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Lichess: End of Year Update 2025

I deleted all my blog posts because I was tired of the content moderation by Lichess.
Lichess calls it limiting visibility; I call it shadow-banning.
Some of my blogs had more than 10,000 views, for instance, on the Steps Method.
You work for hours on a blog, sometimes it gets 1,000s of views, and sometimes 10s of views. It is frustrating and not worth it.

The arguments are random, and there is no direct communication. I expected more from a site that prides itself on openness.

The two issues are:

  • writing about third-party tools
    Forward Chess, ChessBase, and Hiarcs were all OK, but Qchess was not.
    My only objective is to share tools I discovered that can improve your chess training.

  • AI-generated content
    I make a video with an original idea, like 'the best prompt strategy to use Gemini 3 Pro to explain a position'.
    AI summarizes the transcript, and that summary is the input for my blog.
    Shadowbanned! Lichess shadowbans based on style rather than content.

I made blogs solely to share my knowledge and experience, but that is history now. Sad that it had to end this way.

My expectation was that, for titled players, Lichess would leave a message and give you an opportunity to correct.
But it is just a dark hole in which your blog disappears and never sees the sunlight again.

I deleted all my blog posts because I was tired of the content moderation by Lichess. Lichess calls it limiting visibility; I call it shadow-banning. Some of my blogs had more than 10,000 views, for instance, on the Steps Method. You work for hours on a blog, sometimes it gets 1,000s of views, and sometimes 10s of views. It is frustrating and not worth it. The arguments are random, and there is no direct communication. I expected more from a site that prides itself on openness. The two issues are: - writing about third-party tools Forward Chess, ChessBase, and Hiarcs were all OK, but Qchess was not. My only objective is to share tools I discovered that can improve your chess training. - AI-generated content I make a video with an original idea, like 'the best prompt strategy to use Gemini 3 Pro to explain a position'. AI summarizes the transcript, and that summary is the input for my blog. Shadowbanned! Lichess shadowbans based on style rather than content. I made blogs solely to share my knowledge and experience, but that is history now. Sad that it had to end this way. My expectation was that, for titled players, Lichess would leave a message and give you an opportunity to correct. But it is just a dark hole in which your blog disappears and never sees the sunlight again.

I was a big fan of the new Lichess app, but lately it has regressed.

Two examples:

  • When I watch a game with analysis on, it shows variations on my iPad 12.9 but not on my iPad 11-inch, despite identical settings!
    On the iPad 11-inch, you do see the evaluation bar, but no variations with evaluations.

  • In Watch, there is an overview of streamers.
    The links to Twitch streamers work, but the links to YouTube streamers are not functional.
    This is the case on both my iPads.

Please add a button in the app to report bugs. Thank you.

I was a big fan of the new Lichess app, but lately it has regressed. Two examples: - When I watch a game with analysis on, it shows variations on my iPad 12.9 but not on my iPad 11-inch, despite identical settings! On the iPad 11-inch, you do see the evaluation bar, but no variations with evaluations. - In Watch, there is an overview of streamers. The links to Twitch streamers work, but the links to YouTube streamers are not functional. This is the case on both my iPads. Please add a button in the app to report bugs. Thank you.

What are you doing actively against cheaters? Sometimes it is really obvious, yet only once in a while I get some stolen rating points back!
How many accounts were closed for cheating? How many of them titled? How many % is that?

What are you doing actively against cheaters? Sometimes it is really obvious, yet only once in a while I get some stolen rating points back! How many accounts were closed for cheating? How many of them titled? How many % is that?

dear Han, I follow your account here on Lichess and therefore I always get notifications about your posts! I understand your frustration, but be sure that your posts are quite interesting and very helpful. It is a pitty that you deleted them all. I'll miss them. Hope you keep publishing here and reconsider. After all, you are among the top chess trainers in the world and of course on Lichess and anything you write is always worth the time. I got the feeling that people don't play as much online chess during the holiday breaks, that might also be something to consider? Groeten, C.

@HanSchut said in #21:

I deleted all my blog posts because I was tired of the content moderation by Lichess.
Lichess calls it limiting visibility; I call it shadow-banning.
Some of my blogs had more than 10,000 views, for instance, on the Steps Method.
You work for hours on a blog, sometimes it gets 1,000s of views, and sometimes 10s of views. It is frustrating and not worth it.

The arguments are random, and there is no direct communication. I expected more from a site that prides itself on openness.

The two issues are:

  • writing about third-party tools
    Forward Chess, ChessBase, and Hiarcs were all OK, but Qchess was not.
    My only objective is to share tools I discovered that can improve your chess training.

  • AI-generated content
    I make a video with an original idea, like 'the best prompt strategy to use Gemini 3 Pro to explain a position'.
    AI summarizes the transcript, and that summary is the input for my blog.
    Shadowbanned! Lichess shadowbans based on style rather than content.

I made blogs solely to share my knowledge and experience, but that is history now. Sad that it had to end this way.

My expectation was that, for titled players, Lichess would leave a message and give you an opportunity to correct.
But it is just a dark hole in which your blog disappears and never sees the sunlight again.

dear Han, I follow your account here on Lichess and therefore I always get notifications about your posts! I understand your frustration, but be sure that your posts are quite interesting and very helpful. It is a pitty that you deleted them all. I'll miss them. Hope you keep publishing here and reconsider. After all, you are among the top chess trainers in the world and of course on Lichess and anything you write is always worth the time. I got the feeling that people don't play as much online chess during the holiday breaks, that might also be something to consider? Groeten, C. @HanSchut said in #21: > I deleted all my blog posts because I was tired of the content moderation by Lichess. > Lichess calls it limiting visibility; I call it shadow-banning. > Some of my blogs had more than 10,000 views, for instance, on the Steps Method. > You work for hours on a blog, sometimes it gets 1,000s of views, and sometimes 10s of views. It is frustrating and not worth it. > > The arguments are random, and there is no direct communication. I expected more from a site that prides itself on openness. > > The two issues are: > > - writing about third-party tools > Forward Chess, ChessBase, and Hiarcs were all OK, but Qchess was not. > My only objective is to share tools I discovered that can improve your chess training. > > - AI-generated content > I make a video with an original idea, like 'the best prompt strategy to use Gemini 3 Pro to explain a position'. > AI summarizes the transcript, and that summary is the input for my blog. > Shadowbanned! Lichess shadowbans based on style rather than content. > > I made blogs solely to share my knowledge and experience, but that is history now. Sad that it had to end this way. > > My expectation was that, for titled players, Lichess would leave a message and give you an opportunity to correct. > But it is just a dark hole in which your blog disappears and never sees the sunlight again.

I'm pretty sure that nowadays there exist simpler and faster ways to sych app and web versions of Lichess. Don't know exactly how Lichess is developed and if they are trying this, but the app features are clearly lagging behind the web version. And some features like the web analysis screen got worse this year.

This is what Gemini had to say:
To keep web and mobile apps in sync, developers use unified frameworks like Capacitor or Flutter to write a single codebase that deploys simultaneously to browsers and app stores. This "write once, run anywhere" approach is supported by real-time backends like Firebase, ensuring user data remains consistent across all devices instantly. By automating the build process through CI/CD pipelines, teams can focus entirely on feature development while the system handles the technical delivery to every platform at once.

@FearlessKing64 said in #22:

I was a big fan of the new Lichess app, but lately it has regressed.

Two examples:

  • When I watch a game with analysis on, it shows variations on my iPad 12.9 but not on my iPad 11-inch, despite identical settings!
    On the iPad 11-inch, you do see the evaluation bar, but no variations with evaluations.

  • In Watch, there is an overview of streamers.
    The links to Twitch streamers work, but the links to YouTube streamers are not functional.
    This is the case on both my iPads.

Please add a button in the app to report bugs. Thank you.

I'm pretty sure that nowadays there exist simpler and faster ways to sych app and web versions of Lichess. Don't know exactly how Lichess is developed and if they are trying this, but the app features are clearly lagging behind the web version. And some features like the web analysis screen got worse this year. This is what Gemini had to say: *To keep web and mobile apps in sync, developers use unified frameworks like Capacitor or Flutter to write a single codebase that deploys simultaneously to browsers and app stores. This "write once, run anywhere" approach is supported by real-time backends like Firebase, ensuring user data remains consistent across all devices instantly. By automating the build process through CI/CD pipelines, teams can focus entirely on feature development while the system handles the technical delivery to every platform at once.* @FearlessKing64 said in #22: > I was a big fan of the new Lichess app, but lately it has regressed. > > Two examples: > > - When I watch a game with analysis on, it shows variations on my iPad 12.9 but not on my iPad 11-inch, despite identical settings! > On the iPad 11-inch, you do see the evaluation bar, but no variations with evaluations. > > - In Watch, there is an overview of streamers. > The links to Twitch streamers work, but the links to YouTube streamers are not functional. > This is the case on both my iPads. > > Please add a button in the app to report bugs. Thank you.

I skimmed the changelog but wasn't able to find details about:
"adjusted our rating system to account for White’s first-move advantage"
Can anyone elaborate?

I skimmed the changelog but wasn't able to find details about: "adjusted our rating system to account for White’s first-move advantage" Can anyone elaborate?

I like the new mobile app. The design looks modern and some features are better then in the browser. But what i am missing is the lobby feature. Please add that as fast as you can.

I like the new mobile app. The design looks modern and some features are better then in the browser. But what i am missing is the lobby feature. Please add that as fast as you can.

@Lichess
I want to discuss something deeper now that we are starting 2026: Lichess has attached itself to the philosophy, way of life, and core values of its founder Thibault Duplessis and of course Lichess has given humanity enourmous value and I'm grateful to Thibault and all devs for it!

Just want to provide feedback: Duplessis has said numerous times online or during interviews the following: If we (Lichess) get more donations, we'll get more things done; if someday we get less, things will slow down. We don't have to be profitable, just to be sustainable.

This idea of being sustainable, not profitable, seems to be the huge bottle neck of Lichess development. There are myriad of examples of profitable non for profits: the Mayo Clinic, Doctors without Borders, OpenStreet Maps, Signal, Raspberry Pi Hardware, Mozilla, and the list goes on with a big and endless etcetera.

My feedback: Make Lichess profitable, make it grow, hire more devs, and increase your impact both online and offline!

@Lichess I want to discuss something deeper now that we are starting 2026: Lichess has attached itself to the philosophy, way of life, and core values of its founder Thibault Duplessis and of course Lichess has given humanity enourmous value and I'm grateful to Thibault and all devs for it! Just want to provide feedback: Duplessis has said numerous times online or during interviews the following: *If we (Lichess) get more donations, we'll get more things done; if someday we get less, things will slow down. We don't have to be profitable, just to be sustainable.* This idea of *being sustainable, not profitable*, seems to be the huge bottle neck of Lichess development. There are myriad of examples of profitable non for profits: the Mayo Clinic, Doctors without Borders, OpenStreet Maps, Signal, Raspberry Pi Hardware, Mozilla, and the list goes on with a big and endless etcetera. My feedback: Make Lichess profitable, make it grow, hire more devs, and increase your impact both online and offline!