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Key details:
Take Take Take will use Lichess as the infrastructure of their new play zone, in a win for open source
No changes to Lichess, it will remain as it always has - free/libre and open-source software
Players on Take Take Take will now be able to easily create Lichess accounts, and play games on Lichess through the Take Take Take app
All of our players (those on Take Take Take or using the Lichess website or apps) benefit from everything Lichess promises - privacy, data integrity, and moderation
Take Take Take will contribute to open source by contributing to Lichess directly and indirectly, including financially and with increased visibility
Earlier this year, Take Take Take approached us with a unique proposal. Rather than building their own proprietary play zone from the ground up (a “walled garden”), Take Take Take have asked us to share our “digital commons” and use our infrastructure and play zone.
At first, we considered the proposal with caution, and maybe even some wariness. Lichess has often been approached by companies who don’t understand us or our values, and just want to use or even exploit our players and community. But after careful scrutiny, and getting to know the team behind Take Take Take, we think this cooperation has the potential to be a real positive for chess as a whole.
For chess enthusiasts and players, it represents more healthy competition within the chess ecosystem. Competition and having more choice is inherently a good thing for any market, including chess. It forces money that was originally destined to be paid out as dividends or funnelled up to institutional investors to be reinvested back into chess. It means that innovation by making genuinely useful new features, or arranging major tournaments and events, must occur in order for a service to stand out. This ultimately improves what’s on offer to the chess community and to chess players, forcing all online platforms to step up their game. Healthy competition and a more diverse market should be welcomed by our peers who truly wish to grow the game.
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