Comparison

Shredder Chess vs Chess Openings Explorer Pro

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Shredder Chess

Engage in chess matches against a world champion AI, analyze your games, and solve numerous chess puzzles. This app offers adjustable difficulty and human-like play, helping you improve your skills anytime, anywhere.

Highlights
  • Play against adjustable AI strength
  • Analyze games and identify mistakes
  • Solve 1000 built-in chess puzzles
  • Mimics human playing styles
  • Automatic strength adjustment
  • In-game coach for mistakes
Features
Read full description

Play better chess with Shredder Chess - the classic chess opponent, trainer and analysis partner for iPhone. Shredder gives you a chess opponent that adapts to your level, from casual beginner to strong club player. Play a quick game, solve tactics, get warned before mistakes and analyze your games to understand where you can improve. Whether you want to learn chess, sharpen your tactics or simply enjoy a good game, Shredder helps you make every move count. Why chess players choose Shredder: • Adaptive playing strength from beginner to master level • Optional auto-adjusting opponent that matches your play • Built-in coach that warns you before mistakes • 1,000 chess puzzles for tactics training • Game analysis to find mistakes and improve your play • Estimated Elo rating with progress diagram • Human-like playing styles, from passive to aggressive • Opening book with more than one million moves • Set up and analyze any position • Save games, share them by email and review later • Multiple boards and pieces • VoiceOver and accessibility support The Shredder chess programs have won 19 World Computer Chess Champion titles, making Shredder one of the most successful names in computer chess. Play a game. Solve a puzzle. Analyze your moves. Get stronger with Shredder Chess.

About

Chess Openings Explorer Pro

Master chess openings with a comprehensive dictionary and analysis of over 2 million Grandmaster games. Test your knowledge with interactive quizzes and analyze positions using a powerful built-in engine.

Highlights
  • Chess opening dictionary
  • Grandmaster game analysis
  • Interactive quiz modes
  • Position win/loss/draw stats
  • Built-in chess engine
  • PGN export
Features
Read full description

Explore chess openings and their variations through a simple and friendly interface, and learn the follow-ups from 2 million+ Grandmaster games! Main features: - Complete dictionary of chess openings and their variations - Browse Grandmaster games associated with each opening - Test your knowledge with various Quiz modes: The app picks an opening and your goal is to either find its name, find which move is best, or play the moves that leads to the opening - Accurate stats for each position: % of wins, losses, draws - Powerful built-in Chess engine (2800+ Elo) to analyze any position - Games can be exported to other apps (PGN format) - Search openings by name or ECO code - Easy to use, simple and clean interface - Full translations in French and German, including opening names - And of course, new features will be added over time!

Screenshots

Shredder Chess4 screens
Chess Openings Explorer Pro4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Chess Openings Explorer Pro at every 3 weeks against Shredder Chess's every 7 months. Chess Openings Explorer Pro also leads on price ($3.99 vs $8.99) and device support (3 vs 1). Shredder Chess's advantage is review sentiment (83% vs 55%). On rating, ratings volume, 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

Shredder Chess costs $8.99 and Chess Openings Explorer Pro $3.99 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 Shredder Chess against 4.6 for Chess Openings Explorer Pro. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 336 and 357 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 83% of Shredder Chess's written reviews are positive against 55% of Chess Openings Explorer Pro's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Shredder Chess ships an update every 7 months, Chess Openings Explorer Pro every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and November 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Shredder Chess versus Chess Openings Explorer Pro: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterShredder ChessChess Openings Explorer Pro
Price$8.99$3.99 — better
Rating4.7 (336 ratings) — better4.6 (357 ratings)
Positive reviews82.8% of reviews — better54.5% of reviews
Number of ratings336357 — better
Update frequencyEvery 7 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
Best chart rank#49 — better#54
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.010.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size46 MB40 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperEiko Bleicher, Skizzix.comEmmanuel Mathis

Customer experience

Shredder Chess

All ratings97 ratings
Positive83.5%
Neutral4.1%
Negative12.4%
Written reviews436 reviews
Positive82.8%
Neutral4.4%
Negative12.8%

Chess Openings Explorer Pro

All ratings349 ratings
Positive89.4%
Neutral3.4%
Negative7.2%
Written reviews66 reviews
Positive54.5%
Neutral10.6%
Negative34.8%

User reviews

Shredder Chess

From 336 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Excellent chess engine
  • 👍 Adjustable difficulty level
  • 🎨 Great graphics and interface
  • 💡 Helpful puzzles and analysis
  • ⚖️ Accurate ELO rating system

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional crashes and bugs
  • 🔒 Lack of online play and multiplayer
  • 🔍 Limited opening book and game database
  • 📏 Issues with screen size and layout on larger devices

Chess Openings Explorer Pro

From 357 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 📚 Extensive database of grandmaster games (2 million+)
  • 🎯 Intuitive opening explorer interface
  • 📊 Clear visualization of move statistics and win rates
  • 🎮 Easy access to replay master games
  • 💡 Practical and pedagogical approach to learning openings

Room to improve

  • ⚠️ Limited depth - only covers ~5 moves in most lines
  • ❌ Lacks built-in chess engine for analysis
  • 😕 Confusing user interface for beginners
  • 📖 Insufficient documentation and help instructions
  • 🤷 Unclear what statistics and percentages mean

Bugs and requests

Shredder Chess

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Crashes when loading new games
  • Incorrect move evaluation and scoring
  • Compatibility issues with newer iOS versions

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add online/multiplayer functionality
  • Expand game database and opening library
  • Improve interface for larger screens
  • Provide more detailed analysis and coaching

Chess Openings Explorer Pro

Reported bugs

6 issues
  • Games fail to load with 'failed to load games' error
  • Wrong position displayed when accessing games from position
  • Text truncation on opening names (iPhone)
  • Incompatibility with older devices (iPad 4)
  • App crashes or freezes
Show 1 more
  • Recent update caused game loading issues

Requested features

12 requests
  • Built-in chess engine for position evaluation
  • Ability to play own moves and get engine feedback
  • Play openings against computer opponent
  • PGN import functionality
  • Quiz mode by opening
Show 7 more
  • Deeper variant coverage beyond move 5
  • Suggest new openings feature
  • Engine analysis when opening book ends
  • Better explanation of move choices
  • Expanded opening database
  • Improved text display for full opening names
  • More sophisticated sorting options

In-app purchases

None

Shredder Chess

No in-app purchases

None

Chess Openings Explorer Pro

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Shredder Chess free?
Shredder Chess costs $8.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Chess Openings Explorer Pro free?
Chess Openings Explorer Pro costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Shredder Chess or Chess Openings Explorer Pro?
Shredder Chess is rated higher. Shredder Chess averages 4.7 out of 5 from 336 ratings, while Chess Openings Explorer Pro averages 4.6 from 357 ratings.
Do Shredder Chess or Chess Openings Explorer Pro have ads?
Neither Shredder Chess nor Chess Openings Explorer Pro shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Shredder Chess or Chess Openings Explorer Pro?
Shredder Chess ships an update every 7 months, and Chess Openings Explorer Pro every 3 weeks. Most recently, Shredder Chess was updated on October 31, 2026 and Chess Openings Explorer Pro on November 1, 2026.
Which is more popular, Shredder Chess or Chess Openings Explorer Pro?
Shredder Chess currently peaks at #49 in the App Store charts, and Chess Openings Explorer Pro at #54. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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