Game terms & fair play

By starting or joining a game, you accept these Game Terms. They apply to chess, backgammon, private tables, invitations, in-game chat and conduct connected to Arena, including arrangements made outside the website. If you do not agree, do not start or join a game.

These rules supplement the general Terms of Use. The Privacy notice explains data practices; accepting game rules does not waive your legal rights or replace any separate privacy consent that may be required. Current live games are unranked: a time-control name does not create a rating, prize or entitlement.

During a live game, do not use chess engines, backgammon analysers, bots, scripts, AI tools, external move suggestions or another person's coaching to choose or execute moves. Do not automate play, exploit a defect, manipulate clocks or dice, or knowingly take advantage of an incorrect game state. Built-in legal-move indicators, premoves and accessibility controls remain allowed.

Do not share, lend, sell or use another person's account to play, impersonate another player, or conceal who is controlling a seat. Protect your sign-in details and report suspected account access. Do not create replacement accounts to evade a restriction.

All money games, wagers, stakes, side bets and prizes financed by entry or participation fees are prohibited. This covers cash, cryptocurrency, tokens, transferable virtual items, goods, services or anything else of value, whether a game depends on skill or chance. Do not collect an entry fee, build a prize pool, hold a stake or escrow, buy or sell a result, or arrange a payment tied to participation, a move or an outcome.

The ban includes private agreements, bets between spectators, and payments or settlements on other websites, apps, Discord, social channels or in person. Do not advertise, solicit, broker, link to or recruit players for such arrangements using Arena. A private table or an agreement between players does not make betting permissible. Arena does not authorise these arrangements or provide a betting or payment-settlement service.

Threats, harassment, hate directed at protected characteristics, sexual harassment, intimidation, stalking, scams, spam and deliberate humiliation are not allowed. Do not post illegal content, expose another person's private information, share credentials, or pressure someone to disclose personal details, send money or leave the platform for an unsafe interaction.

Keep criticism about the game, not personal attacks. Do not use names, avatars, invitations or chat to impersonate staff, target another player or distribute harmful links. Other players can read and copy what you share with them: never put passwords, financial information or sensitive personal information in table chat.

Do not collude, arrange wins or losses, feed results, control both seats, or use multiple accounts or browser sessions to manipulate opponents or participation. Coordinated account activity and multiboxing intended to gain an unfair advantage or bypass limits are prohibited.

Do not hijack a table, enter accounts or rooms without authorisation, exploit an invitation, flood requests or chat, disrupt connections, harass players across tables, or deliberately stall or disconnect to interfere with play. Report security problems without probing other people's accounts or continuing to exploit them.

Online play uses your signed-in account and session checks. Table records include participant identifiers, display names and avatar references, board and turn state, clocks, results and timestamps; chess rooms also store accepted move notation. In-game messages are stored with the sender's account identifier, display name and time. Participants see the table state, player names and avatars, and shared chat. Cloudflare provides the hosting and storage used to operate these features.

Game and chat records persist beyond the live connection. Closing the tab, leaving a table or seeing only recent messages does not delete them; the current beta does not automatically erase table or chat history on exit. Local error notices are shown only to the affected player in the current interface. Necessary records may be consulted to investigate abuse or technical problems. See Privacy for account and device data and access, correction or deletion requests; do not assume deleting an account immediately removes every existing table record.

Arena is in beta. Bugs, maintenance, device limitations and network problems can interrupt a game, delay a move, prevent reconnection or affect the displayed result. Uninterrupted gameplay, recovery of every interrupted game and correction of every disputed result are not guaranteed.

The server validates online moves and records the authoritative game state. A move displayed immediately in your browser is not final until accepted by the server. Disconnecting or closing a tab does not pause a running server clock; network delay can affect the time available. Do not exploit a disagreement between the displayed and recorded state. Share the table code and relevant time when reporting a problem.

A violation can lead immediately, without prior warning, to removal of content, termination of a game, invalidation of a result, restricted access, account suspension or a ban across the Guys Cast website. Money games and betting are grounds for a sitewide ban without warning. Serious safety or security concerns may also require temporary restrictions while a report is reviewed. Do not evade an action through another account, person or device.

Guys Shield's deterministic real-time rules can prevent selected prohibited chat, link, payment/wager and protocol activity before publication or acceptance. Advanced contextual AI and comprehensive game-behavior coverage remain in development and report their status separately. The Protected with Guys Shield AI seal is not a claim of perfect detection, zero false positives or uninterrupted coverage. Reports and authorized evidence support proportionate human-reviewed decisions and appeals.

Use the Contact page for the official contact route and its current availability. During beta, submission may be unavailable: an unavailable or failed form does not submit a report or appeal. Keep the relevant information and check the page again when submission is restored; no response deadline is promised.

For a game report or an appeal, include your account reference, table code, approximate time, a concise explanation and relevant screenshots or message excerpts. Do not include passwords, sign-in tokens, payment details or unrelated private information. Explain why you believe a restriction or result should be reviewed. Identity verification may be needed for sensitive account or privacy requests. A review request does not itself lift a restriction or authorise evasion.