Comparison

Chess ∙ vs Chess Classic Challenge

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 1 and 2 player gameplay
  • Challenging computer opponent
  • Great graphics and sound
  • Configurable difficulty
  • Undo function
  • Automatic save
Features
Read full description

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.

About

Chess Classic Challenge

Engage in classic chess with multiple difficulty levels and game modes. Play against friends or hone your skills with stats and hints. Offers various visual themes for a personalized experience.

Highlights
  • 12 play levels (Novice to Expert)
  • Casual and Pro modes
  • 2 player hot-seat mode
  • Chess Stats, Timers, and Hints
  • 5 Chess Boards and 6 Chess Piece Sets
  • Sound effects
Features
Read full description

Chess is popular and is often played in competitions called chess tournaments. It is enjoyed in many countries. -- 12 play levels (Novice->Expert) This uses intelligent weakening for lower levels. Good for beginners. -- Casual and Pro modes. Learn on Casual and progress to Pro. -- 2 player hot-seat. Play against your friends! -- Chess Stats, Timers and Hints -- 5 Chess Boards and 6 Chess Piece Sets - sound effects - small size Chess is a board game for two players. It is played on a square board, made of 64 smaller squares, with eight squares on each side. Each player starts with sixteen pieces: eight pawns, two knights, two bishops, two rooks, one queen and one king. The goal of the game is for each player to try and checkmate the king of the opponent. Checkmate is a threat ('check') to the opposing king which no move can stop. It ends the game. During the game the two opponents take turns to move one of their pieces to a different square of the board. One player ('White') has pieces of a light color; the other player ('Black') has pieces of a dark color. There are rules about how pieces move, and about taking the opponent's pieces off the board. The player with white pieces always makes the first move. Because of this, White has a small advantage, and wins more often than Black in tournament games.

Screenshots

Chess ∙4 screens
Chess Classic Challenge4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Chess ∙ at 57% against Chess Classic Challenge's 0%. Chess ∙ also leads on rating (4.5 vs 1.0) and update cadence (every 4 months vs every 83 months). Chess Classic Challenge's advantage is monetization model (free vs ad-supported). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Chess ∙ holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 1.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Chess ∙ has 205K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 57% of Chess ∙'s written reviews are positive against 0% of Chess Classic Challenge's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Chess ∙ ships an update every 4 months, Chess Classic Challenge every 83 months. The most recent releases landed on September 26, 2026 and September 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Chess ∙ versus Chess Classic Challenge: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChess ∙Chess Classic Challenge
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (205K ratings) — better1.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews56.9% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings205K — better1
Update frequencyEvery 4 months — betterEvery 83 months
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationAd-supportedFree — better
Best chart rank#79 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS12.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size84 MB77 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperOptime Software LLCLinda Mottley

Customer experience

Chess ∙

All ratings204,953 ratings
Positive87.8%
Neutral5.4%
Negative6.8%
Written reviews2,579 reviews
Positive56.9%
Neutral7.1%
Negative36.1%

Chess Classic Challenge

All ratings1 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

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
Show 5 more
  • 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
Show 1 more
  • Ability to turn off draw by stalemate rule

Chess Classic Challenge

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Chess ∙

No in-app purchases

None

Chess Classic Challenge

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Chess ∙ free?
Chess ∙ is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Chess Classic Challenge free?
Chess Classic Challenge is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Chess ∙ or Chess Classic Challenge?
Chess ∙ is rated higher. Chess ∙ averages 4.5 out of 5 from 205K ratings, while Chess Classic Challenge averages 1.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Chess ∙ or Chess Classic Challenge have ads?
Both Chess ∙ and Chess Classic Challenge show ads.
Which is updated more often, Chess ∙ or Chess Classic Challenge?
Chess ∙ ships an update every 4 months, and Chess Classic Challenge every 83 months. Most recently, Chess ∙ was updated on September 26, 2026 and Chess Classic Challenge on September 5, 2026.

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