This guide is made for people having technical problems with Chessgames. For general help with premium membership features, please consult the Chessgames Premium Membership FAQ.

1. I get the "Cookie Monster" error.
2. I can't see the games. (Windows)
3. I can't see the games. (Mac)
4. Google Chrome says something about "permission"
5. I don't know my username/password.

The "Cookie Monster" error can occur after using our login page that informs you that we are having problems reading cookies from your web browser.

If you get this error, there are two cases.

1. It's possible (but somewhat unlikely) that actually you have your cookies disabled. If this is the case, then please re-enable cookies, or at a minimum give Chessgames.com specific permission to use cookies.
   
   
2. It's possible you are experiencing the Cookie Monster Bug. Don't feel bad; this is not your fault. Please read the rest of this section to learn how to eliminate the Cookie Monster Bug forever.

What is the "Cookie Monster Bug"? - That's the name we give to a special problem that causes login problems for a small percentage of our users, especially those who use Firefox. We are unclear on what causes this bug, however we do know a work-around which will let you eliminate the Cookie Monster Bug from your machine permanently. Read on...

How do I fix the Cookie Monster Bug? - To fix this problem on your machine, you will have to do two things: first, delete your Chessgames cookies; second, sign-in to Chessgames. Let's walk through those two steps:

1. First, delete your chessgames cookies. To do this you'll have to go into the options section of your web browser. This can get slightly technical, so if you need help we have two important pages below:
   • Firefox users see the section Delete cookies for a single site from Firefox help site.
   • MSIE users see the section How to delete cookie files in Internet Explorer from Microsoft support.
   
   HOT TIP - Please note that you will likely see more than one cookie to delete. You must delete all of your chessgames cookies for this step to work.
   
   
2. Next, sign into Chessgames: Now it's time to sign-in to Chessgames. Just click on the link that says "login" at the bottom of any page on our site, or click below:
   • Chessgames Sign-In
   
   PROBLEM? - If you do not remember your username and password for Chessgames, you won't be able to do this. In that case, see I don't know my username and/or password section.

Is there any other way to fix this? - An alternate "solution" is to simply use a different web browser. For example, if you are having this problem with Firefox, use MSIE instead. That isn't really a solution, but it will let you use Chessgames again until you can fix the problem as explained above.

(2) I can't see the games on my computer running Windows.

One way or another, you are having problems running the software platform Java. Most of the time, reports of this nature can be fixed by step #1 below.

1. Chessgames.com requires Java which may not be present on your computer. Or it might be on your computer, but misconfigured to not work for a variety of websites. Either way, you can fix that problem by going to www.java.com and downloading Java for your machine.
   
   HOT TIP - Our help desk has observed that downloading www.java.com solves 90% of all problems of this nature. Even if you've already installed Java, try it again--it's a very easy and safe download.
   
   
2. Sometimes, installing the newest version of Java isn't enough: you also have to uninstall previous versions. Fortunately, there is a Remove Old Java Version Guide available from java.com.
   
   
3. Java technology can be unstable for some users. To solve this, we provide more than one Java viewer: if one doesn't work, try another. (You can change your Java viewer setting on the preferences page or on any game page.)
   
   
4. Perhaps your browser's configuration has Java turned off? Check your browser preferences for any security options that inolve Java and make sure they are set properly. (Also note, that Javascript should also be enabled.)
   
   
5. If all else fails, use pgn4web. It's the only PGN viewer that doesn't require Java, so it works on almost any machine, including iPhones, Androids, and other handheld devices. See our help page for more information about changing your PGN viewer.

(3) I can't see the games on my Mac.

If you use Safari: Some Macs have their Java turned off. To check for this, go to the menu Safari > Preferences > Security and make sure that both "Enable Java" and "Enable JavaScript" are checked.

If you use Google-Chrome: Please see the section on Chrome.

HOT TIP If all else fails, change your PGN viewer to pgn4web. It's the only chess viewer that doesn't require Java, so it works on almost any machine. See our help page for more information about changing your PGN viewer.

(4) Google Chrome says something about "permission"

Chrome has a feature which blocks the Java plug-in from running on sites until you give it explicit permission to run. This permission has to be granted on a site-by-site basis. Please see Java with the Chrome Browser from Java.com.

If you see the graphic (shown right) on a game page, it is possible you have already told your browser to block the Chessgames PGN viewer. To fix this, click the icon, then click "Always allow plug-ins", then click "Done". Now your browser will no longer block the PGN viewer.

For more information, see Blocked plug-ins from the Chrome user manual.

(5) I don't know my username/password.

Before emailing us, please try to use our Password Recovery Page. There you'll be asked to type your email address, and we'll email the username and password to the address provided.

NOTE: For security reasons, we will refuse to send your account info to any email which is not on file for the account in question. If you have more than one email address, be sure to tell us the same address that is on file with Chessgames!

If you cannot recover your password from this system, contact chess@chessgames.com for customer assistance.

(*) I have a question not on this page.

If you still cannot solve your problem, please describe your problem in an email and send it to chess@chessgames.com. If possible, include this information if appropriate:

1. What kind of operating system do you use? (Windows 7, Windows XP, Mac OS, etc.)
2. What web browser do you use? (MSIE, Safari, Firefox, etc.)
3. What page, or what action on a page, triggered the error? (the home page, a game page, the login page, etc.)
4. Your username on Chessgames.