Comparison

Chess ∙ vs Simple chess board

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

Simple chess board

This app provides a digital chessboard with unrestricted piece movement and a configurable chess clock. Save and load board positions, undo/redo moves, and even use checker pieces. It's ideal for analyzing games or setting up custom scenarios.

Highlights
  • Free piece movement
  • Undo/Redo functionality
  • Board rotation
  • Checker piece option
  • Save/load positions
  • Configurable chess clock
  • Tweet current position
Features
Read full description

A simple chess board and a chess clock without movement restrictions. Free movement as a real board. Current features are: • Move pieces freely, add or remove them. • Undo/Redo last movement. • Rotate board and/or pieces. • Use checkers game pieces. • Save/load positions for later use, or delete them when you don't need them anymore (swipe over them). Starting positions for chess and checkers are available. • Use a chess clock where you can configure initial time, move time increment, increment after a number of movement, hourglass time, ... • Set time independent for black and white if required. • Save/load time settings for later use. Already available some common times. • Tweet your current position.

Screenshots

Chess ∙4 screens
Simple chess board4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Chess ∙ at none against Simple chess board's 1. Chess ∙ also leads on ratings volume (205K vs 67) and update cadence (every 4 months vs every 10 months). Simple chess board's advantage is review sentiment (88% vs 57%). On price, rating, ads 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. Simple chess board sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Chess ∙ asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.5 for Chess ∙ against 4.5 for Simple chess board. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Chess ∙ has 205K ratings behind it against 67, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 57% of Chess ∙'s written reviews are positive against 88% of Simple chess board's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Chess ∙ ships an update every 4 months, Simple chess board every 10 months. The most recent releases landed on September 26, 2026 and September 19, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Chess ∙ versus Simple chess board: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChess ∙Simple chess board
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (205K ratings)4.5 (67 ratings)
Positive reviews56.9% of reviews88.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings205K — better67
Update frequencyEvery 4 months — betterEvery 10 months
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationAd-supported — betterFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#79 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS12.012.0
Further details — not scored
Size84 MB9 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperOptime Software LLCLuis Lopez

Customer experience

Chess ∙

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

Simple chess board

All ratings67 ratings
Positive88.1%
Neutral3.0%
Negative9.0%
Written reviews50 reviews
Positive88.0%
Neutral4.0%
Negative8.0%

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

Simple chess board

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Chess ∙

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Simple chess board

One-time1
  • Remove ads$0.99

Questions

Is Chess ∙ free?
Chess ∙ is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Simple chess board free?
Simple chess board is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Chess ∙ or Simple chess board?
Chess ∙ and Simple chess board are both rated 4.5 out of 5 on the App Store, from 205K and 67 ratings respectively.
Do Chess ∙ or Simple chess board have ads?
Both Chess ∙ and Simple chess board show ads.
Which is updated more often, Chess ∙ or Simple chess board?
Chess ∙ ships an update every 4 months, and Simple chess board every 10 months. Most recently, Chess ∙ was updated on September 26, 2026 and Simple chess board on September 19, 2026.

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