A painting theme says a lot about a person…for example, it indicates which painting color you like. But more than that, it gives important insight into your personality and style of play. We’ve looked at some of the most popular and controversial board themes on Chess.com. Prepare to feel seen.
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Green
You totally knew you could change the color of your board (yes, you can, here), but you kept it the classic Chess.com green anyway. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”, right? I bet you haven’t changed your coffee order, your haircut, or your favorite pair of shoes in a while, either. No. Your green board says you don’t like to rock the boat.
Brown
Chess.com really said “What if we assimilated Walnut or Dark Wood?” when they created the Brown board. Honestly, it’s kind of an offbeat choice; the feeling of playing on a real board, but without the pesky wood grain that reminds you that the offline world exists. It’s the neo-classical choice – no really, tell me about the new line you learn at the Grunfeld.
Dark wood or walnut
As a true admirer of the classics, you probably prefer to play chess overboard, but recognize that it’s as close as it gets. You think it’s rude to turn down a rematch and you’d rather replay through annotated gamebooks than do online puzzles. I won’t tell anyone that you sleep with Capablanca My Chess Career on your bedside table.
icy sea
Icy Sea has all the class of one of those frosted-glass chess sets people display in their homes, but without the constant worry of dropping a rook mid-blitz and smashing it into a thousand pieces. Yet another case where online is just better… but you’re using the Icy Sea set, so you’ve known that for a while. Imagine yourself as someone who can play any in the opening, you’re pretty ruthless in blitz, and you’ve taken way too many 3+0 plays.
Tournament
The dark green of the Tournament board makes it feel like playing a weekend convention without having to sit across from someone kicking you under the table every time you make a good move. This is a nostalgic board theme, not used by anyone who learned to play the game after Pogchamps. Reminiscent of the plastic roll-up sets at your local chess club, it tries to be a serious chess board, just like you try to be a serious player.
Blue
Sitting somewhere between green and the icy sea, the blue board is refined yet simple. You didn’t want the default, but you weren’t ready to stray too far from it. It’s like always ordering the same latte, but with an extra dose of vanilla. No one is judging you for that, don’t worry.
Chewing gum
Using the Bubblegum board makes you the Elle Woods of your Chess.com league division. You know what they say, underrated board suit… underrated player? Yeah, people definitely say that. You show up, make 15 theoretical moves (or at least, 15 moves of…something) and win on the board in style. What, like it’s hard?
Marble
You have chosen one of the most worthy chessboard styles on Chess.com. This design was practically made for longer games of 15+10 in classic main lines. Every move played on this board theme feels a little heavy, and even the Botez gambit comes with a bit of weight and grandeur here. You probably have a library full of chess books at home, and you wouldn’t be caught playing 1.b3.
Glass
The glass board may be a niche, but it’s quite sophisticated. You drink your coffee black and all the apps on your phone are in dark mode. You’re a 1.e4 player because you think it’s “best per test”, and I bet 10+0 is your favorite time check.
lolz
Players with the Lolz board should really be feared. Anyone who feeds on this amount of glitter is a force to be reckoned with. Lolz board users have no respect for pawns or hardware in general, promoting activity and chaos. In this way, they are the opposite of Bubblegum board users. The silver sparkles of the Lolz board serve up a Y2K aesthetic that reminds you that chess is actually meant to be fun, with a clear message that “I’d rather play 1.g4 every game than ever face a Berlin”.
3D
3D board users grew up playing Battle Chess on CD-Rom and probably turned on Arcade animations for their pieces. The top-down view gives the full board game experience, while the color of the board is left up to the player (and while I’m personally a fan of Bubblegum, all of the best board colors look great in 3D too). Also, the knight pieces that come with this style of board don’t have eyes, so at the very least they can’t see when you goof.
While the 3D look might not be the most popular choice, you can finally say you’ve found a way to play ball chess “over the board” without knocking pieces off the table.
Check out Lularobs on Twitch for more fun content! Be sure to comment below and tell us how you customized your board theme. Which did you choose, and why?