Terms of use

1. Scope

These terms of use apply to the ChessWOW app for iOS, iPadOS, macOS and Android and to the website chesswow.app. The provider is BTechnology GmbH, Immermannstr. 19, 40210 Düsseldorf, Germany, registered with the Amtsgericht Düsseldorf under HRB 83988, represented by its managing director Igor Kuzenko ("we").

In addition, the terms of the store you downloaded the app from apply, meaning the Apple App Store or Google Play.

2. Description of the service

ChessWOW is an app for analysing chess positions and games. The calculations are done by the Stockfish chess engine directly on your device. The app includes in particular recognising positions from photos and screenshots (scan), evaluating whole games in a report and importing games, for example from Lichess and Chess.com.

Evaluations, move suggestions and assessments in the app are calculations by an engine. They depend on factors such as calculation time and device and may be incomplete or wrong. Position recognition during a scan can also contain errors. We give no warranty that the results are correct.

For importing games and for optionally downloading endgame tablebases, the app connects to third-party services. We have no control over their availability or content.

3. Use without an account

ChessWOW does not require an account. Games, analyses and settings are stored on your device. If you delete the app, this data is deleted with it. The privacy policy describes which data we process.

4. Free use

The app can be downloaded for free. Without a subscription the range of features may be limited, for example by a limited number of analyses per day or by some or all features requiring ChessWOW Pro.

5. ChessWOW Pro

ChessWOW Pro extends the features of the app. It is offered as subscriptions with a weekly, monthly or yearly term and as a one-time purchase without a term. The store shows you which offers are available and what they cost before you buy. The price shown there applies.

Purchase, payment, billing, automatic renewal, cancellation and refunds are handled exclusively by the Apple App Store or Google Play under the terms of the respective store. We do not receive your payment details. Refunds are requested from the store.

A subscription renews automatically for the chosen term unless you cancel it in the subscription settings of your store account in good time before the end of the current period. On the Apple App Store, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the end of the period. Deleting the app does not end a subscription.

If an offer includes a free trial, it converts into the paid subscription automatically when the trial ends unless you cancel in the store in good time before then. The same applies to introductory prices: once they end, the regular price is charged. The store shows the trial length and prices before you subscribe.

A purchase applies to the store account it was made with. On another device with the same store account you can restore it in the app. Purchases are not transferred between the Apple App Store and Google Play.

6. Right of withdrawal

Purchases in the app are made with the respective store. Consumers in the EU generally have a right of withdrawal for digital content and services. Information about this right, how to exercise it and when it may expire early, for example if you agreed to immediate delivery, is governed by the terms of Apple or Google. You declare a withdrawal to the store.

7. Licence

We grant you a simple, non-transferable and non-sublicensable right to use the app for private purposes on devices that you own or control, within the terms of the respective store. All other rights in the app, the website, texts, graphics and the ChessWOW brand remain with us.

8. Open source components

The app contains open source software. The Stockfish chess engine is licensed under the GNU General Public License version 3 (GPLv3). Such components are governed by their own licences, and these terms of use do not restrict the rights granted under them. You can find the licence texts in the app under Licences.

9. Permitted use

You are responsible for following the rules of the chess platforms, clubs, federations and tournaments where you play. Many of them have fair play rules that prohibit using engines and other aids in games that have not yet finished.

You must not circumvent technical protection measures of the app, for example to unlock paid features without buying them. Mandatory statutory rights and the rights under open source licences remain unaffected.

10. Availability and changes to the app

We keep developing ChessWOW and may change, add or remove features. We do not guarantee uninterrupted availability of the website or of third-party services. Some versions of the app may require a recent version of the operating system. Your statutory rights regarding changes to digital products remain unaffected.

11. Liability

We are liable without limitation for intent and gross negligence, for injury to life, body or health and under the German Product Liability Act (Produkthaftungsgesetz).

In the event of a slightly negligent breach of an essential obligation, our liability is limited to the foreseeable damage typical for this type of contract. Essential obligations are those whose fulfilment makes the proper performance of the contract possible in the first place and on whose fulfilment you may regularly rely. Otherwise we are not liable for slight negligence.

These rules also apply in favour of our employees and agents.

12. Changes to these terms

We may change these terms of use if the app, the legal situation or the terms of the stores change. The version published on this page with the date shown above applies. For purchases already made, changes to your disadvantage only apply to the extent permitted by law.

13. Governing law

The law of the Federal Republic of Germany applies, excluding the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. If you are a consumer with your habitual residence in another country, the mandatory consumer protection provisions of that country remain unaffected.

If any provision of these terms is invalid, the remaining provisions remain valid.

14. Consumer dispute resolution

We are neither obliged nor willing to take part in dispute resolution proceedings before a consumer arbitration board.

15. Contact

Questions about these terms of use can be sent to contact@chesswow.app. Postal address: BTechnology GmbH, Immermannstr. 19, 40210 Düsseldorf, Germany. Phone: +49 (0) 211 8220 8870.