Chess Betting Platform

Peer-to-peer chess betting where your skill directly earns you money. Create matches, stake real cash, play real-time chess, and get paid instantly when you win.

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Inspiration

In today’s world, almost everything has been turned into something you can bet on — from football and basketball to even events, eSports and virtual games. But chess? One of the purest games of skill in human history has been largely left behind.

As a passionate chess player myself, I kept asking: “Why can’t chess players also monetize their skills the same way others do?”

Finding people to play for money online was always risky — trust issues, payment disputes, no proper escrow, and fear of cheating. Many strong players I know wanted to play for real stakes but had no safe platform to do so.

This personal frustration inspired me to build Chess Betting App — a clean, fair, and secure peer-to-peer platform where chess players from around the world can challenge each other for real money based purely on skill.

What it does

Chess Betting App is a Progressive Web App that lets chess players create or join real-money matches against other players.

Key features include:

  • Create or accept custom betting matches with flexible stakes and time controls
  • Secure escrow system — money is locked until the game finishes
  • Real-time self-hosted chess gameplay
  • Automatic payout to the winner (minus small platform commission)
  • Multicurrency support (NGN, USD, GBP, EUR, etc.)
  • Strong anti-cheat protection and game validation
  • In-app ratings and competitive leaderboards
  • Wallet, deposits, withdrawals, and full transaction history

Whether you’re a casual player staking $50 or a serious player battling for bigger pots, every move you make now has real value.

How we built it

I built the entire application using an medo.dev app builder with just prompt.

Starting with a very detailed prompt, I carefully guided the AI through multiple iterations to create a functional MVP featuring real payment integration, secure escrow logic, real-time gameplay, and a beautiful, engaging user interface. So for some details, I usually use the prompt optimization feature in the text area, there it structure my prompt in a well defined form.

Challenges we ran into

  • Major Payment Gateway Limitation: Setting up Stripe for a global audience was extremely difficult and frustrating. I had to pivot and integrate Fincra with full webhook handling, multicurrency support, and verification endpoints but that was not completed as I think keeping it simple first then work better on it in future.
  • Building a robust real-time chess engine with proper move validation and basic anti-cheat systems.
  • Designing a fair escrow and automatic settlement system for real money games.
  • Managing AI token limits which required breaking the development into several sessions with very precise prompting.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

  • Successfully created a fully functional peer-to-peer chess betting platform.
  • Implemented secure escrow and automatic settlements after games.
  • Built a clean, modern, and gamified UI that feels fun and trustworthy.
  • Achieved multicurrency support for both Nigerian and international users.
  • Completed the full user journey from deposit to playing to withdrawal.
  • Full functional authentication flow.

- Themes implementation base on preference.

What we learned

This project taught me how to build platforms or app with AI. Writing structure prompt with some guide like where to find resources it may need, for example the design was from a site which I researched to find beautiful site to get inspiration from.

I also learned the importance of persistence when facing technical hurdles and how powerful well-crafted prompts can be when working with AI tools.

What's next for Chess Betting App

  • Launch the app if I win.
  • Advanced anti-cheat features using Stockfish analysis
  • Video verification option for high-stake games
  • Support for additional payment gateways (Stripe, PayPal, etc.)
  • Tournaments and seasonal leagues
  • Native mobile apps (iOS & Android)
  • Community features and improved matchmaking

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