On January 1, we will make some notable changes to vacation time for in Daily Chess, reducing the amount of vacation time available and simplifying the system.
Vacation time is an important part of daily games on Chess.com. It allows players to draw from a pool of vacation days to avoid losing on time when they are on vacation, dealing with health issues, or otherwise unavailable for a period of time. Available vacation days have ranged from 30 to 90 days for basic, gold, platinum, and diamond members.
Over time, we’ve noticed issues with the current system, notably that the available vacation time has been overly generous by allowing players to be absent for up to three months. That has led to a lot of frustration among our members over the years, with vacation days being abused, especially when a player simply abandons a lost game. More systematically, tournaments and matches with dozens to thousands of players can be delayed for months by just a few members using vacation time.
This fall, we surveyed 1,000 community members who are active in Daily Chess and found that the majority wanted shorter vacation time. We agree, and we’re making the following changes on January 1:
- Non-premium members will have up to 15 days of available vacation time, recharging at a rate of two days per month, one on the 1st and one on the 15th of the month.
- Premium members (any level) will have up to 30 days of available vacation time, recharging at a rate of three days per month, 1.5 on the 1st and 1.5 on the 15th of the month.
| Membership level | Days earned per month | Maximum vacation days stored |
| Basic | 1 on the 1st and 1 on the 15th (2 total) | 15 days |
| Premium | 1.5 on the 1st and 1.5 on the 15th (3 total) | 30 days |
This new system is significantly simpler, with only two tiers of available vacation time and recharge rate compared to four. While the available vacation time is significantly reduced, we believe it should be enough for most needs without unduly delaying tournaments and matches or frustrating players waiting for their opponents.
Considering the recharge rates, basic members will have up to 39 days of available vacation time per year (15+24) while premium members will have up to 66 days of available vacation time per year (30+36).
These changes will take effect on January 1, 2026 for new members. Existing members with more vacation time than the new caps will be able to retain and use that vacation time until July 1, 2026. At that time, the new caps will apply to all members.
