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How do I play a friend?

Learn how to challenge your friends to a Live or Daily game on Chess.com.

Updated over a week ago

Play your friends on Chess.com

One of the best parts of chess is playing with friends, which is why we’ve made it easy for you to play against a friend in several ways. Follow the steps below to challenge your friends!

Your friend must be online to accept a Live challenge; otherwise, it will expire after a few minutes. For Daily games, it doesn’t matter if your opponent is online, offline, or in a game. The challenge will stay active until they accept it.

Web

From the Homepage

  1. Click 'Play a Friend' in the Popular Features section on your homepage.

  2. This will take you to the Play a Friend screen, where you’ll see a list of your friends. Click the username of the friend you want to play against, or use the search bar to find them if you have many friends.

    Play a Friend screen on Chess.com

  3. Once you’ve selected your opponent, customize your game settings and click 'Send Challenge' to start the game.

    Play vs screen on Chess.com

From a member's profile

Another way you can challenge a friend is by simply going to their profile and clicking 'Challenge.'

Alternatively, you can click on any username anywhere on Chess.com and click 'Challenge' from the pop-up modal.

URL

Another way to challenge your friend is by using a shortcut URL: chess.com/play/username.

Replace 'Username' in the URL with the member's username you want to challenge, then put the URL in your address bar. This will take you directly to a challenge for that member!


Mobile

  1. Tap ‘Play’ on your home screen to open the New Game menu, then select ‘Play a Friend.’

  2. Choose a friend from your list, or type their username in the search bar.

  3. Set your preferred game settings, then tap ‘Play’ to send the challenge. Your friend will get a notification, and the game will start as soon as they accept!

GIF showing how to play a friend on the Chess.com mobile app
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