Terms & Conditions

These Terms & Conditions (“Terms”) govern your access to and use of MateStorm (the “Service”) — a free online chess platform where you can play against a computer engine and against other players. By accessing or using the Service, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

In these Terms, “we”, “us” and “our” refer to the operator of MateStorm. The Service is available to users worldwide; you are responsible for complying with the laws that apply where you access it.

Important — please read. MateStorm is a free, personal project provided by an individual. It is not operated by a company, and there is no dedicated support team, department, or help desk. It is offered strictly on an “as is” basis, with no warranties and no obligations on our part — including no promise of availability, support, updates, or preservation of your games or data. Your use of the Service is entirely your own decision and at your own risk. If you are not comfortable with this, please do not use the Service.

1. Eligibility & age

You must be at least 13 years old (or the minimum age required to hold a Google account in your country, if higher) to use the Service. Any features involving payments or real‑money value, if and when introduced, will require you to be at least 18 years old(or the age of majority where you live) and will be subject to additional terms. By using the Service you represent that you meet these requirements.

2. Your account

You sign in with Google. You are responsible for activity under your account and for keeping your Google credentials secure. Information shown to other players (such as your display name and photo) is drawn from your Google profile; you may change your display name in Settings. You must provide accurate information and must not impersonate others or create accounts to evade restrictions.

3. Acceptable use & conduct

You agree not to:

• harass, threaten, defame, or abuse other players, or use offensive display names;
• use the Service for any unlawful purpose or in violation of any applicable law;
• attempt to disrupt, overload, reverse‑engineer, or gain unauthorised access to the Service, its servers, or other accounts;
• use bots, scrapers, or automation to interact with the Service except as expressly permitted;
• circumvent rate limits, room limits, or other technical safeguards.

4. Fair play

Fair play is essential to online chess. In games against other players you must not use chess engines, databases, outside assistance, or another person’s help to choose your moves, and you must not collude, sandbag, or manipulate ratings. We may investigate suspected unfair play and, at our discretion, adjust or void ratings and results, restrict matchmaking, or suspend or terminate accounts. (Practising against the built‑in engine in solo mode is, of course, encouraged.)

5. The chess engine

Solo play and move analysis are powered by Stockfish, an open‑source chess engine licensed under the GNU General Public License v3 (“GPL v3”). Stockfish is used unmodified as a separate client‑side component; its source code and licence are available from the Stockfish project. The piece artwork is based on the “Cburnett” set (multi‑licensed, used with attribution). These components remain the property of their respective authors.

6. Ratings, leaderboard & game data

Completed online games affect your rating and may appear on the leaderboard and in your and your opponent’s game history. Ratings and standings are provided for entertainment, are calculated automatically, and may be recalculated or corrected. We do not guarantee their accuracy.

7. Payments

The Service is currently free to use. If we introduce paid features (such as a wallet or paid rooms), they will be governed by additional terms presented at that time, including pricing, taxes, and refund rules, and will comply with the payment and gaming regulations that apply. Nothing in these Terms currently obliges you to pay.

8. Intellectual property

The Service, including its name, logo, design, text, and software (excluding third‑party components such as Stockfish and the Cburnett pieces), is owned by us or our licensors and is protected by intellectual‑property laws. We grant you a limited, personal, non‑exclusive, non‑transferable, revocable licence to use the Service for its intended purpose. You may not copy, modify, distribute, sell, or create derivative works from the Service except as permitted by law or the applicable open‑source licences.

9. Your game data

You retain any rights you have in the moves and games you play. You grant us a worldwide, royalty‑free licence to store, reproduce, and display your game data (such as move lists and results) as needed to operate the Service — for example to show your history, the leaderboard, and your opponent’s record.

10. Third‑party services

The Service relies on third parties including Google/Firebase (authentication and database) and Cloudflare (hosting and real‑time infrastructure), and may use a payment provider if paid features are enabled. Your use of those services may be subject to their own terms and privacy policies. We are not responsible for third‑party services.

11. Nature of the Service; no obligations; “as is”

MateStorm is a free, personal project run by an individual as a hobby. It is not a commercial product or corporate service, and we have no obligation to provide support, maintenance, updates, availability, uptime, security, or to store, back up, or preserve any of your games, ratings, or data. We may change, limit, suspend, or discontinue the Service (in whole or in part), or any account or data, at any time and without notice or liability.

The Service is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis and may be in active development or contain errors. To the maximum extent permitted by law, we disclaim all warranties, express or implied, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy, and non‑infringement. You use the Service at your own risk and on your own judgement.

12. Assumption of risk & limitation of liability

You acknowledge that you use the Service voluntarily and assume all risk arising from that use. To the maximum extent permitted by law, we will not be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for loss of data, ratings, goodwill, or profits, arising from or related to your use of (or inability to use) the Service — even if we have been advised of the possibility of such damages. Because the Service is provided free of charge, our total aggregate liability to you for any and all claims relating to the Service is limited to INR 1,000 (or its equivalent), except where such limitation is not permitted by law.

13. Indemnity

You agree to indemnify and hold us harmless from claims, damages, and expenses arising out of your use of the Service, your game conduct, or your breach of these Terms, to the extent permitted by law.

14. Suspension & termination

You may stop using the Service at any time. We may suspend or terminate your access, with or without notice, if you breach these Terms, misuse the Service, or where required by law. Provisions that by their nature should survive termination (including intellectual property, disclaimers, limitation of liability, and governing law) will survive.

15. Changes

We may modify the Service or these Terms from time to time. Material changes will be reflected by updating the “Last updated” date above and, where appropriate, by notice within the Service. Continued use after changes take effect constitutes acceptance.

16. International use

The Service is operated from India and made available globally. If you access it from outside India, you do so on your own initiative and are responsible for compliance with your local laws. Data may be processed in countries other than your own (see our Privacy Policy).

17. Governing law & disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of India, without regard to conflict‑of‑laws rules. Subject to any mandatory rights you have under your local law, the courts at [your city], India shall have exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute arising from these Terms or the Service. Nothing in these Terms limits consumer‑protection rights that cannot be waived under the law that applies to you.

18. Contact

Questions about these Terms? Contact us at help@matestorm.com.