Comparison

Chess Puzzles vs Chess

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

Head to head
About

Chess Puzzles

Engage with a vast collection of chess puzzles, curated from real games and inspired compositions. Test your tactical abilities with challenges ranging from quick mates to complex sequences, all while tracking your progress and competing with others.

Highlights
  • 645 interactive chess puzzles
  • Mate in 2 to 17 moves
  • Timing clock for puzzle solving
  • Customizable piece sets and color schemes
  • Leaderboards for social comparison
  • Facebook integration for sharing progress
Features
Read full description

Sharpen your chess skills! Beginners and experienced players alike will enjoy solving the chess puzzles included in this app. All of the puzzles were hand picked and were either taken from actual games or are compositions inspired by actual games! The app includes 645 interactive puzzles ranging from mate in 2 moves all the way to mate in 17 moves! The object is to finish each puzzle by forcing a checkmate in a given number of moves. These puzzles are fun to play and can be enjoyed at your leisure on your iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. All of the puzzles in this app are from the book 'Memphis Chess Club: Chess Problems by World Champions' by Kenn E. Thompson, Dwight K. Weaver, and Christopher McDade (2011) and is available in the iTunes Bookstore. Other features include: ------------------------------ - Timing clock is displayed while you are working on each puzzle. How long you take to solve a puzzle is stored. - Lots of options: 7 chess piece sets and 7 different colors schemes including wood and marble. - 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

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read full description

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

Chess Puzzles4 screens
Chess4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Chess Puzzles at none against Chess's 2. Chess Puzzles also leads on price ($0.99 vs $3.99) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). Chess's advantage is update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 7 months). On rating, review sentiment, ratings volume and ads 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

Chess Puzzles costs $0.99 and Chess $3.99 up front. Chess sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Chess Puzzles asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Chess Puzzles against 4.7 for Chess. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 329 and 118 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 95% of Chess Puzzles's written reviews are positive against 92% of Chess's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Chess Puzzles ships an update every 7 months, Chess every 2 weeks. Both last shipped on November 6, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Chess Puzzles versus Chess: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChess PuzzlesChess
Price$0.99 — better$3.99
Rating4.8 (329 ratings) — better4.7 (118 ratings)
Positive reviews95.0% of reviews — better92.0% of reviews
Number of ratings329 — better118
Update frequencyEvery 7 monthsEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size27 MB237 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGano Technologies LLCGiordano Vicoli

Customer experience

Chess Puzzles

All ratings329 ratings
Positive97.6%
Neutral0.9%
Negative1.5%
Written reviews200 reviews
Positive95.0%
Neutral3.0%
Negative2.0%

Chess

All ratings118 ratings
Positive92.4%
Neutral2.5%
Negative5.1%
Written reviews175 reviews
Positive92.0%
Neutral2.9%
Negative5.1%

User reviews

Chess Puzzles

From 329 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Excellent chess puzzles
  • 🚀 Great learning tool
  • 💡 Puzzles from real games
  • 🤓 Challenging and engaging
  • 👨‍🏫 Helps improve chess skills

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Some puzzle solutions may be inaccurate
  • 🔍 Lack of historical game context in some puzzles
  • 🔧 Needs more customization options (e.g. disable move hints)
  • 🔄 Inconsistent experience across devices (no cloud sync)

Chess

From 118 App Store ratings

What 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

Chess Puzzles

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Puzzle counters not updating correctly
  • Occasional crashes or freezes
  • Incorrect move detection in some puzzles

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add more puzzle difficulty levels
  • Provide step-by-step solution explanations
  • Implement landscape mode support
  • Allow users to submit their own puzzles

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
Show 7 more
  • 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 more
  • 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

None

Chess Puzzles

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Chess

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Premium Subscription3 Days trial$0.991 Month
  • Yearly Premium Subscription3 Days trial$8.991 Year

Questions

Is Chess Puzzles free?
Chess Puzzles costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Chess free?
Chess costs $3.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Chess Puzzles or Chess?
Chess Puzzles is rated higher. Chess Puzzles averages 4.8 out of 5 from 329 ratings, while Chess averages 4.7 from 118 ratings.
Do Chess Puzzles or Chess have ads?
Neither Chess Puzzles nor Chess shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Chess Puzzles or Chess?
Chess Puzzles ships an update every 7 months, and Chess every 2 weeks. Most recently, Chess Puzzles was updated on November 6, 2026 and Chess on November 6, 2026.

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