The “Ready?” screen is the confirmation step between pairing and the first move. Your opponent is found, both cameras come on, the drawn time control is displayed, and the clock doesn't move until both of you press Start.
It looks like a small detail, but on a camera-first platform it earns its place: you never have to enter a game before seeing who you're facing and checking your own picture.
What do you see there?
Your opponent's name, camera and rating; your own preview; the time control that was drawn; and whether the other side is ready. If they confirmed first, you'll see “Opponent ready — press Start to begin”.
If you've been paired with a founding member, the screen says so. Facing one of the first 1,000 players gets a small corner frame — the details are in our badges post.
When does the clock start?
Even after both of you press Start, the clock doesn't run immediately: time starts with White's first move. So you don't have to panic-move the second the board appears — you can sit and look at the position.
This matters most in bullet. In a one-minute game, the three seconds lost while the connection settles are valuable enough to decide the result.
Not feeling it: “Skip” and “Report and skip”
If you don't want to play the person in front of you, Skip is one click away. The pairing is cancelled and the system starts looking for a new opponent. No explanations, no starting a game just to abandon it.
If something made you uncomfortable, “Report and skip” is the better button: you pick a reason (harassment, nudity, child safety and so on), the report reaches our team immediately, and you move past that person in the same action. We covered how it works in our report and block post.
One note: abandoning a game after it has started is a different matter — that falls under the Sportsmanship Policy. Skipping a pairing you don't want carries no penalty at all; that's exactly what the screen is for.
See you in the next story.
Discover more stories