You can still play vs computer as always but with 25 possible levels (pretty similar like before with 10 possible levels, but more available levels), and you can now play against some newly created personality bots. So actually you can do more for free than before as now you have more difficulty settings and added personality bots. The only thing is that now you get even more personality bots with membership. 
Why is it "pay to play" against computer now?
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Nov 2, 2020
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#2
Nov 2, 2020
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#3
They appear to have removed computer opponents from timed and rated games. I don't know why.
Nov 2, 2020
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#4
You can still do it in live chess section as far as I know, but not in Play(Beta). I've read somewhere that the plan is to totally remove cpu opponents from live games once Play(Beta) is not in Beta.
Nov 2, 2020
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#5
nklristic wrote:
You can still do it in live chess section as far as I know, but not in Play(Beta). I've read somewhere that the plan is to totally remove cpu opponents from live games once Play(Beta) is not in Beta.
I know I mentioned that may be possible, but it looks like they can't be selected in Live Chess anymore. As of right now you can still directly challenge them though.
Nov 2, 2020
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#7
#3 I agree and hope the removal of bot opponents from timed/rated games in live matches is temporary, this is a real miss for me
I hope it's permanent.
what happens if you buy the bots with the subscription, do you keep them if you dont pay?
I may be late or not but it's been a week ever since I've played and I easily had access to every level against a computer/bot, but I have to pay now. Is there any way to avoid this, or should I simply pay the monthly subscription despite it being cheap?
Edit: I seriously apologize, I never realized there were "computer players" to pick between who weren't required premium. My fault!