Comparison

Chess.com vs Really Bad Chess+

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Chess.com

Engage in online and offline chess matches with millions of players worldwide. Improve your skills through interactive lessons, over 500,000 puzzles, and powerful AI opponents. Compete in tournaments and explore various chess variants.

Highlights
  • Online multiplayer chess
  • Offline play against AI
  • Extensive puzzle library
  • Interactive chess lessons
  • Tournament participation
  • Chess variants
  • Game analysis
Features
Read full description

Play chess lessons online with over 265 million players from around the world! Chess is known as the best strategy board game in the world! Enjoy unlimited 3D offline pocket chess games and improve your chess rating with 500,000+ puzzles, more than 20 million chess games a day, lessons, and over 100 powerful bot opponents. Unlock your inner chess master today! PLAY CHESS ONLINE: - 2 Player online chess mode is entirely free to enjoy with your friends. - Join tournaments with players online or friends and become a master. - Play games in real-time from one minute per game to 30 minutes or longer with friends. - Review your strategy and game lessons and lay out daily correspondence in online chess. - Play exciting chess variants in our app: chess960 (Fischer-Random), blitz chess, puzzle rush, bullet chess, puzzle battle, or blindfold. CHESS PUZZLES: - Enjoy 500,000 + unique puzzles. - Rated mode automatically adjusts to your skill level to help you improve. - Race the clock with a timer to beat your high score in Puzzle Rush. - Practice puzzles with specific themes in this strategy board game (checkmate in 1, in 2, in 3, blindfold, endgames, fork, skewer, sacrifice, timer, etc.) CHESS LESSONS: - Hundreds of quality chess lessons and online videos made by masters (Learn and practice your skills with chess problems) - Interactive puzzles tutorials with tips and game recommendations. - Learn all the chess rules and strategies in a step-by-step lesson plan (opening, endgame...) CHESS COACHING: - Learn from helpful and immersive visual chess coach lessons. - Review your games with the coach and learn the strategy of the board game for every move. - Play games with the coach, who will guide you through the fundamentals move by move and provide helpful hints as you play. PLAY CHESS ONLINE AGAINST THE COMPUTER: - Choose the level of computer opponent you want to play and set a timer. - Analyze your chess games offline and learn to see where you went wrong and how you can improve. CHESS COMMUNITY: - Join a community of more than 200M online chess players. Find friends! - More than 20M games played each day. - Compete to get your own rating and try to join the best player online chess leaderboards against other players. - Watch the most popular superstars: Hikaru, GothamChess, or Magnus! ... and MUCH MORE: - Play chess games offline against the computer and the clock with a timer. - Articles by the best coaches and masters. - Explore openings like Queen´s Gambit or Sicilian Defense. - Challenge and play with your friends in an online chess game. - Choose from 20+ board themes and 3D pieces. - Get in-depth performance stats about your games, puzzles, and lessons. Playing pocket chess online has never been so easy! Chess.com is the place to play chess games online with your friends and other players! Share your suggestions and comments. Our support team is happy to help you 24 hours a day, 365 days a year! ABOUT CHESS.COM: Chess.com was created by chess players and people who love chess! Team: http://www.chess.com/about

About

Really Bad Chess+

Experience chess with a chaotic twist! This app replaces standard pieces with random assortments, forcing you to rethink strategy. Perfect for both seasoned players seeking a new challenge and beginners looking to learn the fundamentals in a fun, unpredictable way.

Highlights
  • Random piece assignments
  • AI challenges (Ranked, Daily, Weekly)
  • Freeplay mode
  • Local versus mode
  • Daily chess puzzles
  • New strategic challenges
Features
Read full description

Really Bad Chess is just like chess, but with totally random pieces. Try 8 Knights, 4 Bishops, and 3 pawns — why not? Whether you play chess daily, or quit just after learning the rules, this small twist will open the door to an entire new world of chess. Compete vs. an AI in Ranked, Daily, or Weekly Challenges. Improve your skills using the included Freeplay mode. Compete against your friends locally in versus mode! Warm up every day with our new daily chess puzzle — Knight Hike! ------A WORD FROM THE DEVELOPER Chess is one of those games I always wished I enjoyed, but its commitment to beauty, elegance, and perfect balance always turned me away. Really Bad Chess removes these boring restrictions and flips chess on its head. As much as random pieces change the game in some ways, I was really surprised to notice how much the game remains the same, and how powerful some pieces are — you've never truly struggled against a pawn until you've struggled against a pawn in the back row. For chess pros, Really Bad Chess will give you a new type of challenge — the pieces & the moves are the same, but you'll have to throw out your openings and your understanding of normal patterns of play. For novice chess players (like most of us), Really Bad Chess greatly opens up the game. Instead of starting by studying openings, in your first games you'll get to discover the joy (and challenge!) of learning how to checkmate. -zach

Screenshots

Chess.com4 screens
Really Bad Chess+4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Chess.com at 4.8 against Really Bad Chess+'s 3.4. Chess.com also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 3 months) and ratings volume (827K vs 165). Really Bad Chess+'s advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 12) and ads (none vs shown). On price 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. Chess.com sells 12 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Really Bad Chess+ asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Chess.com holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Chess.com has 827K ratings behind it against 165, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 64% of Chess.com's written reviews are positive against 54% of Really Bad Chess+'s.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Chess.com ships an update weekly, Really Bad Chess+ every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and September 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard9 real differences · 2 level
Chess.com versus Really Bad Chess+: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChess.comReally Bad Chess+
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (827K ratings) — better3.4 (165 ratings)
Positive reviews63.9% of reviews — better54.0% of reviews
Number of ratings827K — better165
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 3 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank#5 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple WatchiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS17.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size445 MB100 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperChess.comZach Gage

Customer experience

Chess.com

All ratings827,408 ratings
Positive95.9%
Neutral1.5%
Negative2.6%
Written reviews8,373 reviews
Positive63.9%
Neutral5.9%
Negative30.2%

Really Bad Chess+

All ratings165 ratings
Positive57.6%
Neutral6.7%
Negative35.8%
Written reviews100 reviews
Positive54.0%
Neutral10.0%
Negative36.0%

User reviews

Chess.com

From 827K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Excellent app for learning and improving chess skills
  • 🎓 Comprehensive lessons, puzzles, and analysis tools
  • 🌍 Large player base for quick matchmaking
  • 📊 Detailed game statistics and progress tracking
  • 💻 Seamless integration between mobile app and website

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent connection issues and game freezes
  • ⏱️ Unreliable and inconsistent game timers
  • 🔒 Lack of transparency around anti-cheating measures
  • 💰 Aggressive paywall for advanced features
  • 🤖 Subpar AI opponents with questionable move choices

Really Bad Chess+

From 165 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 💡 Innovative concept
  • 🤩 Addictive gameplay
  • 👍 Easy to learn
  • 🧠 Improves chess skills
  • ✨ Clean UI

Room to improve

  • 😠 Unfair AI starting positions
  • ⚖️ AI too lucky/strong
  • 🚫 No draws (stalemate/repetition)
  • 🐛 Bugs and glitches
  • 📱 UI scaling issues

Bugs and requests

Chess.com

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Incorrect move suggestions in game analysis
  • Inability to leave or manage chess clubs within the app
  • Puzzle mode crashing when attempting to reveal the solution
  • Inconsistent behavior when switching between Wi-Fi and mobile data
  • Pieces not registering correctly on the board during gameplay

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to customize board and piece themes
  • Option to pause and resume games at a later time
  • Improved game analysis with more detailed explanations
  • Enhanced social features for interacting with other players
  • Offline mode for practicing puzzles and tactics

Really Bad Chess+

Reported bugs

9 issues
  • App zoomed in, parts of board/UI cut off (recent update)
  • Cannot make legal moves
  • Game won't allow moves out of check
  • AI gets stuck in infinite loops
  • Incorrect checkmate detection
Show 4 more
  • Pieces glitching
  • Cannot undo after checkmate
  • App not fitting on iPhone screen
  • Menu options cut off

Requested features

10 requests
  • Add draws by repetition/stalemate
  • Option for mirrored pieces
  • Tutorial for beginners
  • Ability to play online multiplayer
  • Option to see solution for daily challenges
Show 5 more
  • Mac app availability
  • Option to keep board on screen after game
  • Adjustable AI difficulty
  • More board/theme options
  • Animations for piece movement

In-app purchases

12 purchases

Chess.com

Subscriptions12
  • Gold Membership7 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • Gold Membership7 Days trial$6.991 Month
  • Platinum Membership7 Days trial$6.991 Month
Show 9 more
  • Platinum Membership7 Days trial$10.991 Month
  • Diamond Membership7 Days trial$14.991 Month
  • Diamond Membership7 Days trial$16.991 Month
  • Gold Membership7 Days trial$29.991 Year
  • Platinum Membership7 Days trial$49.991 Year
  • Gold Membership7 Days trial$49.991 Year
  • Platinum Membership7 Days trial$79.991 Year
  • Diamond Membership7 Days trial$99.991 Year
  • Diamond Membership7 Days trial$119.991 Year
None

Really Bad Chess+

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Chess.com free?
Chess.com is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Really Bad Chess+ free?
Really Bad Chess+ is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Chess.com or Really Bad Chess+?
Chess.com is rated higher. Chess.com averages 4.8 out of 5 from 827K ratings, while Really Bad Chess+ averages 3.4 from 165 ratings.
Do Chess.com or Really Bad Chess+ have ads?
Chess.com shows ads; Really Bad Chess+ does not.
Which is updated more often, Chess.com or Really Bad Chess+?
Chess.com ships an update weekly, and Really Bad Chess+ every 3 months. Most recently, Chess.com was updated on September 25, 2026 and Really Bad Chess+ on September 6, 2026.

Other comparisons