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How to play?

How to play your first game and more on gaming options and process

Updated over a week ago

Let's take a look at the Arena main page. It offers a bunch of gaming options. Eyes run up, right? In this article we'll describe all of them one by one to help you choose the best gaming option* for you and point out all new amazing features we've released recently.

*If you are looking for gaming tips and new features, go straight to the bottom of this page

If you are not a PRO member yet*, and even not signed up yet, we suggest starting with an unrated single game of your preferred time control. Simply click the time control and wait a few seconds for the opponent to be paired with.

*If you’d like to get all great Arena opportunities right away, consider registering and upgrading to PRO.

If no opponent is found, no worries! Your game with a bot will start automatically within 30 seconds.

Another option is to challenge a bot with a specific rating! Choose any bot from zero to 2000+ rating and click on it. Please note that you can change the default settings of the bot by clicking on Change Settings.

Now, if you are a registered player*, but not yet a PRO member, you can play FOA rated games and participate in FOA rated tournaments. To register, just click on Create an account. It’s free and no card details are required! You can always refer to our registration guide if you need help registering.

*If you already have an Arena account, just click on the Avatar icon in the upper right corner and Sign in.

Now when you are a registered player, explore more gaming options with FIDE Online Arena! You already know how to play unrated game and challenge the bot. Now try to challenge a real person and work on your World Chess Rating. To do that simply click on World Chess in the upper bar and then click on a time control you prefer.

Now let’s move to something exciting — tournaments*. Go to Tournament page and scroll a bit down to choose from World Chess rated tournaments available. Then click on a tournament and on a Join button on your right. You are in! You’ll be reminded about the tournament by email.

*To find out more about Tournaments, visit this FAQ section

Wish to study chess and train? Puzzles* is a perfect feature for you!

To solve up to 5 puzzles a day, go to Puzzles page. As soon as you upgrade to PRO, puzzles will become unlimited! You’ll also get an option to solve Rated Puzzles.

*To find out more about Puzzles, click here.

Upgraded to PRO? Amazing! Now playing for FOA Rating, participating in all types of tournaments including FOA Rated Tournamnets, and unlimited puzzles opened up for you! What’s more? Masterclass is now a feature you can use. Masterclass* is a product that allows you to learn from the masters of chess.

*Visit this page to learn more about Masterclass.

To start learning, just click on a Masterclass you’d like to watch. If it’s archived, you’ll be able to watch a replay.

If it’s upcoming, you’ll be able to participate online! A reminder will be sent to your email so you do not miss the event.

Another great feature is your game Analysis*. Open game details to analyse your key moments.

If you’d like a professional opinion and detailed review of your game, you can also order a Grandmaster’s analysis.

*To learn more about all analysis features, visit this page.

More Arena Gaming Tips

♟️Searching for an opponent in World Chess or FOA rating, choose both ratings and several time controls at a time to find the opponent faster!

♟️If you'd like to cancel the game before it started, just click on a X sign on a spinning gear.

♟️If you are playing several games at a time, you can follow all your active games by clicking on a board icon in the upper right corner

♟️ Too much pressure? Play in Zen mode! This feature shadows all additional features that can distract you.

♟️If you wish to boost your rating, we suggest playing several games at a time and participating in as many tournaments as you can!

♟️ Join available games with our Smart Pick feature! If you couldn’t find your opponent quickly, go to the Lobby and click on another player’s request

♟️ To customise your Tournamnt experience, use the upper bar to choose preferred date, control, type, and date.

♟️Not fully satisfied with how the page looks like? We have a bunch of setting for you! Change theme (dark or light), sounds, boards, and more! Visit this page to find out all about settings.

♟️If anything goes wrong, do not hesitate to contact us by clicking on an Intercom icon in the lower right corner of FAQ page or by sending us a message to support@chessarena.com. Please include all the details of the issue and try to provide us with the name of your device, version of the app, and screenshots. Thank you 💙

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