Shredder Chess Lite vs Chess Time
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
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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
Chess Time
Engage in online chess matches with friends or players worldwide. This app supports correspondence play with extended move times and offers features like in-game chat and customizable themes. Track your progress with an auto-calculated ELO rating.
- Online correspondence chess
- Play with friends
- Global player matchmaking
- In-game chat
- Customizable chess sets and themes
- Auto-calculated ELO rating
- PGN export
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Free online chess - Invite your friends or play against anyone in the world. Chess Time is a full featured online correspondence chess app allowing a player up to multiple days to make a move. Create and play multiple at length chess games. Chess Time features: A global audience of real chess players. Invite friends to play online games. In-game chat. -- Play chess against friends that have other mobile devices. Multiple Chess sets and themes. Play un-rated games to train without affecting your score. -- Auto-calculated ELO chess rating. Export completed games as PGN. Chess Time will send a notification for each move and a reminder for you to move. We recommend enabling notifications. ——————————— -- SUBSCRIPTIONS AVAILABLE --- PREMIUM Membership Subscription Options: - Monthly Premium Subscription - Yearly Premium Subscription Premium Membership features: * No Ads * 75 Simultaneous Active Games — Additional 25! * Compete with Premium Members * Exclusive Premium Leaderboard * Daily PGN Emails — Completed game PGNs are emailed daily! Perfect for players studying their games. — TERMS & DETAILS — Chess Time Premium features are only guaranteed on up-to-date iOS devices. Payment will be charged to your iTunes account at confirmation of purchase. Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Account will be charged the same amount for renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period. You can manage your subscription and turn off auto-renewal by going to your Account Settings after purchase. Any unused portion of a Free Trial, if offered, is forfeited when you buy a subscription. Prices may vary by location. Terms of Use: http://chesstimeapp.com/Terms-and-Conditions.php Privacy Policy: http://chesstimeapp.com/Privacy-Policy.php
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Chess Time at 4.7 against Shredder Chess Lite's 4.0. Chess Time also leads on update cadence (every 10 days vs every 7 months) and ratings volume (1.7K vs 20). Shredder Chess Lite's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and ads (none vs shown). On price, review sentiment 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
Both are free to download. Chess Time sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Shredder Chess Lite asks for nothing beyond the download.
Chess Time holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Chess Time has 1.7K ratings behind it against 20, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 79% of Shredder Chess Lite's written reviews are positive against 86% of Chess Time's.
Shredder Chess Lite ships an update every 7 months, Chess Time every 10 days. Both last shipped on September 28, 2026.
| Parameter | Shredder Chess Lite | Chess Time |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.0 (20 ratings) | 4.7 (1.7K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 78.9% of reviews | 86.2% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 20 | 1.7K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 7 months | Every 10 days — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 10.0 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 24 MB | 42 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Eiko Bleicher, Skizzix.com | Haptic Apps LLC |
Customer experience
Shredder Chess Lite
Chess Time
User reviews
Shredder Chess Lite
From 20 App Store ratingsWhat 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
Chess Time
From 1.7K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Simple and easy to use
- 🌍 Cross-platform play
- 📊 Detailed player stats and rankings
- 💬 In-game chat functionality
- 🕰️ Flexible time controls for games
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional glitches and bugs
- 🔍 Limited customization options
- 💰 Ads can be intrusive
- 🔒 Lack of robust anti-cheat measures
- 🖥️ Outdated or basic user interface
Bugs and requests
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
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- 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
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- 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
Chess Time
Reported bugs
3 issues- Game incorrectly declaring draws on checkmate
- Inability to castle or move pieces in certain situations
- Notification issues across different devices
Requested features
5 requests- Ability to invite friends to watch ongoing games
- Option to disable move analysis for rated games
- Faster move processing and real-time gameplay
- More diverse chess piece and board designs
- In-app purchase to remove ads permanently
In-app purchases
Shredder Chess Lite
No in-app purchases
Chess Time
- Chess Time Premium$1.991 Month
- Chess Time Premium - Annual$17.991 Year
- IOS Chess Time Pro$4.99
Questions
Is Shredder Chess Lite free?
Is Chess Time free?
Which has better reviews, Shredder Chess Lite or Chess Time?
Do Shredder Chess Lite or Chess Time have ads?
Which is updated more often, Shredder Chess Lite or Chess Time?
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