Since 2007, ChessMoon has followed one simple idea: chess should be free, friendly and built by the people who play it. There are no ads and nothing to install. Press Play Now and you are matched with an opponent at your time control and rating, even as a guest.
Big platforms, a different philosophy
Lichess and Chess.com have done a great deal for online chess. Lichess showed that a site can be fast, free and community-funded. Chess.com turned chess into a polished global product. We respect both. ChessMoon aims to be something different: a chess club online, not just a place to find an opponent. Here, teams play real league matches, players write the puzzles, and people know your name.
What makes ChessMoon different
Real team leagues, board by board
Teams have their own ratings and compete in a league every season. A new team starts in League World and climbs towards League A by winning matches. The captain names a player for each board, and the teams meet board 1 against board 1, board 2 against board 2, with colours alternating and 2 to 20 boards per match. This is the traditional over-the-board club league format. Most online sites can’t run it without spreadsheets and outside organizers; on ChessMoon it is built in, with league tables, team ratings and a wall for every team.
Puzzles written by players
On most big sites, puzzles are mined automatically from game databases by engine scripts, with no review. On ChessMoon, players write them. You submit the position and the solution, the puzzle team checks and corrects it, and only then does it join the shared pool. Every puzzle can be voted up or down and reported if something is wrong. Solve them in Classic mode, chase a Streak, race the three-minute Storm, or try the Daily Puzzle that everyone gets.
A social home, not just a game list
Share games, images and videos on your wall, like and reply to other players’ posts, add friends with one click and keep in touch through built-in messaging. The new Players Map shows where ChessMoon players are, with each pin covering an area of about 5 km, never an exact address.
Premium you can earn
Playing is always free. Active players collect Site Credits by visiting, making friends and being voted up, and 2,000 credits unlock a free month of premium. Strong players earn premium and medals such as Merit, Success and Honour, and GMs, IMs and FMs get premium for free.
New on ChessMoon
Self-Analysis with Stockfish 19
Analyse your finished games with Stockfish 19, running right in your browser. The engine shows several lines at once, each with its own arrow. Create an Analysis Report at the depth you choose and every inaccuracy, mistake and blunder is marked, along with each player’s accuracy. The report is saved with the game.
A renewed lesson library and videos
Lessons walk you through a topic step by step, with the instructor’s comments beside the board. Filter by level, language and topic, play practice positions against the engine, and work through complete courses such as Capablanca’s Chess Fundamentals. The new video library gathers instructional chess videos you can filter by topic, level and language.
Live Broadcasts
Follow top over-the-board tournaments live, with every board of a round on one page and results as they come in. Broadcasts are open to guests too.
And more
- Zen Mode hides everything except the board and the clocks.
- Opening Explorer shows which moves were played from any position, across all games or one player’s games.
- Light and dark themes, and Sign in with Google in one click.
Everything you’d expect
- Standard chess plus Crazyhouse, Three-Check, Chess960 and thematic openings
- Arena, thematic and rating-range tournaments with Round-robin or Swiss pairings, each with standings, a crosstable and a PGN archive
- Five Elo ratings per player: Blitz, Standard, Wild, Puzzle and Monthly Performance
- Correspondence games with a vacation system and optional two clocks (one for the game, one per move)
- Premoves in blitz, a board editor with FEN export, and a full game archive you can download as PGN
Come play with us
Guests can play, solve puzzles, take open lessons and follow broadcasts right away. A free account unlocks tournaments, teams, videos and your game archive. If you want a place where your team plays real league matches, where the puzzles are made by players, and where people know your name, ChessMoon is for you.