Lichess
On the Pro plan and up, a student’s public username goes on their profile, and their games come in about every hour.
- Family consent before the link
- No password, ever
- Stockfish on the games a coach picks
Integrations for chess academies
Keep Lichess, Chess.com, Razorpay and WhatsApp. ChessCore connects them.
Students’ games come in from Lichess and Chess.com, fees paid through Razorpay or Stripe are recorded against their invoice, and reminders reach opted-in parents on WhatsApp once your Business number is connected. See what works today, what each one needs and which plan includes it.
Settings, Connections in a made-up demo academy: each connection, what it carries and what it last did.
Four deep integrations
Stop asking for game links and payment screenshots
Each of the four has its own page: the full flow, what ChessCore reads or sends, and what the academy has to set up.
Chess.com
Public archives, ratings and stats, read by username on the Pro plan and up. The import is read-only.
- Leaves the account untouched
- No game imported twice
Razorpay
UPI AutoPay mandates for recurring fees and payment links a parent opens without logging in.
- Each payment recorded against its invoice
- An unpaid cycle shows on the dues view
WhatsApp Business
Class and fee messages on fixed templates, only to guardians who opted in for that purpose.
- Not sent during quiet hours
- STOP unsubscribes
- An AI draft waits for a person
How it connects
Nothing re-typed between your apps
Three pipes, one student record: each row below shows where the data comes from, where it lands in ChessCore and who sees it. Every integration on this page serves one of them.
Games flow in
On the Pro plan and up, connect a student’s Lichess or Chess.com account once, and their real games arrive on their own.
- New games and ratings sync from connected accounts on the Pro plan and up
- PGN upload for over-the-board games
- Stockfish analysis for the games a coach picks
Money gets collected
Razorpay and Stripe record payments against the same invoice, so you can see who has paid. Tuition collection is covered on the billing page.
- UPI AutoPay mandates for recurring fees
- Payment links a parent can open without logging in
- Each payment recorded against its invoice
Updates go out
Reminders and notices reach families on the channels they already check. Reminders the academy switches on are fixed templates, an AI-drafted personal message waits for a person to send it, and class summaries can publish on their own once the coach notes behind them pass a completeness check, if the academy turns that on. Consent and channel setup still apply.
- WhatsApp class and fee messages, for guardians who opted in
- Email for invoices, fee reminders and monthly reports
- Class links to the built-in classroom, or a Meet or Zoom link you paste in
Let your other tools act on academy events
ChessCore has webhooks and an API that tools like Zapier can call. A tool can subscribe to and unsubscribe from REST hooks, or poll an events route, using the public API with scoped keys, and every signed delivery is logged and can be replayed.
Find the connection your academy needs
Each connection below lists what it needs and where it stops in the requirements section. Some depend on setup or on your own accounts.
Categories
Lichess
Chess PlatformsFirst-class integration. Connect student accounts to import games and ratings automatically. A coach chooses which games to analyse; imported games are not all analysed. Coaches can also assign puzzles from the open Lichess puzzle database.
Lichess game and rating syncChess.com
Chess PlatformsRead-only import of game archives, ratings, and stats for students who play on Chess.com, so their real games flow into reviews without manual PGN uploads.
Chess.com read-only importRazorpay
PaymentsThe main payment route for Indian academies: UPI, including UPI AutoPay mandates for recurring fees, and payment links a parent can open without logging in.
Razorpay UPI AutoPay for fees
Stripe
PaymentsCard payments through Stripe’s hosted checkout page, recorded against the same invoice as every other payment. Which countries and currencies work depends on the Stripe account.
How billing uses StripeWhatsApp Business
CommunicationClass reminders, fee messages and a few other notices over the WhatsApp Business Cloud API, sent only to guardians who have opted in. Reminders the academy switches on go out as fixed templates, and an AI-drafted personal message is sent by a person.
WhatsApp updates for opted-in parents
Diego GarciaEmail (Amazon SES)
CommunicationEmail to parents through Amazon SES: fee reminders, invoices and, when the academy switches them on, monthly progress reports.
See requirements
Slack
CommunicationChessCore alerts in the Slack channels your staff already use: new enquiries, overdue fees, a coach calling in sick and copilot drafts waiting for approval, each linking to the record.
See requirements
Microsoft Teams
CommunicationThe same staff alerts in a Microsoft Teams channel: new enquiries, overdue fees, a coach calling in sick and copilot drafts waiting for approval, each with a link to the record in ChessCore.
See requirements
Google Chat
CommunicationStaff alerts in a Google Chat space for academies that work in Google Workspace: new enquiries, overdue fees and copilot drafts waiting for approval, each linking back to ChessCore.
See requirements
Discord
CommunicationClass reminders, announcements and the puzzle of the day, posted to your academy’s Discord server for families and older students.
See requirements
Built-in video classroom
Video ClassesVideo and audio classes inside ChessCore for one-to-one and group coaching, for academies that have it switched on.
See requirements
Google Meet
Video ClassesPaste a Google Meet link on a class and families join from the class page. ChessCore does not create the Meet link.
See requirements
Google Calendar
Calendar & SSOConfirmed bookings are mirrored into your Google Calendar, with sync status and automatic retry. A confirmed public trial booking also offers a .ics download; re-download it with the same valid link to read the current slot times.
See requirements
Sign in with Google
Calendar & SSOSign in to ChessCore with a Google account instead of a separate password.
See requirements
Zapier
Automation & APIZapier subscribes to ChessCore REST hooks and calls the public API with a scoped key. Every signed webhook delivery is logged and can be replayed.
See requirementsPermissions
No passwords shared, no WhatsApp without a parent’s opt-in
The same controls as the rest of the platform apply. How academy and student data is handled is on the security page.
Public usernames, no passwords
On the Pro plan and up, Lichess and Chess.com games come in by the student’s public username. ChessCore never asks for or stores the password, and the link is accepted only once the family has given consent.
Read-only game import
The import takes a copy of finished games for coaching and leaves the chess account untouched. ChessCore never plays or resigns on a student’s behalf.
Consent before any message
WhatsApp messages go only to guardians who opted in for that purpose. A guardian who replies STOP is unsubscribed, and suppression beats any later consent.
Scoped API keys
Tools like Zapier call the public API and the REST hooks with scoped keys.
Know what each connection needs before you switch it on
What each available connection needs from your academy, and where it stops. Payments for tuition are explained in full on the billing page. See which plan includes each connection.
| Connection | What it needs | Limits | Plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lichess | The student or a parent connects the student’s Lichess account. | Only games and ratings from connected accounts are imported. | Plan: Pro plan and up for auto-sync |
| Chess.com | The student’s Chess.com username. | Read-only, and limited to what Chess.com makes public. ChessCore cannot change anything on Chess.com. | Plan: Pro plan and up for auto-sync |
| Razorpay | A Razorpay setup for your academy, arranged with ChessCore. | For fees collected from families in India. It does not cover what you pay ChessCore, which is on the pricing page. | Plan: Grow plan and up |
| Stripe | A Stripe setup for your academy, arranged with ChessCore. | Card payments through Stripe’s hosted checkout. Which countries and currencies work depends on the Stripe account, so confirm yours first. | Plan: Grow plan and up |
| WhatsApp Business | A WhatsApp Business number connected through Meta’s Cloud API, approved message templates, and a guardian opt-in for each purpose. | Messages to a number that sent STOP are blocked. Free-form text is only possible within 24 hours of the parent’s last message. | Plan: Grow plan and up for payment links and reminders. Other messages: no plan gate listed. |
| Email (Amazon SES) | A sender address set up for your academy and a guardian email on the student record. | Used for invoices, fee reminders and monthly reports. | Plan: No plan gate listed |
| Slack | A Slack workspace admin installs the ChessCore app, and an admin links each staff member’s Slack account to their ChessCore login. | Alerts link to the record in ChessCore. Slash commands answer only linked staff accounts, and by default only the person who asked sees the reply. Being in the Slack workspace gives no access to ChessCore. | Plan: No plan gate listed |
| Microsoft Teams | A Microsoft 365 admin adds the ChessCore app to Teams for the organisation, and staff link their accounts. | Alerts link to the record in ChessCore. A copilot draft is approved in ChessCore, not from the Teams message. | Plan: No plan gate listed |
| Google Chat | A Google Workspace admin adds the ChessCore app to the academy’s Chat space. | Staff alerts with a link to the record in ChessCore. A copilot draft is approved in ChessCore, not from Chat. | Plan: No plan gate listed |
| Discord | A server admin adds the ChessCore app to the academy’s Discord server. | Posts class reminders, announcements and the puzzle of the day. Discord requires every member to be at least 13 (older in some countries), so younger students follow along through their parents. | Plan: No plan gate listed |
| Built-in video classroom | The video classroom switched on for your academy. | Video and audio run inside ChessCore beside the shared board. Screen sharing is planned. | Plan: No plan gate listed |
| Google Meet | A coach pastes a Meet link on the class or batch. | ChessCore does not create the Meet link. | Plan: No plan gate listed |
| Sign in with Google | A Google account for each person who signs in. | It signs people in. Google Calendar is its own connection, in the next row. | Plan: No plan gate listed |
| Google Calendar | The academy connects its Google Calendar. | Confirmed bookings are mirrored into it, with sync status and automatic retry. A trial booking also downloads as a .ics file. | Plan: No plan gate listed |
| Zapier | A scoped API key for the Zap. | Zapier subscribes to REST hooks and calls the public API. Signed deliveries are logged and can be replayed. | Plan: No plan gate listed |
If a game connection needs undoing
- Unlinking a student’s Lichess or Chess.com username stops future syncs. The games already imported stay in the student’s record. Setup is covered on the Lichess game and rating sync and Chess.com read-only import pages.
- A PGN upload takes up to 200 games per file. ChessCore stores the mainline of each game, skips duplicates and does not start engine analysis by itself. The full import workflow is on the game analysis page.
A connection that is not in this table is not available today. Last checked against the product on 10 October 2026.
Check a connection’s requirementsPlanned connections
These are not available. They cannot be switched on today and have no release date on this page. If one of them decides your choice of software, ask before you rely on it.
ZoomPlanned
Video ClassesBring your own Zoom account is planned and not built. Today a coach pastes a Zoom link into a class, as with any other video link.
Ask about this connectionFrom the blog
Game analysis, done right
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We set it up with you: roster import, Lichess and Chess.com connections, batches and fee plans. You start with your real students and batches, not an empty account.
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- Full audit trail