Same for me, only the base engine bots have customizations. I'm missing the regular bots feature. Also it took me by suprise as well and don't like it at all. Please bring it back!!!
What happened to Bot Customization ??
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Mar 28, 2026
0
#23
The change was fully rolled out on the website this past week and I think on both apps.
Hopefully chess.com will bring back these options for all bots. The custom challenge options were great! And the evaluation bar was an excellent feature when playing against bots because it acted as a helpful hint, signaling when to think more deeply or look for tactics, both when the bot made a mistake and when our own moves were subtly or terribly losing. Bot play with evaluation bar was great tool for training and learning, along with the custom challenge options like takebacks, hints, and evaluation visibility, for me it’s unclear why these were removed and what experience chess.com improved by removing them; please consider bringing back the evaluation bar and the custom challenge options for bot games.
Typicall response by chess.com staff moderators: "there are currently no plans to bring it back". Hopefully, this feedback is taken into account and NEW PLANS are made. THANKS!
replying to: https://www.chess.com/forum/view/help-support/what-happened-to-bot-customization?page=1#comment-126872746
Martin_Stahl wrote:
This is what the options should look like on the update, with the base engine.
Bots were working fine March 28 as I had all the key customization options I wanted especially HINTS and TAKEBACKS!!!!!
Now they are gone! I just bought and GOLD membership so that I could practice and learn by playing all the level bots with FULL customization! It's gone now... 
It frustrates me, that almost nobody is talking about this. I thought I was the only person with that problem, because I couldnt find anything on this topic. This really needs to be adressed.
This is not a feature, but a downgrade. Unable to use the assisted mode with my children made this site and its membership useful. Please fix this for members...otherwise playing random free sites has the same appeal without the pricetag.
This is the #1 feature for me on the diamond account. Could someone from CC comment on how this will be addressed? Is this a temporary issue, or a pause before unveiling a new, comparable feature?
Feeling the same way, please revert the update, otherwise I see no use in paying a for a full membership.
Oh yeah! I'm a bit disappointed. Can chess.com politely revert it back?
Apr 2, 2026
0
#34
suraj-mr wrote:
Oh yeah! I'm a bit disappointed. Can chess.com politely revert it back?
Options will be coming back soon to the personality, but not exactly as they were. It will look like what's currently available in the plain engine bots, and when any assistance options are used , the max number of crowns will be one.
hello there @martin_stahl
great to know that bot options are coming back! latest bot options are a huge downgrade!
in another forum thread I wrote about why the latest options miss the mark!!
hope chess.com staf takes this into account! THANKS!
Apr 3, 2026
0
#36
My understanding is the only update coming is that the current options on the engine bots are being added to the personality bots and if any assistance options are used, only one crown will be possible.
It is highly unlikely that the old format will return.
Another issue I have with the current options is that I accidentally hit the Hint or Undo button and it removes a crown. The old way was superior in every way. I want an option to remove the help when I don't want it so I don't accidently press it. This has happened to me many times and has made me angry.
what is going on with chess.com? Why all the changes to good things that were embedded in the game? Stop - if you offer something new ADD it allow us to choose. Voice of Customer - listen to customer .. Programmers are wasting your money.
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The "options" for the "plain engine" or raw engine bot do not look anything like the above picture...only a slider is provided for ELO setting. There is no option for Arrows. The removal of the crown options and Assisted mode is a big loss. In addition, this selective cut-back of a key feature Only for Paying subscribers is unacceptable. I used the Arrows/Assistive/One Crown mode for study and learning; and, my best friend and family members became interested in playing OTB chess again after they tried the one crown mode. They became excited about chess again and liked discovering chess,com. They now play chess over the board with me after 20 or so years of begging. I want to hear from an actual game administrator or a developer why this key feature was removed, why it was removed selectively, why it is still available on free to play, and if it will be reinstated.