Chess.com MCP Server for Claude Desktop 15 tools — connect in under 2 minutes
Claude Desktop is Anthropic's native application for interacting with Claude AI models on macOS and Windows. It was the first consumer application to ship with built-in MCP support, making it the reference implementation for the Model Context Protocol standard.
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{
"mcpServers": {
"chesscom": {
// Your Vinkius token — get it at cloud.vinkius.com
"url": "https://edge.vinkius.com/[YOUR_TOKEN_HERE]/mcp"
}
}
}
* Every MCP server runs on Vinkius-managed infrastructure inside AWS - a purpose-built runtime with per-request V8 isolates, Ed25519 signed audit chains, and sub-40ms cold starts optimized for native MCP execution. See our infrastructure
About Chess.com MCP Server
Connect to the Chess.com public API and explore the entire chess ecosystem through natural conversation. No authentication required — just install and start querying immediately.
Claude Desktop is the definitive way to connect Chess.com to your AI workflow. Add the Vinkius Edge URL to your config, restart the app, and Claude immediately exposes all 15 tools in the chat interface — ask a question, Claude calls the right tool, and you see the answer. Zero code, zero context switching.
What you can do
- Player Profiles & Stats — Fetch any player display name, avatar, join date, follower count, plus detailed ratings across all time controls (bullet, blitz, rapid, daily) and puzzle rush scores
- Online Status — Check if a player is currently connected to Chess.com in real-time
- Game History — Retrieve all finished games for any month with full PGN data, opponent info, opening names, accuracy ratings, and game results
- Daily & Current Games — See which correspondence games a player currently has in progress
- Puzzles — Get the official daily puzzle or fetch unlimited random puzzles for tactical training
- Clubs — Explore Chess.com clubs, view member rosters, and discover community affiliations
- Leaderboards — See the highest-rated players across all game types on Chess.com
- Titled Players — Lists of GMs, IMs, FMs, WGMs, NMs, and other officially titled players
- Streamers — Find verified Chess.com content creators across Twitch, YouTube, and other platforms
- Country Players — Discover players from any nation using ISO country codes
The Chess.com MCP Server exposes 15 tools through the Vinkius. Connect it to Claude Desktop in under two minutes — no API keys to rotate, no infrastructure to provision, no vendor lock-in. Your configuration, your data, your control.
How to Connect Chess.com to Claude Desktop via MCP
Follow these steps to integrate the Chess.com MCP Server with Claude Desktop.
Open Claude Desktop Settings
Go to Settings → Developer → Edit Config to open claude_desktop_config.json
Add the MCP Server
Paste the configuration above into the mcpServers section
Restart Claude Desktop
Close and reopen Claude Desktop to load the new server
Start using Chess.com
Look for the 🔌 icon in the chat — your 15 tools are now available
Why Use Claude Desktop with the Chess.com MCP Server
Claude Desktop by Anthropic provides unique advantages when paired with Chess.com through the Model Context Protocol.
Claude Desktop is the reference MCP client — it was designed alongside the protocol itself, ensuring the most complete and stable MCP implementation available
Zero-code configuration: add a server URL to a JSON file and Claude instantly discovers and exposes all available tools in the chat interface
Claude's extended thinking capability lets it reason through multi-step tool usage, chaining multiple API calls to answer complex questions
Enterprise-grade security with local config storage — your tokens never leave your machine, and connections go directly to the Vinkius Edge network
Chess.com + Claude Desktop Use Cases
Practical scenarios where Claude Desktop combined with the Chess.com MCP Server delivers measurable value.
Interactive data exploration: ask Claude to query DNS records, look up WHOIS data, and cross-reference results in a single conversation
Ad-hoc security audits: type a domain name and let Claude enumerate subdomains, check DNS history, and flag configuration anomalies — all through natural language
Executive briefings: generate comprehensive domain intelligence reports by asking Claude to compile findings into a formatted summary
Learning and training: new team members can explore API capabilities conversationally without needing to read documentation
Chess.com MCP Tools for Claude Desktop (15)
These 15 tools become available when you connect Chess.com to Claude Desktop via MCP:
get_club_info
com club by its URL identifier. Returns the club name, description, creation date, last activity date, visibility status, admin information, and total member count. Use this tool to learn about a club before joining, verify club existence, or gather metadata about chess communities. Get information about a Chess.com club
get_club_members
com club. Each entry includes the member username and their profile URL. Use this tool to discover active players within a specific club community, find potential opponents who share your chess interests, or identify titled players within a club roster. Get weekly active members of a Chess.com club
get_country_players
com players who have registered with a specific country. Takes an ISO 3166-1 country code (e.g., "US" for United States, "BR" for Brazil, "IN" for India, "RU" for Russia, "NO" for Norway). Returns an array of player usernames affiliated with that country. Use this tool to discover players from a specific nation, find local opponents, or research the chess scene in different countries. Get Chess.com players from a specific country
get_daily_puzzle
com daily puzzle including the puzzle position (FEN), the sequence of moves for the solution, the puzzle rating, and the associated game metadata (players, result, opening). Use this tool to get a tactical puzzle to solve, practice chess tactics, or study interesting positions from real games. The puzzle changes once per day. Get the Chess.com daily puzzle
get_leaderboards
com leaderboards showing the highest-rated players across different game categories. Returns top players for daily chess (correspondence), blitz, bullet, and rapid time controls, plus puzzle rush leaders. Each entry includes username, current rating, and profile URL. Use this tool to identify the strongest active players on Chess.com, track rating leaders, or find grandmaster accounts to study. Get Chess.com leaderboards for top players
get_player_clubs
com clubs that a specific player belongs to. Returns club names, URLs, creation dates, and membership counts. Use this tool to discover a player community affiliations, find clubs with similar interests, or identify potential clubs to join based on where strong players are members. Get clubs that a Chess.com player is a member of
get_player_current_games
com player. Returns game details including opponent username, current position (FEN), time control, last activity date, and game URL. Use this tool to check what ongoing games a player has, see who they are playing against in daily chess, or monitor active correspondence matches. Does not include live (real-time) games that are currently being played. Get a player's currently active daily (correspondence) games
get_player_game_archives
com player. Each URL corresponds to a specific year/month combination where the player has recorded games. Use this tool to discover which months have available game data before fetching actual games with get_player_monthly_games. The returned URLs can be parsed to extract year and month parameters. Get list of available game archive URLs for a player
get_player_monthly_games
com player during a specific year and month. Returns detailed PGN data, game results, opponent usernames, opening names, time controls, accuracy ratings (if available), and game end reasons. Use this tool to analyze a player game history, study their openings, review losses against specific opponents, or collect training data. Month is 1-indexed (January = 1, December = 12). Get all finished games for a player in a specific month
get_player_profile
com player by username. Returns the player display name, avatar URL, join date, last online timestamp, follower count, country, and title if applicable (GM, IM, FM, etc.). Use this tool to verify a username exists and gather basic identity information about a Chess.com player before querying their stats or games. Get Chess.com player profile information
get_player_stats
com player. Returns current and best ratings across all game types (chess_rapid, chess_blitz, chess_bullet, chess_daily, puzzle_rush, lessons), plus win/loss/draw records for each time control. Use this tool to evaluate a player skill level, check their peak ratings, or compare performance across different time controls. Get Chess.com player statistics including ratings and records
get_random_puzzle
com puzzle database. Returns the puzzle position (FEN), the complete solution moves, puzzle rating, and the source game information (white player, black player, result, opening name). Use this tool for unlimited tactical practice sessions, training sessions, or when you want a fresh puzzle that is not the daily puzzle. Get a random chess puzzle from Chess.com
get_streamers
com verified streamers. Each entry includes the streamer username, streaming platform (Twitch, YouTube, etc.), stream URL, language, and follower count. Use this tool to find chess content creators to watch, discover educational streams in your preferred language, or locate titled players who regularly broadcast their games. Get the list of official Chess.com streamers
get_titled_players
com players who hold a specific chess title. Supported titles include: GM (Grandmaster), IM (International Master), FM (FIDE Master), CM (Candidate Master), WGM (Woman Grandmaster), WIM (Woman International Master), WFM (Woman FIDE Master), WCM (Woman Candidate Master), NM (National Master), and LM (Legends Master). Returns an array of usernames. Use this tool to find all grandmasters on Chess.com, locate titled players for study, or verify if a player holds an official title. Get list of titled players by title type
is_player_online
com player. Returns a simple status object indicating whether the player is currently connected to Chess.com servers. Useful for determining if a daily chess opponent or streamer is actively playing right now before attempting to challenge them. Check if a Chess.com player is currently online
Example Prompts for Chess.com in Claude Desktop
Ready-to-use prompts you can give your Claude Desktop agent to start working with Chess.com immediately.
"Show me the current ratings and stats for chess player 'hikaru' on Chess.com."
"Get me today's daily puzzle from Chess.com."
"Show me the top 5 players on the Chess.com blitz leaderboard."
Troubleshooting Chess.com MCP Server with Claude Desktop
Common issues when connecting Chess.com to Claude Desktop through the Vinkius, and how to resolve them.
Server not appearing after restart
~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS) or %APPDATA%\\Claude\\ (Windows).Authentication error
Tools not showing in chat
Chess.com + Claude Desktop FAQ
Common questions about integrating Chess.com MCP Server with Claude Desktop.
How does Claude Desktop discover MCP tools?
claude_desktop_config.json file and connects to each configured MCP server. It calls the tools/list endpoint to fetch the schema for every available tool, then surfaces them as clickable options in the chat interface via the 🔌 icon.What happens if the MCP server is temporarily unavailable?
Can I connect multiple MCP servers simultaneously?
mcpServers section of the config file. Each server appears as a separate tool provider, and Claude can use tools from multiple servers in a single conversation turn.Is there a limit on the number of tools per server?
Does Claude Desktop support Streamable HTTP transport?
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Connect Chess.com to Claude Desktop
Get your token, paste the configuration, and start using 15 tools in under 2 minutes. No API key management needed.