About TobyChess

Most online chess sites ask a lot before they let you make a single move: an account, an email confirmation, a rating you have to protect, a UI crowded with social features you never asked for. We wanted something closer to how chess is actually played over the board with a friend — open, immediate, and focused entirely on the game.

That's why Play a Friend works the way it does: pick a time control, share one link, and you're both on the same board within seconds — no invitation email, no friend list to manage, nothing left behind after the game ends except the memory of who blundered the exchange on move 22.

The Daily Puzzle exists for a different reason. Tactical strength — spotting forks, pins, discovered attacks, and forced mating sequences — is one of the few chess skills that improves reliably with consistent, deliberate practice. So every day we hand-select a single position with a forced mate in three to five moves, and let you work through it step-by-step, with immediate color-coded feedback and an optional hint if you get stuck. No subscription, no puzzle rush timer pressuring you into guessing — just one good position a day.

We believe a chess site should respect two things: your time, and your privacy. TobyChess will never require an account to play, never sell your data (there is no personal data to sell), and will always keep its core experience — solving the daily puzzle and playing a friend — free. Advertising, not data collection, is what keeps the lights on; you can read exactly how that works in our Privacy Policy.