Game Rules & Time Controls

ChessBit's four time controls, how stakes, fees and payouts work, and what happens on draws, aborts, flagging, disconnects and no-shows.

Time Controls

ChessBit runs four time controls, all sudden death (no increment):

Mode	Clock
Bullet	1+0
Blitz	3+0 or 5+0
Rapid	10+0

Each mode has its own rating under the hood, so your Bullet form doesn't drag down your Rapid matchmaking. 3+0 and 5+0 share one Blitz rating, and the lobby's Blitz filter shows both.

Stakes & Payouts

Minimum stake: $1 (USD value), in any supported coin. Your verification level sets the ceiling; see Verification levels. New players also have a lower cap while their rating settles; see Matchmaking & ratings.
Both players stake the same USD value. Stakes move into escrow the moment a game is created or joined, so they can't be spent or withdrawn mid-game.
The platform fee is 10% of each player's stake. Higher loyalty tiers have a reduced rate. The winner receives the whole pot minus the fees, so a $10 vs $10 game pays the winner $18.
Draws: each player gets their stake back minus their own fee. Threefold repetition, stalemate, insufficient material and the 50-move rule are detected automatically; you can also offer and accept draws.
When a game has a winner, the winnings are held until our automatic fair-play check clears the game, and you get a "Payout Released" notification when they land. Draws and aborted games pay out straight away. See Fair play & Argus.

One Game at a Time

You can play one staked game at a time. An open challenge you create expires after 10 minutes if nobody joins, with your stake released.

First Move & Aborting

Each player gets a short window to make their first move: 15 seconds at 1+0, 45 at 3+0, 60 at 5+0 and 2 minutes at 10+0. White's window starts when the board opens; Black's starts after White has moved. Neither player's main clock runs until both have moved.

If you miss your window, the game is cancelled and both stakes are refunded.

Until both players have moved you can also press Abort yourself. It cancels the game and returns both stakes in full, with no fee and no rating change. After both players have moved, the button becomes Resign. Tournament games can't be aborted.

Disconnects

If you lose your connection, close the tab or leave the game page, a visible countdown starts for your opponent to see:

Mode	Grace time
Bullet	30 seconds
Blitz (3+0 and 5+0)	60 seconds
Rapid	120 seconds

Reconnect within the window and play continues. If the countdown runs out, the connected player wins. There's more in Connection problems & disconnects.

Keep the game tab in the foreground. Switching away doesn't start the disconnect countdown, but your opponent will see you as disconnected, your clock keeps running, and repeated tab-switching is one of the things fair-play checks look at. The clock itself is enforced by the server, so a frozen screen never gives extra time.

Resigning & Timeouts

Once both players have moved, you can Resign at any point and your stake goes to your opponent. Running out of time (flagging) loses the game, unless your opponent has no way to checkmate you with the pieces they have left, for example a bare king. In that case it's a draw. Clocks are server-authoritative.