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

Enjoy a classic chess experience on your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad. This app offers a clean interface, beautiful graphics, and intuitive gameplay perfect for casual players. Play against a computer opponent, review game history, and track your progress.

Highlights
  • 1- or 2-player games on one device
  • Tap-to-move piece selection
  • Highlights legal moves
  • Full game history and move list
  • Built-in chess clock
  • Get hint feature
  • Undo moves
Features
Read full description

tChess Lite is the popular chess game designed just for the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. tChess is like a virtual chess board on your device. It's fun and easy to use--perfect for the casual player! This game features a very clean UI design and beautiful graphics. tChess is a fast and stable program. Pick up a game in your free time... and there's no problem listening to your music while you play. (tChess Lite is a fully-functional version of tChess for casual chess players. If you're an active player and want enthusiast-level features, take a look at tChess Pro, which is over 1000 ELO stronger and has received rave reviews from Grandmaster Susan Polgar, PE's Chess Cast, and iPhone app critics.) tChess Lite Features: - Perfect for 1- or 2-player games (on the same device, no network connection required) - Tap-tap to move pieces - Highlights legal moves - View full game history in the Move List - Go back or forward move by move and replay completed games - Built-in chess clock - "Get hint" feature to improve your game - Easy to undo moves - Saves your game automatically if you exit the program or take a call - Play against any ELO rating from 500 to 1200 - Computer opponent is the most fun and realistic for beginners and casual players - Use the Profile feature to play rated games and track your progress - Over 15,000 openings for fresh, varied games tChess Lite 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 $0.99. Deep Green also leads on iOS requirement (16.4 vs 26.0). Chess's advantage is rating (4.6 vs 3.9) and review sentiment (85% vs 66%). On ratings volume, update cadence, 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

Deep Green is free to download; Chess costs $0.99 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, 4.6 against 3.9. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 77 and 75 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 85% of Chess's written reviews are positive against 66% of Deep Green's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Chess ships an update every 5 months, Deep Green every 4 months. Both last shipped on September 21, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Chess versus Deep Green: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChessDeep Green
Price$0.99Free — better
Rating4.6 (77 ratings) — better3.9 (75 ratings)
Positive reviews85.4% of reviews — better66.0% of reviews
Number of ratings77 — better75
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsEvery 4 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS26.016.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size6 MB24 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTom KerriganCocoa Stuff

Customer experience

Chess

All ratings77 ratings
Positive90.9%
Neutral3.9%
Negative5.2%
Written reviews267 reviews
Positive85.4%
Neutral8.2%
Negative6.4%

Deep Green

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

User reviews

Chess

From 77 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Great app
  • 🚀 Smooth gameplay
  • 💡 Helpful hints and features
  • 🎨 Excellent graphics and visuals
  • 🧠 Challenging AI opponent

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional bugs and crashes
  • 🔍 Limited difficulty levels
  • 🤖 AI can be predictable at times
  • 💤 Lack of online/multiplayer options

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
  • Inconsistent pawn movement rules
  • Stalemate issues and computer refusing to resign
  • Connectivity problems with Game Center

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to set up custom board positions
  • More difficulty levels and ELO ratings
  • Online/multiplayer functionality
  • Notification options for opponent moves
  • Chess puzzle/training mode

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 $0.99, 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 4.6 out of 5 from 77 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 5 months, and Deep Green every 4 months. Most recently, Chess was updated on September 21, 2026 and Deep Green on September 21, 2026.

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