Mastering Chess.com: A Guide to Customizing Your Game

Are you tired of playing chess on the same old board with the same pieces every time?

Chess.com offers customizability options that allow you to create your own custom chess board and design your set of chess pieces.

This article will guide you through the process step by step, including how to access these customization options, save your creations, or reset them to default.

Discover how to make your chess experience on Chess.com uniquely yours by reading on.

What is Custom in Chess.com?

Custom in Chess.com is an esports game broadcasting feature that allows broadcasters to put custom overlay widgets with content or functionality such as team scores, move logs, countdown timers, and custom boards anywhere on the broadcasting window. This puts control in the hands of the broadcaster and allows them to display the game data to the audience the way they see most optimal.

Chess.com explains that for broadcasting Custom Game analysis boards are what they call custom video feeds that are restricted to on-air talent in certain partnered groups at this time. Creators Streaming on Chess.com should contact their Chess.com rep for the Custom Game Creator documentation if they are interested in making this functionality available to their audience.

How to Access Customization Options on Chess.com?

Access customization options on Chess.com by navigating to your account’s My Profile page and then to the Customize tab. From there you will be able to find options to change your background and sound options, among other available features. Backgrounds can be changed using the Pulse, Classic, or Wwise switches. Sounds and music can be toggled on and off using the volume sliders. You can then find various other easy-to-use controls for a more advanced fine-tuning of your Chess.com experience.

How to Create a Custom Chess Board?

To create a custom chess board on Chess.com, Click `Play` in the top left and then click on `Custom`. From the column on the left, click on the screen under the `Board` section. Here you will see Custom Color. Click this to see the available custom chess board color options in the center of the screen.

In the upper right corner of the screen under `Ratings`, drag the denominators to balance `Mirror Setting` between players and click `Start Game`. The custom chessboard can be changed at any point in the game by clicking the gear icon to the lower right once a game is begun.

Choosing a Theme

To Custom in Chess.com, they offer users with varied options to both interact with the board and play the game which include settings such as the Interface, Board, Pieces, Console, and Notation. The Theme profile in board settings is primarily chosen based on preferences instead of functionality. There are certain themes that enhance the board visually but are less suited for playing a fast game, and vice versa.

For smoother, quicker gameplay, the Eclipse, Raven, Blue and Green Neo-Classic, and Omega Wood themes tend to perform better because they have less data to display than the rest of the themes. Click your username in the top right, click settings under ‘Performances’, click ‘Board’ in the ‘General’ menu, and experiment with different appearances of the Theme profile to see which you prefer.

Uploading Your Own Image

From the customized avatar upload button, Uploading Your Own Image is accomplished in two ways. Click on the ‘Weekday Folder’ icon to upload a color image, and the ‘Weekend Folder’ icon to upload black and white images. On the pop-up screen, clicking on the ‘remove your current image’ link allows you to select your image from your system, with upload time proprtional to your file size. The file must already have an aspect ratio of 1:1.

Adjusting Board Size and Color

To adjust the Chess.com board size or color, click on a piece icon in the bottom right corner. Then select Customize board in the top right of the ensuing dialogue box. Board color is adjustable by clicking on the preferred color in the three lower squares. Board size is adjustable by clicking on a white section in the Square size section on the left, and zooming in or out until the size appears as desired.

How to Create a Custom Chess Set?

Creating a custom chess set on Chess.com is accomplished by staying within the game’s pre-defined parameters and selecting whatever piece set players desire. Here is how one might go about creating a custom chess set on Chess.com.

1. Log in to your account on Chess.com.
2. Start a Live or Online game against an opponent under the Play tab of the Play zone.
3. In the Choose Time Control section of the dropdown menu, choose how you want to play.
4. Under Settings, decide on your clock time, board theme, and best of/winner requirements.
5. Under Advanced Analysis Options, opt to have the real-time computer analysis on or off.
6. Under Your Game and Presentation, choose whether to have sound effects during the game.
7. Chess.com will customize your choice between vs-style gongs and vs-style tones as your clock sound.
8. Select your desired piece set from a range of options.

Choosing a Theme

To change a theme in Chess.com so as to customize the web page, click on the user icon in the top right corner of the screen, then go to Settings and then Appearance. Here you can choose from all available themes such as Light, Dark, Blue, Green, Red, Grey Metal, and Brown Proto with their light and dark variations. Chess.com users with a Diamond Membership can alternatively enter Custom CSS in the board theme section. Go to the main themes and then depending on whether you desire for light or dark, navigate to past light or dark designs. Right-click on the designs you wish to download, click Save Link As…, and then navigate to their settings under the appearance menu in the board themes section. Click + Add Board Theme and then click on Custom design.

Uploading Your Own Images

There is no way to create completely custom images in Chess.com, but you can upload your own images for use in custom collections. Your uploaded custom images will be available alongside selected custom pieces from the Cheat collection in the game you upload them for. To upload Custom Graphics in Cheat collections, click Play in the top menu, click Computer, click new game and then upload custom images for pieces, and/or for board squares that will serve as custom backgrounds. Upload your own images by clicking the plus sign.

Adjusting Piece Size and Color

To adjust piece size and color, click the gears settings button in the app (on mobile) or the far right username and settings page, adjusting to the chess pieces menu (on web and mobile). You can then select different chess piece design sets and sizes as well as different local colorful boards under the Board Style & Colors, Piece Style & Colors, and Board Themes menus.

How to Save and Use Your Custom Board and Set?

To save a custom board or piece set made in Chess.com, click the Save & Finish button when in the Add Piece dialog. To access your saved board or piece sets, click on one of the Boards or Pieces menus from your chess base.
Change your board or piece set during a live game of chess by clicking on the Settings button in the bottom left corner adjacent to the activity feed. A menu will pop up with a list of options you can customize. The selection of pieces and board exist as one option. The check-marked item will be the current board/piece set. Select from the list for your preference and color.

Saving Your Custom Board and Set

To save your custom board and set in Chess.com’s Desktop, use steps 1-9 in Changes to Saved Boards above to start creating your board and pieces. After making your board and pieces go to the Options settings, located above the Create Custom button and load a piece and board setup from your saved ones with the chosen icon:

1. Clicking the default board and piece selection icon
2. Clicking a highlighted option from the previously saved setups

Name and click Save after receiving a valid notice. You can then proceed to use the newly saved board and piece configuration created. Verify that the saved custom board and set shows up properly in your gallery by clicking the Learn tab and selecting the Chess Basics study. The saved custom configurations load up as series 0 or 1, far to the right of the default selection series.

Accessing Your Custom Board and Set

To access your custom board and set, go to your profile as described in Section 4. Then simply press the Change button underneath your board and piece options, or customize your board/set via the Appearance settings on the right side of the bottom of your screen.

Your custom theme(es) are defined by your layout which consists of:

• Board: Up to four gridlines, serpent movement highlight, and background settings.
• Auto-calculation toggle: Toggle off if you wish to preserve previous square’s moves (checkmate and stalemate representation).
• Notation Toggle: Display or not display square coordinates in top-left of each square, and whether to display piece move history to the left of the board.
• Piece Set: Material, shape, color, turn symbol and background settings.
• Background: Static background as they are or tiled, pan, rotate or repeat infinitely.

Note Auto-calculation. Radiant and Rinder layouts do not have an Auto-calculation toggle. Instead, the Radiant layout automatically calculates and marks checkmates and stalemates with red backgrounds showing the last move of the game. Rinder shows past squares of pieces, but automatically shows green background for last square move and red background upon checkmate to make checkmates more visible.

Your appearance settings are the DEFAULT settings and importantly not saved.

How to Reset Your Custom Board and Set to Default?

You cannot upload an entirely new custom board layout but you can change your custom board by adjusting each square of one of the three allowable board backgrounds individually. chess.com supports tracking and analysis, not to mention fairly minimalist enjoyment of the game, so only limited options are provided for making square adjustments e.g. no option to change size or shape of pieces.

1. To delete individual square settings, click on DELETE THEME then move all squares together by adjusting a single pattern piece.
2. Click on SAVE THEME AS and set name to ‘Default’ then delete the old theme.
3. If you want every color and piece settings to be default, click on the Color button on the left to the right of the board and select Restore Default Colors. To change color manually, use the Invert Board option that you accessed the color picker from to select any other colors from the available cat af checkboxes.

What Other Customization Options are Available on Chess.com?

Many customization options are available for where you play Chess.com’s games and puzzles, how you run Chess.com’s learning tools, and on mobile devices. These include the following:

• Chess.com Learning:
  • Learning Theme
  • Theme of winning a lesson
  • Sound effects
• Chess.com Play:
  • Board and piece styles
  • Backgrounds and takebacks
• Chess.com Mobile:
  • Home screen options
  • Quick actions (light mode/dark mode)

Changing Background and Sound Settings

To change the background or sound settings, click on Settings. This brings up a menu where you can uncheck Chess for a variety of sounds you hear during play. These include pause sounds, move, challenge, foe, draw, loss, win, turn, chat, evaluation, error, forfeit, and end of game sounds.

The most appreciated customization on the Chess.com website is the ability to move the board squares or render them transparent. Chess board square settings on Chess.com can be adjusted by clicking Settings, and then in the Board Theme selection, either selecting Non-stretchy board or decreasing the square opacity by un-clicking the Transparent squares button. By selecting the non-stretchy board, square dimension changes depending on the screen size will no longer occur. The transparent squares feature can also make the chess board bow a 3-dimensional appearance. With minimal focus on the board square division and focussing almost exclusively on central pieces, this gives a relaxing vintage vibe similar to the `Holzschach` set extensively used in the 19th century.

Choosing a Different Chess Piece Style

To customize chess pieces, choose a different chess piece style from the BOARD & PIECES dropdown menu in settings. Material Traditional, Material 2D Flat, and Geometry Style are three visual reference themes set up for near-white or very light squares and nearly black or dark pieces. Depending on the mood of the user and compatibility with the palette of either the merge or the customizable board theme itself, any of these may be chosen by selecting them in the visual reference dropdown for BOARD & PIECES.

Setting Up Custom Game Rules

Now that we are in a custom game and know how to manage pieces and set the board, let us look at piece drop rules for custom variants in Chess.com. Piece drop rules is the name given to the system for introducing new teams to the game. In variant games on Chess.com, pieces can be set to drop automatically or manually. The figure below depicts a game called All Pawns Plus where a pawn is promotion to a piece on delivery to the eighth row. The gifted piece can be either pre-selected or pres-equipped and activated on a turn where a regular pawn could not normally move to the attacking square.

When the pieces are set to drop automatically in Chess.com’s variant games, they can ‘pres-equip’ and ‘pre-drop’ pieces according to rules set by the game. On Chess.com, you can choose whether pieces drop to the board after capture, to start with and adjust piece drop options at any time. To manually start a custom game in Chess.com with piece-drop rules, the DROP PIECE button is clicked. White’s pawn on c2 is a piece ready to be dropped once that player moves the piece located on the f2 cell near a black piece in possession of the black player. Chess.com from its interpretation of the game rules detects a pawn push on cell c3 as being the fastest way to deliver the new weapon to the enemy position and therefore highlights its movement option under the `Move` tab which displays with an arrow any cells a piece is legally allowed to move to.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to Custom in Chess.com?

What is customizing in Chess.com?
Customizing in Chess.com refers to personalizing your experience on the platform by adjusting settings, themes, and options to your liking.

How to Custom in Chess.com?

How do I change my profile picture on Chess.com?
To change your profile picture, go to your profile page, click on the “Edit Profile” button, and then click on the current profile picture. From there, you can choose a new image from your computer or select one from the default options provided.

How to Custom in Chess.com?

Can I change the color and layout of the chessboard on Chess.com?
Yes, you can customize the chessboard’s color and layout on Chess.com. Simply go to the “Settings” tab on the homepage and select “Board and Pieces.” From there, you can choose from various color options and adjust the size and style of the pieces.

How to Custom in Chess.com?

Is it possible to change the background theme on Chess.com?
Yes, you can change the background theme on Chess.com by going to the “Settings” tab and selecting “Site Theme.” From there, you can choose from different themes or create a custom one by uploading your own background image.

How to Custom in Chess.com?

Can I customize the sound and animation settings on Chess.com?
Absolutely! You can adjust the sound and animation settings on Chess.com by going to the “Settings” tab and selecting “Sound and Animation.” From there, you can turn off/on certain sound effects and adjust the animation speed.

How to Custom in Chess.com?

Can I change the language settings on Chess.com?
Yes, you can change the language settings on Chess.com by going to the “Settings” tab and selecting “Language.” From there, you can choose from a variety of languages to customize your experience on the platform.