Introduction
Welcome to High Variance Chess. These Terms of Service govern your use of our website, account features, chess coaching services, lesson booking system, payment features, Chess.com-related integrations, and any related services we provide.
By creating an account, booking a lesson, purchasing lesson credits, subscribing to monthly coaching, or using this website, you agree to these Terms.
1. Services Provided
High Variance Chess provides chess coaching services, including one-on-one lessons, recurring coaching plans, lesson notes, homework suggestions, game review features, progress tracking, and related educational resources.
Some services may be delivered through third-party platforms, including but not limited to Google Meet, Chess.com, YouTube, Twitch, Stripe, and email providers.
2. Account Registration
To book lessons or use account features, you may need to create an account. You agree to provide accurate and current information, including your name, email address, and any information needed to schedule or deliver coaching services.
You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your login credentials and for activity that occurs under your account.
3. Chess.com Username and Public Chess Data
High Variance Chess may allow you to connect or save your Chess.com username for coaching-related features, including rating tracking, game history display, profile snapshots, and game review submissions.
By adding your Chess.com username, you authorize High Variance Chess to display and use public Chess.com profile, rating, and game data associated with that username for coaching and account-dashboard purposes.
High Variance Chess is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Chess.com. Chess.com data may be delayed, unavailable, incomplete, or subject to change depending on Chess.com’s public API and availability.
Your Chess.com username is not used as a login method and does not prove ownership of a Chess.com account.
4. Lesson Booking
Lessons must be booked through the website or another approved method provided by High Variance Chess. Lesson availability may vary based on the coach’s schedule.
A lesson booking may require either an available lesson credit, a one-time lesson purchase, a lesson package purchase, or an active recurring subscription that adds lesson credits to your account.
A booking is not guaranteed until it is confirmed through the website or by High Variance Chess.
5. Google Meet and Online Lessons
Lessons may be conducted through Google Meet or another video conferencing platform. If a Google Meet link is generated for your lesson, it may be sent by email, displayed on your dashboard, or included in a calendar invite.
You are responsible for having a stable internet connection, a working device, and access to the platform used for the lesson. High Variance Chess is not responsible for technical issues caused by your device, internet connection, browser, Google Meet, Chess.com, or other third-party services.
6. Lesson Credits
Lesson credits may be purchased individually or in packages. Credits may be used to book eligible lessons through the website.
Unless otherwise stated, lesson credits have no cash value, are not transferable, may only be used for High Variance Chess coaching services, and may be subject to expiration or account-specific limits if clearly disclosed at purchase.
High Variance Chess may correct credit balances if a technical error, payment failure, refund, chargeback, or account issue causes an incorrect balance.
7. Monthly Coaching Subscriptions
Recurring coaching subscriptions add the number of lesson credits shown at checkout to your account for each paid billing period, and unused credits may remain on the account unless otherwise stated.
By starting a recurring subscription, you authorize recurring charges to your selected payment method until the subscription is canceled.
Subscription pricing, billing frequency, included services, and renewal terms will be shown at checkout. Your subscription may automatically renew unless canceled before the next billing date.
8. Payments
Payments are processed through Stripe or another third-party payment processor. High Variance Chess does not store full card numbers on its servers.
By purchasing lessons, credits, packages, or subscriptions, you agree to pay the listed price and any applicable taxes or fees.
If a payment fails, your booking, credits, subscription access, or future lessons may be delayed, paused, canceled, or restricted until payment is resolved.
9. Failed Payments and Billing Recovery
For subscriptions, if a recurring payment fails, High Variance Chess or its payment processor may retry the payment, send failed-payment notices, request an updated payment method, or mark the subscription as past due, unpaid, canceled, or otherwise inactive.
High Variance Chess may limit access to subscription benefits if your subscription payment is past due or unpaid.
10. Cancellations
You may cancel a recurring subscription through your account area if the feature is available, or by contacting High Variance Chess at admin@highvariancechess.com.
Canceling a subscription stops future renewal charges but does not automatically refund prior payments unless required by law or expressly stated in the refund policy.
If you cancel a subscription, you may retain access to included services until the end of the current billing period unless otherwise stated.
11. Rescheduling and Missed Lessons
You may reschedule or cancel lessons according to the policy shown on the website or communicated by High Variance Chess.
If no specific policy is shown, please contact High Variance Chess as soon as possible if you need to reschedule.
High Variance Chess may treat missed lessons, late cancellations, or no-shows as completed lessons or used credits, especially if the coach reserved the time and was available for the scheduled lesson.
12. Refund Policy
Refund eligibility may depend on the type of purchase, timing, usage, and circumstances.
Unless otherwise stated, completed lessons are non-refundable, used lesson credits are non-refundable, subscription charges are non-refundable after the billing period begins, and unused credits or mistaken purchases may be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
High Variance Chess may issue refunds or credits at its discretion. This does not create an obligation to provide similar refunds in the future.
13. Game Review Submissions
You may submit games, Chess.com links, PGN files, notes, or related materials for coach review.
By submitting a game or related material, you allow High Variance Chess and the coach to view and use that material for lesson preparation, coaching feedback, dashboard features, and educational support connected to your account.
You are responsible for ensuring that submitted content is appropriate and does not violate the rights of others.
14. Lesson Notes, Homework, and Coaching Feedback
High Variance Chess may provide lesson notes, homework suggestions, progress summaries, rating information, or coaching feedback.
Coaching feedback is educational in nature. High Variance Chess does not guarantee rating gains, tournament results, wins, titles, or any specific chess achievement.
Your improvement depends on many factors, including study habits, practice time, tournament conditions, game selection, and personal effort.
15. Tournament Results and Progress Tracking
If tournament result tracking is available, you may enter tournament names, scores, dates, sections, rating changes, notes, or related details.
You are responsible for the accuracy of tournament information you submit. High Variance Chess may use this information for progress tracking and coaching support.
16. Communications and Email Notifications
By creating an account or purchasing services, you agree to receive transactional emails related to your account, bookings, payments, subscriptions, reminders, cancellations, password resets, and lesson activity.
You may receive transactional emails related to your account, lessons, payments, subscriptions, reminders, support, and account security.
17. YouTube, Twitch, and Third-Party Content
High Variance Chess may link to or embed content from YouTube, Twitch, Chess.com, Google Meet, or other third-party platforms.
High Variance Chess does not control those third-party platforms and is not responsible for their content, availability, policies, technical issues, or user experience.
Your use of third-party platforms may be governed by their own terms and privacy policies.
18. Acceptable Use
You agree not to use the website for unlawful purposes, interfere with the website’s security or functionality, attempt to access another user’s account, submit abusive, harassing, obscene, or harmful content, scrape, copy, or misuse website content, abuse booking, payment, referral, or credit systems, or submit fraudulent information or payment details.
High Variance Chess may suspend or terminate accounts that violate these Terms.
19. Referral Codes and Promotions
If referral codes, discounts, free credits, or promotions are offered, High Variance Chess may set eligibility rules, expiration dates, limits, and restrictions.
Referral rewards may require the referred user to complete a qualifying purchase before rewards are issued.
High Variance Chess may deny, reverse, or remove referral rewards if fraud, abuse, duplicate accounts, chargebacks, canceled payments, or suspicious activity are detected.
20. Intellectual Property
The website design, branding, logos, text, lesson materials, notes, resources, and other original content are owned by High Variance Chess or its licensors unless otherwise stated.
You may not copy, reproduce, distribute, sell, or publicly display High Variance Chess content without permission.
Chess.com, YouTube, Twitch, Google, Stripe, and other third-party names, marks, or logos belong to their respective owners.
21. Privacy
Your use of the website is also governed by our Privacy Policy, which explains how personal information is collected, used, stored, and shared.
Please review the Privacy Policy before using the website.
22. Service Availability
High Variance Chess aims to keep the website and services available, but we do not guarantee uninterrupted or error-free operation.
The website may occasionally be unavailable due to maintenance, updates, technical issues, third-party outages, or circumstances outside our control.
23. Disclaimer of Warranties
The website and services are provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis.
High Variance Chess does not guarantee that the website will always be available, coaching will produce specific results, Chess.com data will always be accurate or current, third-party services will function without interruption, or all errors or issues will be corrected immediately.
24. Limitation of Liability
To the maximum extent permitted by law, High Variance Chess will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, including lost profits, lost opportunities, lost data, missed lessons caused by user technical issues, or third-party platform failures.
High Variance Chess’s total liability for any claim related to the services will not exceed the amount you paid to High Variance Chess for the affected service during the three months before the claim arose.
Some jurisdictions do not allow certain limitations, so some limitations may not apply to you.
25. Account Suspension or Termination
High Variance Chess may suspend or terminate your account if you violate these Terms, fail to pay, misuse the platform, harass others, submit fraudulent information, or create risk for the business, coach, students, or website.
You may request account deletion by using available account tools or contacting High Variance Chess.
26. Changes to These Terms
High Variance Chess may update these Terms from time to time. The updated version will be posted on the website with a new effective date.
Your continued use of the website or services after changes are posted means you accept the updated Terms.
27. Governing Law
These Terms are governed by the laws applicable to High Variance Chess and its services, without regard to conflict-of-law principles.
Any disputes will be handled in the courts with proper jurisdiction, unless applicable law requires otherwise.
28. Contact
For questions about these Terms, subscriptions, cancellations, refunds, or account issues, contact:
High Variance Chess
Email: admin@highvariancechess.com
Website: https://highvariancechess.com
