Play Daily (Correspondence) Chess Online

What correspondence chess is

Correspondence chess is the slow form of the game: instead of sitting opposite your opponent with a ticking clock, you exchange moves over hours or days. It is older than the postal service that made it famous - players once sent moves by letter, waiting weeks for a reply, and some of the finest games ever recorded were played that way.

The modern version keeps the depth and loses the waiting. On Daily Chess your games live on the server: make your move in the browser or the app, get on with your day, and reply whenever your opponent has moved. Most players keep several games running at once, so there is nearly always a move waiting somewhere.

Why play slowly when you could play blitz?

Because the thinking is the point. With a day or more per move you can actually calculate - work out your opponent's best reply rather than their most likely one, check your idea twice, and play the move you believe in rather than the one you found in eight seconds. Players who take up daily chess routinely find their over-the-board game improves, simply because slow games train honest calculation.

It also fits around real life in a way timed chess never can. A move over breakfast, another at lunch, a think on the commute. No carving out an uninterrupted hour, no losing on time because the doorbell rang. If life gets genuinely busy, timebanks and vacation days protect your games while you are away.

How it works here

We have run correspondence chess since 2001 - it is not a side mode here, it is the site. Games come with per-move time limits and timebanks, so the pace is agreed before you start. Beyond casual games there are long-running tournaments, ladders, and clan and club team matches, with rated games feeding a rating that follows you across all of them.

Chess engines are not permitted in rated play, and the site has enforced that seriously for two decades - the game you win is your own. When a game finishes, you can step through it move by move and see exactly where it was decided.

Getting started

A free account is all you need. Set up a game with your preferred time per move, take an open invite from another player, or enter a tournament and let the pairings do the work. If you are new to chess entirely, the getting started guide covers the moves, and our tactics puzzles are the quickest way to build sharpness between moves.

Frequently Asked Questions