Comparison

Chess ∙ vs Chess Duel

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

Chess Duel

Engage in a classic game of chess with a friend using only a local WiFi connection. Each player views the board from their perspective on their own device. No internet or external servers are required for gameplay.

Highlights
  • Play chess with nearby friends
  • Direct peer-to-peer WiFi connection
  • Automatic WiFi connection
  • Automatic game resume
  • Legal move highlighting
  • Customizable chess clock
  • Request takebacks
Features
Read full description

Play chess with nearby friends via local WiFi. Play with your iPhone against a friend with an iPhone. Each player is seeing the board from his point of view (white / black) on the own device. Works on iPhone, iPad and iPod. To use the app, you need two devices with iOS 9.3 or newer. There is no engine included, which means that you can not play chess vs. this app. When you start chess duel on two devices, the devices do connect automatically. If WiFi is activated and the devices are nearby or they are on the same WiFi network. You don't need an account. Connection over the internet is not possible. Features - play chess with nearby friends - direct nearby peer to peer connection via WiFi or WiFi network, no chess server involved - automatically connects via wifi - you can safely close the app during a game, chess duel automatically resumes the game when reconnected - on interruption due to a phone call or an incoming message, the game is paused on both devices and resumes when you get back to the app - shows legal moves when you tap a chess piece - does not use gamecenter - no internet connection required - time control: you can setup the chess clock arbitrary for white and black, increment is supported as well - request takebacks, the opponent can accept or decline - give opponent additional time - universal app: iPhone / iPod / iPad - best chess app for nearby connections documentation: snugdev.de/chessduel/documentation.html

Screenshots

Chess ∙4 screens
Chess Duel4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Chess ∙ at 4.5 against Chess Duel's 3.3. Chess ∙ also leads on ratings volume (205K vs 7) and chart position (#72 vs unranked). Chess Duel's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and monetization model (free vs ad-supported). 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 3.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Chess ∙ has 205K ratings behind it against 7, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 56% of Chess ∙'s written reviews are positive against 68% of Chess Duel'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, Chess Duel every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on October 18, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Chess ∙ versus Chess Duel: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChess ∙Chess Duel
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (205K ratings) — better3.3 (7 ratings)
Positive reviews56.5% of reviews67.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings205K — better7
Update frequencyEvery 4 months — betterEvery 5 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationAd-supportedFree — better
Best chart rank#72 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS12.09.3 — better
Further details — not scored
Size84 MB3 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperOptime Software LLCLothar Heinrich

Customer experience

Chess ∙

All ratings204,953 ratings
Positive87.8%
Neutral5.4%
Negative6.8%
Written reviews2,603 reviews
Positive56.5%
Neutral7.0%
Negative36.5%

Chess Duel

All ratings7 ratings
Positive57.1%
Neutral0.0%
Negative42.9%
Written reviews34 reviews
Positive67.6%
Neutral5.9%
Negative26.5%

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

Chess Duel

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Chess ∙

No in-app purchases

None

Chess Duel

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Chess ∙ free?
Chess ∙ is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Chess Duel free?
Chess Duel is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Chess ∙ or Chess Duel?
Chess ∙ is rated higher. Chess ∙ averages 4.5 out of 5 from 205K ratings, while Chess Duel averages 3.3 from 7 ratings.
Do Chess ∙ or Chess Duel have ads?
Chess ∙ shows ads; Chess Duel does not.
Which is updated more often, Chess ∙ or Chess Duel?
Chess ∙ ships an update every 4 months, and Chess Duel every 5 months. Most recently, Chess ∙ was updated on October 18, 2026 and Chess Duel on October 13, 2026.

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