Shredder Chess vs Chess ∙
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
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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.
Chess ∙
Experience a visually appealing and engaging chess game on your iPhone and iPod Touch. Play against friends or a customizable AI opponent with features like undo and automatic saving. Enjoy a free, ad-supported experience.
- 1 and 2 player gameplay
- Challenging computer opponent
- Great graphics and sound
- Configurable difficulty
- Undo function
- Automatic save
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Are you tired of playing chess games that look like they were designed for a Commodore 64 instead of an iPhone? We've got the antidote for you. Chess Free is the best chess game for the iPhone and iPod Touch, and it's free! Chess Free supports both 1 player and 2 player gameplay, so you can play against friends or test your skills against a challenging computer opponent. Chess Free offers a host of exciting features, including: * Great graphics and exciting sound effects * Configurable player names and score tracking * Outstanding AI engine with configurable difficulty level * Board rotation for two player games * Undo function * Automatic save when you get a phone call or exit the application Chess Free is supported by unobtrusive banner advertising. Chess Premium is the same great app without the ads.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Chess ∙ at Free against Shredder Chess's $8.99. Chess ∙ also leads on ratings volume (205K vs 97) and rating (4.5 vs 4.3). Shredder Chess's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and review sentiment (83% vs 57%). On update cadence, in-app purchases, chart position 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
Chess ∙ is free to download; Shredder Chess costs $8.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Chess ∙ holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Chess ∙ has 205K ratings behind it against 97, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 83% of Shredder Chess's written reviews are positive against 57% of Chess ∙'s, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Shredder Chess ships an update every 7 months, Chess ∙ every 4 months. Both last shipped on September 24, 2026.
| Parameter | Shredder Chess | Chess ∙ |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $8.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.3 (97 ratings) | 4.5 (205K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 82.8% of reviews — better | 56.9% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 97 | 205K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 7 months | Every 4 months — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Ad-supported — better |
| Best chart rank | #99 | #92 — better |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 46 MB | 84 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Eiko Bleicher, Skizzix.com | Optime Software LLC |
Customer experience
Shredder Chess
Chess ∙
User reviews
Shredder Chess
From 97 App Store ratingsWhat 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 ∙
From 205K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Fun to play everyday
- 👍 Good free game
- 👍 Nice little game
- 👍 Very good practice
- 👍 Addictive
Room to improve
- 🐛 AD crazy
- 🐛 Major glitches make the game impossible
- 🐛 Force draw
- 🐛 Issues, needs fixing but has potential
- 🐛 Disappearing Pieces
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 ∙
Reported bugs
10 issues- Rook being able to move diagonally
- Stalemate glitch where it will preemptively call stalemate before it even happens
- Call stalemate when only the king can't move, and the other pieces can still move
- Pieces move too fast
- Doesn't allow en-passant moves by pawns
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- Refuses to allow legitimate win, claims draw instead
- Doesn't recognize stalemate
- Doesn't recognize checkmate
- Pieces disappearing
- Illegal moves by the AI
Requested features
6 requests- Undo from stalemate
- Highland opponents last move in green and my last move in blue
- Allow a third level of zoom to fill the screen
- Display a numeric value when difficulty slider is moved
- Ability to turn off safety where you can't move king to where it would get taken out
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- Ability to turn off draw by stalemate rule
In-app purchases
Shredder Chess
No in-app purchases
Chess ∙
No in-app purchases
