Terms of Use

1. Who we are, and what these Terms cover

Cờ•Chess•Qi is a Xiangqi (Chinese Chess / Cờ Tướng) app for iPhone and iPad, published by CO CHOI, LLC ("we", "us"). These Terms of Use govern your use of the app and of this website.

By creating an account or using the app, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the service.

Your licence to install and run the app is granted under Apple's standard Licensed Application End User License Agreement. Where these Terms and that agreement conflict on the scope of the software licence, the Apple agreement controls; these Terms otherwise govern your use of the service, your account, and any subscription.

2. Eligibility and your account

You must be at least 13 years old, or the minimum age of digital consent where you live if that is higher, to create an account. The app is rated 4+ and is suitable for general audiences, but account creation is not directed at younger children.

You may sign in with Apple, with Google, or with a username and password. Accounts created with a username and password must verify their email address before online play unlocks. You are responsible for keeping your credentials secure and for activity that happens under your account.

Choose a username that is not offensive, impersonating, or misleading. We may reclaim or reset usernames that breach this.

One person, one account. Creating additional accounts to manipulate ratings, tournaments, clubhouse standings, or bot progression is not permitted.

3. Fair play

Xiangqi is only worth playing if the result means something. While playing rated games, tournaments, or clubhouse events, you agree not to:

• consult a chess engine, another person, or any outside assistance for your moves;
• deliberately lose, arrange results, or coordinate with an opponent to affect standings or ratings;
• stall, abandon games, or exploit the clock to deny an opponent a real game;
• use automation, modified clients, or any means of interacting with the service other than the app itself;
• exploit a bug rather than reporting it to support@cochessqi.com.

The in-app Academy — puzzles, Posture analysis, and the bot ladder — is practice, and using hints and evaluation there is exactly what those tools are for. The restrictions above apply to games against other people.

4. Conduct toward other players

Do not harass, threaten, or abuse other players, and do not post content — in usernames, clubhouse names, descriptions, or message boards — that is hateful, sexually explicit, or unlawful. Clubhouse owners are responsible for content they post to their own boards.

You can block a player from your Friends list, which removes any friendship between you and prevents further requests. To report abuse from anyone else — an opponent, a tournament entrant, or a clubhouse member — email support@cochessqi.com with their username and roughly when it happened.

5. Diamond Club subscription

Cờ•Chess•Qi is free to download and play. Diamond Club is an optional auto-renewing subscription that adds founding your own clubhouse, hosting clubhouse tournament events, and importing a board position with the camera.

• Plans and price. Diamond Club is offered as monthly and annual plans, with limited-time Founders plans during the launch window. The current price, billing period, and any free-trial length are shown in the app before you confirm a purchase, and in your App Store receipt afterwards.
• Billing. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. All purchases, renewals, refunds, and Family Sharing are handled by Apple — we never see or store your payment details.
• Auto-renewal. Your subscription renews automatically at the then-current price unless you cancel at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Your Apple Account is charged for renewal within 24 hours before the period ends.
• Free trial. Where a plan includes a free trial, any unused portion is forfeited if you buy a subscription before the trial ends.
• Cancelling. Manage or cancel at any time in Settings → your Apple Account → Subscriptions on your device. Cancelling stops the next renewal; you keep access until the end of the period you have paid for. Deleting your Cờ•Chess•Qi account does not cancel the subscription — cancel with Apple first.
• Refunds. Refunds are issued by Apple under the App Store's terms, not by us. Request one at reportaproblem.apple.com.

We may change what Diamond Club includes, or its price, for future billing periods. Where a price increase would apply to your renewal, Apple will ask you to confirm before charging you.

6. Ratings, tournaments, and in-game standing

Ratings, tournament results, clubhouse event points, unlocks, and puzzle progress have no monetary value, cannot be transferred or sold, and are not property. We may adjust or reset them where they were produced by cheating, a bug, or a server error, and we may cancel or void a tournament that cannot be completed fairly.

Tournament pairings, results, and rating changes are computed by our servers and are final for gameplay purposes, subject to correction as above.

7. Suspension and termination

We may suspend or terminate an account that breaches these Terms — in particular the fair-play and conduct sections — with or without notice depending on the severity. Where practical we will tell you why.

You can stop using the service at any time and delete your account from Menu → Security → Account → Delete Account, or by writing to support@cochessqi.com. See the account deletion page for what is deleted and what is retained. Deleting your account does not entitle you to a refund of a subscription period already paid for.

8. Availability and changes to the service

We aim to keep Cờ•Chess•Qi available, but it is an online service and may be interrupted for maintenance, outages of infrastructure we depend on, or reasons beyond our control. We may add, change, or remove features over time. If we discontinue the service entirely, we will give reasonable notice and stop taking new subscriptions.

9. Intellectual property

The app, its artwork, board and piece designs, bot characters, puzzle collections, and the Cờ•Chess•Qi name and logo are owned by us and protected by copyright and trade-mark law. Xiangqi itself is a public game — the rules are nobody's property, and nothing here restricts your playing it anywhere else. You may not copy, decompile, reverse-engineer, or redistribute the app except where that right cannot be excluded by law.

10. Disclaimers and limitation of liability

The service is provided "as is" and "as available", without warranties of any kind to the fullest extent permitted by law. We do not warrant that play will be uninterrupted, that ratings or pairings will always be error-free, or that the app will be free of defects.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, we are not liable for indirect, incidental, or consequential losses, or for lost data, lost ratings, or lost standings. Nothing in these Terms limits liability that cannot be limited by law, including liability for fraud, death, or personal injury caused by negligence. Where liability cannot be excluded, it is limited to the amount you paid us in the twelve months before the claim.

Some jurisdictions do not allow certain exclusions, so parts of this section may not apply to you. Consumers retain all mandatory statutory rights.

11. Apple

Apple is not a party to these Terms and is not responsible for the app or its content. Apple has no obligation to provide support or maintenance for the app; support is provided by us at support@cochessqi.com. Apple and its subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these Terms and may enforce them against you.

12. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the United States and of the state in which CO CHOI, LLC is organized, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. If you are a consumer resident in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, you keep the protection of the mandatory consumer-law provisions of the country where you live, and may bring proceedings there.

13. Changes to these Terms

If we change these Terms we will update the "Effective" date above and, for material changes, surface a notice in the app. Continuing to use the service after a change takes effect means you accept the updated Terms. If you do not accept them, stop using the service and delete your account.

14. Contact

Questions about these Terms: support@cochessqi.com.