An open challenge is simply any challenge that has not yet been accepted. There are two ways to create an open challenge: by just clicking on 'Play' on the New Game screen or creating a custom game.

For the first option, hover over ‘Play’ in the left menu on any Chess.com page and select ‘Play.’ On the New Game screen, click the green ‘Play’ button to send your challenge.

This will automatically match you with anyone in the same rating range who is looking for the same kind of game.

If the system can't find a match for you right away, it will create an open challenge for you instead, and you can wait for the game to be accepted.

A custom challenge allows you to choose the rating range of your opponent, choose a custom opening, limit the game to only premium members, and more.

Custom challenges create an open challenge that members can choose to accept or not. If your custom challenge is very specific, you may have to wait a while to find someone who wants to play with those options. If you get tired of waiting, or change your mind, you can cancel your open challenge.

To cancel an open daily challenge, go to your home page and look under your daily games list. You will see your unaccepted open challenge next to any ongoing daily games you have:

Click the challenge to open it, then cancel it by clicking the 'X' at the bottom of the challenge window.

Open live game challenges are rare since live games are usually accepted quickly. However, if your challenge uses a custom time control or is sent to a specific person who hasn’t accepted yet, you’ll find it in the bottom right corner of the Play page.

Click the chessboard and '+' icon to expand the notification, then cancel the challenge by clicking the 'X.'