Chess ∙ vs ™ 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.
™ Chess
Engage in the timeless strategy of chess on your mobile device. Play against sophisticated AI opponents across multiple difficulty levels, or challenge friends and family. Features include an undo option, board editor, and customizable themes for a personalized experience.
- Play against AI
- Multiplayer matches
- Undo feature
- Board editor
- Customizable themes
- Game save/load
- Timed games
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Chess is a classic board game for quiet study, quick practice, local play, and relaxed online matches through Game Center. Play your way: - Start an online game through Game Center and play a casual no-time-limit match. - Practice against multiple AI difficulty levels. - Solve thousands of chess puzzles, including 777 newly added tactical positions. - Play local two-player games on the same device. - Save and load games when you want to continue later. - Set up custom positions with the board editor. - Customize boards, pieces, avatars, sounds, and themes. - Try timed games when you want a sharper challenge. This update also adds a seasonal football-themed board background and avatar for the 2026 world tournament season. Whether you want to train tactics, learn openings, play against AI, share a local game, or challenge another player online, Chess is built for comfortable play at your own pace.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Chess ∙ at none against ™ Chess's 1. Chess ∙ also leads on review sentiment (57% vs 37%) and ratings volume (205K vs 10K). ™ Chess's advantage is ads (none vs shown). On price, rating, update cadence 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
Both are free to download. ™ 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 4.5 for ™ Chess. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Chess ∙ has 205K ratings behind it against 10K, 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 37% of ™ Chess's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 4 months. Both last shipped on September 24, 2026.
| Parameter | Chess ∙ | ™ Chess |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (205K ratings) | 4.5 (10K ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 56.9% of reviews — better | 37.4% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 205K — better | 10K |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 4 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 — better |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 13.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 84 MB | 112 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Optime Software LLC | VM Mobile Team |
Customer experience
Chess ∙
™ Chess
User reviews
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
™ Chess
From 10K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Challenging gameplay
- 🚀 Quick response times
- 💡 Variety of difficulty levels
- 🤩 Enjoyable for chess lovers
Room to improve
- 🐛 Inconsistent difficulty levels
- 🤬 Overpowered AI on easy mode
- 💰 Too many ads
- 🤯 Frustrating for beginners
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
™ Chess
Reported bugs
3 issues- Illegal moves allowed by AI
- Incorrect draw detection
- Castling not functioning properly
Requested features
4 requests- Add more difficulty settings
- Allow under-promotion
- Improve AI difficulty scaling
- Reduce ads or offer paid version
In-app purchases
Chess ∙
No in-app purchases
™ Chess
- Premium$3.99
