# Chess.com Scraper (`crawlergang/chess-com-scraper`) Actor

Scrape Chess.com - leaderboards, player profiles, stats, and game archives. Fully public API, zero credentials required.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/crawlergang/chess-com-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Crawler Gang](https://apify.com/crawlergang) (community)
- **Categories:** Automation, Developer tools, Integrations
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $3.00 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event and usage. You are charged both the fixed price for specific events and for Apify platform usage.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## Chess.com Scraper

Scrape **Chess.com** — the world's largest chess platform with 100M+ members. Extract leaderboards, player profiles, ratings, and game archives via the fully public Chess.com API. No API key or credentials required.

### What you can scrape

- **Global leaderboards** — Top players across Rapid, Blitz, Bullet, Daily, Chess960, Tactics, and more
- **Player profiles** — Username, title (GM/IM/FM), country, bio, followers, streaming status
- **Player stats** — Current and best ratings across all game types
- **Game archives** — Full game history with PGN notation, ratings, results

### Output fields

#### Leaderboard entries

| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| `username` | Chess.com username |
| `title` | Chess title (GM, IM, FM, NM, etc.) |
| `country` | ISO country code |
| `score` | Leaderboard rating/score |
| `rank` | Position on leaderboard |
| `gameType` | Game type identifier |
| `gameTypeLabel` | Human-readable game type |
| `sourceUrl` | Link to player profile |

#### Player profiles

| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| `name` | Full display name |
| `bio` | Player biography |
| `location` | Location string |
| `followers` | Follower count |
| `isStreamer` | Whether player streams |
| `joinedAt` | Account creation date (ISO 8601) |
| `lastOnlineAt` | Last seen date (ISO 8601) |

#### Game records

| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| `whiteUsername` | White player |
| `blackUsername` | Black player |
| `whiteRating` | White player rating |
| `blackRating` | Black player rating |
| `winner` | `white`, `black`, or `draw` |
| `timeClass` | `rapid`, `blitz`, `bullet`, `daily` |
| `rated` | Whether game was rated |
| `endedAt` | Game end timestamp |
| `pgn` | Full PGN notation |

### Input options

| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| `mode` | select | `leaderboard`, `player`, `playerStats`, `playerGames` |
| `gameType` | select | Leaderboard type (Rapid, Blitz, Bullet, etc.) |
| `username` | string | Chess.com username for player modes |
| `year` | integer | Year for game archive |
| `month` | integer | Month 1-12 for game archive |
| `maxItems` | integer | Max records (1–1000) |

### Example use cases

1. **Player ranking** — Get top 50 rapid chess players worldwide
2. **Profile lookup** — Scrape rating history for a specific player
3. **Game analysis** — Download PGN archives for analysis
4. **Market research** — Identify top streamers and their follower counts

### FAQ

**Does this require an API key?**
No. Chess.com's API is completely public with no authentication.

**How many leaderboard entries are returned?**
Chess.com returns up to 50 entries per leaderboard type.

**Can I get game PGN data?**
Yes. The `playerGames` mode returns full PGN notation for each game.

**What game types are available?**
Rapid, Blitz, Bullet, Daily, Chess960 Daily, Bughouse, Blitz960, Three-Check, Crazyhouse, King of the Hill, Tactics, Puzzle Rush, and Battle.

# Actor input Schema

## `mode` (type: `string`):

What to fetch from Chess.com.

## `gameType` (type: `string`):

Which leaderboard to fetch.

## `username` (type: `string`):

Chess.com username for player/playerStats/playerGames modes.

## `year` (type: `integer`):

Year of games to fetch (e.g. 2024). Defaults to current year.

## `month` (type: `integer`):

Month 1–12. If omitted with year, fetches all months.

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Hard cap on emitted records.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "mode": "leaderboard",
  "gameType": "live_rapid",
  "username": "hikaru",
  "maxItems": 50
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `chess_data` (type: `string`):

Dataset of scraped Chess.com records.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "mode": "leaderboard",
    "gameType": "live_rapid",
    "username": "hikaru",
    "maxItems": 50
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("crawlergang/chess-com-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "mode": "leaderboard",
    "gameType": "live_rapid",
    "username": "hikaru",
    "maxItems": 50,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("crawlergang/chess-com-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "mode": "leaderboard",
  "gameType": "live_rapid",
  "username": "hikaru",
  "maxItems": 50
}' |
apify call crawlergang/chess-com-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,crawlergang/chess-com-scraper"
        }
    }
}

```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/EqpPAIoiMv4VbGvQw/builds/X4XG5IFCU3umXrAgZ/openapi.json