The server issue has been resolved, according to our hosting provider, and we don't expect any further outages.
Due to the current outage affecting 3 of our database servers, puzzles and insights are temporarily unavailable, and most site features may have errors - including tournaments, game play, and broadcasts. We apologise again for any inconvenience.
Our servers hosting features related to puzzles and insights are experiencing unscheduled downtime, due to issues with our hosting provider. Other features may also be affected. We will give an update when these issues are resolved, and apologise for any inconvenience.
The Queens' Online Chess Festival is a series of online Blitz tournaments and open to all women and girls! The festival is organised by the FIDE Commission for Women’s Chess and will take place on Lichess from 1 to 29 March. Interested players can register now. Find out more in our announcement.
Join us now on YouTube and Twitch for the Bled Chess Festival Qualifiers Finals with our hosts IM Laura Unuk and GM Markus Ragger!
Watch the Bled Chess Festival Qualifiers Semifinals now on YouTube and Twitch with our hosts IM Laura Unuk and GM Markus Ragger! The top 30 players will qualify for the Finals tomorrow. Read more in our announcement.
Congratulations to team Ronaldo Playing Chess by @jack2212 for winning our Streamer Arena February 2026! Congrats also to K2N_chess for taking 2nd place, to IM YOSEPH AND FRIENDS for 3rd place, and to TIM NASIONAL CATUR ONLINE INDONESIA for 4th place. Thanks to all participating streamers and 1,438 registered players!
The $20,000 ChessMood 20/20 Grand Prix returns for a new season and will again be held on the 20th of each month at 20:00 UTC from February to December on Lichess! The event is open to all Lichess streamer teams. Read our full announcement and register for the first Qualifier Arena on .
GM Magnus Carlsen is the 2026 FIDE Freestyle Chess World Champion! Carlsen defeated GM Fabiano Caruana 2.5 to 1.5 in the final, while GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov took 3rd place against GM Vincent Keymer.
Get ready for our next Streamer Arena on , with prizes for streamers whose teams finish in the top 4! If you're a streamer and want to participate with your team, register now and check out our announcement for the schedule of the upcoming Streamer Arenas.
Congratulations to GM Sergei Zhigalko for winning our Blitz Titled Arena February 2026, ahead of IM Yoseph Theolifus Taher, IM Renato Alfredo Terry Luján, GM Oleksandr Bortnyk, and GM Mitrabha Guha!
From 15 to 22 February, you have the chance to qualify for the Bled Chess Festival 2026 through online qualifiers held on Lichess! The first qualifier arena starts tomorrow, . Check out our full announcement for the schedule and more information.
Our February 3+0 Warm-up Arena starts today, ! Play against some of the titled players before they enter our Blitz Titled Arena at .
The Chess960 FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship 2026 starts today, ! GMs Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana, Levon Aronian, Vincent Keymer and others will compete for the title and a total prize fund of $300,000 until . GM Hikaru Nakamura, the reigning Chess960 World Champion, declined the invitation to the event.
More new features and improvements were added to Lichess last month! See what the developers and community contributors have been working on in our updated changelog and discuss the changes in our feedback forum topic.
Any chess position with 8 pieces on the board and at least one pair of opposed pawns has been solved! Lichess can now tell you definitively if it's a win, loss or draw without requiring an engine. Read about the massive technological undertaking to accomplish this partial 8-piece tablebase in our blog.
Congratulations to GM Artem Uskov for winning our Bullet Titled Arena January 2026, ahead of GM Christopher Yoo, GM Oleksandr Bortnyk, IM Renato Alfredo Terry Luján, and GM Sergei Zhigalko!
Our Game of the Month January Contest is underway: Share your best Lichess standard game played in January 2026 until 12 February! The winner will be announced on 24 February, followed by a blog post with commentary on the game.
Congrats @BRIANGD on winning the Lichess Game of the Month December 2025! Thank you for all your countless submissions!
Congratulations to K2N_chess for winning our Streamer Arena January 2026! Congrats also to IM YOSEPH AND FRIENDS for taking 2nd place, to The Dark Horse Youtube and Twitch Community for 3rd place, and to Zhigalko_Sergei & Friends for 4th place. Thanks to all participating streamers and 1,824 registered players!
GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov won the Tata Steel Chess Masters 2026, finishing on 9/13! GM Andy Woodward won the Challengers with 10/13, qualifying to next year's Masters tournament. Check out our final recap with annotations by GM Renier Castellanos and WGM Petra Papp, and watch our player interviews on YouTube - including our winner's interview with Abdusattorov.
Our January 1+0 Warm-up Arena starts today, ! Play against some of the titled players before they enter our Bullet Titled Arena at .
With only two rounds left to play, GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov and GM Javokhir Sindarov are tied for 1st place in the Tata Steel Chess Masters 2026, while GM Andy Woodward is the sole leader of the Challengers. Check out our recap with annotations by GM Renier Castellanos and WGM Petra Papp, and watch our player interviews on YouTube.
Get ready for our next Streamer Arena on , with prizes for streamers whose teams finish in the top 4! If you're a streamer and want to participate with your team, see here.