# CombatChess — its chess, with fists > Chess with real-time fighting mechanics for contested captures. (iPhone/iPad app by PUNCHMAN, LLC.) - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/combatchess/id6788577357 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`) - Developer: [PUNCHMAN, LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/1229559640) - Category: Games, Entertainment, Action, Board - Price: Free (on sale, was $2.99) - Rating: 5.00/5 from 5 App Store ratings · 4 written reviews indexed - Age rating: 9+ - Requires: iOS 17.0 · 79 MB - Languages: American English - Released: 2026-07-25 - Data updated: 2026-08-26 - Monetization: free - User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/combatchess/id6788577357/reviews.md ## What is CombatChess? It's chess. With fists. Combat Chess is real, full-rules chess until a capture is contested. Then both pieces drop into a real-time retro pixel brawl, and the winner keeps the square. No piece goes quietly. Not even the king. ACTION CARDS: FIGHT FOR THE SQUARE You start every match with 3 Action Cards. When your piece is captured, spend one to force a fight instead of just losing it. Win the brawl and the capture is repelled your piece holds the square and the attacker is removed. Cards are spent win or lose and never refill mid-match, so card management is a whole extra layer of strategy. Run dry, and captures land like ordinary chess. FIGHTS THAT MATTER - Fighting power scales with chess value: pawns brawl at 75 HP, knights and bishops at 125, rooks at 175, queens at a monstrous 275, kings at 300. - Damage persists for the ENTIRE match. Wound the queen now, hunt her down later a health bar follows every piece that has fought. - A pawn can topple a queen. It just takes near-flawless play. SIX-BUTTON ARCADE COMBAT - Left punch (fast jab) and right punch (slow, heavy cross). - Side-matched blocking read the tell and guard the correct side to absorb 80% of the hit. - Timed dodges perfect timing negates all damage and charges your meter. - A stamina system that punishes button-mashing. Burn out and you're exhausted: unable to act and taking 1.5x damage. - Land perfect dodges to unlock the SUPER a single power shot worth 2.5x a heavy punch. Spam loses. Reads win. THE KING NEVER FALLS QUIETLY - In check, you can move out of danger or spend a card to send your king to fight the checking piece directly. - Checkmate isn't automatically the end. It triggers a mandatory final fight: your king duels the mating piece at 300 HP, no card needed. Win the last stand and the mate is broken. This cuts both ways: to beat you, your opponent must finish the job in the ring. A REAL CHESS ENGINE UNDERNEATH - Complete standard chess: castling, en passant, promotion, check, checkmate, and every standard draw rule. - Powered by the Stockfish engine, tunable from 600 to 3190 Elo - friendly beginner to superhuman, with a strength slider for every difficulty in Settings. - Single-player works fully offline. Sound and haptics are yours to toggle. CHALLENGE FRIENDS ONLINE - Turn-based multiplayer through Game Center: invite friends, run several matches at once, and take your time. - Get notified when an opponent moves, captures, or starts a fight with daily reminders before the 4-day forfeit window closes a stalled match. - Built for turn-based play: when you contest a capture, the fight resolves instantly on your own device against a computer-controlled version of your opponent's piece fighting with its true HP and power, including damage it already carries. No waiting around, and your opponent sees a full recap on their turn. EVERY MATCH ON RECORD - Match history with wins, losses, draws, win rate, streaks, per-difficulty records, fight stats, and your biggest upset. ## Key features - Real-time pixel brawls for captures - Action cards for strategic combat - Persistent damage on pieces - Six-button arcade combat system - King can fight to avoid checkmate - Full-rule chess engine (Stockfish) - Turn-based online multiplayer ## Recent user reviews (4 of 4) All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/combatchess/id6788577357/reviews.md ### 5/5 — Cool dynamic *2026-07-27* Cool new chess dynamic ### 5/5 — This is refreshing *2026-07-27* A new spin on a classic, the added mechanics make chess fun again. Amazing ### 5/5 — Combat chess *2026-07-26* Great game to play alone or online with a friend. I love the fighting option between opponents on the chess board. Very nice and entertaining! ### 5/5 — Something new and refreshing *2026-07-25* I heard about this game on dev forums and I’m glad it delivered - an added layer to chess with the fighting mechanics changes the pacing and add some refreshing excitement ## Frequently asked questions about CombatChess ### What is CombatChess? CombatChess is a unique game that combines full-rule chess with real-time pixel brawls. When a capture is contested, both pieces engage in a fight, and the winner keeps the square. It features strategic action cards and arcade-style combat. ### How does CombatChess handle captures? Instead of a piece being immediately removed upon capture, CombatChess initiates a real-time brawl. The winner of the fight determines the outcome of the capture, with the victor keeping the square and the loser's piece removed. Action cards can be used to force these fights. ### Can the King fight in CombatChess? Yes, the King in CombatChess can fight. In check, you can choose to move the King or spend an action card to send it to fight the checking piece directly. A checkmate also triggers a mandatory final duel between the Kings. ### What are the combat mechanics in CombatChess? CombatChess features a six-button arcade combat system with punches, blocking, and dodges. It includes a stamina system that punishes button-mashing and allows for timed dodges to unlock a powerful SUPER attack. Damage persists throughout the match. ### Is CombatChess playable offline? Yes, the single-player mode in CombatChess works fully offline. You can enjoy the game and its robust chess engine without an internet connection. ### How does multiplayer work in CombatChess? CombatChess offers turn-based multiplayer through Game Center. You can invite friends, manage multiple matches simultaneously, and receive notifications for opponent moves or captures. Fights resolve instantly on your device. ### What is the chess engine used in CombatChess? CombatChess is powered by the Stockfish engine, a highly regarded chess engine. Its strength can be tuned from 600 to 3190 Elo, offering a wide range of difficulty levels from beginner-friendly to superhuman. ### Does CombatChess have ads? No, CombatChess does not contain advertisements. The game is free to play and does not interrupt the gameplay with ads. ## Version history (last 5 releases) ### 1.6 — 2026-08-24 CombatChess now supports Game Center Achievements! V1.6 : combat tweaks and bug fixes ### 1.5 — 2026-08-19 LIVE DUELS, PERFECTED Online fights between two live players now run on all-new LOCKSTEP netcode: both phones run the exact same fight, frame for frame. What you see is precisely what your opponent sees — same punches, same bars, same everything, verified every second. No laggy seat, no host advantage: both fighters play under identical timing, and results are computed by both devices, not reported by one. ONE ARENA, EVERY DETAIL The live duel screen now matches the classic fight in full: damage numbers, hit sparks, knockback, GUARDED / CHIP! / PERFECT DODGE! verdicts, hit sounds and haptics, exhaustion warnings when a fighter's stamina breaks and the super meter is now visible for BOTH fighters. Charge it with perfect dodges and a gold SUPER button appears. Yes: in live duels, both players can fire the super now. A FAIRER STAMINA GAME Button-mashing has been priced out. Punches and dodges cost more, recovery is slower, and hammering buttons while winded only digs the hole deeper. A spammer runs dry in about twelve seconds; a patient fighter barely feels it. Dodges are now the most expensive move in the game they erase ALL damage and charge your super, so spend them on reads, not reflexes. Blocking is your everyday defense. ROCK-SOLID CONNECTIONS Input packets now travel with backup delivery, so a flaky connection means a slightly laggier duel instead of a lost one. If a connection truly dies, the CPU steps in with your piece's real stats and the match always gets its verdict. ### 1.4 — 2026-08-17 NO MORE MYSTERY MOMENTS Every fight now ends in plain sight: the loser shatters on its square, the winner takes it, and a banner calls the result and whose move is next on BOTH devices, within seconds. Concede a capture and your opponent watches the piece move immediately. A FIGHT UNDERWAY banner pulses while a brawl resolves on the other side. No more frozen boards. No more guessing. THE 60-SECOND DECISION Fight or concede? Once the prompt appears you have 60 seconds of real time and the clock keeps counting even if you leave the app. Run it out and the capture is conceded. Stalling is over; relaxed turn-based play everywhere else is untouched. FASTER HANDOFFS "Let the CPU Handle It" now starts the fight immediately instead of waiting out the offer window. And your opponent's real Game Center name shows correctly on every screen, for both players. A NEW FRONT DOOR The title screen got a full makeover: two knights square off under a moonlit castle skyline and throw punches when you pick your difficulty. The Rulebook, freshly rewritten to cover everything above, now sits front and center in the menu. Match History lives in Settings. RETUNED DIFFICULTY Easy 700 · Medium 1200 · Hard 1600 each with a slider to scale up or down, and Hard now stretches all the way to 3190 ceiling. ALSO • Turn sends retry themselves on flaky connections • A full automated test suite now guards the rules engine and online play • Dozens of reliability fixes straight from field testing ### 1.3 — 2026-08-13 Live competitive duels. When both players are in the app, challenged fights can be fought PLAYER vs PLAYER in real time contested captures, check fights, and the checkmate final stand. Fighter personalities : every piece fights its own way scrapper pawns, rushdown knights with combo strings, counter-punching bishops, tank rooks, feinting technical queens, juggernaut kings In-app Diagnostics (Settings): persistent, shareable event log Changed Balance: timeout now means the challenger loses (no more dodge-stall steals); queens/kings/rooks fight at elite tiers regardless of setting; chained challenges start with reduced stamina (challenge fatigue). Additionally - AI bug fixes and performance improvements! ### 1.2 — 2026-08-04 Your first update, built from player feedback! SEE THE BOARD WHILE YOU DECIDE The fight-or-concede prompt no longer covers the board. It now lives at the bottom of the screen both fighters and their HP flank the buttons and a pulsing red arrow on the board shows exactly which piece is capturing which while the decision is pending, in solo and online play. MATCH LOG Tap the new green LOG button for a live history of the whole game: every move, every fight outcome, and the result, updating in real time. Online, both players see the identical log. PLAY AS BLACK Single player now opens with a setup screen: pick White or Black and fine-tune the CPU's Elo within your difficulty before the first move. ONLINE RELIABILITY Fixed the "both players waiting" stall. The app now re-syncs with Game Center when you return to it and continuously during a match, so a missed turn notification can no longer hang a game stalled matches heal themselves in seconds. ## More apps by PUNCHMAN, LLC - [Pro Boxing Timer](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pro-boxing-timer/id1517458237) All apps by PUNCHMAN, LLC: https://appshunter.io/developer/1229559640 --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-26.*