Chess ∙ vs Chess Premium
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 Premium
Enjoy a classic chess experience without ads or internet. Play against a challenging AI with adjustable difficulty or a friend offline. Features stunning visuals, instant auto-saves, and undo support for uninterrupted gameplay.
- No ads or internet required
- Adjustable AI difficulty levels
- Offline two-player mode
- Stunning Retina display visuals
- Instant auto-save
- Undo support and score tracking
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Chess Premium — The Chess Game Your iPhone Deserves No ads. No internet required. Just chess, beautifully designed for your iPhone and iPad. Whether you're picking up chess for the first time or looking for a worthy opponent at 2am, Chess Premium delivers. Play against a sophisticated AI with adjustable difficulty — from patient teacher to ruthless opponent — or hand the phone to a friend for a classic two-player match. What makes it Premium: • Stunning visuals built for Retina displays — not ported from another era • AI engine that actually challenges you, with difficulty levels that grow with your game • Offline play, always available — no Wi-Fi, no account, no nonsense • Auto-saves instantly when you take a call or switch apps • Undo support, configurable player names, and full score tracking No subscriptions. No ads. Buy once, play forever. Download Chess Premium and play your first game in seconds. ———— Love classic games? Optime makes a full suite of board and card games — including Backgammon Pro, Checkers Premium, and Sudoku. Search ""Optime Software"" to see them all.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Chess ∙ at Free against Chess Premium's $9.99. Chess ∙ also leads on ratings volume (205K vs 5.2K) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.6). Chess Premium's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and review sentiment (80% vs 57%). On update cadence, in-app purchases, chart position 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
Chess ∙ is free to download; Chess Premium costs $9.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Chess Premium 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 5.2K, 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 80% of Chess Premium's.
Chess ∙ ships an update every 4 months, Chess Premium every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Chess ∙ | Chess Premium |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $9.99 |
| Rating | 4.5 (205K ratings) | 4.7 (5.2K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 56.9% of reviews | 80.4% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 205K — better | 5.2K |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 3 months — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Ad-supported — better | Paid |
| Best chart rank | #84 | #35 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 84 MB | 39 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Optime Software LLC | Optime Software LLC |
Customer experience
Chess ∙
Chess Premium
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 Premium
From 5.2K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Great for practicing chess
- 🚀 Fast gameplay
- 💡 Adjustable difficulty levels
- 👍 Simple and intuitive interface
- 👍 No ads in premium version
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional bugs and glitches
- 🐛 Issues with detecting checkmate
- 🐛 Pawns moving incorrectly
- 🐛 Pieces disappearing from the board
- 🐛 Slow performance in premium version
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 Premium
Reported bugs
5 issues- Incorrect checkmate detection
- Pawns moving in illegal ways
- Pieces randomly disappearing
- Slow performance after upgrade
- Ads still showing after purchase
Requested features
6 requests- Option to turn off stalemate
- Ability to save and load games
- Notation or move history display
- More board and piece theme options
- Tutorials or strategic tips
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- Ability to play against friends
In-app purchases
Chess ∙
No in-app purchases
Chess Premium
No in-app purchases
