Comparison

Chess ∙ vs Shredder Chess Lite

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

Shredder Chess Lite

Play chess against a world champion program that mimics human play and makes mistakes at lower levels. Solve puzzles, track your progress, and get advice to improve your game. Features adjustable difficulty and a built-in coach.

Highlights
  • Adjustable playing strength
  • 100 built-in chess puzzles
  • Coach warns of mistakes
  • Elo rating calculation
  • Opening book with over 1 million moves
  • Two player mode
Features
Read full description

Shredder, the most successful chess program ever, is now also available for the iPhone. You can play against Shredder and solve chess puzzles. It offers the usual Shredder standard for your pocket. The 12 times computer chess world champion Shredder is able to mimic the play of a human chess player with any playing strength. He even deliberately makes typical human mistakes in those levels. Solve 100 built in chess puzzles. Shredder keeps track of your performance and offers advice if needed. You can adjust Shredder’s playing strength and, if you like, Shredder automatically adjusts his strength to yours. He even calculates an Elo rating for you. This is how the playing strength of chess players is typically measured. During the game a coach is watching your moves and warns you if you are about to make a mistake. See how you are getting better and better the more games you play and the more chess puzzles you solve. Shredder Chess Lite features: * Adjustable playing strength * Intuitive and very easy to operate * 100 built in chess puzzles * See your rating in a diagram * Coach shows your mistakes * Great variety: opening book with more than one million moves * Load and save games (incl. names, date, etc.) * Different chess boards and pieces * two player mode / enter moves * Learn the name of the opening you are playing * Accessibility / VoiceOver support * Improve your play whenever and wherever you like 'Shredder Chess Lite' is a fully-functional version of 'Shredder Chess' for casual chess players. If you are an active player, need more features or simply want the best you should take a look at our pro version 'Shredder Chess'. Here is what you will additionally get in our pro version: * The strongest chess engine for the iPhone * Can be set to outstanding playing strength * 1000 built in chess puzzles * Send games via email * Different playing styles from passive to aggressive * Enter and analyze any position you like * Analyse your games with Shredder, find your mistakes and improve your play * 10 USD discount coupon for Shredder 13 Mac/Win on shredderchess.com

Screenshots

Chess ∙4 screens
Shredder Chess Lite4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Chess ∙ at 4.5 against Shredder Chess Lite's 4.0. Chess ∙ also leads on ratings volume (207K vs 20) and chart position (#62 vs unranked). Shredder Chess Lite's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and review sentiment (79% vs 56%). On price, update cadence, 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 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Chess ∙ has 207K ratings behind it against 20, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 56% of Chess ∙'s written reviews are positive against 79% of Shredder Chess Lite's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Chess ∙ ships an update every 4 months, Shredder Chess Lite every 7 months. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Chess ∙ versus Shredder Chess Lite: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChess ∙Shredder Chess Lite
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (207K ratings) — better4.0 (20 ratings)
Positive reviews56.3% of reviews78.9% of reviews — better
Number of ratings207K — better20
Update frequencyEvery 4 months — betterEvery 7 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationAd-supportedFree — better
Best chart rank#62 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS12.010.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size84 MB24 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperOptime Software LLCEiko Bleicher, Skizzix.com

Customer experience

Chess ∙

All ratings204,953 ratings
Positive87.8%
Neutral5.4%
Negative6.8%
Written reviews2,611 reviews
Positive56.3%
Neutral7.0%
Negative36.7%

Shredder Chess Lite

All ratings20 ratings
Positive70.0%
Neutral10.0%
Negative20.0%
Written reviews166 reviews
Positive78.9%
Neutral5.4%
Negative15.7%

User reviews

Chess ∙

From 207K App Store ratings

What 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

Shredder Chess Lite

From 20 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Clean, simple, and intuitive user interface
  • 🎮 Excellent adaptive difficulty that adjusts to player skill level
  • 🧠 Strong chess engine with intelligent gameplay
  • 📚 Comprehensive puzzle collection for learning
  • 💰 Free version with substantial features

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Illegal chess moves by computer player
  • 📱 Not optimized for newer iPhone screen sizes
  • 🎮 Inconsistent endgame performance
  • ❌ App crashes and freezing issues
  • 🔧 Compatibility problems with iOS updates

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

Shredder Chess Lite

Reported bugs

11 issues
  • Pawns moving sideways or diagonally without capturing
  • Pawns captured by opponent pawns when not adjacent
  • Illegal moves allowed by computer player
  • App crashes on iOS 8 and later versions
  • App won't open or load on startup
Show 6 more
  • Freezing after puzzle completion
  • Crashes when accessing advanced settings
  • Game crashes every second or third game on OS4
  • Incompatibility with iPhone 3GS and older devices
  • Checkmate detection errors
  • Puzzle mode incorrectly marking valid moves as invalid

Requested features

10 requests
  • Full screen optimization for modern iPhones
  • Time delay option before computer moves
  • Multiplayer mode for human vs human play
  • HD/universal app for iPad compatibility
  • Detailed explanations for puzzle solutions
Show 5 more
  • Higher difficulty levels in free version
  • Alternative board colors (red pieces option)
  • Dynamic hints like Fritz offers
  • Better endgame analysis
  • Improved board and piece design for clarity

In-app purchases

None

Chess ∙

No in-app purchases

None

Shredder Chess Lite

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Chess ∙ free?
Chess ∙ is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Shredder Chess Lite free?
Shredder Chess Lite is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Chess ∙ or Shredder Chess Lite?
Chess ∙ is rated higher. Chess ∙ averages 4.5 out of 5 from 207K ratings, while Shredder Chess Lite averages 4.0 from 20 ratings.
Do Chess ∙ or Shredder Chess Lite have ads?
Chess ∙ shows ads; Shredder Chess Lite does not.
Which is updated more often, Chess ∙ or Shredder Chess Lite?
Chess ∙ ships an update every 4 months, and Shredder Chess Lite every 7 months. Most recently, Chess ∙ was updated on October 30, 2026 and Shredder Chess Lite on October 23, 2026.

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