♞ CHESS MAZE
← Back to the game

Terms, Privacy & Cookies

Last updated: 2 August 2026

📜Terms of Service

These Terms govern your use of ChessMaze (the “Game”), available at chessmaze.net. By playing, you agree to them. If you do not agree, please do not use the Game.

1. Who we are

ChessMaze (“we”, “us”, “our”) operates the Game at chessmaze.net. You can reach us at contact@chessmaze.net.

2. Eligibility

The Game is intended for players aged 16 and over. You may play as a guest with no account. To create an account you must be at least 16 and provide accurate registration details.

3. Your account

You are responsible for keeping your password secure and for all activity under your account. Tell us promptly if you suspect unauthorised use. We may suspend or close accounts that violate these Terms. You may close your account at any time by emailing us; some records may be retained afterward as described in the Privacy Policy or as required by law.

4. Acceptable use

When using ChessMaze, you agree not to:

5. Leaderboards, challenges & fair play

Scores are verified with automated anti-cheat checks. We may, at our discretion, adjust, reset, or remove any score, ranking, or run we determine to be implausible, automated, or obtained in violation of these Terms — and we may restrict repeat offenders. Rankings are provided for entertainment and carry no monetary value.

6. Intellectual property & player-created content

ChessMaze — including its code, artwork, audio, and branding — is owned by us and protected by intellectual-property laws. Being able to play the Game does not transfer any ownership to you.

ChessMaze also lets you create and publish maps and other content. You keep ownership of what you create. By publishing it in the Game, you grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to host, store, display, reproduce, and distribute that content within ChessMaze and its promotion. You confirm you have the rights to the content you publish. We may remove or refuse content that violates these Terms, and we are not responsible for content created by other players.

Copyright complaints. If you believe content in the Game infringes your copyright, email contact@chessmaze.net with: your contact details; identification of the copyrighted work; the location (URL or map name) of the material; a statement that you have a good-faith belief the use is unauthorised; a statement, under penalty of perjury, that your notice is accurate and that you are authorised to act; and your signature. We remove infringing material promptly and may disable repeat infringers.

7. Virtual items & purchases

The Game is currently free to play. If we introduce optional purchases (for example cosmetic items), those purchases will be handled by a third-party payment provider acting as merchant of record, will be governed by additional purchase and refund terms shown at checkout, and will not affect competitive scoring.

8. Availability, changes & general terms

We may modify, suspend, or discontinue any part of the Game at any time, and we may update these Terms. Material changes will be reflected by the “Last updated” date above; continued play after a change means you accept it.

If any provision of these Terms is found unenforceable, the remaining provisions stay in effect. These Terms are the entire agreement between you and us regarding the Game and supersede any prior understandings. Our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver of it. You may not assign these Terms; we may assign them to a successor. The Game may link to or rely on third-party services (such as our payment, analytics, and advertising providers), and your use of those services is governed by their own terms and policies.

9. Disclaimers

The Game is provided “as is” and “as available”, without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, to the fullest extent permitted by law. We do not warrant that the Game will be uninterrupted, error-free, or secure.

10. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, we will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for any loss of data, profits, or goodwill, arising from your use of the Game. Nothing in these Terms limits liability that cannot be limited under applicable law.

11. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of South Carolina, United States, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules, and any disputes will be subject to the courts located in South Carolina, unless mandatory local consumer law provides otherwise.

12. Contact

Questions about these Terms? Email contact@chessmaze.net.

🔒Privacy Policy

This policy explains what we collect, why, and your choices. We aim to collect as little as we reasonably can to run and improve the Game.

1. Information you give us

2. Information collected automatically

3. How we use your information

4. Legal bases (EEA/UK)

Where the GDPR applies, we rely on: performance of a contract (running your account and the Game), legitimate interests (security, anti-cheat, and product improvement, balanced against your rights), consent (for analytics and session-replay cookies, where required), and legal obligation where applicable.

5. Sharing

We do not sell your personal information. We share it only with service providers who help us run the Game, under contract and only as needed:

ProviderPurposeRegion
Google Analytics (Google)Aggregate usage analyticsUnited States
PostHogProduct analytics & session replayUnited States
Google AdSense (Google)Advertising delivery & measurementUnited States
Hosting providerWebsite & database hostingUnited States

Public leaderboards and published maps display your chosen name and country flag to other players. We may also disclose information if required by law or to protect our rights and users.

Google advertising & analytics features. We use Google Analytics and Google AdSense, and we may enable Google Signals, which associates the data we measure with signed-in Google users to provide cross-device, demographic, and interest reporting. We do not link this data to your account identity for our own use, and we do not use sensitive categories to target ads. You can review or turn off ad personalisation in your Google Ad Settings, opt out of Google Analytics with the GA opt-out add-on, and read how Google handles data on partner sites. We honour recognised browser opt-out signals where the law requires it.

6. International transfers

Our servers and providers are located in the United States. If you access the Game from outside the U.S., your information will be processed there. Where required, transfers rely on appropriate safeguards such as the providers’ standard contractual clauses.

7. Retention

We keep account data while your account is active and for a reasonable period afterward, then delete or anonymise it. Analytics and replay data are retained per each provider’s default retention settings. You can ask us to delete your account at any time.

8. Your rights

Depending on where you live (including under the GDPR and the California CCPA/CPRA), you may have the right to access, correct, delete, or export your personal data, to object to or restrict certain processing, and to withdraw consent. To exercise any of these, email contact@chessmaze.net. You may also complain to your local data-protection authority.

9. Security

We use HTTPS in transit, hashed passwords, hashed IPs, and rate-limiting. No online service is perfectly secure, but we work to protect your data.

10. Children

ChessMaze is not directed to children under 16, and accounts require you to be at least 16. If you believe a child has given us personal data, contact us and we will delete it.

11. Changes

We may update this policy; the “Last updated” date shows the latest version. Significant changes will be highlighted in the Game where practical.

🍪Cookie Policy

ChessMaze uses a small number of cookies and similar technologies (such as browser localStorage) to run the Game, remember your settings, and understand how it is used.

Categories we use

TypeExamplesPurpose
Strictly necessaryLogin session cookie; saved preferences (audio, terrain, helper mode)Keep you signed in and remember your choices. Always on.
AnalyticsGoogle Analytics (_ga, _ga_*)Measure aggregate usage and engagement.
Product analytics & replayPostHog (ph_* in localStorage / cookies)Understand player behaviour and record sessions to find where players struggle.
AdvertisingGoogle AdSense (e.g. Google’s ad/DoubleClick cookies)Serve and measure ads and limit how often you see the same one.

Your choices

You can control or delete cookies through your browser settings; blocking some may affect how the Game works. You can opt out of Google Analytics with the Google Analytics opt-out add-on. Where required by law, we will ask for your consent before setting non-essential (analytics and replay) cookies.

Advertising

We use Google AdSense to show ads. Google and its partners may use cookies (such as Google’s advertising/DoubleClick cookie) to serve and measure ads and to limit how often you see the same ad, based in part on your visits to this and other websites. You can manage ad personalization in your Google Ad Settings, opt out of personalized ads from participating vendors at aboutads.info, and learn more from Google’s advertising policies.

✉️Contact

For any question about these Terms, the Privacy Policy, or the Cookie Policy — or to exercise your data rights — email contact@chessmaze.net.