Comparison

Chess vs TichuMaster

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

TichuMaster

Experience the officially licensed partnership card game for four players. Play online with friends, practice against AI with adjustable difficulty, or learn the game with guided play and hints. Customize your table and track your progress with detailed statistics.

Highlights
  • Online multiplayer tables
  • Private rooms for friends
  • Local network play
  • AI practice with adjustable difficulty
  • Guided game learning
  • Customizable card sets and table designs
  • Detailed player statistics and rankings
Features
Read full description

TichuMaster is the officially licensed app for Tichu, Urs Hostettler's partnership card game for four players. Read the table, support your partner and choose the right moment to call Tichu. Play together, or practice on your own - Join online tables for four players. - Create a private room and invite friends with a link. - Play together over your local network. - Practice against computer opponents with adjustable difficulty. - Learn the flow with a guided game and in-game hints. The Tichu you know Exchange cards, make Mahjong wishes, play bombs and decide who receives the Dragon's trick. Call Small or Grand Tichu, aim for a double victory and race to 1000 points as a team. A table that feels like yours Choose the Original, Classic or Precision card set and a table design to match. Detailed card artwork, warm wood, gold accents and clear game controls bring the table to your screen. Play in portrait or landscape. More control over your practice Choose a card-exchange convention for new games against the computer: automatic, odd left/even right, or low left/high right. Keep bomb confirmation on, or enable Play bomb instantly in Settings. Follow your progress Keep track of your results with profiles, statistics, Elo rankings and game history. Add friends for your next table. Apple Game Center Earn achievements for wins, double victories and successful Small and Grand Tichu calls. Compare your online Elo on the Game Center leaderboard. Detailed Game Center statistics show your progress recorded on this device. Available in English, German and Bernese German. Tichu is the original game by Urs Hostettler and is used under license from the rights holders.

Screenshots

Chess4 screens
TichuMaster4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Chess at 85% against TichuMaster's 0%. Chess also leads on rating (4.6 vs 3.0) and ratings volume (78 vs 1). TichuMaster's advantage is update cadence (every 2 days vs every 5 months) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 26.0). On 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

Chess costs $0.99 and TichuMaster $5.99 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 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Chess has 78 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 85% of Chess's written reviews are positive against 0% of TichuMaster's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Chess ships an update every 5 months, TichuMaster every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on November 10, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Chess versus TichuMaster: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChessTichuMaster
Price$0.99 — better$5.99
Rating4.6 (78 ratings) — better3.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews85.1% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings78 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS26.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size6 MB117 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperTom KerriganJonas Schmidhalter

Customer experience

Chess

All ratings77 ratings
Positive90.9%
Neutral3.9%
Negative5.2%
Written reviews268 reviews
Positive85.1%
Neutral8.2%
Negative6.7%

TichuMaster

All ratings1 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral100.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral100.0%
Negative0.0%

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

TichuMaster

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Chess

No in-app purchases

None

TichuMaster

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Chess free?
Chess costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is TichuMaster free?
TichuMaster costs $5.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Chess or TichuMaster?
Chess is rated higher. Chess averages 4.6 out of 5 from 78 ratings, while TichuMaster averages 3.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Chess or TichuMaster have ads?
Neither Chess nor TichuMaster shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Chess or TichuMaster?
Chess ships an update every 5 months, and TichuMaster every 2 days. Most recently, Chess was updated on November 10, 2026 and TichuMaster on November 5, 2026.

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