These terms cover how you can use ChessSmith, what each tier includes, how billing and cancellation work, public sharing of repertoires, and what happens to your data if you leave. Australian and EU consumer rights apply regardless of anything in these terms. See Section 19 for Australian Consumer Law and chesssmith.com/privacy for everything about your data.
By creating a ChessSmith account or using the ChessSmith service (the "Service"), you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service ("Terms"). If you do not agree, do not create an account or use the Service.
These Terms form a legally binding agreement between you and Nathan Belton, trading as ChessSmith ("ChessSmith", "we", "us"), a sole trader registered in Victoria, Australia (ABN 42 817 706 877).
ChessSmith is a chess opening repertoire training application. It allows you to build a personalised opening repertoire, import your games from Lichess and Chess.com (Chess.com API status pending) or via PGN file, detect where your preparation breaks down in real games, and drill weak positions using FSRS-5 spaced repetition. Engine analysis and AI-generated position explanations are available to Pro subscribers. Public sharing of repertoires is available to all users.
The Service relies on third-party tools and external APIs — including the Lichess API, Chessground, and chess.js — that are maintained independently of ChessSmith. We make no guarantee of their continued availability and are not liable for any interruption or loss of functionality caused by changes to or discontinuation of these third-party services.
The Service is available through chesssmith.com. Native mobile applications on iOS and Android are planned; this policy will be updated when they launch. We reserve the right to modify, suspend, or discontinue any part of the Service at any time, with reasonable notice where practicable.
To use ChessSmith you must create an account with a valid email address, or sign in via Google OAuth. When you use Google sign-in, Google provides ChessSmith with your email address, display name, and account ID. We do not receive your Google password and your ChessSmith account activity is not visible to Google.
You are responsible for keeping your credentials confidential and for all activity under your account. One person may hold one account — sharing accounts or creating multiple accounts to circumvent tier limits is not permitted. Notify us immediately at support@chesssmith.com if you suspect unauthorised access.
You must be at least 16 years old to use ChessSmith. By registering, you confirm this. If we discover an account belongs to someone under 16, we will permanently delete it and all associated data without notice.
Subject to these Terms, ChessSmith grants you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to use the Service for personal, non-commercial purposes only. This licence does not include any right to sublicense, sell, or commercially exploit the Service; to reverse engineer or decompile any part of it; or to use it to build a competing product.
| Feature | Free | Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Repertoires | 1 | Unlimited |
| Moves per repertoire | Up to 50 | Unlimited |
| FSRS-5 training | 10 cards/day | Unlimited |
| Coverage tracking & gap list | ✓ | ✓ |
| Lichess position statistics | ✓ | ✓ |
| ECO opening names | ✓ | ✓ |
| PGN export | ✓ | ✓ |
| Public repertoire sharing | ✓ | ✓ |
| Price | $0 forever | $6.99/mo or $59.99/yr |
We may modify tier features with 30 days' notice. Changes that materially reduce the features of your active plan will be notified by email.
If your Pro subscription ends, repertoires beyond the one Free-tier allowance are soft-locked — placed in read-only mode, not deleted. Resubscribing immediately restores full access. Training history and game history are preserved throughout any soft-lock period.
ChessSmith allows you to publish your opening repertoires as publicly accessible shared links. By publishing a repertoire, you grant ChessSmith and any person who accesses the shared link a non-exclusive, royalty-free right to view the repertoire, including its move tree and any annotations you have added.
A shared repertoire exposes the following publicly: the move tree and all its branches, any text annotations you have added to individual moves, opening names (ECO), and your ChessSmith username. Your email address and personal training data (FSRS state, review history, game import data) are never included in shared repertoires.
You are solely responsible for the content of any repertoire you publish. You must not publish repertoires that contain annotations copied from copyrighted books, courses, or other materials you do not have the right to reproduce. Chess moves and opening lines are factual and are not subject to copyright — only text annotations may carry copyright obligations.
When you use the "Copy to my repertoire" function on a shared repertoire, you create a private copy in your own account. You become responsible for the content of your copy from the moment you adopt it.
You may remove the public link to a shared repertoire at any time from your repertoire settings. ChessSmith may remove shared content without notice if it violates these Terms, infringes third-party rights, or is the subject of a valid DMCA takedown notice.
New accounts include a 14-day free trial of Pro features. No credit card or payment method is required to start the trial. At the end of the 14-day period, your account automatically reverts to the Free tier. No charge is ever made without your explicit action to subscribe.
Pro subscriptions are billed at $6.99 USD/month or $59.99 USD/year. Subscriptions auto-renew at the end of each billing period until cancelled. Annual subscribers receive a renewal reminder email at least 7 days before renewal.
ChessSmith offers a one-time lifetime access purchase at $149 USD ("Lifetime Access"). Lifetime Access grants you access to all current and future Pro features for as long as ChessSmith remains operational as a product.
"Lifetime" means the operational lifetime of ChessSmith as a product, not an unconditional perpetual guarantee. ChessSmith makes no promise that the Service will remain available indefinitely.
The Service depends on third-party tools and APIs — including but not limited to the Lichess API, Chessground, and chess.js — that are open-source or externally maintained and outside ChessSmith's control. If a critical third-party dependency becomes unavailable, ChessSmith will make reasonable efforts to find an alternative within a reasonable timeframe. However, ChessSmith makes no guarantee that a replacement will be found or that all features will remain functional.
Lifetime Access purchases are non-refundable. By purchasing Lifetime Access, you acknowledge and accept that: (a) the Service depends on third-party components outside ChessSmith's control; (b) the Service may be modified, reduced in features, or discontinued in the future; and (c) no refund will be issued in any of those circumstances. Nothing in this clause excludes your rights under the Australian Consumer Law where those rights cannot lawfully be excluded.
Cancel at any time from Settings → Subscription. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period — Pro access continues until then. Unused subscription periods are not refunded, subject to your rights under applicable consumer law (see Section 19).
If a payment fails, we will notify you by email. Stripe may reattempt the charge automatically for up to 30 days from the failed payment date. If payment cannot be collected within this period, your account reverts to the Free tier and repertoires beyond the Free limit are soft-locked (not deleted) until resolved.
Beta testers receive Pro access without charge for the duration of the beta period. Beta access may be revoked at any time. Beta testers may be asked to provide feedback — participation is voluntary. Beta features may change or be removed without notice. Data created during beta is preserved into the general release unless we notify you otherwise.
You retain all rights to content you create in ChessSmith — your repertoires, annotations, and game data. By using the Service, you grant ChessSmith a limited licence to store, display, and process your content solely to provide the Service. We do not claim ownership of your content and do not use it to train machine learning models.
You are responsible for ensuring that content you create or import does not infringe third-party intellectual property rights. ChessSmith is not liable for user-generated content.
You must not use ChessSmith to: violate any applicable law or regulation; infringe third-party intellectual property rights; transmit harmful, offensive, or abusive content; attempt to gain unauthorised access to any system or account; interfere with or disrupt the Service; scrape, crawl, or systematically download data without permission; use the Service for any commercial purpose without our written consent; or attempt to reverse engineer any part of the Service.
ChessSmith and its original content, design, and software are owned by or licensed to ChessSmith and protected by Australian and international intellectual property laws. Open-source components used in the Service retain their original licences — see chesssmith.com/legal for full attribution.
Chess moves, opening names, and ECO classifications are facts and are not subject to copyright. You may freely use and discuss opening theory without restriction.
Our Privacy Policy at chesssmith.com/privacy explains how we collect, use, and protect your personal data. By using ChessSmith, you agree to our Privacy Policy.
You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless ChessSmith and its officers, employees, and agents from any claims, damages, losses, liabilities, costs, and expenses (including legal fees) arising from: your use of the Service; your violation of these Terms; your violation of any third-party rights; or any content you submit or make available through the Service.
ChessSmith respects intellectual property rights and will respond to valid notices of copyright infringement. To submit a DMCA notice, contact support@chesssmith.com with: your contact details; identification of the copyrighted work; the URL of the infringing content; a good-faith statement; a statement of accuracy under penalty of perjury; and your signature.
Chess moves and opening sequences are not copyrightable. Only original written annotations may be subject to copyright claims. Notices targeting move sequences alone will not be acted upon.
Repeat infringers — users who receive two or more valid, uncontested DMCA notices — will have their accounts terminated.
Delete your account at any time from Settings → Data. Deletion triggers a 30-day soft-delete window — your account is deactivated but data is retained and recoverable by logging back in. After 30 days, all personal data is permanently and irreversibly deleted in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
When your account is deleted, all shared repertoire links you have published are deactivated. Users who have previously adopted a copy of your shared repertoire retain their personal copy, which is independent of your account.
We may suspend or terminate your account for a material breach of these Terms, a legal requirement, risk to the Service or other users, or conduct that constitutes fraud or abuse. Where practicable we will give notice before termination. For serious violations — including fraud, security attacks, and repeated copyright infringement — we may terminate without notice.
Termination does not affect any accrued rights or liabilities. Sections 10, 12, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, and 20 survive termination of these Terms.
The Service is provided "AS IS," "AS AVAILABLE," and "WITH ALL FAULTS" without warranty of any kind. To the fullest extent permitted by law, ChessSmith expressly disclaims all warranties including: implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, and non-infringement; any warranty that the Service will be uninterrupted or error-free; any warranty that engine analysis, opening statistics, or AI-generated explanations will be accurate; and any warranty regarding improvement in your chess rating.
Nothing in this section excludes rights that cannot be excluded under the Australian Consumer Law. See Section 19.
To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, ChessSmith's total liability to you for any and all claims is limited to the greater of (a) the amount you paid to ChessSmith in the 12 months immediately preceding the event giving rise to the claim, or (b) AUD $50.
ChessSmith is not liable for any indirect, incidental, consequential, special, exemplary, or punitive damages, including but not limited to: loss of data, loss of revenue or profits, loss of opportunity, or reputational harm — even if ChessSmith has been advised of the possibility of such damages.
Any claim arising from these Terms or your use of the Service must be brought within one year of the date the cause of action arose. This limitation does not apply to claims under the Australian Consumer Law that cannot be limited by contract.
ChessSmith operates from Australia and is subject to the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth). Under the ACL, you may be entitled to consumer guarantees that cannot be excluded by contract. Nothing in these Terms purports to exclude, restrict, or modify those guarantees.
Where the ACL applies, ChessSmith's liability for a failure to comply with a consumer guarantee is limited to: (a) resupplying the Service; or (b) paying the cost of having the Service resupplied — except where it would not be fair or reasonable to limit liability in that way.
These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy at /privacy and the Open Source Licences at /legal, constitute the entire agreement between you and ChessSmith with respect to the Service and supersede all prior agreements, representations, and understandings.
If any provision of these Terms is found to be unenforceable or invalid, that provision will be limited to the minimum extent necessary, and the remaining provisions will continue in full force and effect.
ChessSmith's failure to enforce any right or provision on any occasion will not constitute a waiver of that right on any future occasion. All waivers must be in writing to be effective.
ChessSmith may assign, transfer, or sub-contract its rights and obligations to any successor entity, including in connection with a sale, merger, or restructuring, without your consent, provided that the successor assumes all of ChessSmith's obligations under these Terms. You may not assign or transfer your account without our prior written consent.
ChessSmith is not liable for any delay or failure to perform its obligations where such delay or failure results from circumstances beyond its reasonable control, including natural disasters, acts of government, internet or infrastructure outages, cyberattacks, or failures of third-party providers including open-source dependencies.
We may update these Terms from time to time. For material changes — including changes to pricing, tier features, liability limits, or dispute resolution — we will give you at least 30 days' notice by email before the change takes effect. Your continued use after the notice period constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.
If you do not agree to updated Terms, you must stop using the Service before the effective date. Terminating your account under such circumstances entitles you to a pro-rated refund of any prepaid subscription fees for the remaining unused period.
These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Victoria, Australia. Disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Victoria, including the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) for consumer disputes within VCAT's jurisdiction.
Before initiating any formal proceedings, you agree to contact us at support@chesssmith.com and allow us at least 30 days to resolve the dispute informally.
EU consumers retain rights under their own applicable consumer protection laws, including access to the European Commission's Online Dispute Resolution platform at ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr.
Email: support@chesssmith.com
Email: support@chesssmith.com
Email: support@chesssmith.com