# Chess ∙ vs ™ Chinese Chess

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.

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.

## The numbers

| Metric | Chess ∙ | ™ Chinese Chess |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.5 (205K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/chess/id311395856/reviews)** | [4.4 (167 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/chinese-chess/id1090706558/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **205K** | 167 |
| Positive reviews | 56.9% of reviews | **90.9% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | **No** | Yes |
| Ads | Yes | **No** |
| Update frequency | **Every 4 months** | Every 9 months |
| Monetization | **Ad-supported** | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | **#92** | — |
| Size | 84 MB | 72 MB |
| Requires iOS | **12.0** | 13.0 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | **iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Optime Software LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/289278460) | [VM Mobile Team](https://appshunter.io/developer/646128457) |

## What reviewers say

### Chess ∙

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/chess/id311395856)

**Currently charting:** #92 Top Free · Strategy, #124 Top Free · Board (US App Store)

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.

**Highlights:** 1 and 2 player gameplay, Challenging computer opponent, Great graphics and sound, Configurable difficulty, Undo function, Automatic save

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Fun to play everyday
- 👍 Good free game
- 👍 Nice little game
- 👍 Very good practice
- 👍 Addictive

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 AD crazy
- 🐛 Major glitches make the game impossible
- 🐛 Force draw
- 🐛 Issues, needs fixing but has potential
- 🐛 Disappearing Pieces

**Reported bugs**

- 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

**Requested features**

- 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


### ™ Chinese Chess

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/chinese-chess/id1090706558)

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.

**Highlights:** 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

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Premium | $3.99 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Chess ∙ free?

Chess ∙ is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Is ™ Chinese Chess free?

™ Chinese Chess is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Chess ∙ or ™ Chinese Chess?

Chess ∙ is rated higher. Chess ∙ averages 4.5 out of 5 from 205K ratings, while ™ Chinese Chess averages 4.4 from 167 ratings.

### Do Chess ∙ or ™ Chinese Chess have ads?

Chess ∙ shows ads; ™ Chinese Chess does not.

### Which is updated more often, Chess ∙ or ™ Chinese Chess?

Chess ∙ ships an update every 4 months, and ™ Chinese Chess every 9 months. Most recently, Chess ∙ was updated on September 24, 2026 and ™ Chinese Chess on September 21, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*