It's been a year since we launched YottaChess Premium Plans, and we want to start this article the right way: thank you. Thank you to everyone who trusted the project from day one, to those who went Premium without quite knowing what would come next, and to those still here a year later. Everything we're announcing today exists because of you.
New design
YottaChess has a refreshed look, starting with the player profile and the overall browsing experience: cleaner, faster, and built so you find what you're looking for without the clutter. Want to see it on a real profile? Any player rated over 2700 has their full profile unlocked for free for everyone (except the premium features); try it, for example, with Carlsen.
Goodbye to ads
We've removed advertising from the platform. Thanks to the support of all our users (especially our Premium members) over this first year, we no longer need ads to sustain YottaChess, and browsing is much cleaner for everyone.
Daily game updates
The games database now updates daily, so the statistics and repertoires you check always reflect the latest games played, and nothing slips past you.
FIDE Norm Calculator, free for everyone
Not everything is a Premium update: the FIDE norm calculator is still there and completely free. Paste your tournament results and instantly check whether you meet the requirements, whether you're chasing a title norm or you've already earned one.
And many more improvements
On top of all this, we've been polishing the platform in general:
- You can now go Premium paying with PayPal, alongside the payment methods we already had.
- We've improved the website's speed so everything loads faster.
Four new Premium features
Along with the redesign, four new tools are arriving, all exclusive to Premium users:
1. Twin Bot
Play against a specific opponent without them being there: Twin Bot analyzes their real level and playing style to replicate them in a game against you. It doesn't just look at what they play, but when they last played it: an opening they abandoned years ago counts for less than the one they're still playing right now, so the game genuinely feels like the one you'll face over the board.
2. Preparation page
A system built to prepare your game: enter your name, your opponent's, pick which color you're playing, and you're ready to go. Both players' opening trees appear side by side on the same board, each line with its games, results, and the year it was last played, so you can tell an active part of the repertoire from what's been dropped. There's a magic-wand button that automatically plays the most likely move (yours or your opponent's, whoever's turn it is), and if neither of you has data at that position, it falls back to the engine database. Below that, a Stockfish 18 module analyzes the position in real time (Stockfish 19 is coming soon), and further down you'll find YottaCoach, covered in the next section. You can try it at yottachess.com/preparation.
3. YottaCoach
Inside the Preparation page, YottaCoach is waiting for you: an AI assistant that answers your questions while you prepare the game, such as what to play, how to read the opponent's repertoire (including when each line was last played), what plan to follow in the current position, or when it's worth turning on the engine for a real evaluation.
4. Custom search
Can't find a player? We might not have their games yet. You can now request a personalized search outside YottaChess: we run it for you and email you what we found, with a download link valid for 7 days.
What's next?
We've removed online games tied to tournaments on external platforms: they were imprecise and could distort the opening trees with data that didn't match reality. Instead, we're going to add each player's already-known public handles on those platforms, so anyone who wants to can download their own online games directly.
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