Did you know chess is booming online, and one website is leading the charge without charging a single rupee? Meet Lichess! It all began in 2011 at University College London when Theo Wait rediscovered chess thanks to a French friend who shared a cool new site called Lichess. Today, 14 years and a global pandemic later, Lichess has become a sizzling sensation, with millions playing and learning chess every day. So what makes Lichess so special? First, it’s completely free, open source, ad-free, and no sign-up needed! You can dive straight into playing games, learning with courses and studies, or watching live tournaments like the World Championship and World Cup. And who’s behind this magic? Just three full-time workers – Theo Wait, founder Thibault Duplessis, and mobile developer Vincent Velociter – plus a huge team of global volunteers working their magic. Donations keep the site alive, averaging about five Euros per supporter. Theo Wait shares his journey: "I began volunteering my time by trying to translate the website into Russian... Around 2013, Thibault reached out to me and said, ‘You know, would you like to be part of the team?’" From a student volunteer to the director of operations, Theo’s role is now crucial in making Lichess one of the top 200-300 websites worldwide! Lichess started simply with Thibault wanting to learn programming in Scala. "He began creating a chess website, because it has lots of features which are very useful for programming," says Wait. Early bugs, like illegal moves, were quickly fixed, thanks to the helpful chat community. Players rave about Lichess! Indian chess star Vidit Gujrathi said, "I have a lot of respect for Thibault, who is running it with his passion." Even top Dutch player Anish Giri called it "Such an amazing open source work..." Every day, about 3.5 million rated games happen on Lichess, exploding to as many as 6-7 million games if you count casual ones and bots. The pandemic gave Lichess a rocket boost, tripling users online at once! But Lichess isn’t just for fun; it fights for free chess everywhere. Theo says, "We are not for sale. Nobody wants to see a monopoly." Keeping the site running costs around 720,000 dollars per year for servers, salaries, moderators, and tournaments. These tournaments help players earn money just by playing chess! Most donations come from North America and Europe, but Lichess dreams big about growing in India. Theo hopes to bring chess to schools and grassroots players in India, the country with the second-largest number of followers after Russia. So, if you love chess or want to learn, Lichess is your vibrant, free playground. It’s more than a website; it’s a global chess festival that’s open for all – no entry fee, no fuss!