Comparison

Chess vs Deep Green

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

Head to head
About

Chess

This app offers a high-quality chess experience for players of all levels, from beginners to professionals. It features a strong engine, analysis tools, and learning resources to improve your game.

Highlights
  • Simulated human opponents for beginners
  • Top-tier chess engine for experts
  • Real-time game analysis
  • 1 or 2-player game support
  • Opening Library and PGN Database
  • Position Editor
  • Rated games and progress tracking
Features
Read full description

tChess Pro is the high-quality, critically acclaimed chess game with the richest features for the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. It's perfect for every player: Beginners: Not everybody is a chess master! Most chess games are too strong or just make random mistakes at easier levels. tChess Pro has unique algorithms to simulate human opponents. Experts: tChess Pro has a top-tier chess engine. (Over 380 ELO points stronger than Caissa Chess.) Enthusiasts: tChess Pro's Analysis Mode is like having a chess master in your pocket. You can get the engine's "expert opinion" about any game or position in real-time: which side is winning, and the best sequence of moves. Just like a professional desktop chess package. More key features: - Perfect for 1- or 2-player games - Strong computer opponent - Play against any ELO rating from 500 to 2500 - Integrated "Learn Chess" e-book app (Apple Staff Favorite!) - Opening Library feature lets you explore chess opening theory as you play - PGN Database feature lets you download and view PGN files - Support for 3-stage time controls with Fischer increments - Position Editor to enter positions from books, newspapers, etc. - Save and load games; export them in standard PGN format - Use the Profile feature to play rated games against the computer and track your progress tChess Pro is developed by Tom Kerrigan, author of the TSCP and Stobor chess engines.

About

Deep Green

This app provides a classical chess experience with a clean, native interface and customizable piece designs. It supports open game formats, offers a unique chess engine with adjustable strength, and features a private, ad-free environment.

Highlights
  • Clean, native user interface
  • Customizable chess piece designs
  • Open game format (PGN/FEN)
  • Adjustable strength chess engine
  • Private and ad-free experience
  • System-level integration
Read full description

A no-nonsense classical chess app. - CLEAN UI: Deep Green offers a distraction-free experience in a clean, native user interface – now with the Liquid Glass design on iOS 26. - CUSTOM PIECE DESIGN: Beautiful chess set designed specifically for Deep Green and rendered at high resolution in both outline and 3D throughout the app. - MADE FOR IPAD: Dedicated menu bar, multiple windows, and refined trackpad, mouse, and Apple Pencil support. Squares highlight as you hover over the board. - TIGHT SYSTEM INTEGRATION: System-level sharing, drag and drop, AirDrop, undo/redo, contextual menus, Quick Look previews of chess files, Dark Mode, high contrast support and more. - OPEN GAME FORMAT: Games can be shared, saved, copied, pasted, imported, exported in the ubiquitous, open source PGN and FEN formats. Deep Green can open chess files straight from the Files app. - UNIQUE CHESS ENGINE: Enjoyable opponent with adjustable strength, praised for its humane gameplay, developed for Deep Green on the Apple Newton more than 25 years ago. - TWEAKABLE APPEARANCE: Engage the knights in the game by having them turn towards the center of the board, apply a humane, slightly random placement of the pieces. - IN YOUR LANGUAGE: Available in English, German, and Danish. - MODERN ARCHITECTURE: Written in Swift as a fully native app – modern, maintainable, and prepared for the future. - PRIVATE, AD-FREE: No ads, no tracking, no analytics, no nonsense. If you like Deep Green, please rate it favorably on the App Store.

Screenshots

Chess4 screens
Deep Green4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Deep Green at Free against Chess's $7.99. Deep Green also leads on iOS requirement (16.4 vs 26.0). Chess's advantage is rating (4.7 vs 3.9) and review sentiment (89% vs 66%). On update cadence, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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

Deep Green is free to download; Chess costs $7.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Chess holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.9. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 251 and 75 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 89% of Chess's written reviews are positive against 66% of Deep Green's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Chess versus Deep Green: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChessDeep Green
Price$7.99Free — better
Rating4.7 (251 ratings) — better3.9 (75 ratings)
Positive reviews88.6% of reviews — better66.0% of reviews
Number of ratings251 — better75
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 4 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS26.016.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size7 MB24 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTom KerriganCocoa Stuff

Customer experience

Chess

All ratings251 ratings
Positive92.0%
Neutral3.6%
Negative4.4%
Written reviews414 reviews
Positive88.6%
Neutral6.3%
Negative5.1%

Deep Green

All ratings75 ratings
Positive70.7%
Neutral5.3%
Negative24.0%
Written reviews212 reviews
Positive66.0%
Neutral9.9%
Negative24.1%

User reviews

Chess

From 251 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Enjoyable and challenging
  • 🚀 Plays solid openings and variations
  • 👍 Thoroughly enjoyable for novice players
  • 👍 Great for beginners and seasoned players
  • 👍 Rated games help track progress

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional crashes after updates
  • 🐛 Inaccurate rating system
  • 🐛 Bright screen background can be tiring
  • 🐛 Clunky online game menu

Deep Green

From 75 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🌟 Elegant and polished design
  • 🤖 Strong chess engine
  • 👍 Intuitive and easy to use
  • 🎨 Beautiful graphics and animations
  • 🕹️ Smooth gameplay and controls

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes and stability issues
  • ⚠️ Lack of features (e.g. game saving, online play)
  • 🔍 Difficulty settings too challenging for some users
  • 🔕 Missing audio/sound effects
  • 📏 Board/pieces not optimized for larger screens

Bugs and requests

Chess

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Crashes when creating annotations
  • Zoomed-in screen issue when returning to the app
  • Difficulty settings not accurately reflecting the AI's strength

Requested features

6 requests
  • Add chess puzzles
  • Provide more board and piece style options
  • Implement a resign feature and draw offer
  • Add a move evaluation bar
  • Improve the online multiplayer experience
Show 1 more
  • Provide a way to organize and navigate through game databases

Deep Green

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • App crashes when promoting pawns
  • Board orientation issues when rotating device
  • Unresponsive UI elements
  • Compatibility problems with newer iOS versions

Requested features

5 requests
  • Game saving and loading functionality
  • Online/multiplayer mode
  • Customizable board/piece themes
  • Difficulty settings for beginners
  • Indicators for check, checkmate, and draw

In-app purchases

None

Chess

No in-app purchases

None

Deep Green

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Chess free?
Chess costs $7.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Deep Green free?
Deep Green is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Chess or Deep Green?
Chess is rated higher. Chess averages 4.7 out of 5 from 251 ratings, while Deep Green averages 3.9 from 75 ratings.
Do Chess or Deep Green have ads?
Neither Chess nor Deep Green shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Chess or Deep Green?
Chess ships an update every 4 months, and Deep Green every 4 months. Most recently, Chess was updated on September 24, 2026 and Deep Green on September 21, 2026.

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