How ChessBit's country list works: open countries, acknowledgment countries, where we aren't available, and why signup and verification both check location.
Updated 2026-10-122 min readChessBit Support
How Availability Works
ChessBit serves a defined list of countries. If a country isn't on the list, signup is refused rather than quietly allowed. There are three groups:
Open countries: sign up normally. It's a defined list, not whole regions. It includes Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Ghana, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, India, Turkey, the UAE, Australia and New Zealand.
Acknowledgment countries: served on a reverse-solicitation basis. Before signing up you confirm, on a screen at signup, that you sought ChessBit out yourself. This covers the United States, United Kingdom, EU countries, Canada, Switzerland, Norway and a few others.
Not served: countries under international sanctions, many others for legal reasons, and Panama, where ChessBit is incorporated. Signups from these are declined. If a country isn't mentioned above, assume it isn't served.
A few sub-national regions are also excluded even where the country is served, currently Andhra Pradesh and Telangana (India) and Ontario (Canada). Ukraine isn't on our list, and Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk are excluded by name.
What This Means in Practice
Signup checks where you're connecting from; verification checks where you live. Both need to be on the list. Your residence country at Level 1 must be an open or acknowledgment country, and India also requires your state.
Tor and data-centre or hosting connections are blocked at signup.
Using a VPN to disguise a restricted location breaks the Terms of Service and risks the account and its funds. Declared and detected locations are checked against each other.
Players in some countries on the international watch list (Kenya, Vietnam and Bolivia, for example) have their Level 1 reviewed by a person, which can take a little longer.
It's Your Responsibility Too
Laws change, and availability can change with them. You're responsible for making sure playing on ChessBit is legal where you live. If your country or location changes, contact compliance@chessbit.io. Section 14 of the Terms explains what happens to your balance.
ChessBit is a skill-based competition platform, not a casino, but some jurisdictions regulate real-money skill gaming too, which is why this list is conservative.
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