Comparison

Chess vs Shredder Chess Lite

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
Currently charting
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

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read full description

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

Chess4 screens
Shredder Chess Lite4 screens

Verdict

The call

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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

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.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

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.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

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.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Chess versus Shredder Chess Lite: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChessShredder Chess Lite
Price$7.99Free — better
Rating4.7 (250 ratings) — better4.0 (20 ratings)
Positive reviews88.7% of reviews — better78.9% of reviews
Number of ratings250 — better20
Update frequencyEvery 4 months — betterEvery 7 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
Best chart rank#92 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS26.010.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size7 MB24 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTom KerriganEiko Bleicher, Skizzix.com

Customer experience

Chess

All ratings251 ratings
Positive92.0%
Neutral3.6%
Negative4.4%
Written reviews415 reviews
Positive88.7%
Neutral6.3%
Negative5.1%

Shredder Chess Lite

All ratings20 ratings
Positive70.0%
Neutral10.0%
Negative20.0%
Written reviews166 reviews
Positive78.9%
Neutral5.4%
Negative15.7%

User reviews

Chess

From 250 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

Shredder Chess Lite

From 20 App Store ratings

What 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
Show 1 more
  • 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
Show 6 more
  • 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
Show 5 more
  • 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

None

Chess

No in-app purchases

None

Shredder Chess Lite

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Chess free?
Chess costs $7.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Shredder Chess Lite free?
Shredder Chess Lite is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Chess or Shredder Chess Lite?
Chess is rated higher. Chess averages 4.7 out of 5 from 250 ratings, while Shredder Chess Lite averages 4.0 from 20 ratings.
Do Chess or Shredder Chess Lite have ads?
Neither Chess nor Shredder Chess Lite shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Chess or Shredder Chess Lite?
Chess ships an update every 4 months, and Shredder Chess Lite every 7 months. Most recently, Chess was updated on October 29, 2026 and Shredder Chess Lite on October 23, 2026.

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