Privacy Policy
Last updated 9 October 2026
LorChess is a free chess site run by Lorand, an independent developer. This page explains what the site stores about you, who can see it, and how to have it removed. For questions or requests, write to lorchess@lorand77.dev.
What we store
- Your account: your username, your password, and the date you joined. Passwords are stored only as a one-way hash, so nobody, including us, can read them. We don't ask for your email address, your real name or anything else about you.
- Your play: your games (every move, the result and the time control), ratings, puzzle attempts, achievements, friends and friend requests, and your membership status.
- Chat: the messages you send in game chat. They are deleted 30 days after the game ends.
- Customization: the colours you choose and any images you upload for the board, pieces or background.
- Your login session: a record on the server that keeps you signed in for up to 7 days, or until you log out.
Who can see it
- Other signed-in players can see your username, rating, profile, statistics, achievements, friends and finished games. Games in progress can be watched live.
- Game chat is seen by the two players. Spectators have a separate chat that only other spectators see.
- Your uploaded images and colours are shown only to you.
- Nothing is visible to people who aren't signed in.
We don't sell your data, show ads or share your data with anyone, unless the law requires us to.
Cookies and tracking
LorChess sets one cookie, which keeps you signed in. It is needed for the site to work. The site uses no analytics, advertising or tracking of any kind. Your browser also stores your light or dark theme so that pages open in the right colours.
Game review runs the Stockfish engine inside your browser, and none of the analysis is sent to us.
IP addresses and logs
The server keeps logs so that we can find and fix problems. They record what your account does on the site (for example signing in, starting or finishing a game, or loading your statistics) with the time, whether it worked, and your username and account number. They never contain your password, your chat messages or your uploaded images.
We use your IP address to limit repeated login and sign-up attempts, and for that it is held in memory for about 15 minutes. It is also written to the logs when someone signs in, tries to sign in or signs up, so that we can deal with password guessing and abuse. It is not recorded for anything else you do on the site.
Logs are deleted after 14 days and are not included in backups.
Where it is kept
The site runs on a server at Amazon Web Services. The database is backed up every night to Backblaze B2, and each backup is kept for up to 90 days.
Your choices
- You can remove your uploaded images and colours at any time under Customize.
- To delete your account, or to get a copy of what we hold about you, email lorchess@lorand77.dev with your username. Because we don't know your email address, we may ask you to prove that the account is yours.
- When an account is deleted, its chat, images, friends and sessions are removed. The games stay in your opponents' histories but no longer show your name. Copies in backups disappear as those backups expire, within 90 days, and log entries that mention the account within 14 days.
Children
LorChess is not for children under 13. If we learn that someone under 13 has an account, we will delete it.
Changes
If this policy changes, we will update this page and the date at the top. If a change is significant, we will also announce it on the site.