Terms of Service

These Terms of Service (the “Terms”) are entered into between you and [REGISTERED COMPANY NAME — TO BE CONFIRMED], registered at [REGISTERED ADDRESS — TO BE COMPLETED] (“we”, “us”, “Corgi Chess”). By creating an account, depositing funds, or entering any competition, you accept these Terms and our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated by reference.

If you do not agree, do not use the service. These Terms are published in English; interface translations are provided for convenience, and the English text governs in the event of any conflict.

Corgi Chess operates skill-based chess competitions. Players pay an entry fee to compete; entry fees fund a prize pool that is distributed to top finishers according to a split published before the competition begins. We retain a stated percentage of the pool (the “service fee”) as our compensation for operating the competition.

Every result on this platform is produced by the moves players make. There is no random element in determining outcomes, no element of the operator playing against you, and no product whose result is decided other than by the competitors’ own play. Prize eligibility follows final standings and nothing else.

Nothing in these Terms is a representation that the service is lawful in your location. Determining that is your responsibility — see section 4.

To open or hold an account you must:

• be at least 18 years old, or the age of majority where you live if higher;
• have the legal capacity to enter into a binding contract;
• access the service from a region we permit (section 4);
• not appear on any applicable sanctions list, and not act on behalf of anyone who does;
• not be excluded by us under section 11.

You may hold only one account. Additional accounts — including accounts opened to circumvent a suspension, to enter the same competition more than once, or to arrange results between accounts you control — may be closed, and entries and prizes associated with them forfeited.

Access is restricted by region. We screen the country and, where applicable, the first-level subdivision associated with your account and your connection, and we may block registration, deposits, entries, or withdrawals on that basis. The restricted list changes as law and licensing change, without notice to you.

You must not use a VPN, proxy, or any other method to misrepresent your location. Doing so is a material breach: we may suspend the account, void affected entries, and withhold prizes pending review. Where a jurisdiction becomes restricted while you hold a balance, we will permit withdrawal of that balance subject to sections 6 and 7 and to applicable law.

You are responsible for your credentials and for everything done through your account. Use a strong, unique password, and notify us at info@corgichess.com immediately if you suspect unauthorised access. We are not liable for losses arising from your failure to keep credentials secure, except to the extent the loss results from our own failure.

Account information you give us must be accurate and kept current. Accounts are personal and may not be sold, transferred, or shared.

The competition terms shown on a competition's page before you enter (its split, service fee, minimum number of entrants, any guaranteed prize pool, and how unfilled and shared places are paid) form part of these Terms for that competition.

Prizes are credited to your platform balance on settlement. Where verification is required for the amount involved (section 7), a prize may be held until verification completes.

If a competition cannot be completed — too few entrants, a technical fault, or a decision by us to cancel — entry fees are refunded to the players who paid them. Where a competition is partially played, we will settle it on the fairest basis reasonably available and will explain the basis used.

Balances are denominated in USDC. Deposits are credited once the corresponding transfer is final on the Polygon network and has been matched to the wallet you have linked to your account. Only a wallet you have proven control of, by signing a message we issue, can be linked, and withdrawals are paid only to that same address.

Blockchain transfers are irreversible. We cannot recover funds sent to an incorrect address, sent on the wrong network, or sent from a wallet you do not control. Check every address and network before you transact.

Identity verification may be required before a deposit, entry, or withdrawal is permitted, with the level of verification depending on the amounts involved. We may decline or delay a withdrawal where verification is incomplete, where we are investigating a suspected breach of these Terms, or where we are required to do so by law. We do not pay out to an unverified account where verification is required for the amount.

Your platform balance is not a bank deposit, is not insured, and earns no interest. We do not extend credit; you may only enter competitions with funds already in your balance.

The integrity of results is the product. While a game is in progress you must not:

• consult a chess engine, an analysis tool, an opening book beyond what a competition expressly allows, or any other person;
• use automated software to select or submit moves on your behalf;
• agree with an opponent to a predetermined result, or otherwise coordinate to affect standings or prize distribution;
• deliberately lose, stall, or abandon a game to influence a prize outcome for yourself or another entrant;
• interfere with the service — probing or exploiting the API, submitting moves outside the interface we provide, or attempting to influence another player’s clock or connection.

We monitor for these behaviours, including by automated analysis of move timing and move quality. Where we find a breach, we may void the affected games, forfeit the entry and any prize, deduct amounts already credited, and suspend or close the account. Where a forfeited prize affects the standings of a settled competition, we may redistribute it to the players who should have received it.

Automated detection is not the final word: if a decision materially affects you, you may ask for human review under section 9.

The result recorded by our servers is authoritative. Moves are validated server-side, and the recorded game — moves, clocks, and result — is the record of what happened.

If you believe a result or a settlement is wrong, raise a dispute from the game itself, using “Report a problem” once the game has finished. We will review the recorded game and any related records, and tell you the outcome. Raising or closing a dispute does not affect any right you have to bring a claim under section 14.

We may correct a settlement — in either direction — where we identify an error in our own calculation, a fault in the service, or a breach of section 8. Where a correction reduces your balance, we will explain the basis and the amount.

You must not:

• use the service for money laundering, sanctions evasion, or any unlawful purpose;
• deposit funds you do not own, or funds derived from unlawful activity, or use the platform primarily to move funds rather than to compete;
• attempt to gain unauthorised access to any account, system, or data, or test the security of the service without our written permission;
• scrape, resell, or redistribute service data other than your own, or use the service to build a competing product;
• harass, abuse, threaten, or impersonate any person, including in usernames and in dispute submissions;
• place a disproportionate load on the service, whether by automated request volume or otherwise.

We may suspend or close an account, and withhold amounts in it pending investigation, where we reasonably believe there has been a breach of these Terms, where we are required to by law, or where suspension is necessary to protect other players or the service. Except where the law or an investigation prevents it, we will tell you the reason and release any balance you are properly entitled to.

You may close your account at any time from your account settings or by contacting info@corgichess.com. Withdraw your balance first — closure does not forfeit it, but it is simpler to settle beforehand. If you would like us to block your access for a period, ask us and we will apply it; we will not reverse a self-imposed exclusion before its term ends.

Financial and competition records are retained after closure, as described in the Privacy Policy — we anonymise personal identifiers rather than deleting the underlying records, because we are required to keep them.

The service, its software, and its branding are ours or our licensors’, and nothing in these Terms transfers ownership of them. You get a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to use the service as intended.

You retain any rights you have in content you submit. You grant us a licence to host, store, display, and reproduce it as needed to run the service — for example publishing your username on leaderboards and your games in public records, brackets, and replays.

The service is provided “as is” and “as available”. To the extent the law permits, we exclude implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. We do not warrant that the service will be uninterrupted or error-free, and we do not control the Polygon network, the availability of node providers, or the behaviour of any third-party wallet you choose to use.

To the extent the law permits, we are not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for lost profits or lost opportunity. Our total liability arising out of or relating to the service is limited to the greater of (a) the total service fees we retained from competitions you entered in the twelve months before the event giving rise to the claim, and (b) 100 USDC.

Nothing in these Terms limits liability that cannot lawfully be limited, including liability for fraud, for fraudulent misrepresentation, or for death or personal injury caused by negligence. Some jurisdictions do not allow certain exclusions, in which case the exclusions apply only so far as that jurisdiction permits, and your statutory rights as a consumer are unaffected.

These Terms are governed by the laws of [GOVERNING LAW JURISDICTION — TO BE COMPLETED], without regard to conflict-of-law rules.

Before starting formal proceedings, contact us at [legal@your-domain — TO BE COMPLETED] with a description of the dispute and the resolution you want. Most matters are resolved this way, and we ask for 30 days to try. If the dispute is not resolved, it will be finally settled by binding individual arbitration seated in [ARBITRATION VENUE — TO BE COMPLETED], except that either of us may bring a claim in small-claims court, and either of us may seek injunctive relief in any court of competent jurisdiction to protect intellectual property or prevent unauthorised access.

Disputes are resolved individually. Neither of us may bring a class, collective, or representative action, and an arbitrator may not consolidate claims without the consent of both of us. Where the law of your country of residence gives you a non-waivable right to bring proceedings locally, or grants consumer protections that this section would override, that law prevails over this section to the extent of the conflict.

We may change the service, and we may change these Terms as the service, the law, or our licensing position evolves. We will update the effective date above and, where a change is material, notify you in the application or by email before it takes effect. Continuing to use the service after a change takes effect means you accept the updated Terms; if you do not, stop using the service and withdraw your balance.

A change to the published split or service fee for a competition never applies to a competition that has already started.

If any provision of these Terms is held unenforceable, the rest remains in force and the unenforceable provision applies to the maximum extent permitted. Our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver of it. You may not assign these Terms; we may assign them to an affiliate or in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, on notice to you. These Terms, with the Privacy Policy, are the entire agreement between us about the service.

Questions about these Terms: [legal@your-domain — TO BE COMPLETED]. Questions about your account: info@corgichess.com.