Privacy Policy

This policy describes the xiangqi host at xiangqi.plyyard.com, including the versus-AI board, the one-screen two-player board, and online rooms. Ply Yard does not need your name, email, or a password to put pieces on a 9×10 grid, so those things are not collected.

Last updated August 2026. This page is the privacy note for this host, not a marketing summary.

What stays in the tab

An unfinished versus-AI or pass-and-play game is written in this browser so a refresh can continue it. Finished games can stay as local records on the second screen. None of that is uploaded, and there is no cloud profile.

What this browser may remember

If your browser allows site storage, this host may keep a small set of preferences on the device. None of these fields are an email address or a government identifier:

• Board preferences. Flip, coordinates, last-move marks, legal-point marks, check marks, AI level, which color you sit, and which color opens. The key is plyyard-xq-prefs.
• Game records. The live position is stored as xqyard-xq-game-ai or xqyard-xq-game-local. Finished scoresheets are stored as xqyard-xq-records. Both stay on this device and can be read or cleared from the records panel below the board.
• Sound. Move sounds stay off until you turn them on. The choice is stored as plyyard-xq-sound. A first visit does not restore sound as on.
• Online seat name. Rooms show a system preset such as Panda-382, not a name you type and not a login. The browser may keep that preset so the next room does not assign a new one at random.
• Rooms you hosted. A short list of room codes you created can stay on the device so this browser can claim the host seat again if you reopen the link.
• Seat tokens for this session. While a tab is open, the browser may keep a player id and a seat token in session storage so a refresh does not dump you from a chair you already sat.

You can delete this data with the browser’s site-data or storage controls for xiangqi.plyyard.com. Turning the board’s own toggles also overwrites the preference values. Clearing storage does not delete a room that is still open on the server; it only forgets this device’s copy of names and codes.

Online rooms

When you create or join a room, the two browsers exchange moves over an encrypted WebSocket. The table is a temporary object on the host: preset seat names, the current position, a short list of preset phrases and emoji, and who is allowed to move. Private rooms use a long invite that is not listed in Find Match. Public rooms use a five-character code that can appear in that list while the seat is empty.

Rooms are not a cloud diary. An idle waiting table, a finished table, or a table whose players have been gone for a while is closed and discarded. Closing the last tab ends play for that group. We do not build a rating, a lifetime win-loss record, or a searchable archive of your games.

A seat name is a system preset on a chair, not an identity check and not a field you can type into. In-room messages are only those preset phrases and emoji; the server rejects free text. Other people at that table can see the preset you send.

What the host may see

Like any website, the servers that deliver the page and keep a room open can see ordinary request metadata: IP address, rough geographic region, browser type, the host and path you opened, and a timestamp. That information is used to serve the site, to absorb abuse, and to see why a room failed. It is not joined to an account, because there is no account to join it to.

Cookies and other companies

This host loads Google Analytics 4 (measurement ID G-GQ7C9J04ZF) for aggregate traffic such as pages viewed, approximate region, device type, browser, and referral source. It is not a replay of your moves, not tied to board state, and not tied to an account. You can play with analytics blocked.

Google’s privacy policy is at policies.google.com/privacy. You can also use the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on. The site still does not set an account cookie. Preference keys listed above are this site’s own storage, not a login cookie.

Children

The board does not ask anyone, including a child, for a name that identifies them, an email, or a password. A parent who does not want even a preset seat name or room code kept on a shared device can clear site data for this host after play.

Access and deletion

Because we do not keep a user database, there is no “download my account” file to send you. Deleting this site’s storage in the browser removes the preferences and names this device saved. If you wrote to us by email, that message sits in an ordinary inbox until we answer and then handle it as ordinary correspondence.

We do not sell, rent, or trade a list of players. There is no such list.

Changes

If the board starts storing something new, this page will be updated with a new date before that behavior ships. Keep reading the policy on this host rather than an old copy in a search snippet.

Privacy questions

Email contact@plyyard.com and mention xiangqi.plyyard.com. The contact page lists what else to include. This policy is also linked from the terms.