Terms of Service

Chess and Stilz Co. LLC

Effective Date: October 12, 2026 | Last Updated: October 26, 2026

These Terms of Service ("Terms") form a binding agreement between Chess and Stilz Co. LLC ("Chess and Stilz," "we," "us," or "our") and the adult parent or legal guardian ("Parent" or "you") who creates and holds a subscription account for the Chess and Stilz storytelling application (the "Service"). By creating an account or subscribing to the Service, you agree to these Terms on behalf of yourself and acknowledge that you are authorizing your child's access to the Service.

The Service is intended for use in the United States only. Do not subscribe if you are outside the United States.

Who May Use the Service
Account and Parent Responsibility
Subscription and Billing
Auto-Renewal and California Automatic Renewal Disclosure
Cancellation and Refund Policy
Content and Content Safety Architecture
Trust Contract and Design Commitments
Parent Controls and the Parent Zone
The Reader Dial and Reader Recap
AI-Generated Content Disclosure
Intellectual Property
User Conduct
Disclaimers of Warranty
Limitation of Liability
Governing Law and Dispute Resolution
Changes to These Terms
Contact Information

1. Who May Use the Service

Parent eligibility. The account holder and contracting party is always an adult parent or legal guardian. You must be at least 18 years old to create an account, subscribe, and manage the Service. By subscribing, you represent and warrant that you are 18 or older.

Child reader eligibility. The Service is designed for child readers age 9 and older. The child reader does not have a separate account, login credentials, or email address. Within the parent's account, the child's experience is the Kid Zone — the story reading interface — which contains no purchasing capability, no free-text input, and no account management functions. The Parent Zone, described in Section 8, requires the Parent PIN (a separate credential from your account password) and is not reachable from the Kid Zone. Children cannot initiate communication with Chess and Stilz personnel through any in-product channel.

No child accounts. Because children access the Service through the parent's account and have no independent contractual relationship with Chess and Stilz, the child is a reader, not an account holder. All rights, obligations, and communications run between Chess and Stilz and the Parent.

2. Account and Parent Responsibility

Account creation. You agree to provide accurate, complete, and current information when creating your account. You are responsible for keeping your account information up to date, including a valid email address at which you can receive notices from Chess and Stilz.

Account security. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials and your Parent PIN. Do not share your account password or your Parent PIN with your child. The Parent PIN is the control that separates the Kid Zone from the Parent Zone on a shared device; sharing it removes that separation. Do not permit another adult to use your account to access the Service on behalf of a different child. You are responsible for all activity that occurs under your account.

Parent as sole contracting party. Because the child reader has no independent account, all decisions about account settings, content controls, subscription management, and data rights belong exclusively to the Parent. Chess and Stilz will direct all account communications, billing notices, and required disclosures to the Parent's account email address.

3. Subscription and Billing

Paid subscription only. The Service is available by paid subscription only. There is no free tier at launch.

Complimentary and tester accounts. From time to time, Chess and Stilz may invite a limited number of individuals to test the Service at a dedicated tester price, which may be less than standard pricing (including a nominal amount such as $1 per year). A tester account is not a free tier and does not create an exception to the paid-subscription-only policy above — it is processed through the same checkout, billing, and Verifiable Parental Consent flow as a standard subscription, including presentation of the Direct Notice to Parents before payment for any tester account that will include a child profile. Invitation to a tester account is at Chess and Stilz's sole discretion, is personal to the invited individual, and is not transferable. Chess and Stilz may modify or revoke tester pricing or tester account access at any time, without notice and without any refund obligation beyond the amount actually paid for the then-current billing period. Except for the price charged, tester accounts are subject to these Terms identically to standard subscription accounts, including the content safety architecture (Section 6), Parent Controls (Section 8), data rights (Section 8 and the Privacy Policy), and dispute resolution (Section 15). Where a tester account auto-renews, the California Automatic Renewal Law disclosure requirements in Section 4 apply to it in the same manner as to standard subscription tiers.

Billing period. Your subscription is billed on an annual basis, beginning on the date you first subscribe.

Payment processor. Billing is processed through Stripe. By subscribing, you authorize Chess and Stilz, through Stripe, to charge your designated payment method for each billing period. You agree to Stripe's terms of service, which govern payment processing.

Failed payments. If a payment fails, Chess and Stilz may suspend or terminate access to the Service until payment is resolved. We may retry failed charges and will notify you by email of any payment failure.

Price changes. We will provide advance written notice to your account email before any change to the subscription price takes effect. Continuing to use the Service after the effective date of a price change constitutes your acceptance of the new price.

4. Auto-Renewal and California Automatic Renewal Disclosure

Auto-renewal. Your subscription renews automatically at the end of each billing period at the then-current subscription price, unless you cancel before the renewal date. You will be charged to the payment method on file without further action by you.

California Automatic Renewal Law notice. In compliance with California Business & Professions Code § 17600 et seq., Chess and Stilz discloses the following before you complete your subscription purchase:

Subscription offer: Access to the Chess and Stilz interactive storytelling application.
Billing amount: $249 (Solo) / $399 (Family) per year at Founders pricing, available to the first 250 subscriptions (gift memberships, and families who continue within 30 days after a gift year, are not counted toward the 250); $349 (Solo) / $549 (Family) per year at Regular pricing — plus any applicable taxes. Pricing tier and current rate are displayed at point of purchase. Founders pricing is grandfathered for the life of the subscription, provided the subscription remains active and uninterrupted.
Auto-renewal: Your subscription will automatically renew at the end of each annual period at the then-current price for your tier. You will be charged to your payment method on file unless you cancel.
How to cancel: You may cancel at any time from your account (Settings → Subscription → Cancel) or by emailing hello@chessandstilz.com. Cancellation stops future charges; access continues through the end of your current paid period.

This disclosure is presented to you at the point of purchase and is incorporated into these Terms.

5. Cancellation and Refund Policy

How to cancel. You may cancel your subscription at any time from your account (Settings → Subscription → Cancel) or by emailing hello@chessandstilz.com. Cancellation takes effect immediately: no further billing cycles will be charged.

Service continues through the paid period. Cancellation stops future billing but does not immediately terminate access. You and your child reader retain access to the Service through the end of the current paid billing period.

Reader data hold after cancellation. When your subscription is cancelled, your child's reader data — session telemetry, Reader Dial state, and Reader Recap history — enters a 90-day save-back hold. During this hold, Chess and Stilz stops all data processing: no new telemetry is collected, no Reader Dial updates occur, and no Reader Recaps are generated. Chess and Stilz will send you one-click reactivation emails at day 7, day 30, and day 75 of the hold. If you reactivate before day 90, service resumes from your saved state. If no reactivation occurs, all reader data is permanently deleted at day 90. Cancellation is not a deletion request. If you want your child's data deleted immediately — at any time, including at the time of cancellation — use the deletion options in Parent Zone → Privacy & Data. Those actions trigger immediate, permanent hard-delete regardless of subscription status.

No automatic refund for mid-period cancellations. Chess and Stilz does not issue automatic refunds for cancellations that occur in the middle of a billing period. Because service continues through the end of the paid period, no credit is owed for unused time in that period, unless required by applicable law.

No automatic refund for account deletion. Deleting your account or requesting deletion of your account data is a data rights action separate from your billing relationship. Exercising your right to delete account data does not automatically generate a refund right for any portion of a prepaid subscription period. If you wish to discuss refunds in connection with account deletion, contact us at the address in Section 17. Your data rights are described separately in our Privacy Policy.

Gift memberships are a one-time purchase of one year of reading at the Founders price, opened by the recipient's parent. The year begins when the gift is opened. An unopened gift does not expire, and if the buyer writes to us at hello@chessandstilz.com before it is opened it will be refunded in full. Gifts do not count toward the 250 Founders subscriptions. A family that continues within 30 days after a gift year ends keeps Founders pricing for as long as the subscription stays active.

6. Content and Content Safety Architecture

6.1 The Universal Content Floor

Chess and Stilz uses a two-pass AI content safety architecture: a prompt-side filter applied before content generation and an output-side filter applied after generation. Together, these filters enforce a hard-coded universal content floor that applies in every story world, at every bravery tier (the parent-set peril intensity level — see Section 8), for every child reader, with no override available to parents or children.

The following categories are filtered against at both passes and will trigger regeneration if detected:

Suicide content
Self-harm content
Sexual content of any kind — note: romance in the family-film tradition (loyalty, longing, a kiss) is permitted within the authored narrative frameworks; sexual content is not
Graphic violence as spectacle or instruction
Slurs and identity-based dehumanization
Profanity and swearing
Real-world weapon instruction or glamorization
Drug use depicted as appealing or aspirational
Real-person impersonation or libel
Commercial product placement
Direct contact information, URLs, or instructions to leave the product

What the architecture means in practice. Chess and Stilz is designed not to generate these categories. When a filtered category is detected in output, the system discards the output and regenerates. Chess and Stilz does not represent that filtered content will never appear — the product represents a designed-to-prevent architecture with active filtering and regenerate-on-detection enforcement as the applicable standard of care. This is a design commitment, not a warranty of perfection.

No parent or child override. The universal content floor cannot be loosened by any setting, toggle, or parental permission. It is fixed at the product level.

6.2 World-Specific Safety Extensions

Each story world within the Service may define per-world safety extensions that establish content ceilings specific to that world. World-specific extensions may only tighten the universal floor — they cannot loosen it. A world extension may, for example, exclude a content category that is permitted under the universal floor, but no world extension may permit a category excluded by the universal floor.

6.3 The Parent-Opt-In Dark Content Category

The Service includes a single parent-opt-in Dark Content category, subject to a two-lock gate: (1) the child's editorial tier must match the minimum tier required for the category, AND (2) the Parent must explicitly enable the category using the Dark Content toggle in the Parent Zone. Both conditions must be simultaneously satisfied — an editorial tier advance alone is not sufficient. The category is never opened by any automated process. The Dark Content toggle remains OFF by default regardless of age or editorial tier. The category is described in detail in Section 8 (Parent Controls).

6.4 Safety Controls vs. Taste and Register Controls

The universal content floor and its two-pass enforcement architecture described in Section 6.1 is Chess and Stilz's safety model. It is fixed, applies at all ages and all bravery tiers, and cannot be modified by any parent setting, child setting, or system process.

The Bravery tier, Reader Dial inferences, Dark Content toggles, and world-entry preference choices are taste and register controls. They determine vocabulary complexity, peril intensity, character emphasis, and story register — the character of the content generated within the safety floor. They are preference settings, not safety controls. No combination of taste and register settings can produce content that the safety floor filters. A parent enabling the maximum bravery tier and all Dark Content toggles does not weaken the safety floor; it widens the range of permissible story intensity within a floor that remains fixed.

7. Trust Contract and Design Commitments

Chess and Stilz operates under a set of design commitments that define the relationship between the product and the child reader. These commitments are product principles and design standards — they are not warranties that the system will be error-free.

Honesty. The system never lies to the child. Story fiction is story fiction; the product does not make false factual representations to child readers.

Non-manipulation. The system does not manipulate the child. Chess and Stilz does not use dark patterns, psychological pressure, artificial urgency, or persuasive techniques designed to work against the child's interest.

Child-first design. Chess and Stilz is designed to serve the reader's engagement with stories. The product does not optimize for time-on-device or retention metrics in ways that conflict with the child's interests.

No assessment surfaces. No quizzes, no scores, no comprehension checks, and no progress bars presented as judgment appear anywhere in the product, in any form, at any stage. The Reader Recap (described in Section 9) is a parent communication — it does not surface assessment information to the child.

These commitments reflect how the product is built and what it is designed to do. They are not warranties that the system will be free from errors, that AI-generated content will never require correction, or that any particular story outcome will be achieved.

8. Parent Controls and the Parent Zone

The Service is organized into two distinct zones. The Kid Zone is the child-facing reading experience — stories, story choices, and character interactions. The Kid Zone is accessible within the parent's account; it contains no account settings, content controls, or data management functions. The Parent Zone is the parent-only settings and management area of the Service. Accessing the Parent Zone requires your Parent PIN, which is a separate credential from your account password. Do not share your Parent PIN with your child. On a shared device, the Parent PIN is the control that keeps your child within the Kid Zone.

The following controls are available in the Parent Zone at any time:

Control	Description	Default
Reading Age	Sets the vocabulary floor for story content. Adjustable at any time.	Set at signup
Bravery Tier	Sets peril intensity (Tier 1 / 2 / 3). Adjustable at any time.	Tier 1 until you change it
Changing a reader's settings	A reader's bravery tier, reading level, action and conflict, and scary or spooky elements can each be changed at any time in the Parent Zone, under Content Controls (What's allowed).	On demand
Dark Content	Enables the parent-opt-in Dark Content category. Default OFF for every child regardless of age or editorial tier. At launch, no worlds are placed in this category; worlds with darker editorial register may be added in future releases. When ON, the Parent consents to all current and future worlds within the category, provided new worlds match the category's existing safety floor and editorial register. Delivery of content from any Dark Content world is subject to a two-lock gate: (1) the child's editorial tier must match the world's minimum tier AND (2) the Parent must have toggled Dark Content ON. Both conditions must be simultaneously true.	OFF
Reader Recap Cadence	A Reader Recap email is sent each time a chapter is finished. Can be disabled in the Parent Zone.	ON

Parent responsibility for settings. Your choices in the Parent Zone are your decisions. Chess and Stilz is not responsible for outcomes that result from your choice to modify default settings, including the choice to enable the Dark Content category or to change your reader's content settings.

Editorial placement of stories into age tiers is Chess and Stilz's authorial decision. There is no per-story parental approval gate. Parent controls (Section 8) govern the register and content settings within which stories are surfaced — Chess and Stilz determines which stories fall within those parameters.

Privacy & Data. Self-service access to your child's data is available in Parent Zone → Privacy & Data. From this menu you can download your child's data, delete the child profile, or delete the account entirely. Each action is PIN-gated and completes immediately on confirmation. Additional profile management options, including the option to reset accumulated reading data without deleting the child profile, are also available in Parent Zone → Privacy & Data and are described in our Privacy Policy. See the Privacy Policy for full descriptions and the data retention paths that apply.

Subscription management. You can view and manage your subscription in Parent Zone → Subscription, including changing your pricing tier, updating payment method, and cancelling. Cancellation takes effect immediately for future billing; access continues through the end of your paid period. See Section 5 for the full cancellation policy.

9. The Reader Dial and Reader Recap

Reader Dial. The Reader Dial is a back-end behavioral inference system that observes engagement patterns and adjusts the story experience within the parameters you have set in the Parent Zone. The Reader Dial is invisible to the child reader — it does not surface as a score, label, or rating. Reader Dial inferences are not used for advertising and are not sold or shared with third parties.

Reader Recap. Chess and Stilz sends a Reader Recap to your account email address each time a chapter is finished by a reader (it can be disabled in the Parent Zone). The Reader Recap describes your child's engagement with the Service. It contains no scores, grades, comprehension assessments, or evaluative judgments. It is a narrative summary intended to support parent awareness.

10. AI-Generated Content Disclosure

Chess and Stilz uses artificial intelligence to generate story prose at runtime, within authored story frameworks, character worlds, and content safety constraints created by Chess and Stilz authors. Story imagery in V1 is served from a curated library of character portraits authored by Chess and Stilz using AI-assisted tools and editorially reviewed before publication; no runtime AI image generation occurs in V1.

Where AI generation is disclosed. AI generation is disclosed in the Direct Notice to Parents at signup, in our Privacy Policy, and within the Service. The Direct Notice to Parents, presented before payment is completed, is the operative consumer disclosure for purposes of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act.

No platform-specific disclosure obligations. The Service is delivered as a browser-based web application — no App Store or Google Play distribution is involved. There are no platform-imposed AI content disclosure requirements applicable to this Service. Disclosure obligations are governed by FTC standards and applicable state law.

Content safety. All AI-generated prose is passed through the two-pass content safety architecture described in Section 6 before delivery to the child reader. Chess and Stilz does not warrant that AI-generated prose will be error-free; the applicable standard for prose is the designed-to-prevent architecture with regenerate-on-detection enforcement described in Section 6. Story imagery is editorially reviewed by Chess and Stilz before publication. AI-generated prose is produced fresh for each child reader at runtime within Chess and Stilz's authored frameworks, and may resemble prose generated for other readers in style or structure given shared frameworks and shared model providers; Chess and Stilz does not warrant that any segment of generated prose is unique to a particular reader.

Intellectual property. Chess and Stilz retains all rights in AI-generated story prose generated through the Service, and in the curated story imagery library. See Section 11.

11. Intellectual Property

Chess and Stilz content. All stories, characters, worlds, story beats, character voices, narrative frameworks, product interfaces, and all other elements of the Service are owned by Chess and Stilz Co. LLC or its licensors. The Service is protected by copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws. You may not reproduce, distribute, publicly display, or create derivative works from any element of the Service without our prior written permission.

AI-generated story prose. Story prose generated through the Service by AI systems operating within Chess and Stilz's authored frameworks is owned by Chess and Stilz Co. LLC. No rights in AI-generated story prose are transferred to the Parent or child reader.

Reader choices are not user-generated content. A child reader's story choices are selections from authored options created by Chess and Stilz — they are not original expression and are not "user-generated content" in the traditional sense. No intellectual property rights in the story options or in the resulting narrative flow vest in the Parent or reader as a result of story choices made during play.

Limited license to use the Service. Subject to these Terms, Chess and Stilz grants you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to access and use the Service for your personal, non-commercial purposes (meaning: for your child reader's personal reading use). This license terminates when your subscription ends.

12. User Conduct

By subscribing to the Service, you agree:

You are responsible for your child's use. As the Parent and account holder, you are responsible for ensuring your child reader uses the Service in a manner consistent with these Terms.
Account credentials. Do not share your account password or your Parent PIN with your child reader. Do not share your account credentials with other adults for use with different children.
Provide accurate information. You will provide accurate, truthful information when creating your account and when using account features.
Character name field. The character name field in the Service is for the child reader's in-story character name — nicknames and fantasy names are encouraged. You agree not to enter the child's real first or last name in this field.
No circumvention. You will not attempt to circumvent, disable, or interfere with content safety filters, access controls, or any other technical measures in the Service.
Lawful use only. You will use the Service only for lawful purposes and in compliance with these Terms.

Chess and Stilz reserves the right to suspend or terminate accounts for violation of these conduct obligations.

13. Disclaimers of Warranty

"As is" and "as available." THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE," WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, CHESS AND STILZ DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.

No warranty of uninterrupted service. Chess and Stilz does not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, error-free, or free from technical failures. The Service may be temporarily unavailable due to maintenance, updates, or circumstances beyond our control.

No warranty of content perfection. Chess and Stilz does not warrant that AI-generated content will be error-free, that all content will meet your expectations, or that the content safety architecture will prevent every possible instance of filtered content from appearing. The applicable standard is the designed-to-prevent architecture described in Section 6.

Parent settings decisions. Chess and Stilz is not responsible for outcomes attributable to your decisions in the Parent Zone, including decisions to change default content settings, to enable the Dark Content category, or to change your reader's content settings.

Some states do not allow the exclusion of implied warranties. If you reside in such a state, some of the above exclusions may not apply to you.

14. Limitation of Liability

Cap on liability. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, CHESS AND STILZ'S TOTAL LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ANY CLAIM ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS OR THE SERVICE SHALL NOT EXCEED THE AMOUNT YOU PAID TO CHESS AND STILZ IN THE 12 MONTHS IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM.

Excluded damages. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT SHALL CHESS AND STILZ BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE, OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF PROFITS, LOSS OF DATA, LOSS OF GOODWILL, OR SERVICE INTERRUPTION, EVEN IF CHESS AND STILZ HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

State law variation. Some states do not allow the limitation or exclusion of liability for certain types of damages. If you reside in such a state, some of the above limitations may not apply to you. In those states, Chess and Stilz's liability is limited to the fullest extent permitted by law.

15. Governing Law and Dispute Resolution

Governing law. These Terms and any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service shall be governed by the laws of the State of Utah, without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles.

Dispute resolution. Any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service shall be resolved by binding arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) under its Consumer Arbitration Rules then in effect. The arbitration shall be conducted in accordance with AAA Consumer Arbitration Rules regarding hearing location, or by remote proceeding conducted by videoconference or telephone at the election of the consumer. Judgment on the arbitrator's award may be entered in any court of competent jurisdiction in the State of Utah.

Class action waiver. TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, YOU AND CHESS AND STILZ EACH AGREE THAT ANY DISPUTE RESOLUTION PROCEEDING WILL BE CONDUCTED ONLY ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS AND NOT AS A CLASS, CONSOLIDATED, OR REPRESENTATIVE ACTION.

Small claims exception. Notwithstanding any arbitration or dispute resolution provision, either party may bring an individual action in small claims court if the claim qualifies under the applicable small claims court rules.

Informal resolution first. Before initiating any formal dispute resolution, you agree to contact Chess and Stilz at the address in Section 17 and give us 30 days to attempt informal resolution of your concern.

16. Changes to These Terms

Chess and Stilz may update these Terms from time to time. We distinguish between material and non-material changes:

Material changes. If we make a material change to these Terms — including changes to pricing, billing practices, subscription structure, or your substantive rights — we will provide advance written notice to your account email address before the change takes effect. The notice will describe the change and the effective date. Continuing to use the Service after the effective date constitutes your acceptance of the updated Terms.

Non-material changes. For changes that do not materially affect your rights (such as clarifications, formatting updates, or changes to placeholder provisions replaced with finalized language), we may update these Terms without advance notice beyond posting the updated version.

Current Terms. The current version of these Terms is always available within the Service. The "Last Updated" date at the top of this document reflects the most recent revision.

17. Contact Information

For questions about these Terms, your subscription, billing, account access, or content concerns:

Chess and Stilz Co. LLC Mailing Address: 176 S. Sunset Dr. Vineyard, UT 84059 Telephone: +1 801-477-7675 Email: hello@chessandstilz.com

For data and privacy inquiries, please refer to our Privacy Policy at https://chessandstilz.com/privacy/

Miscellaneous

Entire agreement. These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy and any other agreements incorporated by reference, constitute the entire agreement between you and Chess and Stilz with respect to the Service and supersede all prior understandings.

Severability. If any provision of these Terms is found to be unenforceable, that provision shall be modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it enforceable, and the remaining provisions shall continue in full force and effect.

Waiver. Chess and Stilz's failure to enforce any provision of these Terms is not a waiver of its right to enforce that provision in the future.

Assignment. You may not assign your account or your rights under these Terms without our prior written consent. Chess and Stilz may assign these Terms in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets.

No third-party beneficiaries. These Terms do not create any third-party beneficiary rights. In particular, your child reader is not a contracting party and has no rights under these Terms.

Headings. Section headings are for convenience only and do not affect interpretation.

Survival. Sections addressing intellectual property, disclaimers of warranty, limitation of liability, governing law and dispute resolution, and any other provisions that by their nature should survive termination will survive termination of these Terms and your subscription.

Chess and Stilz Co. LLC — Terms of Service October 26, 2026 | Version 1.0