# Imperial Chess — user reviews > 17 indexed App Store user reviews of Imperial Chess by Victor Campeanu, rated 4.33/5 from 6 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/imperial-chess/id1560190286/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/imperial-chess/id1560190286.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 4 · 4★ 1 · 3★ 0 · 2★ 1 · 1★ 0 ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Maia does not play like a human *2023-02-11* The Maia chess engine does not play like a human being. Even at Elo rating 1100 it plays more like a chess engine. The developer need to change the following settings for Maia in the UCI configuration file in order for Maia to play like a human. - cpu threads = 1 - mini batch-size = 1 - max-prefetch = 0 - nodespersecondlimit = 0.001 **Developer response:** New update is now live with great new features and balanced engine play. ### 1/5 — It’s chess *2022-01-20* It’s chess why does this overheat the phone? **Developer response:** New update is now live with great new features and performance fixes. ### 2/5 — Missing Engines *2024-11-29* I updated from V 1.3 and was disappointed to see all other engines besides Stockfish 16 were deleted?!? Maia, Lc0, all gone! This was the main reason I considered Imperial Chess to be the best chess app by far! Sadly, dev claims the "out of date" engines were deleted however, Stockfish 16 is also outdated as 17 has been out for quite a while. Lack of engine choices makes Imperial Chess just like the others. Varied engine choices is what set it apart from all the rest. Please bring back Lc0, Maia at least, as these engine's playing styles are quite different from ubiquitous Stockfish. ### 2/5 — New features in update, but lost its main attraction *2024-07-30* Gameplay against Maia distinguished this program's previous versions. The Latest update seems to have removed these engines. The only chess engine now offered is Stockfish. Well, there are plenty of better apps for playing against Stockfish. Sadly, there no longer is any compelling reason to use Imperial Chess. ### 2/5 — New features in update, but lost its main attraction *2024-07-18* Gameplay against Maia distinguished this program's previous versions. The Latest update seems to have removed these engines. The only chess engine now offered is Stockfish. Well, there are plenty of better apps for playing against Stockfish. There is no longer see any reason to use Imperial Chess. ### 2/5 — Glitched on my first try of the game *2024-01-09* The game is so so, but there were always errors not allowing me to play. It even said Critical error and it showed a skull! Please help! **Developer response:** New update is now live with great new features! ### 2/5 — new features would be nice *2023-03-10* 10 months no update. id like to know what Lc0 is plotting over there. ### 2/5 — Buggy *2022-10-16* Lots of bugs. Game crashes easily, sometimes when you aren’t even doing anything. National errors: game castled kingside but notated it “o-o-o.” There’s a setting to identify openings but it didn’t work. Games often don’t save, even though it claims the games are saved. I love the multi-engine feature, but the interface has issues unacceptable for a serious chess player. **Developer response:** New update is now live with great new features and fixes for all crashes. ### 3/5 — Decent - but can’t save games *2023-08-20* Can’t export them either. **Developer response:** Export feature was added in the new update. ### 3/5 — Engine ratings seem off *2022-01-29* Leela at “1000” plays *way* better than 1000 ELO. How was this calibrated? I’d like to see some games vs 1100-1200 FIDE players. For example, if I play the English this “1000” ELO opponent not only plays well, but uses the most critical lines of almost every variation. I don’t think a 2200 player could improve upon the first 5-10 moves. Odd variations… no problem. You should see it play a rook endgame. Laughable. **Developer response:** New update is now live with great new features and balanced engine play. ## Most praised reviews (7 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — A lot of improvements have been made *2025-02-20* A lot of improvements have been made since I last opened this app. I could actually play a quick game with the engine now. Because it makes human like blunders. **Developer response:** New update is now live with great new features and balanced engine play. ### 5/5 — Great chess app *2024-09-02* I can beat it on Elo 1700. And I like that it is running Stockfish 16. ### 5/5 — lovely *2023-09-01* i just eish it had, a begginer setting with challenges,and a session of historial analysis,other than that is amazing. ### 5/5 — beutifull . strong *2022-03-21* nice chess game... ### 5/5 — 8 Chess Engines! *2021-12-28* Plays a solid game with the option of choosing from eight popular Chess engines for a widely varied style of play. Available on all devices: iPhone, iPad, and the best Chess game on Apple TV!! ### 4/5 — My Fav *2024-07-18* This is a great chess app! I only wish you'd bring back the other engines and maybe a 3D board. **Developer response:** Coming in next versions. ### 4/5 — Online play requested *2022-04-15* If only I could play with my buddy across country. Beautiful app **Developer response:** Coming in next versions. --- *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 2026-06-10.*