Chess vs Shredder Chess Lite
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
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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.
Shredder Chess Lite
Play chess against a world champion program that mimics human play and makes mistakes at lower levels. Solve puzzles, track your progress, and get advice to improve your game. Features adjustable difficulty and a built-in coach.
- Adjustable playing strength
- 100 built-in chess puzzles
- Coach warns of mistakes
- Elo rating calculation
- Opening book with over 1 million moves
- Two player mode
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Shredder, the most successful chess program ever, is now also available for the iPhone. You can play against Shredder and solve chess puzzles. It offers the usual Shredder standard for your pocket. The 12 times computer chess world champion Shredder is able to mimic the play of a human chess player with any playing strength. He even deliberately makes typical human mistakes in those levels. Solve 100 built in chess puzzles. Shredder keeps track of your performance and offers advice if needed. You can adjust Shredder’s playing strength and, if you like, Shredder automatically adjusts his strength to yours. He even calculates an Elo rating for you. This is how the playing strength of chess players is typically measured. During the game a coach is watching your moves and warns you if you are about to make a mistake. See how you are getting better and better the more games you play and the more chess puzzles you solve. Shredder Chess Lite features: * Adjustable playing strength * Intuitive and very easy to operate * 100 built in chess puzzles * See your rating in a diagram * Coach shows your mistakes * Great variety: opening book with more than one million moves * Load and save games (incl. names, date, etc.) * Different chess boards and pieces * two player mode / enter moves * Learn the name of the opening you are playing * Accessibility / VoiceOver support * Improve your play whenever and wherever you like 'Shredder Chess Lite' is a fully-functional version of 'Shredder Chess' for casual chess players. If you are an active player, need more features or simply want the best you should take a look at our pro version 'Shredder Chess'. Here is what you will additionally get in our pro version: * The strongest chess engine for the iPhone * Can be set to outstanding playing strength * 1000 built in chess puzzles * Send games via email * Different playing styles from passive to aggressive * Enter and analyze any position you like * Analyse your games with Shredder, find your mistakes and improve your play * 10 USD discount coupon for Shredder 13 Mac/Win on shredderchess.com
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Shredder Chess Lite at Free against Chess's $7.99. Shredder Chess Lite also leads on iOS requirement (10.0 vs 26.0). Chess's advantage is rating (4.7 vs 4.0) and ratings volume (250 vs 20). On update cadence, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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
Shredder Chess Lite is free to download; Chess costs $7.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Chess holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Chess has 250 ratings behind it against 20, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 89% of Chess's written reviews are positive against 79% of Shredder Chess Lite's.
Chess ships an update every 4 months, Shredder Chess Lite every 7 months. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 23, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Chess | Shredder Chess Lite |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $7.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.7 (250 ratings) — better | 4.0 (20 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 88.7% of reviews — better | 78.9% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 250 — better | 20 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months — better | Every 7 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | #92 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 10.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 7 MB | 24 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Tom Kerrigan | Eiko Bleicher, Skizzix.com |
Customer experience
Chess
Shredder Chess Lite
User reviews
Chess
From 250 App Store ratingsWhat 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
Shredder Chess Lite
From 20 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Clean, simple, and intuitive user interface
- 🎮 Excellent adaptive difficulty that adjusts to player skill level
- 🧠 Strong chess engine with intelligent gameplay
- 📚 Comprehensive puzzle collection for learning
- 💰 Free version with substantial features
Room to improve
- 🐛 Illegal chess moves by computer player
- 📱 Not optimized for newer iPhone screen sizes
- 🎮 Inconsistent endgame performance
- ❌ App crashes and freezing issues
- 🔧 Compatibility problems with iOS updates
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
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- Provide a way to organize and navigate through game databases
Shredder Chess Lite
Reported bugs
11 issues- Pawns moving sideways or diagonally without capturing
- Pawns captured by opponent pawns when not adjacent
- Illegal moves allowed by computer player
- App crashes on iOS 8 and later versions
- App won't open or load on startup
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- Freezing after puzzle completion
- Crashes when accessing advanced settings
- Game crashes every second or third game on OS4
- Incompatibility with iPhone 3GS and older devices
- Checkmate detection errors
- Puzzle mode incorrectly marking valid moves as invalid
Requested features
10 requests- Full screen optimization for modern iPhones
- Time delay option before computer moves
- Multiplayer mode for human vs human play
- HD/universal app for iPad compatibility
- Detailed explanations for puzzle solutions
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- Higher difficulty levels in free version
- Alternative board colors (red pieces option)
- Dynamic hints like Fritz offers
- Better endgame analysis
- Improved board and piece design for clarity
In-app purchases
Chess
No in-app purchases
Shredder Chess Lite
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Chess free?
Is Shredder Chess Lite free?
Which has better reviews, Chess or Shredder Chess Lite?
Do Chess or Shredder Chess Lite have ads?
Which is updated more often, Chess or Shredder Chess Lite?
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