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 a classic strategy game that develops logical thinking and visual memory. The objective is to checkmate your opponent's king. Offers customizable boards, sound effects, and manual/auto-save features.
- Two-player mode
- Classical chess rules
- Customizable board design
- Sound effects toggle
- Manual and automatic save
- Difficulty levels
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Chess is more than just a game. This is an intellectual pastime, a way to develop logical thinking and visual memory. Chess has deep roots in history, which means it has stood the test of time and is one of the oldest strategy games in the world. The ultimate goal of the game is to checkmate your opponent. This means that the opponent's king finds himself in a situation in which capture is inevitable. Shapes: 1. Pawns - move one square forward or 2 squares if this is the first move. 2. Knight - moves two squares vertically and one horizontally or one square vertically and two horizontally. 3. Bishop - moves diagonally to any number of squares. 4. Rook - moves one or more squares vertically or horizontally. 5. Queen - moves any distance horizontally, vertically or diagonally. 6. King - moves one square in any direction. Rules of the game: The rules correspond to the classical rules of chess. All chess pieces are standard and follow international rules. Select the difficulty level, first easier and then more difficult, try playing at all difficulty levels. You can also play with a friend or family member by selecting the two-player game mode, i.e. against each other and take turns. In the game, you can customize the design style of the chessboard and table, and turn sound effects on or off. There is also the ability to manually and automatically save the game. 1. Checkmate - when the player's king is in check and there is no way to get out of it. 2. Pat - The game ends in a draw if the player has nowhere to move, but there is no “check”. 3. Draw - there are not enough pieces to checkmate: - King against king and bishop; - King against king and knight; - King and bishop against king and bishop (and bishops are on squares of the same color). Castling is performed by the king and rook and can only be played after the pieces between them have been removed. The king is placed first two squares to the right or left, and then the rook from this corner “jumps” to the square that the king crossed. Castling is not allowed when: - The King or Rook has already moved; - The king is in check; - The king will go through check. Play for fun!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Chess ∙ at none against Chess's 1. Chess ∙ also leads on ratings volume (205K vs 156) and chart position (#77 vs unranked). Chess's advantage is update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 4 months). On price, rating, review sentiment and ads 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 4.4 for Chess. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Chess ∙ has 205K ratings behind it against 156, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 57% and 56% positive.
Chess ∙ ships an update every 4 months, Chess every 6 weeks. Both last shipped on September 26, 2026.
| Parameter | Chess ∙ | Chess |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (205K ratings) — better | 4.4 (156 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 56.9% of reviews — better | 56.3% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 205K — better | 156 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 6 weeks — better |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Ad-supported — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #77 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 84 MB | 183 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Optime Software LLC | Sergei Shendrikov |
Customer experience
Chess ∙
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
Chess
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Chess ∙
No in-app purchases
Chess
- Remove Ads$9.99








