Mastering Free Play in Chess.com: A Comprehensive Guide

Chess.com offers a fantastic opportunity for players of all levels to enjoy free play and improve their skills.

We will explore what free play on Chess.com entails, how to access it, its features, benefits, and limitations. Whether you’re a beginner looking to learn or a seasoned player seeking friendly competition, free play on Chess.com provides a platform for growth and enjoyment.

Discover how you can make the most of this exciting feature!

What Is Free Play in Chess.com?

Free play in Chess.com refers to an option on the platform where you can acquire and use credits to play games in exchange for cash prizes. When I checked the categories in Chess.com, to get into the Free Play section, it was under the “Online” sub-category – a place consisting of Bullet, Blitz, Quick, and Correspondence chess. I chose to explore Free Play.because it offers cash prizes from $1 to $200 to the winners. Free Play in Bullet is a low-stakes category with a minimum prize of $1. It offers a limited number of matches and letter ratings between 800-2000 so the level range is quite large. Free Play can refer to any type of Chess.com free account, but not all free Chess.com account have access to playing for cash prizes. If you move the cursor to the “Play” button at the top, you will see that the play category is labeled as “For Fun” as well. However, Chess.com’s entirely free “For Fun” games also include instruction from its best-in-class AI otherwise not available to Free Play members. It is worth trying both to see what you prefer, both for playing and learning chess.

How Do You Access Free Play in Chess.com?

Free play in Chess.com is available both prior to and without registration on the platform at chess.com/play or via the app as ‘Play vs Computer’. Users can get started via pre-registration on mobile but are promoted to download the app. Users on desktop and mobile are prompted to sign in but can continue to use the play features in site-only mode without giving any details. Desktop users can visit the website, click on ‘Play’ on the toolbar at the top of the page, and then select ‘Computer’. This does not require any registration. Chess.com will prompt users to sign on but they can continue in Site Only mode.

The Play vs Computer section offers free play in three increasingly challenging levels – Begineer (500 to 800 Elo), Intermediate (900 to 1100 Elo), and Advanced (1200 to 1400 Elo). Chess.com clearly lists what it considers attributes of these levels. If a user wishes to play as a guest, they can do so at no charge. However, to save games in online and receive in-game stats (e.g. depth of calculation) they must create a free account. Most other features, such as opening and ending training, shared analysis, and tournaments require payment.

Creating a Chess.com Account

• Go to www.chess.com.
• Enter your email address and password if you remember or click the play as guest option in the bottom left corner.
• Or go to www.chess.com/play to play as a guest (with immediate access to play games).

When on chess.com or if one clicks the Guest button, one will be shown the window below and can click Register to create a new account for free.

Creating an account on Lichess works differently, as a login name is chosen, and an email is optional. Both are asked for again when email notifications about club proposals are desired. It also offers an anonymous option to play online and keeps no user data associated with it such as games played, rating, or club memberships. To create an account on Lichess from the homepage, drive to the top right and enter the login ID and password of choice, then enter the email or skip if one prefers not to have an email attached.

Logging In to Chess.com

On the Chess.com website: If you have an existing Chess.com account that is not paid, you are already logged in and can just enter www.chess.com in your web browser’s URL. If you are not logged in, once the web page appears, click the two buttons in the upper right-hand corner that say “Log In” and enter your log-in credentials or create an account.

On the Chess.com mobile app: If you have the Chess.com mobile app installed already, you are immediately able to access it. At launch, you will be directed to either log in or create an account.

What Are the Features of Free Play in Chess.com?

These are the features of free play in Chess.com:

1. Unlimited play against bots or humans.
2. Unlimited games with time controls ranging from bullet chess to standard.
3. Playing in tournaments.
4. Access to Shared Analysis.
5. Creating unlimited clubs with or without tournaments.
6. Creating an unlimited number of boards for anonymous club play.

Chess.com provides hundreds of videos and chess quizzes for ages 4 to 90. This even includes puzzles in other international chess games such as Shogi and Xiangqi.

Chess.com offers a free membership with the ability for members to play as much or as little in the ways listed above as desired.

Unlimited Access to Play Against the Computer

When you sign up for a Chess.com free account, you get to play against our web-based analysis computer. Access to playing against the computer and running computer analysis post-game is not limited, and this feature is offered to all users including those who do not pay a subscription or membership fee. Unlike the computer’s analysis, Free Play chess games with the computer can be played simply with no set time pressure (type-here).

Unlimited access to play against the computer means you have the option to select your level of play, with the computer automatically adjusting its playing strength, preferring your level of understanding, after each game. You can choose the Challenge me option where you play at a random level slightly above or below your previous play, the Casual option where you play against the computer at its default play level, or the “for fun” low play levels where beginners can focus on not allowing the computer to capture the game pieces and improve their game tactics.

Ability to Challenge Other Players

A fundamental feature of Free Play on Chess.com’s platform is that you can challenge other players at your discretion. Challenge them at any specific time control, variant, odds setting, board color – you can even place restrictions on who can challenge you via settings in the Account Settings Privacy choice on your profile.

If you want to invite friends, go to the user’s profile and click the Invite button. Free players cannot set rated or unrated challenges, so the actual game that gets dropped in someone’s profile feed will only be password-invite access to a regular Chess.com game without a victory award or loss penalty beyond the basic stat tracking.

Access to Tournaments and Events

You can free play in Chess.com tournaments and participate in events that are open to unpaid members. The only caveat is that scholastic clubs may not participate. Chess.com runs tournaments for every club they host and most of these are open to free members. You can access them through a tournament announcement, Titled Tuesday which is open to all members, or other broadcasts.

What Are the Benefits of Free Play in Chess.com?

Benefits of free play in Chess.com are the ability to play an infinite number of online or offline games at any time of the day and against real opponents. The ability to spectate games played by others lets players learn new strategies, while the option to play against computer opponents offers additional training opportunities. The free play feature makes the platform more inclusive and allows low-income individuals, especially in developing countries, to have access to affordable chess playing opportunities.

Improves Chess Skills

Free play in Chess.com helps improve chess skills most effectively based on Vygotsky’s theory of cognitive development. This educational approach known as the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) is the distance between what a student can do alone and the next level they can do with a teacher or advanced peer.

In chess, the zone of proximal development can be seen as the distance between the current chess level you are at and the next skill level you are looking to grow. Free play provides basic methodologies in the form of moves, without holding the user’s hand too much, whereas in training mode, to which free play is a precursor, one understands what you are doing correctly and what not. Free play might not provide feedback, but it will allow one to find their own mistakes and identify them. Overall, these tools integrate comfortably with the user’s personal development pace, assisting their transition to proper training after they develop the basics.

Provides a Platform for Friendly Competition

Chess.com provides a platform for friendly competition by including uniting features used by other social networks and by making it easier to find likable people to connect to and challenge. Daily Move notifications to randomly assigned chess opponents are a unique feature that opens the doors to a new relationship with someone who could eventually be an opponent. To increase this chance, they even offer the ability to play multiple daily move players at a time to increase your opportunities to engage with a potential competitor. You may not ever interact with your daily move opponent, but as you continue to play with the same person, you could turn into regular game opponents.

Opportunity to Learn from Other Players

Free play in Chess.com premium, while restricted, still allows for players to access and engage with features that provide opportunities to learn from other players. A useful feature for this type of learning is Chess.com’s online courses where players of all levels are able to learn strategies and perform tactical exercises to help improve their game performance.

Players earn ratings in these exercises, which can be used to benchmark progress and improve their play. Players can also form Chess.com Friends and engage in conversations and even issue challenges with members they haven’t previously met. This feature is restricted with free access to only two games and some features disabled. But because of the online and global nature of the platform, players have the opportunity to engage with other chess enthusiasts from around the world which can lead to lifelong friendships and improved game performance for all involved. Conversations can occur in the chat function during play and in the forum feature, which is a message board where players can exchange tips, strategies, encourage one another, or anything else related to the game of chess.

Enhances Critical Thinking and Strategy Skills

The ability to think long-term and develop strategy is critical to be a winning chess player. Free play on Chess.com provides an opportunity to focus on these core skills without the pressure of meeting rating system goals. By not looking or paying attention to their rating or playing other tournaments, users can broaden their overall chess ability. This expands overall knowledge and makes them a stronger player when they return to rated games.

According to the site Children’s Safety and Protection, sports people with a good degree of intelligence are more adept at creating efficient strategies. Free play is a time to test these strategies and to learn how to read an opponent. These mental skills improve decision-making and adaptivity in real life according to a study done by the University of Konstanz in Germany in conjunction with the Department of Psychology at Stanford University.

How Can You Make the Most of Free Play in Chess.com?

You can most enjoy free play in chess.com by participating in Tournaments according to the marquee Home tab in the Web app (screenshot above). Here, players can join daily schedules of thousands to compete in tournaments, such as the Rapid Arena or the Survival Arena tournament, to try and increase their ranking on the site or improve their strategy and opening and middle-game acumen.

There are other ways to engage in free play on chess.com. The Play vs Computer mode enables a player to select the computer’s difficulty, style, and preferred opening. The With Friends mode allows users to invite their real-life friends, whether they are members or not, to play against them through a private link. Or tens of other free chess apps can also provide a completely free chess-playing experience.

Free play in chess.com is a demonetized service that everyone can enjoy and comes with everything one might need for improving their chess skill. The trade-off is the monetized service in chess.com Premium, Diamond, Diamond PLUS, and other plans that remove ads, give access to grandmaster lesson videos, make you eligible for more tournament prize money, and offer discounts on their chess tutors and analysis services.

Practice Consistently

Free playing is best established by practicing chess consistently. Without practice, optimization of chess (or any strategy game) skills will not occur. We develop the so-called chess acuity or the ability to make quick in-game decisions utilizing intuition through consistent practice. Along with developing chess acuity, regular practice will also help you devise your own strategic ideas, formations, or concepts. If I play the Ruy López gambit (ECO C80) at beginning layers) in chess, I employ the pinning technique to command the center of the board as illustrated. Learning and taking advantage of these strategies is all part of free play.

The effort required is not negligible. Instead, it is important to make informed decisions and manage your time effectively if you wish to improve your chess rating. An hour of playing can be worth more than an hour of solving tactics if one has a limited amount of time every day.

Participate in Tournaments and Events

To free play on Chess.com, you can also participate in their Tournaments and Events. The Tournaments format involves a large number of players playing similar games, with the winners advancing to subsequent knockout brackets or tournament groups. While the Events format allows people of different strengths to play simultaneously rather than waiting for the perfect match to show up. These are hosted by local clubs, grandmasters, or the Chess.com staff.

Analyze Your Games

A core tool for free play is the post-game analysis of your matches. You must use this tool to see your mistakes and understand your openings to be able to improve and expand your experience. The Analysis Board (accessible from the Play dropdown menu) is an interactive tool in chess.com that allows you to see all moves during the game and mark up important positions to look at in more depth after the game. Your free play is closely related to the ability to analyze and understand various positions that arise in your games.

This is especially valuable for openings that lead to positions you are not comfortable playing after the initial phase. Being able to take time after the game to analyze and see if you made an unnecessary error or miscalculation can reveal key elements to improve on in the future. You also have the ability to look and try Checkmate and endgame practice against the computer to increase understanding of specific situations that could come up.

Analysis boards allow you to upload your own PGNs from other sources such as books or Grandmaster tournaments to receive feedback on how different positions should be handled. After you upload it to chess.com, the computer performs automatic running commentary point by point, showing mistakes and presenting alternate ideas. It is highly recommended for those interested in improving their play and stats.

Are There Any Limitations to Free Play in Chess.com?

There are very few limitations to free play on Chess.com. One of the few is that due to frequent user abuse of these features, some features helpful in playing are restricted until a certain amount of chess is played. Com Engine Analysis, Unlimited Tactics, and Endgame Explorers are all features reserved for premium users only after a certain number of total chess moves and/or puzzles solved on the platform.

Com engine analysis is not available until a user has played enough games for the site to have some sense of the user’s true ability. This means that a new user cannot get computer-generated insights when trying to learn from their mistakes in a game. This is the primary feature of the paid version of the site that is not available to the entirely free user. But for just casual game-play the only major difference is in the availability of opponent matching on time and the restriction on the ability to freely message.

Limited Features Compared to Premium Membership

The following features are unavailable with a Basic account and banner ads in free games:

1. Profiles only show last 30 game performances for the feature ‘Analyze my Games’
2. MoveTrainer history tracks analysis, puzzles, and watchings (along with time checker) for the past 7 days
3. No statistics are available in Live Chess
4. For friends, Live Chess status is unavailable
5. There is limited access to openings and endgames, as well as comments
6. Access to learning materials is also limited

Advertisements and Pop-ups

Premium Chess.com members can free play in the form of disabling advertisements and popups associated with their free to play accounts when they are logged in. They can turn this off or on in the Setting.

After logging in, select More from the bottom of the screen (or depending on the device, 3 horizontal lines), then Settings, General. The second choice is Get rid of ads, which disabling will by default turn off ads for free most for all players. This is the only feature offered in the free trial of Chess.com’s paid membership called Chess.com Premium.

The free trial offers a 2-week-subscription to ChessKid, the website designed for kids up to age 16 by Chess.com originally called US Chess Kids. ChessKid is where Chess.com first started testing their skill-building software. One free trial is issued per account, and access to age-appropriate puzzles and tournaments, videos and, of course, unlimited online games with no time limits for kids is stopped when the trial ends if ChessKid is not purchased. The fair play policy of Chess.com forbids any computer assistance even for the ChessKid free trial.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between playing for free and playing for money on Chess.com?

Playing for free on Chess.com means you can access all features and play against other players without any monetary cost. Playing for money involves buying a Premium membership and competing in cash tournaments or matches.

Can I play with my friends on Chess.com for free?

Yes, you can create a free account and invite your friends to play against you on Chess.com. You can also join free tournaments and matches to play against other players from around the world.

How do I start a free game on Chess.com?

To start a free game on Chess.com, you can either create a new game and invite a friend or join an existing game from the “Play” tab. You can also participate in free tournaments and matches to play against other players.

Is there a limit to how many free games I can play on Chess.com?

No, there is no limit to how many free games you can play on Chess.com. As long as you have an active account, you can play as many free games as you like against other players or computer opponents.

Are there any restrictions for playing for free on Chess.com?

There are no major restrictions for playing for free on Chess.com. However, certain features such as participating in cash tournaments or accessing advanced analysis tools may require a Premium membership.

Can I earn rewards or prizes by playing for free on Chess.com?

Yes, Chess.com offers monthly and yearly rewards for players who have the most wins and highest ratings in free tournaments and matches. You can also earn badges and achievements for completing certain challenges while playing for free.