Terms of use

Last updated: 31 October 2026

This English translation is provided for information only; in case of discrepancy, the French version prevails.

Purpose

These terms govern the use of CocoChess (https://cocochess.com/), an online chess game published by SILADEL. They apply to any use of the website, with or without an account. Information about the publisher is given in the legal notice.

CocoChess is under development (beta version): features may be added, changed or removed.

The service

Without an account, you can:

• play against eight bots of different levels, directly in your browser;
• watch online games live and replay them move by move;
• play online as a guest, by looking for an opponent, player or bot: a guest account (“Invité” followed by a number) is created automatically, without an email address. Its games are not rated; a guest can challenge the bots, but cannot start an open game, challenge another player, offer a rematch, send emojis or analyze games, and has neither statistics nor social features. Guests are shown to other players with the “guest” tag. After 30 days of inactivity, a guest account is deleted with its games; games played against a member stay in that member's history, with the guest replaced by “Invité supprimé” (deleted guest).

With an account, you can also:

• play online against other players: opponent search, open games, challenges and rematches, at different time controls (bullet, blitz, rapid, classical or no clock);
• get an Elo rating for each time control and view your statistics; a game between a player and a bot is not rated;
• customise your profile (username, avatar, country, badge) and the look of the board;
• add friends, exchange private messages and block a player;
• link your Lichess account to display your Lichess ratings;
• sign in with your Google account.

Computer-simulated players (bots) also take part in the online lobby. They are shown with the “bot” tag, and their games against a player are not rated.

Free of charge

Access to CocoChess is free: the website currently offers no payment, no subscription and no advertising. Should this change, these terms would be amended beforehand. Being free does not remove any of the rights and obligations described here.

Your account

To create an account, you give your first name, last name, email address and a password, then confirm your address with the link received by email. You can then choose a username; without one, other players see your first name followed by the initial of your last name.

You can also create your account, or sign in, with your Google account: Google then sends us your first name, last name and email address, already verified by Google; if any are missing, you fill them in. An account created this way has no password: you sign in with Google, or with a code received by email. If your address already belongs to a CocoChess account, the two accounts are never merged automatically: sign in to your account first, then link Google to it from your profile.

• The information provided must be accurate. An account is personal: it must not be shared, transferred or used on behalf of another person.
• You are responsible for keeping your password and the sign-in codes received by email confidential. If you think someone else has accessed your account, change your password, sign out the other sessions from your profile and let us know.
• You can change your profile, email address, password and privacy settings at any time from the “Profile” window.
• Linking a Lichess account is optional and can be removed from your profile.
• Linking a Google account is optional and can be removed from your profile.

You can ask for your account to be deleted at any time by writing to [email protected] from your account's email address: the game does not yet offer a delete button. In our reply, we tell you which data has been deleted and which must be kept, for example games that also appear in your opponents' history, and why it is kept.

Code of conduct

The game relies on fair play and respect between players. It is forbidden:

• to cheat, in particular to get help from a chess engine, software or another person during an online game; training against the website's bots or studying a finished game remains allowed;
• to manipulate ratings: arranged games, deliberate losses, multiple accounts;
• to harass, threaten or insult a player, or to make hateful, discriminatory or illegal remarks, in messages as well as in a username or avatar;
• to impersonate another person;
• to send spam or advertising messages;
• to use automated programs to play or to query the website abusively;
• to attempt unauthorised access to other players' accounts or to the servers, or to disrupt the service;
• to publish an avatar for which you do not hold the necessary rights, or whose content is offensive or illegal.

The server checks the validity of every move and the clock; it has no automatic cheat detection system.

Reports and sanctions

You can block a player from their profile card: they can no longer message you, send you a friend request or challenge you. To report behaviour, use the “Help & support” form (subject “Report”) or write to [email protected].

Reports are reviewed by the CocoChess team, with no guaranteed availability. Depending on the seriousness and repetition of the facts, SILADEL may issue a warning, suspend an account temporarily or close it. The player concerned is informed of the measure and its reason, and may contest it by writing to [email protected].

Service availability

CocoChess is provided as it exists during its development. The service may be interrupted for maintenance or an update, or following a failure, a network problem or an incident at a service provider. A game in progress may then be interrupted. The database is backed up every day, but permanent availability of the service and the absence of any data loss cannot be guaranteed.

SILADEL is liable for damage attributable to it under the conditions provided by law. The website is not responsible for the availability of third-party services, such as Lichess or Google.

Intellectual property

The CocoChess software is free software; its terms and those of third-party components are described in the legal notice. You keep your rights to the content you publish (uploaded avatar, messages) and allow it to be shown to other players as part of the service, for as long as it is online.

Personal data

How your data is processed is described in the privacy policy.

Changes to these terms

The date of the last update is shown at the top of this page. The applicable terms are those published on this page at the time the service is used.

Applicable law

These terms are governed by French law. In case of difficulty, first write to us at [email protected] to seek an amicable solution. Failing that, the dispute falls within the jurisdiction of the competent courts under the ordinary rules of law.