charged twice, contact Lichess within 14 days.