» List all questions and answers

A: The GameKnot server automatically checks all submitted moves for being valid and in accordance with the chess rules. In other words, if a move was submitted and accepted by the server, that means it is perfectly valid and within the rules of chess. Most often it is the pawn's "capture en passant" that is being mistaken for an illegal move.

A: Please visit the following page for more information about the emergency postponement.

A: The mini-tournament games are started automatically based on the player availability (up to 4 games per player in each mini-tournament). So if no games are being started for you in a mini-tournament, that means there are no players available to play against you at this time. Please simply wait and the games will be started for you as soon as other players either finish some of their current games in the mini-tournament or return from their vacations, etc..

A: As per the chess rules, if the last 50 consecutive moves have been made by each player without the movement of any pawn and without the capture of any piece, the game can be declared a draw by either of the opponents. The other player's approval is not required, and the game ends immediately and is recorded as a draw for both players.

To declare the draw in a game due to the 50-move rule, please use "Declare▼" link located directly below the game board.

A: Removing the vacation flag from your account does not automatically cancel the postponement for all your games. It is actually not recommended to cancel the postponements for your own games as your opponents might already be counting on using the extra time. Please simply continue making your moves normally and the original time control will be restored for all your games once the original postponement period is over.

A: If you are unable to select a particular chess piece on the board, that means it has no valid moves available. Most often it happens when the piece is "pinned" -- i.e. it is in the way of an attacking piece of the opposite color, so you cannot move your piece without placing your King in check. In other words, the chess piece you are trying to move is protecting your King from being captured, so it cannot be moved.

A: We do not specifically support any particular PDAs or smartphones, but if your handheld device provides full support for HTML 4.01 and JavaScript 1.5, you should have no problems using GameKnot on it. If you are having any issues making a move on the chess board, please try enabling the "legacy chess board" option in your account's settings.

A: Players can be moved to a higher tournament section if they exceed the rating limit of their section after the 1st round (and only after the 1st round), so all games in all lower sections in the same tournament have to be completed first. The reason for it is so that not only the winner in each tournament group is established, but in case they are moved to the higher section, the runner-ups are determined as well to advance to the 2nd round in the same section instead of the winner. Please be patient and a separate announcement will be made once the 2nd round can be started.

A: The word winner is shown next to the player(s) name if they will advance to the next round regardless of the results of the remaining games. If someone else in the same tournament group ends up with the top score as well later on, they will also be declared a winner and will advance to the next round as well.

A: Please use the following page to submit questions, comments and suggestions to GameKnot's customer support.

A: Please visit the following page to request password reminder service.

A: If you need to postpone your games due to a vacation, or holidays, or an illness, you can do so via the corresponding link located directly below your active games list.

A: The link to play Blitz Chess is located on "start game" and "join game" pages, accessible via the main menu.

A: As noted on the puzzle contest page, only solving the today's puzzle counts towards the contest score (i.e. you have to solve the contest puzzle on the day it was featured, solving the past contest puzzles won't increase your contest score). Also, please make sure that you access the today's contest puzzle via the corresponding link located on the contest page (i.e. not the daily puzzle on GameKnot's front page).

Also, to make sure the today's puzzle is recorded as solved for your account, after solving it and receiving the corresponding message, please check the puzzle contest page. If it doesn't show "solved" next to the today's puzzle link, please click on it to load the puzzle again and re-enter the solution.

A: If you believe you have an alternative solution to today's contest puzzle, please return the next day and use "Options" → "Another solution…" in the menu in the right bottom corner of the puzzle page to enter it. If your alternative solution is accepted, please contact GameKnot's customer support and the puzzle will be marked as solved for you.

A: You can access the player's profile/stats page and if you played any games against that player before, there will be a "Past games against …" line near the top of the page. Clicking on "Past games" part will take you to the page that lists all your past games against that particular player.

Alternatively, you can access your win/loss/draw table and then click on the number in the "Games" column to access the list of your past games against that particular player.

A: Please simply add the player to your ignore list and they won't be able to send you any messages, or challenge you to a game, or join any of your games. Please note that the games that are already in progress will not be cancelled, but all game comments made by the player will be removed.

A: You can cancel your premium membership subscription or check its status using the same page where you subscribed: cancel subscription.

You can cancel at any time and the premium membership status will expire for your account at the end of the billing period (i.e. the subscription will not be automatically renewed). If there is no "cancel" button on the page, that means your subscription has already been cancelled and your premium membership will automatically expire on the date shown.

If you subscribed via PayPal, you can also cancel your premium subscription by logging in to your PayPal account.

A: Simply click on the player's user name to access their profile/stats page, and the link to send them a private message will be located on that page (in the middle).

A: An unrated game can only be started when you challenge another player to a game directly (there is an option to make the game unrated on the challenge form). It is not possible to create an unrated open challenge. It is also not possible to change the game's status to unrated (or rated) after the game is already in progress.