Comparison

Pocket Chess vs Chess

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Pocket Chess

Enhance your chess skills with hundreds of challenging chess problems and puzzles. This app focuses on simplified boards to help you quickly recognize chess patterns and improve your game.

Highlights
  • Hundreds of chess problems
  • Checkmate in 2 and 4 puzzles
  • Simplified boards for pattern recognition
  • Improve chess game
  • Learn chess patterns faster
Features
Read full description

Pocket Chess helps you improve and brush up on your Chess by offering hundreds of thought provoking Chess problems and Chess puzzles. From Checkmate in 2 to Checkmate in 4 and much more! Pocket Chess is a new way to learn and improve at Chess. Featuring boards that are small and simple, important pieces are in focus so that you can learn to recognise Chess patterns faster and quicker. Improve your Chess Game and Download Now for free!

About

Chess

Engage in classic chess matches offline with adjustable difficulty levels. Enhance your skills with hints, undo moves, and track your progress through personal statistics. Enjoy visually appealing graphics and flexible 2D or 3D piece options in this free board game.

Highlights
  • Offline play
  • Play vs AI
  • 8 difficulty levels
  • Hint function
  • Undo moves
  • Personal statistics
  • 2D or 3D pieces
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Install and play Chess Club now for free! Chess Club has the following features: - This offline Chess app is free - Play Chess vs COM - The board game offers 8 different levels of difficulty - Do you want to learn chess or need some help? Use the Hint function in the game to see the best move possible - When you made a mistake you can undo your move and try again - How many Chess games did you won? How many were a draw? View your personal stats and try to improve it! - Amazing graphics and low app size - Play with 2D or 3D pieces How to play Chess Club? Playing a real game of Chess has never been so easy. Simply install the free board game and start your journey to become the king of Chess! Select which color you want to start in: white, black or random. Define the difficulty level. In total our engine offers 8 levels. Tap on the PLAY NOW button and start your game. The goal is to eliminate the pieces from your opponent and checkmate the King! Thanks to the amazing controls it is very easy to play. You will see the possible moves you can make when you select a piece. When you are not happy with a move you made, you can Undo it. We also offer in the Chess game a Hint function, this will help you to learn Chess and become a better player over time! Install and play the best Chess app in the store now!

Screenshots

Pocket Chess4 screens
Chess4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Chess at 4.9 against Pocket Chess's 4.6. Chess also leads on chart position (#86 vs unranked) and ratings volume (67K vs 15K). On price, review sentiment, update cadence and ads there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Pocket Chess sells 7 one-off in-app purchases and Chess sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Chess holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 15K and 67K respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 61% of Pocket Chess's written reviews are positive against 59% of Chess's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pocket Chess ships an update every 2 months, Chess monthly. Both last shipped on September 24, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences · 8 level
Pocket Chess versus Chess: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPocket ChessChess
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (15K ratings)4.9 (67K ratings) — better
Positive reviews61.5% of reviews — better58.9% of reviews
Number of ratings15K67K — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsMonthly — better
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#86 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.0 — better15.1
Further details — not scored
Size199 MB203 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLessmore GmbHGamoVation

Customer experience

Pocket Chess

All ratings14,583 ratings
Positive92.9%
Neutral2.6%
Negative4.5%
Written reviews1,295 reviews
Positive61.5%
Neutral7.9%
Negative30.7%

Chess

All ratings67,122 ratings
Positive97.9%
Neutral0.7%
Negative1.4%
Written reviews1,250 reviews
Positive58.9%
Neutral5.4%
Negative35.8%

User reviews

Pocket Chess

From 15K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Improved chess skills
  • 👍 Challenging yet fun puzzles
  • 🤩 Addictive and engaging
  • 🧠 Helps develop tactical thinking
  • 📈 Tracks progress and skill level

Room to improve

  • 🙄 Excessive ads
  • 💰 Expensive to remove ads
  • 🐛 Some puzzles have issues
  • 🤔 Opponent moves don't always make sense

Chess

From 67K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Great game for beginners
  • 🚀 Smooth gameplay
  • 💡 Helpful hints and learning features
  • 👍 Variety of difficulty levels
  • 👍 Offline play option

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent stalemate issues
  • 🔍 Difficulty level jumps too high
  • 🔍 Puzzles have limited solutions
  • 🔍 Ads are intrusive and frequent
  • 🔍 Paid ad removal doesn't work as expected

Bugs and requests

Pocket Chess

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Progress data loss
  • Incorrect checkmate solutions
  • Game freezing after certain moves

Requested features

4 requests
  • Ability to review past puzzles
  • More advanced puzzles and levels
  • Option to disable audio/music
  • Sync progress across devices

Chess

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Illegal piece captures
  • Incorrect stalemate and draw detection
  • Inconsistent performance and crashes

Requested features

4 requests
  • Online multiplayer mode
  • Ability to disable stalemate detection
  • More gradual difficulty progression
  • Customization options for board and pieces

In-app purchases

7 purchases

Pocket Chess

One-time7
  • Small Coin Bundle$1.99
  • Remove Ads2 variants$4.99
  • Starter Package2 variants$4.99
Show 4 more
  • Event Offer$4.99
  • Medium Coin Bundle$5.99
  • Large Coin Bundle$11.99
  • Super Coin Bundle$25.99
5 purchases

Chess

One-time5
  • 10 Hints$1.99
  • Remove Ads$2.99
  • 45 Hints$6.99
Show 2 more
  • 125 Hints$17.99
  • 200 Hints$26.99

Questions

Is Pocket Chess free?
Pocket Chess is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Chess free?
Chess is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Pocket Chess or Chess?
Chess is rated higher. Pocket Chess averages 4.6 out of 5 from 15K ratings, while Chess averages 4.9 from 67K ratings.
Do Pocket Chess or Chess have ads?
Both Pocket Chess and Chess show ads.
Which is updated more often, Pocket Chess or Chess?
Pocket Chess ships an update every 2 months, and Chess monthly. Most recently, Pocket Chess was updated on September 24, 2026 and Chess on September 24, 2026.

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