Comparison

Chess vs Chess Prime 3D Pro

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

Chess Prime 3D Pro

Engage in 3D and 2D chess matches against AI or other players worldwide. Master your skills with hundreds of puzzles, customizable game setups, and helpful learning tools for all levels.

Highlights
  • 3D and 2D chess gameplay
  • Online multiplayer with friends or random players
  • Hundreds of chess puzzles
  • Adjustable AI difficulty
  • Customizable board setup
  • Legal move highlighting for novices
  • Save and load game states
Features
Read full description

Chess Prime 3D is one of the best designed 3D chess games for the iPad / iPhone. It provides learning support for novice players, a real challenge for the experienced players and fun. Swipe in any of four directions to view the board from any angle and play the chess game in 3D / 2D. Chess Prime 3D supports both ‘one player’ and ‘two player’ game play, so you can play with your friends or with millions of players around the world, or against a challenging computer opponent with adjustable difficulty level. Master your chess skills by solving hundreds chess puzzles. You can use hints if you get stuck. You can even edit the board and start the game from any predefined position. That allows you to test your skills in different game phases, common positions, solve chess puzzles, etc. Also you can save your game and then re-load it anytime you want. If you are a novice player you may take advantage of the feature that shows all legal moves for the current piece. -The full list of features:- • Excellent 3D graphics, sound effects and music • Configurable player names • Option to play in 2D • Option to change the piece’s color • Great AI engine with a flexible difficulty level that suits both novice players and experts • 200 ‘Mate in 2’ / ‘Mate in 3’ puzzles with stats, rewards and hints. • LIVE CHESS - invite your friends and play online. Or just play with a random player. Three difficulty levels, four time control settings, rating system, statistics and more. Confirm your move before submitting. Communication options - In-Game Chat, Rematch, Undo Move, Offer Draw, Resign, Postpone Match. • Versatile openings: Chess Prime AI engine plays like a human, not as a computer that always chooses the same move at the same position. It gives you an opportunity to play different famous openings to gain extensive experience in chess • SETUP game: Start the game from any predefined position with any number of pieces • UNDO function if you accidentally hit wrong piece or square. It works even if your king is checkmated • REDO function if you missed the opponent’s move. Just press EYE button and Chess Prime will show you the last opponent’s move • SAVE / LOAD feature gives you an opportunity to finish the game later or to play the chess puzzle which you can setup in the “Setup Game” module • CENTER function to align the board to the center • Option to show the LEGAL MOVES for current piece (very useful for novice players) • Option to ROTATE the board in ‘two player’ mode • Help button with instructions for En Passant capture / Castling (activated automatically) • Option to limit ‘think time’ in ‘one player’ mode to 5, 15 or 30 seconds • Option to switch on / off sound effects and / or music. You can also listen to own music. • Automatically saves the current state of the game, so the game state would be automatically restored if you quit the application • Universal app (supports iPad / iPod touch / iPhone) If you love playing chess in portrait mode and in 2D, then download and try out our Chess Prime app! Enjoy!

Screenshots

Chess4 screens
Chess Prime 3D Pro4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Chess Prime 3D Pro at $1.99 against Chess's $7.99. Chess Prime 3D Pro also leads on update cadence (every 4 weeks vs every 4 months) and ratings volume (942 vs 250). Chess's advantage is chart position (#158 vs unranked). On rating, review sentiment, ads and in-app purchases 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

Chess costs $7.99 and Chess Prime 3D Pro $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Chess against 4.6 for Chess Prime 3D Pro. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 250 and 942 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 89% of Chess's written reviews are positive against 85% of Chess Prime 3D Pro's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Chess ships an update every 4 months, Chess Prime 3D Pro every 4 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 27, 2026 and October 26, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Chess versus Chess Prime 3D Pro: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChessChess Prime 3D Pro
Price$7.99$1.99 — better
Rating4.7 (250 ratings) — better4.6 (942 ratings)
Positive reviews88.7% of reviews — better84.5% of reviews
Number of ratings250942 — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 4 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
Best chart rank#158 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS26.09.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size7 MB54 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTom KerriganVinta Games

Customer experience

Chess

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

Chess Prime 3D Pro

All ratings940 ratings
Positive92.4%
Neutral3.9%
Negative3.6%
Written reviews142 reviews
Positive84.5%
Neutral8.5%
Negative7.0%

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

Chess Prime 3D Pro

From 942 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Great game and graphics
  • 🎨 Customizable board and pieces
  • 🧠 Helpful puzzles and learning tools
  • ⚙️ Flexible difficulty settings
  • 🕹️ Smooth gameplay and controls

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional bugs and glitches
  • 🕰️ Long wait times for online matches
  • 🔊 Inability to disable background music
  • 🔄 Lack of board orientation options for multiplayer

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

Chess Prime 3D Pro

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Pawn capturing horizontally
  • Inability to exit or pause games
  • Upgrade issues causing data loss

Requested features

4 requests
  • Online leaderboards and player statistics
  • Ability to save and replay game histories
  • More diverse and challenging puzzle sets
  • Improved online matchmaking and connectivity

In-app purchases

None

Chess

No in-app purchases

None

Chess Prime 3D Pro

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Chess free?
Chess costs $7.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Chess Prime 3D Pro free?
Chess Prime 3D Pro costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Chess or Chess Prime 3D Pro?
Chess is rated higher. Chess averages 4.7 out of 5 from 250 ratings, while Chess Prime 3D Pro averages 4.6 from 942 ratings.
Do Chess or Chess Prime 3D Pro have ads?
Neither Chess nor Chess Prime 3D Pro shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Chess or Chess Prime 3D Pro?
Chess ships an update every 4 months, and Chess Prime 3D Pro every 4 weeks. Most recently, Chess was updated on October 27, 2026 and Chess Prime 3D Pro on October 26, 2026.

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