Legal Chess Betting Sites And Apps In 2024

Can You Bet On Chess Legally Online?

It is legal to bet on chess online throughout the world as long as players are choosing the right legal sports betting sites when they do so. In the United States, players can bet at legit chess bookmakers like Bovada or BetOnline around the country. That’s because they are both based offshore and are subject to international business laws instead of US-based sports betting laws. By avoiding local US betting laws, both Bovada and BetOnline can accept chess bettors in states that have not regulated their own sports gambling laws like California and Texas. In other countries that aren’t the US, Bodog and BetOnline are legal for the same reasons. Offshore-style sportsbooks are able to operate globally because of free trade laws in many parts of the world.

What Bets Can You Make On Chess?

If you have an interest in betting on chess, you should get an understanding of what type of bets you can make as well as how to follow them. Some of the betting types below are the basics for how to bet on chess. So, learn what you need to know to have a better chance of cashing out.

Betting On Chess Over/Unders

Betting the Over/Under on chess is simple. But, you will notice that it is different than betting the Over/Under for the NFL. Instead, you’re betting on how many moves one of the players will make. This can be for one player or both but it’s throughout the whole game. So, imagine Magnus Carlson and Fabiano Caruana are playing. Online sportsbooks have Carlson’s projected moves at 150.5 with the Over favored at -150 and under at +110. It means chess betting sites expect him to make 151 moves or more.

Betting On Chess Futures Bets

When making a futures bet on chess, you are betting on something to happen way in advance. Chess odds are available long in advance. So, you will have the opportunity to bet on them at any time before the event happens. An example of this would be placing a bet on the World Chess Championship weeks in advance. You will also notice that odds for futures bets tend to offer larger payouts. This is because of the uncertainty based on how far in advance the tournament is.

Betting On Chess Straight Bets

A straight bet on chess is as simple as they come. You are betting on who you think is going to be the winner at the end of the match. Online sportsbooks will have odds for both of the players and the player with shorter odds means that they are more favored to win. For example, if online sportsbooks set Ding’s odds at -350 and Wang’s odds and +200, that would mean that Liren Ding is favored to win. The more favored players will always require more money up front because its less of a risk.

Other Popular Chess Events

There are many popular chess events that take place worldwide, with some competitions being online, and others having physical locations. With major chess events, there are legal sportsbook that offer odd for the outcomes, and various other betting types. The FIDE Grand Prix sends the winner and runner up to qualify for the Candidates Tournament, which then can qualify players for the Chess World Cup.

• FIDE Grand Prix – This event is a series of four separate tournaments, and all four rounds consist of playing the best of two matches.
• Chess World Cup – This chess tournament is played every two years, with single match elimination, and has a total of 128 players involved.
• The Candidates Tournament – For this tournament, the number of players changes and jumps around each year, but it is a special event, because the winner is given the opportunity to challenge the winner of the World Cup.
• World Corporate Chess Championship – This is an online chess tournament that consisted of over 1500 players in 2021.

Biggest Chess Tournaments To Bet On

Chess has a few big tournaments every year that attract chess bettors. The big one would be the Chess World Cup were sports bettors from all over the world compete against each other. The majority of the big chess tournaments take place overseas as chess is a universal game of strategy. Online betting sites for chess that accept US players primarily focus on tournaments, with the World Cup, World Chess Championship, and the Chess Olympiad as the main draws. Regardless of which tournament you choose to wager on, US chess betting sites offer long odds with big payouts for nearly every match.

Banking Options For Chess Betting

If you are going to make a deposit into an online sportsbook account to bet on chess, you have different options for doing so. You can use your banking debit or credit card, money order, or even go as far as using online cryptocurrency like bitcoin. As long as you have an account to deposit money in, you can use any one of these payment methods and even use promotional offers when doing so.

When collecting your winnings at chess betting sites that take US players, there are other options as well. If you used your debit or credit card or a money order, you can get your winning by a wire transfer or even by a check in the mail. When using online cryptocurrency though, you could get the money sent back to your online cryptocurrency wallet. Cryptocurrencies are always one of the faster sportsbook deposit methods when betting on chess or any other sport for that matter.