lichess • Free Online Chess

Why Lichess Feels Like a Chess Utopia:

Lichess stands apart through its unwavering commitment to being 100% free and open source, funded entirely by donations from its passionate user community. Unlike other platforms that restrict features behind paywalls or bombard users with advertisements, Lichess offers every feature to every user without exception. The interface is clean, intuitive, and highly customizable, making it equally welcoming to complete beginners and grandmasters alike. It's like walking into the world's most ideal chess club—one that's always open, completely free, filled with players of all skill levels, and stocked with every learning resource and playing format you could possibly imagine, all maintained by a community that genuinely believes in the mission of making chess accessible to all.

Features That Make Chess Accessible and Enjoyable:

Completely Free Access: Enjoy every feature Lichess offers without any subscription fees, advertisements, or hidden costs—now or in the future.

Powerful Game Analysis: Get instant computer analysis of your games using Stockfish, with detailed explanations of mistakes and missed opportunities.

Comprehensive Learning Tools: Access unlimited puzzles, interactive lessons, and practice scenarios covering everything from basic checkmates to advanced strategic concepts.

Multiple Game Variants: Play standard chess plus exciting variants like Chess960, Atomic, Crazyhouse, and King of the Hill for endless variety.

Tournament System: Join regularly scheduled tournaments for all rating levels, from beginner-friendly events to competitive arenas.

Real-Time and Correspondence Play: Choose from bullet, blitz, rapid, classical, or correspondence games to match your preferred time format.

Mobile-Optimized Experience: Enjoy seamless gameplay across devices with responsive design that works perfectly on smartphones, tablets, and computers.

How to Begin Your Lichess Journey:

Click "Check All Versions" below to download and install Lichess on your device or browser.

Create your free account in seconds—no email verification required to start playing immediately.

Set your preferred time controls and challenge opponents matched to your skill level.

Explore the learning section with puzzles and lessons to strengthen your chess understanding.

Analyze your completed games to identify patterns in your play and areas for improvement.

Join tournaments and community events to test your skills against diverse opponents.

Where Community and Chess Excellence Meet:

Lichess represents something rare in today's digital landscape—a platform built not for profit, but for passion. The project demonstrates how a community-driven, open-source approach can create a product that rivals and often surpasses commercially developed alternatives. What makes Lichess truly special isn't just the quality of its features, but the philosophy behind them: that chess, as one of humanity's great intellectual traditions, should be available to anyone with an internet connection, regardless of their financial circumstances. Whether you're learning the moves for the first time, returning to chess after years away, or competing at an advanced level, Lichess provides the perfect environment to enjoy, study, and love the game. The board is set, the pieces are waiting, and your global chess community is ready to welcome you—all completely free, now and forever.

In the world of online chess, players often face a difficult choice between platforms that are either too simplistic for serious improvement or too expensive for casual enjoyment. Between subscription fees, limited features for free users, and communities that can feel intimidating to newcomers, finding the right chess platform can feel like solving a complex endgame puzzle. What if you could access a completely free, open-source chess platform that offers everything from casual games to tournament competition, learning tools to advanced analysis—all without ever seeing an advertisement or payment prompt? Welcome to Lichess, the revolutionary free online chess server that has redefined what a chess platform can be. More than just another chess website, Lichess represents a philosophy that chess knowledge should be freely accessible to everyone, everywhere, creating a vibrant global community united by their love of the game.

Why Lichess Feels Like a Chess Utopia:

Features That Make Chess Accessible and Enjoyable:

Completely Free Access: Enjoy every feature Lichess offers without any subscription fees, advertisements, or hidden costs—now or in the future.
Powerful Game Analysis: Get instant computer analysis of your games using Stockfish, with detailed explanations of mistakes and missed opportunities.
Comprehensive Learning Tools: Access unlimited puzzles, interactive lessons, and practice scenarios covering everything from basic checkmates to advanced strategic concepts.
Multiple Game Variants: Play standard chess plus exciting variants like Chess960, Atomic, Crazyhouse, and King of the Hill for endless variety.
Tournament System: Join regularly scheduled tournaments for all rating levels, from beginner-friendly events to competitive arenas.
Real-Time and Correspondence Play: Choose from bullet, blitz, rapid, classical, or correspondence games to match your preferred time format.
Mobile-Optimized Experience: Enjoy seamless gameplay across devices with responsive design that works perfectly on smartphones, tablets, and computers.

How to Begin Your Lichess Journey:

Click "Check All Versions" below to download and install Lichess on your device or browser.
Create your free account in seconds—no email verification required to start playing immediately.
Set your preferred time controls and challenge opponents matched to your skill level.
Explore the learning section with puzzles and lessons to strengthen your chess understanding.
Analyze your completed games to identify patterns in your play and areas for improvement.
Join tournaments and community events to test your skills against diverse opponents.