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Live chess settings
Live chess settings
Updated over 6 months ago

You can find your live chess settings by going to https://www.chess.com/play/online/settings

Or, by going to Play, and clicking the settings gear icon to the right of the clock:

See below for an explanation of each settings option:

Board tab

Setting

What it Does

Pieces and Board

You can choose from many selections of piece designs and board colors. You can also change your board and theme in the Board and Pieces settings section.

Pre/Post Game Board Animation

Choose whether you want to see the board animation and win animation. More info here.

Enable Special Themes

Choose whether you want to use temporary themes associated with certain special events.

Coordinates

Decide whether you want coordinates to be on the outside of the board, inside, or disabled (none)

Piece Notation

  • Figurine:

  • Text:

Piece Animation

  • None: The pieces will not be shown moving across the board, but will instantly change places.

  • Slow.

  • Medium (Default).

  • Fast

  • Natural

  • Arcade: This option will add flashy, colorful animations when the pieces move.

Move Method

Though you can always move with either method, this option sets how the pieces will react when you click on them.

  • Drag or click: Causes pieces to snap to your mouse pointer when you grab them.

  • Drag pieces: Also completely ignores single clicks.

  • Click squares: This allows you to move by clicking on the start and destination squares without the piece snapping to your pointer.

Castling Method

  • Normal: Will not castle if the rook is clicked while the king is still selected. This option is intended to prevent accidentally castling.

  • Legacy: Will castle if the rook is clicked while the king is still selected. All other drag-to-castle and click-to-castle behaviors remain unchanged.

Highlight Move

If this option is toggled the squares of the move being played will be highlighted.

Play Sounds

Toggle this option off if you don't want to hear in-game sounds.

Sound Theme

Choose what the pieces sound like when they move.

Show Legal Moves

If toggled on, this option will display dots on the board indicating all possible legal moves for your selected piece.

White Always on Bottom

If toggled on, the player with the white pieces will always be on the bottom.

If toggled off, you will always be on the bottom regardless of the color of your pieces.

DGT Smart Board

Toggle this option if you want to play using a DGT board. Check out this article for instructions on how to set it up.

Do not enable this option unless you have a DGT Smart Board connected to your computer.

Play tab

  • General

Setting

What it Does

Incoming

Set the rating range of opponents who are able to send you challenges directly. See more info here

Outgoing

Set the rating range of opponents you can be matched with when seeking a match (automatch). See more info here

Friends Can Challenge Me No Matter What

If this is enabled, members on your friends list will always be able to send you a challenge, even if other settings would otherwise prevent them.

Allow Challenges

You can choose to allow challenges from everybody, friends only, or nobody.

Game Chat

You can choose to enable the chat for everyone, just your friends, or disable it entirely.

Confirm Resign/Draw

If this option is enabled, when you resign or send a draw request you will first be asked for confirmation.

Always Use Focus Mode

This will keep focus mode on by default

Show Timestamps

Toggle this off if you prefer not to see timestamps during your games.

Auto-Watch Top Game

If this setting is on, when you are watching a game and the game ends, it will automatically switch over to the next top game.

Automatic Analysis

When this is on, after each game you will get a quick analysis that shows the number of blunders and missed wins. You will still have to run the full analysis to see all the details.

  • Live

Setting

What it Does

Enable Premoves

Make sure to toggle this option on otherwise premoves won't work.

Always Promote to Queen

With auto-queen enabled, every time you move a pawn to the final rank, it will automatically promote to a queen.

Low-Time Warning

If this is on, you will hear a warning sound when you are low on time.

Offline Challenges

Allow members to send you challenges when you are not in Live Chess. You will get challenge alerts via the website and your mobile app.

Multiple Games (Premium Only)

When this feature is enabled you will be able to play multiple live games at once.

Auto switch game

If you are playing multiple games, this will automatically switch you to the game where it is your turn.

Alerts tab

Setting

What it Does

Challenge Alerts

Choose whether you want to be notified when you receive a challenge from everyone, friends only, or nobody.

Event Announcements

Choose to always receive event announcements, to have them off in game chat, or off everywhere.

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