Comparison

Pocket Chess vs CheckMate 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
Currently charting
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

CheckMate Chess

Features
Read full description

Every move tells a story. CheckMate Chess is a calm, single-player puzzle game built from checkmates that really happened on the board. No talking, no clutter — just you, the position, and the moves that finish the game. And remember: every game here ends in mate. The puzzles live in worlds; each world works one idea, and the difficulty climbs step by step. You feel yourself getting sharper. WATCH, THEN DO The legendary worlds open with "Watch, then do": first you watch the combination play out on the board, then it's your turn — you land the same blow and bring the king down yourself. WHAT'S INSIDE - Mate-in-1 and mate-in-2 worlds that build real pattern memory. - Legendary mate worlds — Anastasia's, Boden's, Smothered, Arabian and the back-rank mate — taught move by move. - Defend or Die: you're losing; first find the one saving move, then the mate. - Boss Fight: a boss at the top of every world — and every level pushes you a little harder than the last. - Daily Mate: a fresh puzzle every day, and a streak to keep alive. - Survival: full board, three lives, a five-second clock, mate after mate. - Pocket Mode: 250 few-piece quick mates for a fast session. - A rating that grows with you, and a coach that reads your stats and tells you what to play next. - Stats & Collection: total stars, streaks, badges, mates by piece. - A clean board you play by tap or drag. - Hint tokens for when you're stuck — your first solve of the day puts one back in your wallet. - Clean, fast solves earn stars. - Hearts that refill over time, and a vault that banks your spares. - Plays in nine languages: English, Türkçe, Deutsch, Русский, Español, Português, Français, Polski, Italiano. PLAY ANYWHERE Fully offline — no account needed, your progress lives on your device. Or create a free account: your progress backs up to the cloud, and your new coach is waiting. FAIR AND QUIET Rewarded ads are entirely optional: only if you choose to watch one, it banks a hint token or refills your hearts. Nothing is pushed on you, nothing interrupts a puzzle. No in-app purchases.

Screenshots

Pocket Chess4 screens
CheckMate Chess4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: CheckMate Chess at none against Pocket Chess's 9. CheckMate Chess also leads on update cadence (daily vs every 2 months). Pocket Chess's advantage is chart position (#131 vs unranked). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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. CheckMate Chess asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pocket Chess ships an update every 2 months, CheckMate Chess daily. The most recent releases landed on November 13, 2026 and November 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 8 level
Pocket Chess versus CheckMate Chess: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPocket ChessCheckMate Chess
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (15K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews61.3% of reviews—
Number of ratings15K — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsDaily — better
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
Best chart rank#131 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details — not scored
Size199 MB38 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLessmore GmbHOMUR KOCA

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

CheckMate Chess

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

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
None

CheckMate Chess

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Pocket Chess free?
Pocket Chess is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is CheckMate Chess free?
CheckMate Chess is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Pocket Chess or CheckMate Chess have ads?
Both Pocket Chess and CheckMate Chess show ads.
Which is updated more often, Pocket Chess or CheckMate Chess?
Pocket Chess ships an update every 2 months, and CheckMate Chess daily. Most recently, Pocket Chess was updated on November 13, 2026 and CheckMate Chess on November 10, 2026.

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