1. About this Cookie Policy
Effective date: 21 September 2026 · Last updated: 29 September 2026
This Cookie Policy explains how World Chess Events Limited ("World Chess", "we", "us") uses cookies and similar technologies on worldchess.com (the "Website") and on the services available through it (the "Platform"). It applies in addition to our Privacy Policy, which explains how we collect, share and process personal data generally.
For the purposes of this Cookie Policy, the term “cookies” covers both cookies and methods similar to cookies used in browsers and applications — such as pixels, beacons, tags, local storage and software development kits (SDKs).
Cookies are small text files that are placed on your device by the websites you visit. They are widely used to ensure the functionality of websites, to make websites more efficient, and to provide useful information to website owners, such as the number of visits to a page.
You can find general information about cookies, including how to see which cookies have been set and how to manage or delete them, at www.aboutcookies.org and www.allaboutcookies.org. These are third-party websites which we do not control and for whose content we are not responsible.
2. How World Chess uses cookies
The Website and the Platform use cookies managed by us (first-party cookies) as well as cookies set by third-party service providers. Cookies are stored on your device based on your consent, unless a particular cookie is strictly necessary to provide the service you have asked for.
We use cookies for the following purposes:
- to record whether you have given consent to cookies, and which categories you accepted;
- to keep you signed in and to recognise you as a registered player across our services;
- to keep the Platform secure and to protect accounts from unauthorised access;
- to ensure fair play — to help us detect and prevent cheating and other harmful or unlawful use of our services;
- to remember settings and choices you make, such as your preferred language or the fact that you have already voted in a poll;
- to understand, on an aggregate level, how visitors use the Website and the Platform, so that we can improve them;
- to measure the performance of our marketing campaigns and to show you our advertising on other websites and apps;
- to provide support chat and to diagnose technical errors.
If you are a registered user of the Platform, certain information obtained from cookies may be linked to your account and combined with other information we hold about you. Otherwise, information obtained from cookies is not used to identify unregistered visitors.
Information obtained from cookies is either used in aggregate form or retained in accordance with our Privacy Policy, where we have a legitimate purpose and a legal basis for that processing.
3. Types of cookies we use
We group cookies into five categories. You can accept or reject each category separately, except for Necessary cookies. Refusing any category does not restrict your access to the Website or the Platform — you can browse, play and use your account with every optional category switched off.
Necessary. These cookies are required for the Website and the Platform to work and cannot be switched off in our banner. They keep you signed in, protect your account and our servers from unauthorised access, help us detect and prevent cheating, distribute traffic between our servers, support secure payment processing, and record the cookie choice you have made so that we do not ask you again on every page. Because these cookies are strictly necessary to provide the service you have requested, they are not subject to your consent. If you block them in your browser, you may be unable to sign in, to play, or to complete a payment.
Functional. These cookies remember the choices you make and enable features beyond the basic operation of the site — for example your preferred language, the fact that you have already voted in a poll, and our in-app support chat. If you reject this category, the site still works, but settings you have chosen are not remembered between visits and the in-app support chat does not load. You can always reach us by email.
Analytics. These cookies help us understand, on an aggregate level, how visitors find and use the Website and the Platform — which pages are opened, how long sessions last, where errors occur. We use this to improve the product. If you reject this category, nothing changes in how the site behaves for you; we simply do not count your visit.
Performance. This category is for cookies that measure technical performance, such as page loading speed. We do not currently use any cookies in this category; the option remains in the banner so that we can add them transparently if that changes.
Advertisement. These cookies are set by us and by our advertising partners to measure the performance of our campaigns, to understand which advertisement brought you to us, and to show you our advertising on other websites and apps. If you reject this category, you will still see advertising, but it will not be based on your activity on our Website or Platform. Embedded content from third parties — such as YouTube videos — is not loaded until you accept this category; you can still open that content on the provider's own site.
The exact cookies in each category, their providers and their retention periods are listed in the next section.
4. The cookies we use
The lists below set out the cookies and similar technologies we identified as being used on the Website and the Platform as of 28 September 2026, grouped by category, with their retention period and purpose. They are based on a scan of the Website and a review of our code. We review them periodically, and whenever we add or change a service that sets cookies, and update this Cookie Policy as appropriate. Between updates the list may not reflect changes made by third-party providers.
Cookie names shown with an asterisk (_ga_*, ttcsid*, intercom-session-*, cookieyes-*) are families of cookies whose full name includes an identifier of the specific property, workspace or session. They serve the purpose described in their entry.
5. Third-party services
Some of the cookies set on your device when you visit the Website or the Platform belong to third-party service providers. Their cookies help us provide our services, understand how our services are used, and support our advertising.
We use these providers' cookies for the purposes described in this Cookie Policy and in our Privacy Policy. However, these providers may also process the data collected through their cookies for their own purposes, which we do not control, and which are described in their own privacy policies. The links below lead to third-party websites for whose content we are not responsible.
- Google — Analytics, Ads, AdSense and Conversion Linker: audience measurement, advertising and conversion measurement. Analytics and Advertisement. Privacy policy
- YouTube (Google) — embedded videos. Advertisement. Privacy policy
- Meta — Facebook and Instagram: advertising and conversion measurement, embedded posts. Advertisement. Privacy policy
- TikTok — advertising and conversion measurement. Advertisement. Privacy policy
- Microsoft — Advertising UET and Clarity: advertising measurement, and analysis of how our pages are used. Analytics and Advertisement. Privacy statement
- Quora — advertising measurement. Advertisement. Privacy policy
- AppsFlyer — attribution of app installs and campaigns. Advertisement. Privacy policy
- X (Twitter) — embedded posts. Advertisement. Privacy policy
- Intercom — in-app support chat. Functional. Privacy policy
- Stripe — payment processing and payment fraud prevention. Necessary. Privacy policy
- RevenueCat — management of subscriptions and purchases. Necessary. Privacy policy
- Sentry — detection and diagnosis of technical errors. Necessary. Privacy policy
- Amazon Web Services — hosting and distribution of traffic between our servers. Necessary. Privacy notice
- CookieYes — the cookie banner and the record of your consent. Necessary. Privacy policy
For visitors in the EEA and the UK, our cookie banner operates under the IAB Europe Transparency and Consent Framework. The advertising vendors shown in the banner are those participating in that framework to which your choices apply.
Many of the providers listed above are located in, or process data in, the United States and other countries outside the UK and the EEA. Information about the safeguards we use is in section 6 of our Privacy Policy.
If you are signed in to a Google account, you can separately control how Google personalises the advertising you see, including advertising from us, in Google My Ad Center.
We may change the third-party providers we use at any time, in accordance with section 8 of this Cookie Policy.
6. Managing your cookie preferences
When you first visit. We show you a cookie banner before any optional cookie is placed on your device. You can accept all categories, reject all optional categories, or open “Customise” and choose category by category. Until you make a choice, only Necessary cookies are used.
Changing your mind. You can change or withdraw your consent at any time, and it is as easy to withdraw as it was to give: select Cookie Settings in the footer of any page. The banner reopens with your current choices, and any category you switch off stops being used from that moment. Cookies already stored by a category you have switched off are removed by our consent manager where it is able to, and can always be deleted in your browser, as described below.
Withdrawing consent does not restrict your access. Your account, your games and your purchases are unaffected by your cookie choices.
Browser controls. Most browsers let you block or delete cookies yourself, and settings must be changed in each browser you use. Please note that if you block Necessary cookies in your browser, parts of the Website and the Platform will not work — you may be unable to sign in or to complete a payment.
If you are in the United States. Depending on the state you are in, you may have the right to opt out of the sale or sharing of your personal information and of targeted advertising. Our use of advertising cookies may amount to sharing under those laws. You can exercise that right by selecting Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information in the cookie banner or in Cookie Settings, which switches off the Advertisement category. We also recognise the Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal: if your browser or extension sends it, we treat it as an opt-out and do not use advertising cookies, without you having to tell us separately.
Your rights over the data. Cookies may involve the processing of personal data. Your rights in relation to that data — including access, correction, erasure and objection — and how to exercise them, are described in our Privacy Policy.
7. The record of your consent
When you answer the cookie banner, we store your answer so that we do not ask you again on every page, and so that we can demonstrate that consent was obtained.
The record is kept in a cookie named cookieyes-consent, which is set for one year and contains a randomly generated consent identifier and your yes/no answer for each category. It does not contain your name, your email address or your account details.
The record is also stored by our consent management provider, CookieYes, on our behalf. After one year we ask for your consent again.
8. Changes to this Cookie Policy
We may update this Cookie Policy at any time, for example when we start or stop using a service that sets cookies. The current version is always available on the Website, with the effective date shown at the top. We recommend reviewing it from time to time so that you remain informed of any changes.
We review the list of cookies in section 4 as described in that section, and the date of the last update is shown at the top of this page.
9. Contact
If you have any questions about this Cookie Policy or about how we process your personal data, please write to us at support@worldchess.com, or use the details below.
Data controller: World Chess Events Limited, company number 10592553, Eastcastle House, 27/28 Eastcastle Street, London, United Kingdom, W1W 8DH. Email: support@worldchess.com.
EU representative (Article 27 EU GDPR): World Chess Europe GmbH, Mittelstraße 51-52, 10117 Berlin, Germany, HRB 238132. Email: support@worldchess.com.
You can also complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ico.org.uk) or to your local data protection authority.