Terms of Service

Last updated: September 8, 2026

GoudaChess ("we," "us," or "our") provides Grandmaster Journey, including our iOS and Android apps and the website grandmasterjourney.com (together, the "Service"). By downloading, accessing, or using the Service, you agree to these Terms of Service (the "Terms"). If you do not agree, do not use the Service. Our Privacy Policy explains how we handle personal data.

1. Description of the Service

Grandmaster Journey is a chess learning and practice experience. Depending on your platform and version, features may include story journeys inspired by grandmasters, rated puzzles and history, daily challenges played against a configurable engine with replay-style records, progress and journey maps, artifacts and badges, profiles and social discovery, optional push notifications, themes, and related tools. The Service is provided for personal, non-commercial entertainment and study unless we agree otherwise in writing. We may add, change, or retire features over time.

Changes to these Terms: we may update these Terms from time to time. When we make material changes, we will notify you through the app, by email where we have your address, and/or by updating the Last updated date above. Continued use of the Service after changes take effect constitutes acceptance, except where applicable law requires your explicit consent.

2. Accounts, eligibility, and security

• Eligibility: you must be at least 13 years old to create an account (16 in parts of the European Union and other jurisdictions where local law sets a higher age for digital consent). If you are under the age of majority where you live, your parent or guardian should review these Terms with you and, where required by law, provide consent for account creation and personal data processing.

• Accuracy: you agree to provide accurate sign-in information (such as email and username) where required and to keep it reasonably up to date.

• Security: you are responsible for safeguarding your credentials and for activity under your account, including optional multi-factor authentication if you enable it.

• Deletion: you may start account deletion in the app. We first soft-delete your profile; permanent removal of the sign-in account and related personal gameplay data generally follows after 30 days, unless the law requires longer retention. Guest or device-local progress may be merged into an account where the app offers that flow.

• Uninstalling the app: removing the app from your device does not delete your account, cancel a subscription, or stop auto-renewal. Use in-app account deletion (where available) and your app store subscription settings to manage billing and data removal.

3. Fair play and prohibited conduct

To keep puzzles, daily challenges, ratings, streaks, and social features meaningful for everyone, you agree not to:

• Use unfair assistance during submitted play: use chess engines, tablebases, automated bots, streaming overlays, or other tools that suggest or deeply analyze moves while you are actively solving or playing a puzzle attempt, daily challenge attempt, or other session whose results are stored on our servers, except for features we intentionally provide inside the Service (for example engine play in designated daily modes).

• Manipulate the system: create or use multiple accounts to farm rewards, distort ratings or streaks, evade limits, or gain an unfair advantage; share accounts to bypass subscription or daily caps; or abuse rewarded ads or promotional offers.

• Attack or misuse the Service: reverse engineer or decompile the app; attempt to access non-public APIs; scrape or export data at scale; interfere with servers, other users, or security controls; or upload malware or illegal content through profile fields, photos, or feedback.

• Harass or mislead others: use offensive or deceptive usernames, impersonate people or brands, harass players, or misuse feedback or support channels.

We may warn, suspend, or terminate accounts, remove associated progress or rewards, or block access when we reasonably believe these rules are broken. Some violations may result in immediate termination without refund of any active subscription, to the extent allowed by law and app store rules.

4. Subscriptions, purchases, and advertising

• Grandmaster subscription: paid plans (branded in-app as Grandmaster / Pro) are sold through the Apple App Store or Google Play where available. Prices, tax, currency, and renewal intervals are shown at purchase. We may also grant access manually in limited cases (for example promotional or support reasons), as reflected on your profile.

• Billing and renewal: charges and auto-renewal are controlled by the store where you bought the subscription. Cancel at least 24 hours before renewal if you do not want another period, following that store’s instructions.

• Refunds and changes: digital purchases are generally final except where Apple, Google, or applicable law require otherwise. We may change subscription benefits or pricing with reasonable notice where stores and law allow; continued use after changes take effect can mean you accept the update.

• Free tier and ads: on supported phone and tablet builds, free accounts may see Google AdMob rewarded video ads to unlock extra puzzles or similar perks, subject to Google’s policies and your device privacy choices.

• Purchases by minors: if you are under the age of majority where you live, you may use paid features only with a parent or guardian’s consent. Store billing controls (including Ask to Buy on Apple devices) apply to in-app purchases.

• EU right of withdrawal: if you are a consumer in the European Union, you generally have a 14-day right to withdraw from distance contracts for digital content. By starting to use paid digital features immediately after purchase (for example activating a subscription), you request immediate delivery and, to the extent permitted by law, your statutory withdrawal right may end once use begins. Refunds otherwise follow Apple, Google, and applicable law.

5. User content, profiles, and license to operate

You retain rights in content you upload (such as profile photos and text fields), but you grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive license to host, process, transmit, resize, and display that content as needed to run the Service and as described in our Privacy Policy. Usernames and basic profile details are visible to others on public profile pages and in player search. Profile image files may be reachable by anyone with the image URL. You represent that you have the rights to upload what you share and that it does not violate law or third-party rights.

6. Intellectual property

The Service, including software, visuals, branding, curated puzzle content, story materials, text, and databases, is owned by us or our licensors and protected by copyright, trademark, and other laws. We grant you a limited, revocable, non-transferable license to use the Service for personal purposes. You may not copy, rent, sell, publicly perform, or create derivative works from the Service except where allowed by law or with our written permission.

• Third-party chess data: some positions or games may come from public-domain or licensed sources; respective owners retain their rights.

• Feedback: if you send ideas or feedback, you allow us to use them without obligation to pay or credit you, except where law forbids that.

• Trademarks: Grandmaster Journey, GoudaChess, and related marks are our property; do not use them in a confusing way without consent.

• Stockfish engine: game analysis and computer opponents use Stockfish (GPLv3). See Open Source Notices in Settings for license text and source links.

7. Disclaimers and limitation of liability

The Service is provided "as is" and "as available." Chess education here is not a substitute for professional coaching or tournament rules advice. Engine lines, ratings, hints, and analytics may be imperfect. To the maximum extent permitted by law, we disclaim implied warranties and are not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for loss of data, profits, or goodwill, arising from your use of the Service. Our aggregate liability for claims relating to the Service is limited to the greater of (a) what you paid us in the twelve months before the claim or (b) twenty euros (€20), except where liability cannot be limited by law (for example death or personal injury caused by our negligence).

8. Suspension and termination

You may stop using the Service at any time. We may suspend or terminate access, including deleting or restricting accounts or progress, if we reasonably believe you violated these Terms, create risk or legal exposure, or must comply with law or a platform requirement. Provisions that by their nature should survive (for example intellectual property, disclaimers, liability limits, governing law) survive termination.

9. Governing law and contact

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Netherlands, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. Courts in The Hague, Netherlands have exclusive jurisdiction, except where mandatory consumer protections where you live require otherwise.

• Support and legal notices: [email protected]

• Operator: GoudaChess, Alphen aan den Rijn, Netherlands. Legal and support contact is by email using the address above; we do not operate a public telephone support line.

10. App store terms

If you downloaded the app from a mobile app store, you must also comply with that store's terms. If you obtained the iOS app from the Apple App Store, the following additional terms apply and are required by Apple's minimum EULA terms:

• Agreement with us, not Apple: these Terms are between you and GoudaChess only, not Apple. We, not Apple, are solely responsible for the app and its content. These Terms may not conflict with the Apple Media Services Terms and Conditions as of the date you accept them.

• Scope of license: your license to use the iOS app is non-transferable and limited to use on Apple-branded products you own or control, as permitted by the Usage Rules in the Apple Media Services Terms and Conditions, including use through Family Sharing or volume purchasing where applicable.

• Maintenance and support: we are solely responsible for maintenance and support of the app, as described in these Terms or as required by law. Apple has no obligation to provide any maintenance or support services for the app.

• Warranty: we are solely responsible for any product warranties, whether express or implied by law, to the extent not effectively disclaimed in Section 7. If the app fails to conform to an applicable warranty, you may notify Apple, and Apple may refund the purchase price. To the maximum extent permitted by law, Apple will have no other warranty obligation with respect to the app, and any other warranty claims are our sole responsibility.

• Product claims: we, not Apple, are responsible for addressing claims by you or third parties relating to the app or your possession or use of it, including product liability, failure to conform to legal or regulatory requirements, and claims under consumer protection, privacy, or similar laws.

• Intellectual property infringement: if a third party claims the app or your use of it infringes intellectual property rights, we, not Apple, are solely responsible for investigating, defending, settling, and discharging that claim.

• Export and sanctions compliance: you represent that you are not located in a country subject to a U.S. Government embargo or designated as terrorist-supporting, and that you are not listed on any U.S. Government prohibited or restricted parties list.

• Other agreements: you must comply with applicable third-party terms when using the app (for example your wireless data or internet service agreement).

• Apple as third-party beneficiary: Apple and Apple’s subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these Terms. Upon your acceptance, Apple will have the right to enforce these Terms against you as a third-party beneficiary.

• Google Play: if you obtained the app from Google Play, you must also comply with the Google Play Terms of Service and applicable Google policies.