You do not have to pay to join PlasticBishop.com. Standard members can enjoy many features for free such as unlimited games, tournaments, forums, messaging and much more. However if you choose to upgrade to a Gold Account you can access more features such as Live Chat, Team Games, greater customisability of the site and more. A Gold Account costs a small annual fee of £9.50, this is non-refundable except in exceptional circumstances. The renwal fee will not be automatically taken out of your account but you will be sent a reminder when it is due. Gold Accounts must be paid using PayPal (a secure online payment utility), unless an alternative payment method has been arranged with the site owner.

You should not accept or create any chess games unless you intend to see them through to their natural conclusion. It is frustrating for players when an opponent gives up on a game and will most likely result in you being forcefully removed from that game by your opponent. There may be occasions when you can't finish a game for whatever reason, and in this case you should use the chat feature to explain to your opponent that you cannot finish and appologise. You should then resign.

Most people do not have the time to be online all the time and as such you will often find an opponent will take several hours or even days to make their move. This is precisely what the site was designed for - it is not a real time chess site. If a player doesn't move within a few minutes then come back later, or wait for the email stating that they've moved (this depends on your email settings for the site). Please do not send them a chat or private message telling them to hurry up and make a move as they will most likely have a very good reason for not moving yet and are not simply ignoring you. If a player doesn't make a move within 7 days then you will be given the option to prompt them, and then after a further 7 days you can forcebly evict them if you want to. It is strongly recommended that you use these built in features rather than sending your own prompts as this will cause the least offence.

If a player requires an unreasonable number of prompts per game then they will have many of the site's game creation features removed until the average number of prompts they receive per game reduces.

Multiple accounts being created by the same player is highly discouraged. In some situations a player may wish to use a second account for training or practice purposes, but you may control no more than two accounts. Players with more than one account must rigidly comply with the following conditions:

• The accounts must never play each other in tournaments or rated games
• Only one of the accounts may be used on the forums
• It must be made clear on the profile of each account that they are aliases of the same person. The site provides a tool to do this, and it must be used in all cases.

If you forget your account's password then you should attempt to use the site's built in feature to retreive it. If you are still unable to retrieve your password then you may create a new account and ask an administrator to disable your old account. You must then place a note on your profile page stating that this account is the same person as your old account. Games, statistic, messages and forum posts are not transferable to the new account.

The breaking of these rules can result in disciplinary action, included but not limited to rating point deductions, site features being removed, and suspension of all accounts.

You must not use a chess computer to decide or help with making your moves on this site. If it is found that you did use a chess computer to make your moves then at the very least you will be deducted rating points and awarded a loss for that game. In serious cases this violation may result in some of the site's functionality being restricted from you and could possibly lead to account suspension as it's simply not fair on other players.

In any game you can chat to your opponent and this is a great way to get to know them and be able to relax more during your games. However, not all players like chatting during their games and that is their preference. You can also send private messages to other members, but again, some members may not be willing to chat, so please respect this.

The topic of chat conversations does not have to be solely about chess! You can talk about almost anything, but keep it within reason. Different people find different things offesnsive, so if an opponent makes it clear that they find something offensive then you should change the topic and, if appropriate, appologise.

Any communication features on this site must not be used to discuss anything of a sexually explicit nature, nor may it be used as a means for any form of 'internet grooming'. You must take every possible care to ensure that your conversations would not be considered criminal in any country which they could be read in.

The same rules that apply to the use of the chat feature also apply to the use of the forums, although please try to post in the appropriate forum depending on the subject of the post.

Avatars are a privilege and not a right. If your avatar's dimensions are too large then it may be clipped when displayed. If an avatar is from a URL and it has a very large filesize which becomes detrimental to other users of the site then it may be removed. If an avatar is inappropriate for a public website then it will be removed.

Any information you provide when you sign up to the site is not made publicly available, with the exception of your chosen user name. Any subsequent information which you provide will be in a section clearly marked as to whether it will be publicly viewable or not. Any publicly viewable information which you provide must be of a non-offensive nature, otherwise it may be edited or removed without notice.

Any violations of the rules stated on this page will be reviewed on a case by case basis. In most instances it will be likely that the offender didn't intend to break the rules and so they will be sent a friendy reminder of the rules. In more serious cases or where someone persistently violates the rules then more serious action may be taken, including account suspension.

The site administrators reserve the right to revoke account priviledges or to suspend accounts following inappropriate conduct on PlasticBishop.com. If your account is suspended due to misconduct, and you have paid for a Gold Account to access extended features, your fee will not be refunded.

Hopefully you'll see that these rules are necessary to be stated but for the majority of members it is standard 'nettiquette'. If you do not agree with the rules then don't sign up to the site.