Chess ∙ vs ™ Chinese Chess
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
™ Chinese Chess
Experience the strategic depth of Chinese Chess (Xiangqi) with this app. Challenge AI opponents across five difficulty levels, customize your game with a board editor and various themes, and track your progress as you ascend to grandmaster status.
- AI opponents with 5 difficulty levels
- Board editor for custom game setups
- Customizable boards, pieces, themes, and sounds
- Undo and Save/Load functionality
- Timer-based matches
- Experience points and ranking system
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Chinese Chess brings Xiangqi strategy to your phone and tablet with online Game Center play, offline AI practice, and local two-player matches. Play classic Xiangqi your way: - Challenge other players online through Game Center. - Invite players or use Game Center matchmaking. - Practice offline against multiple AI difficulty levels. - Play local two-player matches on the same device. - Save and load games when you want to continue later. - Use the board editor to set up custom positions. - Play with timer options for faster, sharper matches. - Customize boards, pieces, avatars, themes, and sounds. Also known as Xiangqi, Co Tuong, Cờ Tướng, and Chinese chess, this is a timeless strategy board game built around generals, chariots, cannons, horses, elephants, advisors, soldiers, and the river between two armies. Whether you are learning the rules, practicing tactics, challenging another player online, or returning to a familiar classic, Chinese Chess is designed for quick games, focused study, and comfortable play.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Chess ∙ at none against ™ Chinese Chess's 1. Chess ∙ also leads on ratings volume (205K vs 167) and update cadence (every 4 months vs every 9 months). ™ Chinese Chess's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and review sentiment (91% vs 57%). On price, rating and iOS requirement 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
Both are free to download. ™ Chinese Chess sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Chess ∙ asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.5 for Chess ∙ against 4.4 for ™ Chinese Chess. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Chess ∙ has 205K ratings behind it against 167, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 57% of Chess ∙'s written reviews are positive against 91% of ™ Chinese Chess's.
Chess ∙ ships an update every 4 months, ™ Chinese Chess every 9 months. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Chess ∙ | ™ Chinese Chess |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (205K ratings) — better | 4.4 (167 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 56.9% of reviews | 90.9% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 205K — better | 167 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months — better | Every 9 months |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Ad-supported — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #92 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV — better |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 13.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 84 MB | 72 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Optime Software LLC | VM Mobile Team |
Customer experience
Chess ∙
™ Chinese Chess
Bugs and requests
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
™ Chinese Chess
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Chess ∙
No in-app purchases
™ Chinese Chess
- Premium$3.99
