General Use and Features

How to Use the API

  1. Construct the URL: Use the endpoint patterns provided in the documentation.
  2. Make the Request: Use a browser, cURL, Postman, or any HTTP client.
  3. Parse the Response: Responses are in JSON format.

Rate Limiting

  • Avoid making parallel requests to prevent being blocked.
  • If you receive a 429 Too Many Requests response, slow down your requests.

Caching

  • Data is cached and refreshed every 12-24 hours.
  • Use ETag and Last-Modified headers to check for updates.

JSON-LD

The API uses JSON-LD (JSON for Linked Data) to provide context for the data. Each response includes a Link header pointing to the JSON-LD context.

JSONP

You can use JSONP by adding a callback parameter to the URL. For example:

https://api.chess.com/pub/player/erik?callback=myFunction

HTTP Compression

Responses are gzip-compressed if the Accept-Encoding: gzip header is included in the request.

HTTP/2 Support

The API supports HTTP/2 for faster and more efficient communication.