Terms & Conditions

In these terms, the following words have the following meanings:

• "the Apps"means Manifest Chess Studio and Manifest Chess Lite, our two desktop applications, and "the App" means either of them. Both are free software licensed under the GNU General Public License, as described in section 5.
• "the Site" means the manifestchess.com website.
• "the Service" means the Site, your account, and the hosted features we run for signed-in Manifest Chess Studio users, such as the game review queue and platform sync. These terms govern the Service, and they describe what your App Store purchase includes. They do not govern the Apps, whose licence is the GPL.
• "we", "us", "our" means Ordinary Ventures MB, as described in section 2.
• "you", "your" means the person using the Apps or the Service.
• "consumer" means an individual acting for purposes outside their trade, business, craft, or profession.

Manifest Chess is operated by Ordinary Ventures MB, registered in the Republic of Lithuania under company number 307541958, VAT number LT100020339915, with its registered office at Eduardo Andrė g. 14-5, LT-02232 Vilnius, Lithuania ("we", "us", "our"). You can reach us at hello@manifestchess.com.

Please read these terms carefully before creating an account or buying either app. By creating an account or using the Service, you agree to be bound by them. If you do not agree, please do not create an account or use the Service.

Installing and running the Apps does not on its own require you to accept these terms. Both apps are GPL software, and the GPL does not require your acceptance in order to run them.

Manifest Chess Studio works without an account. Creating one is optional and free, and it adds the hosted features described in section 1: linked Lichess and Chess.com accounts, automatic syncing of your games, and the game review queue. Manifest Chess Lite has no accounts and no sign-in.

When you create an account, you agree to provide accurate information and to keep it up to date. Your account is personal to you: you may not share your sign-in details, and you are responsible for keeping them secure and for activity that happens under your account. Please contact us at hello@manifestchess.com if you think someone has accessed your account without your permission.

Your right to install, run, copy, modify, and redistribute Manifest Chess Studio and Manifest Chess Lite comes from the GNU General Public License, version 3 or later, not from us. It is not limited to non-commercial use or to particular devices. The full licence text ships with each app, and the corresponding source code is available at our source repository.

Each app is a one-time purchase. What that purchase buys is the ready-to-run, signed build of the app from the Mac App Store, updates delivered through the App Store, and support. The GPL already gives everyone the source code for free, and nothing in these terms takes that away.

Manifest Chess Studio runs on macOS on Apple silicon. Manifest Chess Lite runs on macOS 12 or later, also on Apple silicon. Both apps are sold only through the Mac App Store, and no Windows or Linux version of either is currently sold.

You agree not to:

• Use the Service for any unlawful purpose or in a way that infringes anyone's rights.
• Attempt to gain unauthorised access to the Apps, the website, or any related systems.
• Interfere with, overload, or attempt to circumvent access controls on our hosted services, including the game review and sync services. This does not restrict what you may do with the Apps themselves, which you receive under the GPL and are free to study and modify.
• Resell access to the Service, or commercially exploit the Site and its content, without our written permission. This does not affect what you may do with the Apps, which you receive under the GPL.
• Introduce malware, or otherwise interfere with the proper working of the Service.
• Harass, abuse, or harm another person through any feature we provide.

You may not use automated tools to scrape, mirror, harvest, or extract data or content from the Site or from our hosted services, and you may not use that content to train machine learning or artificial intelligence systems, without our prior written permission.

This section does not apply to the Apps, or to the game databases and files stored on your own device.

Both apps are open source. They are licensed to you under the GNU General Public License, version 3 or later. The GPL governs your right to run, study, modify, and redistribute them, and nothing in these terms limits or replaces those rights. The licence text and the corresponding source code are available as described in section 5.

Both apps also include other GPL-licensed software, including Stockfish 18 (the Stockfish authors), chessops, and Chessground, which remain the property of their authors. Each app lists these and links to their source in its legal screen.

This section otherwise applies to the Service. The Site and its content, our designs and graphics, and the "Manifest" and "Manifest Chess" names and logo are owned by us or our licensors and are protected by copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws. The GPL does not give you any right to our name or marks. You may not copy, modify, distribute, sell, or lease any part of the Service without our prior written permission.

Chess games and positions you import or create remain yours.

Manifest Chess Studio and Manifest Chess Lite are each sold as a one-time purchase on the Mac App Store: €129 for Studio and €19.99 for Lite. There is no subscription and no recurring charge. You pay once, and nothing is sold inside either app.

App Store prices are set per storefront and may differ from the figures shown here, so the amount you pay is displayed in your own currency, including local taxes, before you confirm the purchase. The price shown in the App Store at the moment you buy is the price that applies.

Apple is the seller for App Store purchases and takes payment using the payment method on your Apple Account, so we never see or store your card details. Your purchase is also subject to Apple's Media Services Terms and Conditions. If we add checkout on this website later, we will update this section before it goes live.

There are no subscriptions and no free trial. You pay once, and the app is yours.

If you are a consumer in the EU, you normally have 14 days to withdraw from a distance contract without giving a reason. For digital content delivered by download, such as an app, you lose that right only if you have given express prior consent to immediate delivery within those 14 days, expressly acknowledged that you will lose the right, and that has been confirmed to you on a durable medium.

Because you buy the apps through the Mac App Store, Apple collects that consent as part of the purchase and handles any withdrawal request.

This does not affect any mandatory rights you have under Lithuanian and EU consumer law.

Both apps are bought through the Mac App Store, so refunds for a purchase are issued by Apple, not by us. To ask for one, use Apple's Report a Problem page at reportaproblem.apple.com, or contact Apple Support. Apple decides these requests under its own policy and its own time limits, which are normally longer than 14 days. We cannot issue, approve, or overturn an App Store refund.

Tell us anyway at hello@manifestchess.com if you think something has gone wrong. We will look into it, help you put the request to Apple, and fix anything that is wrong on our side. Our Complaints Policy sets out the information we need and how we respond.

None of this affects your statutory rights under Lithuanian and EU consumer law, including your right to a remedy if the app or the Service is faulty or not as described.

We may update, improve, or change features of the Apps and the website at any time. We may also update these terms from time to time. When we do, we will post the updated version on this page and revise the "last updated" date above. Continuing to use Manifest Chess after a change means you accept the updated terms.

Your chess databases and files live on your own device. Manifest Chess Studio stores its databases on your Mac, and Manifest Chess Lite reads and edits PGN files wherever you keep them. We do not hold copies of them, and we cannot restore them for you. You are responsible for the files on your device, including keeping your own backups of anything you cannot afford to lose.

Manifest Chess Lite works entirely offline and saves your annotations back into your own file. It has no network capability, so your files never leave your machine.

We no longer offer cloud backups, and cloud backup is not part of the Service. When you use hosted features such as game review, Manifest Chess Studio sends us the chess positions needed to run them, as described in our Privacy Policy, but your databases and files themselves stay on your device.

The Service is provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis, so far as the law allows. If you are a consumer, this does not affect your statutory right to a service that matches its description and works as it should: under EU and Lithuanian consumer law we must supply the Service in conformity with the contract, and we cannot exclude that. Subject to those rights, we do not warrant that:

• The Service will always be available, uninterrupted, or free from defects, errors, bugs, or viruses.
• Any information shown is complete or correct, including chess data imported from third-party platforms.
• The Service will meet your particular requirements or produce any particular result in your chess.

Any information shown is provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied on as advice.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, we shall have no liability for indirect, incidental, special, or consequential losses arising out of or in connection with the Apps, the Site, or the Service, including loss of data, loss of profits, or business interruption.

To the same extent, our total liability for all other losses arising out of or in connection with the Apps, the Site, or the Service is limited to the amount you paid for the app to which the claim relates.

Nothing in these terms excludes or limits any liability that cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law. That includes our liability for intent or gross negligence, and your statutory rights as a consumer, such as your right to a remedy if the Service is faulty or not as described.

We are not responsible for any failure or delay in providing the Service that is caused by events outside our reasonable control, such as power or internet failures, the acts of third-party providers we rely on, or other circumstances we could not reasonably have foreseen. This does not affect your statutory rights as a consumer.

Manifest Chess Studio can connect to external chess platforms such as Lichess and Chess.com at your request. When you choose to connect or pull data from these platforms, your use of them remains subject to their own terms and privacy policies. Manifest Chess Lite does not connect to any external service.

The Apps and the website may also contain links to third-party websites or content that we do not control. Following such links is at your own risk. Including a link is not an endorsement, and views expressed on third-party sites are not our own.

When you have an account, we may send you service messages that we need to send, for example about your account, security, or important changes to the Service. These are not marketing. We will only send you marketing if you have agreed to receive it, and you can opt out at any time. How we handle your contact details is explained in our Privacy Policy.

We take your privacy seriously. Details of what personal data we collect, how we use it, and your rights are set out in our Privacy Policy. Please read it before using the Service.

You can stop using the apps at any time, and you can delete your account at any time. We may suspend or end your access to the Service if you materially breach these terms. Where appropriate, we will give you notice and a chance to fix the issue first.

Ending your access to the Service does not affect your licence to the Apps, which continues under the GPL, and it does not touch your databases and files: those are stored on your own device and stay there, as section 13 explains. Deleting your account deletes the data our servers still hold for it, including any data left over from features we no longer offer.

When your access ends, the sections that by their nature should survive, including intellectual property, disclaimers, and liability, continue to apply.

We may transfer our rights and obligations under these terms to another organisation, for example if our business is reorganised or sold. This will not affect your rights under these terms. You may not transfer your rights or obligations to anyone else without our written permission.

If any part of these terms is found to be invalid or unenforceable, the rest will continue to apply. If we do not enforce a right under these terms, that is not a waiver of it, and we can still enforce it later.

These terms, and any dispute or claim arising out of them or their subject matter, are governed by the laws of the Republic of Lithuania. If you are a consumer, this choice of law does not deprive you of the protection of the mandatory rules of the country where you live.

You can bring proceedings against us either in the courts of Lithuania or in the courts of the country where you live, and we will only bring proceedings against you in the courts of the country where you live.

If you have any questions about these terms, please email us at hello@manifestchess.com.