Puzzles Interface CHAMPION LEVEL
Clearly the best chess puzzle interface, clearly fun among the several chess apps with puzzles that I possess! Other chess programs have far better game playing ability today. Most exceed the average chess player’s skill level but I like this app but also use Chess Pro due to their wonderful user interfaces.
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Runs with current version
No issues
Needs File Sharing
The puzzles are good. The engine is reasonably strong. It needs file sharing so you can import pgn games.
❤️❤️
I’ve used this chess app for many years and it’s just great!!! No other app out there compares.
One of the best
Great app to feel a little like you’re playing a human. The way shredder adjusts his skill level to match yours after every game is great. I love Shredder chess and have always been a big fan.
Buggy and terrible user interface
I love the iPhone version of this so was excited to see this app when I got my iPad. However it’s obvious very little work has been done on this app to convert it properly. The most useful feature for me personally - position analysis - is gone. Setting up a position is really awkward in a tiny screen - why oh why not on the full screen? And there are bugs. The user interface has always been a little unintuitive in shredder but it’s really janky and half baked here. I guess there’s little chance of an update so I’ll keep using the iPhone version.
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Very Good w/Caveats
I’ve played over 3,000 matches with Shredder. It’s flexible, powerful, and has most of the bells and whistles. The flexible game save function is helpful, and the leveling mechanic is reasonable.
The biggest downsides are 1. The move suggestions, at least at my (middling) level are laughable. Follow them and you’ll win every time. But if you back up and try the same move on your own, without triggering it as a hint, you’ll be slaughtered. Meaning, when Shredder is teaching you, it sets up unrealistic responses that allow it to make successful hints. This is, in fact, the opposite of helpful. Even at my level, it was immediately obvious that the suggested moves were idiotic. 2. The puzzles are of little use, as they only test your knowledge. They do little to help you learn more. There is no explanation for why this or that is “...the best move for white”. And because it’s also timing you and scoring you, it feels judging, not supportive. When you fail, you just move on to the next puzzle, you don’t learn anything. It’s frustrating. Finally, the visuals are quite dated at this point, though that is obviously subjective and minor.
All in all, it has a lot going for it, but really shows weaknesses as a teaching tool.
The biggest downsides are 1. The move suggestions, at least at my (middling) level are laughable. Follow them and you’ll win every time. But if you back up and try the same move on your own, without triggering it as a hint, you’ll be slaughtered. Meaning, when Shredder is teaching you, it sets up unrealistic responses that allow it to make successful hints. This is, in fact, the opposite of helpful. Even at my level, it was immediately obvious that the suggested moves were idiotic. 2. The puzzles are of little use, as they only test your knowledge. They do little to help you learn more. There is no explanation for why this or that is “...the best move for white”. And because it’s also timing you and scoring you, it feels judging, not supportive. When you fail, you just move on to the next puzzle, you don’t learn anything. It’s frustrating. Finally, the visuals are quite dated at this point, though that is obviously subjective and minor.
All in all, it has a lot going for it, but really shows weaknesses as a teaching tool.
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Great Brain Training.
I’ve tried a few Chess Apps since 2015 on iPad.
The puzzles on this I find addictive and engaging.
Graphically the UI is nicer as well. Yes its only 2D but this has the edge over the others I’ve used before.
I went so far as to get Shedder for my PC I was that impressed with this iOS version.
The puzzles on this I find addictive and engaging.
Graphically the UI is nicer as well. Yes its only 2D but this has the edge over the others I’ve used before.
I went so far as to get Shedder for my PC I was that impressed with this iOS version.
Put out to pasture??
I didn’t review comments before downloading.
Had I done so, I would have noticed no reviews more recent than one year ago. There’s only one of those and the rest are two years or older - a clear sign of neglect.
Program performance and consistency also indicate neglect - IMHO.
My first foray has been with the puzzles - which are “interesting” but frequently obtuse - with no explanations as to WHY one has managed to solve a puzzle. (Perhaps my lack of a Grand Master’s knowledge of the game is the reason I don’t understand - - but I don’t think so.)
When one decides to play a position from the end of a puzzle to explore why a puzzle may have been solved, the program is completely bonkers - sometimes reversing board positions - sometimes not; sometimes playing automatically - sometimes not; and SOMETIMES making the most garishly amateur automatic plays so that it seems like an intentional loss is intended.
I’m going to just move on. No point in attempting to contact a “support” department that must be moribund.
Had I done so, I would have noticed no reviews more recent than one year ago. There’s only one of those and the rest are two years or older - a clear sign of neglect.
Program performance and consistency also indicate neglect - IMHO.
My first foray has been with the puzzles - which are “interesting” but frequently obtuse - with no explanations as to WHY one has managed to solve a puzzle. (Perhaps my lack of a Grand Master’s knowledge of the game is the reason I don’t understand - - but I don’t think so.)
When one decides to play a position from the end of a puzzle to explore why a puzzle may have been solved, the program is completely bonkers - sometimes reversing board positions - sometimes not; sometimes playing automatically - sometimes not; and SOMETIMES making the most garishly amateur automatic plays so that it seems like an intentional loss is intended.
I’m going to just move on. No point in attempting to contact a “support” department that must be moribund.
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SCAM ALERT!!!! SAVE YOUR MONEY!!!
Elo is only 2600 and plays like 1700. I have played several games against the engine and Shredder resigned every game but one. This app won’t teach you ANYTHING!! What rhymes with cam? (SCAM)👎👎
Aweful ui
You have to tap the share icon to start a new game. The graphics are rubbish.
Good app; could use a few refinements
I really like this chess app. It's very strong, has a nice rating system, when you set it for lower levels, it degrades play in a more realistic fashion than many chess games. It's a great app.
Having said that, there are still curious oddities.
* For example, the “new game;setup position; enter moves; start analysis” menu is using the “export” icon. That makes no sense to me. The iOS app uses the “+” icon, which while not perfect, seems closer. I’m not sure why the iPad and iPhone apps use different icons.
* I wish it had cut/paste and import/export features to get PGN/FEN representations in and out of the app.
* I wish the game database could (optionally) be shared between devices. Perhaps put it in iCloud?
* I wish the iPad game supported multitasking (both split-view and slide-over), allowing me to read a chess book and analyze a game at the same time.
* I wish the app supported annotations, tappable move list, etc. At the very least, given all of this iPad screen real-estate, show us more than two moves in the list at a time!
But I still love this app. I think it's the best chess app out there. But it’s not keeping up with device capabilities introduced over the last few years...
Having said that, there are still curious oddities.
* For example, the “new game;setup position; enter moves; start analysis” menu is using the “export” icon. That makes no sense to me. The iOS app uses the “+” icon, which while not perfect, seems closer. I’m not sure why the iPad and iPhone apps use different icons.
* I wish it had cut/paste and import/export features to get PGN/FEN representations in and out of the app.
* I wish the game database could (optionally) be shared between devices. Perhaps put it in iCloud?
* I wish the iPad game supported multitasking (both split-view and slide-over), allowing me to read a chess book and analyze a game at the same time.
* I wish the app supported annotations, tappable move list, etc. At the very least, given all of this iPad screen real-estate, show us more than two moves in the list at a time!
But I still love this app. I think it's the best chess app out there. But it’s not keeping up with device capabilities introduced over the last few years...
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One of the best chess apps
Shredder’s user interface may have been overtaken by Christophe Theron’s Chess Pro based on the Chess Tiger engine. Despite its weaker engine, Chess Pro only narrowly wins overall as a better app due to better game analysis functionality that Shredder Chess also has. I would not recommend one over the other but rather getting both!
Some of Shredder’s outstanding features are the simplicity and elegance of the user interface, ability to randomly alter the engine’s personality, automatic Elo rating adaptation based on game outcomes, ability to transmit games individually or as a collection of games in PGN format. Chess Tiger Pro currently cannot email as a collection of games but rather individually.
Despite its age, Shredder remains one the best chess playing apps on iOS. It’s playing strength can automatically be adapted to the user’s playing strength if desired. There is an opening book. There is a basic position analysis function. There are puzzles. There is an indicator about which side is winning during the game. While not as good as a graph, it still makes it easy to detect blunders when there are abrupt shifts of the indicator.
The biggest negative about Shredder is that it’s iPhone version is a separate purchase :-(
Some of Shredder’s outstanding features are the simplicity and elegance of the user interface, ability to randomly alter the engine’s personality, automatic Elo rating adaptation based on game outcomes, ability to transmit games individually or as a collection of games in PGN format. Chess Tiger Pro currently cannot email as a collection of games but rather individually.
Despite its age, Shredder remains one the best chess playing apps on iOS. It’s playing strength can automatically be adapted to the user’s playing strength if desired. There is an opening book. There is a basic position analysis function. There are puzzles. There is an indicator about which side is winning during the game. While not as good as a graph, it still makes it easy to detect blunders when there are abrupt shifts of the indicator.
The biggest negative about Shredder is that it’s iPhone version is a separate purchase :-(
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Great chess program
This is a great iPad chess app. Several different AI playing styles. After you play enough games to establish a rating it plays at your strength level. You can save and export games if you want to analyze them using whatever PC chess engine you use. Shredder also has an online chess server for a small annual subscription fee. Just a great app for iPad.
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Excellent
I have owned Shredder on my pc for many years. I’ve even won a few games. The iPad version is the best I’ve come across on that platform. Not quite as many features as the pc version, but excellent and quite well conceived.
Is a good program, but...
Shredder has a very nice interface and a strong engine, but it seems it should include some of the features of the pc version for training, time control and variation analysis so that it can offset the relatively high price of the application...reason i am writing this is because if you download the FREE app Stockfish, i am afraid you will find perhaps a slightly better chess application. I hope shredder increases value in coming updates.
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Terrible opening book
If you're into oddball openings all the time, this is the app for you. If, on the other hand, you don't enjoy playing the same obscure opening over and over and over again, steer clear. Out of ten games I played as white, Shredder replied to 1. e4 with g3 ten times.
Great, but........
It's great that Shredder has an app for iPhone. iPad and even Mac. However, what's missing is syncing. Why hasn't iCloud syncing been built into these apps? I should be able to start a game on my iPad and finish it on my iPhone or Mac.
does not work in ios10
menus do not work in IOS 10, unusable until updated
Best offline opponent
The AI handicap is awesome. It adjusts its strength automatically to challenge you constantly even as you improve. When I'm not playing online with lichess, shredder is the next best thing.
