Chess ∙ vs Chess puzzles!
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 puzzles!
Engage in mind-teasing chess challenges designed for all skill levels, from beginners to seasoned players. Test your strategic thinking with various puzzle difficulties and enjoy a fun variation of the classic board game.
- Tutorial levels for beginners
- Simple tap and drag controls
- Mate in 1 challenges
- Mate in 2 challenges
- Alternate chess challenges
- Categorized difficulty levels
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Do you love chess & puzzle challenges? Well, you’ll love Chess Puzzles! This fun variation of the chess game includes mind-teasing challenges categorized in levels that are sure to test your chess skills and problem-solving thinking. Can you pass all levels? Great for anyone! From beginner to seasoned chess player! WHY YOU’LL LOVE CHESS PUZZLES! - Tutorial levels included (great for beginners) - Simple tap & dragging controls - Mate in 1, mate in 2 challenges and some alternate challenges - Cool variation of the classic board game Now, it’s chess puzzle time! Download the app for free!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Chess ∙ at none against Chess puzzles!'s 4. Chess ∙ also leads on ratings volume (205K vs 1.3K) and chart position (#83 vs unranked). Chess puzzles!'s advantage is ads (none vs shown) and review sentiment (78% vs 57%). On price, device support 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. Chess puzzles! sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Chess ∙ asks for nothing beyond the download.
Chess puzzles! holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Chess ∙ has 205K ratings behind it against 1.3K, 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 78% of Chess puzzles!'s.
Chess ∙ ships an update every 4 months, Chess puzzles! every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 29, 2026 and September 28, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Chess ∙ | Chess puzzles! |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (205K ratings) | 4.7 (1.3K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 56.9% of reviews | 78.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 205K — better | 1.3K |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 6 weeks — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Ad-supported — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #83 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 13.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 84 MB | 15 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Optime Software LLC | Erik Brandsma |
Customer experience
Chess ∙
Chess puzzles!
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 puzzles!
From 1.3K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Challenging and engaging puzzles
- 👍 No ads or in-app purchases
- 👍 Helpful for improving chess skills
- 👍 Fun and enjoyable experience
- 👍 Realistic and creative puzzles
Room to improve
- 🐛 Some puzzles have no solution or are buggy
- 🔍 Lack of explanations or feedback on wrong moves
- 🔍 Repetitive puzzle types (e.g., queen sacrifices)
- 🔍 Inefficient navigation between puzzles
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 puzzles!
Reported bugs
2 issues- Puzzle with no solution ("Mate in 3 - Queen pack - AAAAAAAY-OH")
- Puzzle solution not recognized ("you have one move only ;)")
Requested features
4 requests- Reset puzzle option
- Next puzzle button
- Ability to make wrong moves in puzzles
- Puzzle solution hints or explanations
In-app purchases
Chess ∙
No in-app purchases
Chess puzzles!
- Fun pack!$0.99
- Human vs machine$0.99
- Funky moves$1.99
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- Remove all ads$1.99
