Comparison

Chess Problems Lite vs Chess puzzles!

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

Head to head
About

Chess Problems Lite

Sharpen your chess skills with directmate puzzles. This app offers 10 interactive problems, from easy mate-in-one to challenging mate-in-four moves. It features a revamped chess engine, a timing clock, customizable piece sets and color schemes, and social leaderboards with Facebook integration.

Highlights
  • Directmate chess puzzles
  • Mate in 1 to 4+ moves
  • Revamped chess engine
  • Timing clock for puzzles
  • Customizable piece sets and color schemes
  • Leaderboards and Facebook integration
Features
Read full description

A lite version of the Ultimate mate in 1 to 4+ chess puzzle apps! Sharpen your chess skills! Beginners and experienced players will enjoy solving these chess problems! This app has 10 interactive chess problems ranging from easy mate in one move problems to very challenging mate in four moves. The object is to finish each game by forcing a checkmate in a given number of moves. In the full versions of this app there are a much larger number of classical puzzles collected from a variety of sources. These puzzles are fun to play and can be enjoyed at your leisure on your iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Chess problems are especially useful for learning to play chess or anyone wanting to improve their skills. New features added include: ------------------------------ - Completely revamped chess engine that is much stronger - Timing clock is displayed while you are working on each puzzle. How long you take to solve a puzzle is stored. - New options: more chess piece sets (total of 7) and more colors schemes (total of 7) including wood and marble. (Improved the options menu as well) - Social Gaming: Leaderboards to compare the number of puzzles you have solved with your friends and other players. Facebook integration - including the ability to post your progress and ask your friends for help on a puzzle. - Universal app - works on iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad - high resolution graphics all around (where supported). For even more chess puzzle challenges check out these apps: - Mate in 1 Puzzles - Mate in 2 Puzzles - Mate in 3 Puzzles - Mate in 4+ Puzzles

About

Chess puzzles!

Engage in mind-teasing chess challenges designed for all skill levels, from beginners to seasoned players. Test your strategic thinking with various puzzle difficulties and enjoy a fun variation of the classic board game.

Highlights
  • Tutorial levels for beginners
  • Simple tap and drag controls
  • Mate in 1 challenges
  • Mate in 2 challenges
  • Alternate chess challenges
  • Categorized difficulty levels
Features
Read full description

Do you love chess & puzzle challenges? Well, you’ll love Chess Puzzles! This fun variation of the chess game includes mind-teasing challenges categorized in levels that are sure to test your chess skills and problem-solving thinking. Can you pass all levels? Great for anyone! From beginner to seasoned chess player! WHY YOU’LL LOVE CHESS PUZZLES! - Tutorial levels included (great for beginners) - Simple tap & dragging controls - Mate in 1, mate in 2 challenges and some alternate challenges - Cool variation of the classic board game Now, it’s chess puzzle time! Download the app for free!

Screenshots

Chess Problems Lite4 screens
Chess puzzles!4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Chess Problems Lite at none against Chess puzzles!'s 4. Chess puzzles!'s advantage is rating (4.7 vs 4.3) and ratings volume (1.3K vs 8). On price, review sentiment, 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. Chess puzzles! sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Chess Problems Lite asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Chess puzzles! holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Chess puzzles! has 1.3K ratings behind it against 8, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 83% of Chess Problems Lite's written reviews are positive against 78% of Chess puzzles!'s, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Chess Problems Lite ships an update every 7 months, Chess puzzles! every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 21, 2026 and October 19, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Chess Problems Lite versus Chess puzzles!: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChess Problems LiteChess puzzles!
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (8 ratings)4.7 (1.3K ratings) — better
Positive reviews83.3% of reviews — better78.0% of reviews
Number of ratings81.3K — better
Update frequencyEvery 7 monthsEvery 6 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.013.0
Further details — not scored
Size7 MB15 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGano Technologies LLCErik Brandsma

Customer experience

Chess Problems Lite

All ratings8 ratings
Positive87.5%
Neutral12.5%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews24 reviews
Positive83.3%
Neutral8.3%
Negative8.3%

Chess puzzles!

All ratings1,305 ratings
Positive94.3%
Neutral3.2%
Negative2.5%
Written reviews41 reviews
Positive78.0%
Neutral7.3%
Negative14.6%

Bugs and requests

Chess Problems Lite

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Chess puzzles!

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Puzzle with no solution ("Mate in 3 - Queen pack - AAAAAAAY-OH")
  • Puzzle solution not recognized ("you have one move only ;)")

Requested features

4 requests
  • Reset puzzle option
  • Next puzzle button
  • Ability to make wrong moves in puzzles
  • Puzzle solution hints or explanations

In-app purchases

None

Chess Problems Lite

No in-app purchases

4 purchases

Chess puzzles!

One-time4
  • Fun pack!$0.99
  • Human vs machine$0.99
  • Funky moves$1.99
Show 1 more
  • Remove all ads$1.99

Questions

Is Chess Problems Lite free?
Chess Problems Lite is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Chess puzzles! free?
Chess puzzles! is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Chess Problems Lite or Chess puzzles!?
Chess puzzles! is rated higher. Chess Problems Lite averages 4.3 out of 5 from 8 ratings, while Chess puzzles! averages 4.7 from 1.3K ratings.
Do Chess Problems Lite or Chess puzzles! have ads?
Neither Chess Problems Lite nor Chess puzzles! shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Chess Problems Lite or Chess puzzles!?
Chess Problems Lite ships an update every 7 months, and Chess puzzles! every 6 weeks. Most recently, Chess Problems Lite was updated on September 21, 2026 and Chess puzzles! on October 19, 2026.

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