Connection Issues During Games

What Happens When You Disconnect

Losing connection mid-game doesn't lose the game instantly. When ChessBit notices you've dropped, a grace countdown starts, visible to both players:

Reconnect before it runs out: reopen the game page and play continues from where it was. If the countdown expires, the connected player wins.

The countdown starts when ChessBit detects the drop. Closing the tab, leaving the game page or a clean loss of connection is picked up straight away. A connection that goes silent without closing can take up to about 45 seconds to be noticed.

While you're disconnected, your clock keeps running. Your screen shows "Reconnecting. Moves are paused" and your opponent sees "Opponent reconnecting…" with the seconds left.

The Tab-Switch Trap

Switching away from the game tab doesn't start the countdown, but it isn't free either: your opponent sees you as disconnected, your clock keeps running, and tab-switching is logged for fair-play checks. Keep the game tab in front for the whole game: no alt-tabbing to check messages mid-move.

Your Clock Is Safe From Lag, Not From Delay

Clocks are enforced by the server, not your browser. A frozen screen never grants extra time, and nobody can lag-cheat you: the position and clocks you see after reconnecting are the authoritative ones.

That also means delay costs you. Your move is stamped when it reaches our server, so a slow connection comes off your clock, and the clock keeps running while you reconnect.

If the Game Never Started

If a first move isn't made in time (15s at 1+0, 45s at 3+0, 60s at 5+0, 2min at 10+0), the game cancels and both stakes are refunded automatically. No-shows don't cost you anything in casual games. (Tournament games forfeit instead. See Tournaments.)

Keeping Your Connection Solid

• Prefer a wired or strong Wi-Fi connection over mobile data for staked games.
• Close bandwidth-heavy apps (streams, torrents, cloud backups) while playing.
• Don't switch networks or turn a VPN on or off mid-game. Besides the latency, the dropped connection starts the disconnect countdown.
• Playing on a laptop? Plug it in. Aggressive battery-saver modes throttle background connections.