Help build the next era of chess.
Active beta — we need players, testers, and builders.
Otherchess is in active beta testing phase. We need people who will play seriously, stress-test the app, and file clear bug reports. Our Paid Beta Super Tester program rewards players who register, hit activity benchmarks (games played on a set number of days, accepted bug reports), and contribute consistently — with tiered cash payouts and in-game rewards (e.g. tourney entry points). Details below.
Beyond testing: we’re also looking for engineers, AI researchers, operators, and investors. If you want to help ship chess that stays human and creative — reach out.
What we’re looking for
- Paid Beta Super Testers — register, meet benchmarks (e.g. games played on a minimum number of days, a minimum number of accepted bug reports), and earn tiered cash rewards plus in-game rewards like tournament entry points.
- Growth investors who get competitive games and want to help shape distribution and the competitive scene.
- Engineers who ship fast and care about product clarity and human-first UX, not just features.
- AI researchers who want to push playable strength and evaluation in a large, human-favorable possibility space (search, evaluation, opening theory).
- Operators who can make deployment boring and reliable so tournaments never get derailed by ops.
- Social media and streaming mavens who can grow reach, run streams, and build presence where players and viewers already are.
Role: Paid Beta Super Tester Beta
During beta, the highest-value thing a community member can do is play the game seriously and file clear, accepted bug reports. We need people who will put the app through its paces — not just casual play, but deliberately trying edge cases and reporting what breaks.
How it works:
- Register as a super tester (we’ll confirm eligibility and how to opt in)
- Meet benchmarks over a set period: e.g. play a minimum number of games, on a minimum number of separate days, and file a minimum number of bug reports that we accept (reproducible, clear steps)
- Benchmarks are objective and verifiable — no subjective “top 50” contest; you either hit the bar for a tier or you don’t
What you’ll do:
- Play games regularly across different boards and configurations
- Deliberately probe edge cases: unusual move sequences, long games, resigning early, slow connections, replaying positions
- Submit detailed reports when something breaks or behaves unexpectedly: what happened, what you expected, steps to reproduce
- Flag UX confusion, not just crashes — if something is hard to understand, that’s a bug too
Rewards:
- Cash tiers (e.g. $50 / $100 / $150) based on which benchmark tier you meet — paid after the period ends, via PayPal/Venmo/check
- In-game rewards such as tourney entry points or other perks we announce
- Direct line to the developer for questions and feedback; credit as a beta contributor
Must-have: willingness to play repeatedly and write up what you find clearly. Chess experience is a plus but not required — what matters is systematic thinking and a willingness to break things on purpose.
Role: UI Engineer (Web)
You will focus on information clarity and flow: game summaries, game history, player profiles, and “what happened?” UI. You’ll work in Rails views + JS + CSS, improving navigation consistency, layout, and readability.
Must-have: strong HTML/CSS, pragmatic JS, and taste for UI that communicates state.
Role: Mobile Developer
Ship a mobile experience that’s actually playable: lobby, invitations, play interface, and notifications. PWA-first is fine; native is also fine if it’s fast and maintainable.
Must-have: ability to turn complex interaction UIs into something stable on small screens.
Role: Operations Engineer
Make the platform reliable: deploy pipelines, monitoring/alerts, database backups, caching, and cost control. Goal: tournaments should not be derailed by ops surprises.
Must-have: practical experience running production web apps, and a bias toward simplicity.
Role: AI Researcher
Otherchess has a large possibility space and no solved opening book — humans still outperform our AI. We want to close the gap in a way that stays interesting: better evaluation (walls, upgrade squares, multi-player), search, and opening exploration.
Must-have: experience in game AI, search, or evaluation; interest in a variant where engine strength is an open research problem.
Role: Social Media & Streaming
Grow Otherchess where players and viewers already are: social platforms, streaming (Twitch/YouTube), and community channels. Run streams, create clips and highlights, and build a visible presence so the game reaches more people.
Must-have: hands-on experience with social and streaming platforms; ability to produce and sustain content that fits competitive games and chess culture.
What to send
- A short note about what you’d ship first.
- Links (GitHub/portfolio) if you have them.
- For investors: what you’ve grown before, and how you think about competitive distribution.