Best Chess Betting Sites for UK Players

This complete chess guide will tell you everything that you need to know about chess betting online. Whether you're a chess master or amateur, we'll get you up and running with the new UK betting sites on chess and the markets you have to bet on.

Author: Annsley Payne , Last Updated on 04.12.2024

Chess is a game that has been around for hundreds of years, and nowadays it is a global game that is played by professionals. It is loved by many due to how strategic it is and the fact the tension can often be very high. Before you came across this article, you might have been unaware that you can bet on chess, but you can. You will not find it at every sportsbook that you come across, but more and more are offering it to their players. In this review, you will find out all you need to know about chess betting sites.

How We Rate The Top Online Betting Sites For Chess ?

• Reputation
• Security
• User Experience
• Live Betting
• Fast Payout
• Banking Option
• Mobile and App
• Customer Service

When we are thinking about what rating to give a bookmaker, our expert team will take into consideration all of what we just mentioned above.

Top 4 Chess Betting Sites for December 2024

1. 🏆 Betiton - Best Bonus Offers for Chess Betting
2. 🔥 Grosvenor Sports - Best Chess Betting Odds
3. 📱 Casumo - Best Mobile App
4. 📧 Spreadex - Good Helpdesk Service

A Brief History of Chess

The exact origin of this game is something that is highly debated, but many sources trace it back to an Indian game that goes by the name of chaturanga. This game appeared around the 6th century and it is believed to be the first game that was played on a board made up of squares that feature different pieces with their own characteristics. The word Chaturanga can be translated roughly to “four divisions”, which refers to the four military divisions that are represented by the game’s different pieces.

The game made its way to Persia in the 7th century, where it eventually evolved into Shatranj. The rules evolved too, and the habit of shouting out “Shah”, which is the Persian word for King, when going for the king was born. As a matter of fact, “Shah mat”, which means “the King is helpless”, is what eventually became known as “Checkmate”.

The game of chess continued to grow and change as different cultures in Russia and the Middle East were introduced to it, and in the 11th way it had spread to most of Europe. Many changes happened when the game made its way to Europe, and most of these changes are what make up the game of chess as we know it today. For example, the names of the different pieces were changed to queen, king, knight, bishop, rook, and pawn, and in the 15th century the basic rules that we use today became official. These rules underwent some minor changes to speed the game up and enforce more skirmishes between the different pieces, which led to the modern version of chess.

Major Tournaments You Can Bet On

Chess is a game that is played all over the world, and while not all chess events will have betting options, many do, which means you can bet on them. Below we take a quick look at some of the major chess events that you can put your money on.

Chess World Championship

The World Chess Championship is an event that occurs every two years, in September and October, and it is the cup that every professional chess player wants to win. This tournament is open to everyone, but there is a separate World Junior Chess Championship and Women’s World Chess Championship. The player that lifts the trophy will also earn close to £1 million in prize money, which is the biggest prize available in the world of chess.

Grand Chess Tour

This is an annual circuit of chess events that usually number between 5-8 a season from August to September. The events change often but include major chess tournaments such as Croatia Grand Chess Tour, Chess Classic Romania, Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz, Paris Grand Chess Tour, and the London Chess Classic.

Chess Olympiad

This event, which is not affiliated with the Olympics, is a team chess tournament that is played in August and sees teams from across the world participate in it. Points are earned for wins and the team that manages to accumulate the most points over the course of several days of games will be declared the champions. There are four players on a team and there is a team for men and women.

Candidates Tournament

The winner of this competition wins the right to play against the current World Champion, the premier chess player in the world. The number of participants in this event has varied throughout the years, but the most recent events have involved 8 players. The participants are selected from those who have performed well in other major tournaments. The winner of this event not only gets to test their skills against the best player in the world, but they also get a check for around 50k.

How do we choose the best betting sites for chess?

There are numerous bookmakers out there that sports betting fans in the United Kingdom can create an account with in order to place boxing bets.

For new sports gamblers, choosing can be quite a challenging task, but we have done all the analysis for you.

Below we will explain the different aspects of a sportsbook that we analyse when we are deciding whether a particular bookie is worth recommending to our readers.

• Chess Betting Odds
• Types of Bets
• Markets
• Bonuses
• Live Streams
• Cash out

Betting on Chess

Chess is an entertaining sport to watch as it is really intriguing to see two players make use of different strategies to try and outwit the other. However, you can make things even more intriguing when you place bets on a chess match. When it comes to betting on chess, you can dive right in and bet without your own strategies, but if you do this then you will just end up losing money. Putting a random bet down and hoping that luck is with you might work every now and then, but often it will not.

Therefore, below we have given you some useful chess betting tips that you should keep in mind when you are betting on a chess game.

Check ELO Rating

The ELO rating is used by different chess organisations to highlight the strength of a player or team. The ratings are determined by how they have performed against opponents and it is used by the International Chess Federation, which is known as the FIDE. It gives information about player such as their nationality and age, but more importantly it gives information about a player’s ranking in classic, blitz, and rapid chess events.

It is a great tool that can be used to your advantage. You should pay very close attention to any changes in the ELO ratings as it is a good indicator as to how a player has been performing in his latest matches.

Analyze Previous Matches

Another thing that can greatly improve your chances of landing a winning bet is by taking the time to do a bit of research. As we have mentioned before, chess is a game that involves a lot of strategies, so you should ensure that you learn about a player’s recent performances before you bet on them. However, instead of just focusing on their ELO rating, you need to also focus on their openings, their inspiration, and the strategies that they have made use of in their recent chess games.

Compare Odds

This is something that might seem obvious to you, but many chess bettors skip this part. There are many different sports betting sites out there that have chess betting markets, and they are not all going to have the same odds. There will be those bookies that offer great odds all of the time, but competition between bookies is fierce, and no bookmaker will have the best offers available all of the time – they will vary from game to game and tournament to tournament.

Take Outside Factors into Account

Before you go ahead and place your hard-earned money on a player, you should take some outside factors into consideration such as stress and jetlag. Chess is a mind game, so a player has to be switched on at all times. One small lapse in concentration could lead to an error that sees the player lose the match. If a tournament is being played in Japan and one of the participants has flown in the day before from the United Kingdom, there is a good chance that they will be suffering from jetlag and might not be at the top of their game. Therefore, before betting on a player in a tournament, take the time to see whether there is a chance that they will be suffering from jetlag.

Look at Previous Matches Between Chess Players

When you are considering betting on a chess match, you should take a look at the head-to-head record between the players. Like in other sports such as football, some players seem to have the edge over another player whenever they meet. Therefore, before you go ahead and bet money on a player to win a chess match, take a look at the head-to-head record and if one player always beats the other when they meet, consider putting money on them to win.

William Hill

So, does our team of sports betting professionals consider William Hill UK to be a bookmaker and an online casino that is worth opening an account with? Yes, is the obvious answer to this question. If you decide to open a William Hill account, then you will be able to take advantage of a very attractive Welcome Bonus as well as have access to a huge variety of sports and betting markets. All their markets, which include Asian handicaps, come with competitive odds, which is always great. To top it all off, William Hill just so happens to have one of the best live streaming services.

Pros

✅ They have the best live streaming services.

✅ The sign up bonus is, in our opinion, is one of the better Welcome Bonuses that you will come across.

✅ They are completely legal in the UK and you can trust them

Cons

❌ None

Popular Chess Bets to Place

Above we gave you some very handy betting tips to keep in mind when you are betting on chess, and now we are going to take a look at the different betting markets that you will come across when you are betting on chess.

Match winner: Betting on the winner of a match is one of the most popular bets in the sporting world, not just in chess. As you can probably guess from the name of the bet, it gives you the chance to bet on the player that you think will go on to win the game. Most chess events are single-round eliminations, so this is the kind of bet you will encounter very frequently.

Outright winner: When you make this kind of bet, you are placing a bet on the player that you think will pick up the trophy and the check at the end of the competition. Depending on the bookmaker that you bet with, you might also have the option of betting on a player that you think will advance to the next round of an event. You will often be able to place outright bets when a competition has already started, but the earlier you make your wager, the better your odds will be.

Opening move: Chess is a strategic game, meaning a match can sometimes be decided on the first move that a player makes. There are plenty of different chess strategies available and you, depending on the bookie you have an account with, will be able to place bets on the opening move. To put it another way, you can try to predict the methods that a particular player is going to use and the first move that they will make.

Number of moves: You will also have the chance to bet on the number of moves that will make up a game. This is something that will vary depending on the strategy that both players are using. The rules of this type of wager will vary depending on the bookmaker that you have an account, but in most cases a move will start when the white player finishes moving their piece.

Best Bonuses and Free Bets for Chess

The sports betting world, it is no exaggeration to say, is one of the competitive industries around at the current moment in time. While a lot of competition might be a negative for sports betting sites, it is really useful for us sport betting fans because it is this that forces sportsbooks to offer enticing bonuses to try and get us to open an account with them. They are all very much aware that if they do not provide an attractive Welcome Bonus then they can forget about new players registering with them.

Some like to think that bonuses are all the same, but this is obviously not the case. You will come across bonuses that are a lot better than the others that you will encounter. Therefore, it is important that you do some research and shopping around before you go and sign up with a bookie that you think looks good for you. Below we have given your four bookmakers that offer some of the best welcome bonuses around.

William Hill: If you decide that William Hill is the bookmaker you have been after and you register with them, they will provide each new customer with two free bets to the value of £15 each. These free bets can be used on whatever sport you wish, but if you sign up with William Hill when there is a chess tournament taking place, we suggest you use at least one of the free bets on a chess match.

Unibet: If you feel that Unibet is a sports betting site that you would like to register with, then you will be able to take advantage of a £40 money back bonus. With this bonus, you place an initial bet that can be of a value up to £40 and if you lose, Unibet will return your stake as a free bet. Can this Unibet free bet be used on any sporting event you like? You bet it can.

Bwin: If Bwin is the bookmaker that you want to sign up with, then they will give each customer a £20 money back bonus. Place a bet between £10-20 and if it goes on to lose, your value will be returned in the shape of a free bet. You should consider using this free bet stake on chess events.

N.B. Sportsbooks are continuously altering bonuses to try and stay ahead of all of their competitors. Therefore, there is no guarantee that the four offers that we just mentioned above will be on offer when you head over the bookie’s website to register. This is unfortunate if this happens, but we cannot spend all of our time checking for updates. Rest assured though that whatever bonus is on offer will be an enticing one as these bookies do not do sub-standard bonuses.

Something else that we have to highlight before moving on with the chess betting guide is that it is really important that you take the time to read the T&Cs that apply to a bonus before you claim it. If you read all of the terms and conditions, then you will find out about the important criteria such as what the wagering requirements are, the time you have to complete the wagering requirements, the min deposit that you have to make, and whether there are many banking restrictions. Reading every T&C will decrease your chances of forfeiting your bonus.

Where to Find the Best Chess Betting Odds

Odds will always vary between different bookies as they know the importance of going one up on their rivals when it comes to odds. A bookie that constantly offers the highest odds around is one that will see plenty of new customers decide to register an account with them. On the other hand, a bookmaker that has rubbish odds more often than not is one that will be left behind and go out of business relatively quickly.

Before you complete the registration process with a sportsbook, you should do some research to make sure that the odds you will be getting are some of the best around. This is how you ensure you always get the value for your money that you deserve. When you buy a car, for example, we imagine that you do some shopping around for a bit to make sure you are getting a quality deal, so why not do the same when looking for a sportsbook to join?

Let us now give you an example that will help to emphasise the importance of finding the best odds on offer. Let us say you find a chess match between Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana and you want to bet on Carlsen to win. One bookmaker has odds of 1.80 for Carlsen to win, while another has odds of 2.00 for Carlsen to be victorious. If you place a £20 bet on Carlsen to win with the first bookmaker and he does, you will land a profit of £16, while placing the same wager with the second bookie will land you a profit of £20. Now a difference of £4 is not an awful lot, but it will definitely quickly add up if you miss out on £4 whenever you get yourself a winning bet.

So, what bookies do we suggest to you for chess odds? Well, these four bookies are never shy about offering very good odds:

• Ladbrokes

• 10bet

• Betiton

• Grosvenor Sports

Chess Live Betting

When the Internet came into being in the 90s, sportsbooks were able to develop their own websites and make the transition online, meaning people could soon start making sports bets without having to leave their house. However, to start with, live betting was something that was not available. If you have just entered the world of sports gambling, then you might not be too sure about what live betting is. Well, it is quite simple really, it is a bet that you make when the sporting event is still being played. For instance, if you bet on a chess match after just two moves have been made, you will be making a live bet. Technology is now a lot better than it was in the 90s and live betting is available at most bookies.

Bookmakers are aware that sports bettors like to place live bets and they know that any bookie that does not have live betting is one that will not survive the competitive industry. However, although many bookies offer some kind of live betting platform, they are not all as good as each other. When it comes to live chess betting, we recommend you look at these bookies:

• Bwin
• William Hill
• Unibet
• LeoVegas

This chess betting guide has provided you with more than enough information for placing bets on chess, and we hope you put it all to good use.