Fortress Chess is a feature-rich, correspondence-style online chess platform created by and for chess enthusiasts who enjoy thoughtful, strategic play over time. Built with privacy, flexibility, and community in mind, Fortress Chess offers a focused and ad-free experience.
A look inside Fortress Chess
1. Mission & Philosophy
Fortress Chess exists to bring players together through meaningful, long-form chess games. Our goal is to provide a distraction-free platform that emphasizes strategy, integrity, and player respect. Unlike blitz-focused platforms, Fortress Chess encourages deep, reflective play over days, not minutes.
2. Core Features
Correspondence-style gameplay (1-5 day timers)
Clean dashboard for active games, friends, and performance tracking
Player profiles with stats, options for push notifications or email alerts
Achievements and milestone tracking
Replay mode to review games move-by-move to analyze a game
Invite-only games and public matchmaking options
Share a link publically with others to show them a game
3. Time Controls
Players can choose flexible time settings per move:
1-5 day options
Automatic timeout detection and fair loss handling
4. Elo & Rankings
Fortress Chess uses a standard Elo rating system:
Ratings adjust based on game outcomes and opponent strength
Visible peak and lowest ratings in player profiles
Leaderboard system sorted by rating class (e.g., Master, Expert, etc.) The leaderboard is designed so that only active players are shown. An active player is someone who has logged in within the last year. After 1 year without logging in a player will be considered inactive and removed from the leaderboard to keep it clean. If a player logs back in that is inactive, it will automatically reactivate their account and they will reappear back on the leaderboard again.
5. Achievements System
The dynamic achievement system celebrates progress and skill:
Milestones for wins, draws, losses, and move counts
Recognition for using special moves
Unlocked achievements are marked by a date within each user account
6. Friends & Community
Friend system to challenge known opponents easily
Profile view includes option to invite to game or remove friend
Notifications for invitations, move requests, and chat updates
7. Privacy & Hosting
No ads, no tracking — Fortress Chess is privately hosted
Regular updates to continue improvement and future enhancements
User data is stored locally, not shared with third parties
Players may optionally hide their country visibility by not selecting one
Free - we love chess and have desired to create a platform that doesn't have paywalls, subscriptions, or ads
8. Roadmap & Future Plans
Planned improvements and features include:
Support for internationalization (multi-language support)
Expanded time control settings and custom challenges
