Shredder Chess for iPad vs Chess
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Shredder Chess for iPad
Engage in chess matches against a world champion AI, analyze your games, and solve numerous puzzles. This app offers adjustable difficulty levels, human-like play, and a built-in coach to help you improve your skills and track your progress.
- Play against world champion AI
- Adjustable playing strength
- 1000 built-in chess puzzles
- Game analysis and mistake detection
- Human-like playing styles
- Opening book and endgame databases
- VoiceOver support
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Play better chess on your iPad with Shredder Chess — your adaptive opponent, trainer and analysis partner. Shredder is strong enough for serious players, yet approachable enough for beginners. Choose your level or let Shredder adjust automatically to your results. Play a game, solve tactics, get coach warnings before mistakes and review your moves afterwards. With the extra room of iPad, Shredder is especially comfortable for study: set up positions, explore openings and endgames, analyze your games and follow your progress over time. Why chess players choose Shredder: • Adaptive playing strength from beginner to master level • Optional auto-adjusting opponent that matches your play • Built-in coach that warns you before mistakes • 1,000 chess puzzles for tactics training • Game analysis to find mistakes and improve your play • Estimated Elo rating with progress diagram • Human-like playing styles, from passive to aggressive • Opening book with more than one million moves • Online endgame database support • Set up and analyze any position • Load, save and email games • Multiple boards and pieces • VoiceOver and accessibility support The Shredder chess programs have won 19 World Computer Chess Champion titles, making Shredder one of the most successful names in computer chess. Play a game. Solve a puzzle. Analyze your moves. Get stronger with Shredder Chess on iPad.
Chess
Manage and study chess databases and games in PGN format with advanced analysis tools. Supports game creation, modification, and import from various sources. Includes engine analysis, opening book management, and puzzle training.
- PGN database and game management
- Create, modify, and import games
- Advanced engine analysis with Stockfish
- Opening book and ChessBase support
- Chess 960 (Fischer Random) support
- Diagram recognition for PGN conversion
- Puzzle training and online play
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Chess Studio is the first and only application for iPhone and iPad able to manage chess databases and games in PGN format in a complete and efficient way. Chess Studio is an application designed and built for those players who really want to deepen their knowledge in the field of chess, studying chess regularly and participate in tournaments. Chess Studio allows you to: • Read database and games in PGN format (also with extended notation of moves). • Create, delete and modify folders and databases. • View games with annotations and textual comments and keep track of the displayed games. • Use a double chessboard on the same screen for better game analysis. • Visualize moves and variants in compact mode or indented mode. • Modify existing games with move annotation and textual comments. • Insert new games and positions. • Insert, replay and analyze games in Chess 960 mode. • Insert moves with annotations and textual comments. • Insert variation, subvariations etc. • Insert and visualize graphical annotation (colored arrows and highlighted squares). • Share Databases and Games through Airdrop. • Download chess database from internet. • Download chess database directly from PGN Mentor site. • Import games, database and Opening Books from other applications. • Merge two or more databases. • Copy/Paste games and positions. • Analyze games with Stockfish 19 Engine with the support of the Neural Networks (up to 5 lines of analysis simultaneously) with the support of the Engine Evaluation Bar. • Replay games automatically. • Visualize Pawn structure. • Manage Variations and sub-variatons: delete and promote variations. • Read the weekly Magazine The New In Chess (TWIC) and download the games. • Uploading and Downloading PGN Database to/from Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive. • Three different modes for moving pieces. • Analyze endgames with Endgame Tablebases. • Analyze and study Chess Openings in the Chess Openings Section. • Create and manage Opening Books in Polyglot format. • Import and manage ChessBase Opening Books (ctg format). • Automatically classify a database according to ECO code. • Replay, enter and analyze Chess 960 games (Fischer Random Chess). • Play against the engine both in standard mode and in Chess 960 mode. • Play online through the LiChess platform • Train by solving Puzzles • ChessBase Database support. • Diagram Recognition: this feature allows the user to take and/or upload photos of chess diagrams and convert them into PGN format positions. Other features and technical details: • Modify the board size. • Professional chess fonts and figurines for moves notation and annotation. • Preview of the game in the board tapping the Info button. • Quick search feature. • Advanced search feature. • Complete management of Null Moves with Tutorial. • Visualization of ECO code and Opening during game replay or game insertion. • Visualization of Book Openings during game replay or game insertion. • Portrait/Landscape mode for all devices. • Support of Slide Over and Split View mode. • Function to move up within variants and subvariants. • iOS 26 compatible and optimized for all the devices. • Sharing of databases across devices via iCloud Drive (also with Chess Studio for Mac OS). • Sound option. • Support for iPad Pro Keyboard or bluetooth keyboard. • VoiceOver/Accessibility support. • Direct contact via email with the developer to report problems, ask for explanation and suggestions (very quick answer!). • Languages: English, Italian, Spanish and German. Complete description at: https://chessstudio.wordpress.com/chess-studio/ To view the privacy policy and Terms of Use (EULA) visit https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ The application is continuously updated with new features and improvements. No registration! No advertising! No sharing of personal data!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Shredder Chess for iPad at none against Chess's 2. Chess's advantage is update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 5 months) and price ($3.99 vs $8.99). On rating, ratings volume, ads and iOS requirement 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
Shredder Chess for iPad costs $8.99 and Chess $3.99 up front. Chess sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Shredder Chess for iPad asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for Shredder Chess for iPad against 4.7 for Chess. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 134 and 118 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 80% of Shredder Chess for iPad's written reviews are positive against 92% of Chess's.
Shredder Chess for iPad ships an update every 5 months, Chess every 2 weeks. Both last shipped on November 1, 2026.
| Parameter | Shredder Chess for iPad | Chess |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $8.99 | $3.99 — better |
| Rating | 4.6 (134 ratings) | 4.7 (118 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 80.0% of reviews | 92.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 134 — better | 118 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 months | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Devices | iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 46 MB | 237 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Eiko Bleicher, Skizzix.com | Giordano Vicoli |
Customer experience
Shredder Chess for iPad
Chess
User reviews
Shredder Chess for iPad
From 134 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Excellent chess engine
- 🚀 Adjusts playing strength to user's level
- 💡 Useful puzzles and tactics training
- 👍 Clean and intuitive user interface
- 💡 Customizable board and piece sets
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional crashes and bugs
- 💡 Needs better opening book and database support
- 💡 Lacks ability to import/export PGN games
- 💡 Limited analysis and variation display
- 💡 Dated graphics, could use visual update
Chess
From 118 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Powerful chess database features
- 👍 Comprehensive analysis tools
- 👍 Excellent PGN management
- 👍 Great value for price
- 👍 Frequent updates and improvements
Room to improve
- 🐛 Steep learning curve
- 🐛 Occasional crashes
- 🐛 Unintuitive interface
- 🐛 Some users find it confusing
- 🐛 Missing dark mode
Bugs and requests
Shredder Chess for iPad
Reported bugs
3 issues- Crashes when switching between puzzles
- Incorrect threefold repetition draw detection
- Issues with iOS 8 and later compatibility
Requested features
5 requests- Add PGN import/export functionality
- Expand opening book and game database
- Improve game analysis tools and features
- Modernize graphics and visual design
- Implement cloud sync and multi-device support
Chess
Reported bugs
12 issues- Problem saving updated game data
- Engine stopped working after 30 seconds
- App crashes when adding annotations without hitting 'edit mode' first
- Crash opening .pgn in landscape mode
- Crashes when selecting a cell with 0 games associated
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- App freezes sometimes
- Download stuck on 'downloading'
- Dropbox issues on earlier iOS versions
- Program not bulletproof upon saving work
- Can't download cbv files
- Graphical annotations drawing unwanted arrows
- App doesn't work after iOS update
Requested features
20 requests- Add dark mode
- Add board flip button
- Improve interface for screen reader users
- Add private game feature with code
- Add computer whole game analysis with annotations
Show 15 moreShow fewer
- Add coloring moves based on annotation
- Add drawing arrows that are saved
- Add bookmark feature
- Add buttons/swipe to go forward/backwards to next/previous game
- Add select all function for copying games
- Add autoplay games
- Remember last position/game opened in a database
- Support Millennium boards
- Support UCI engine compatibility
- Optimize database game view
- Make edit mode arrows slimmer and add more colors
- Allow direct iCloud access to databases without export
- Make graphical annotations optional/disableable
- Improve font size adjustment for moves and annotations
- Add search with multiple criteria
In-app purchases
Shredder Chess for iPad
No in-app purchases
Chess
- Monthly Premium Subscription3 Days trial$0.991 Month
- Yearly Premium Subscription3 Days trial$8.991 Year
Questions
Is Shredder Chess for iPad free?
Is Chess free?
Which has better reviews, Shredder Chess for iPad or Chess?
Do Shredder Chess for iPad or Chess have ads?
Which is updated more often, Shredder Chess for iPad or Chess?
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