# Chess Deluxe vs SmartGo One

The clearest difference is price: SmartGo One at Free against Chess Deluxe's $2.99. SmartGo One also leads on review sentiment (77% vs 33%) and update cadence (every 8 days vs every 2 months). Chess Deluxe's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 47) and iOS requirement (17 vs 26.0). On ads and device support there is nothing between them.

SmartGo One is free to download; Chess Deluxe costs $2.99 up front. SmartGo One sells 47 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Chess Deluxe asks for nothing beyond the download.

SmartGo One holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SmartGo One has 2K ratings behind it against 190, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 33% of Chess Deluxe's written reviews are positive against 77% of SmartGo One's.

Chess Deluxe ships an update every 2 months, SmartGo One every 8 days. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Chess Deluxe | SmartGo One |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | $2.99 | **Free** |
| Rating | [4.6 (190 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/chess-deluxe/id500880061/reviews) | **[4.8 (2K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/smartgo-one/id1465746992/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | 190 | **2K** |
| Positive reviews | 32.7% of reviews | **76.9% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | **No** | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | **Every 8 days** |
| Monetization | Paid | **Free with in-app purchases** |
| Size | 18 MB | 157 MB |
| Requires iOS | **17** | 26.0 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac | iPhone, iPad, Mac |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Nicholas Cooke](https://appshunter.io/developer/363977390) | [Smart Go, Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/290948289) |

## What reviewers say

### Chess Deluxe

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/chess-deluxe/id500880061)

Enjoy a classic chess experience with a beautiful interface and adaptive AI. Play against smart opponents, challenge friends locally or online, and track your progress with detailed game history. This app offers a distraction-free environment for pure chess enjoyment across multiple devices.

**Highlights:** Smart AI opponents (Easy, Medium, Hard), Local multiplayer (same device), Online matches via Game Center, Unlimited undo/redo, Move history in Standard Algebraic Notation, Light and dark themes, iCloud settings sync

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Simple and clean interface
- 👍 Nice and simple to use
- 👍 Great Chess program
- 👍 Fun Chess app
- 👍 Good basic version of a chess app

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Computer difficulty inconsistent
- 🐛 Computer too easy or too hard
- 🐛 App crashes or doesn't work
- 🐛 Poor computer competition
- 🐛 Game rules not implemented correctly

**Reported bugs**

- Computer won't let you win
- Computer moves king to white king
- Game says won when losing
- All pieces are black
- Cannot castle king and rook

**Requested features**

- How to record a game
- Intermediate difficulty level
- Option to turn off timer
- See board labels (g column cut off)
- Board labels visible with pieces


### SmartGo One

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/smartgo-one/id1465746992)

Learn, play, and study the ancient game of Go with this comprehensive app. It offers adjustable board sizes, a powerful AI engine, interactive books, and a vast database of professional games to help you improve your skills.

**Highlights:** Multiple board sizes (9x9 to 19x19), Powerful KataGo AI engine, Interactive Go books, 138,000+ professional game records, Go problems and tutorials, Pattern matching for game analysis, Record, annotate, and edit games

**Features:** Family Sharing, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (47)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| SmartGo One Pro – Monthly | $4.99 | per month |
| Pro Games and Features | $29.99 | per year |
| Just Enough Japanese 1 | Free | one-time |
| Key Concepts in Life and Death | $2.99 | one-time |
| Go Problems Master Collection | $3.99 | one-time |
| Go Problems Add-on 2: Medium | $3.99 | one-time |
| Go Problems Add-on 1: Easy | $3.99 | one-time |
| Go Problems Add-on 3: Hard | $3.99 | one-time |
| Counting Liberties | $4.99 | one-time |
| The Monkey Jump | $4.99 | one-time |
| Double Digit Kyu Games | $5.99 | one-time |
| Go: A Complete Introduction | $5.99 | one-time |
| How Not to Play Go | $5.99 | one-time |
| Encyclopedia of Go Principles | $5.99 | one-time |
| Want to Play Go? Level 1 | $5.99 | one-time |
| Black to Play 30-25 Kyu | $5.99 | one-time |
| The Workshop Lectures 1 | $5.99 | one-time |
| Rethinking Opening Strategy | $6.99 | one-time |
| Learn to Play Go 1 | $7.99 | one-time |
| Learn to Play Go 2 | $7.99 | one-time |
| Learn to Play Go 3 | $7.99 | one-time |
| Correct Joseki | $7.99 | one-time |
| “The Theory of Go” | $7.99 | one-time |
| Learn to Play Go 4 | $7.99 | one-time |
| Buddhist Philosophy Game of Go | $8.99 | one-time |
| Graded Go Problems 1 | $9.99 | one-time |
| Graded Go Problems 2 | $9.99 | one-time |
| Want to Play Go? Level 2 | $9.99 | one-time |
| Basic Techniques of Go | $9.99 | one-time |
| Graded Go Problems 3 | $9.99 | one-time |
| Get Strong at Life and Death | $9.99 | one-time |
| Mastering Mini Go by Mark Tomlinson | $11.99 | one-time |
| Fuseki Revolution | $11.99 | one-time |
| Fundamental Principles of Go | $11.99 | one-time |
| The Basics of Life and Death | $11.99 | one-time |
| Joseki Revolution | $11.99 | one-time |
| Life and Death | $11.99 | one-time |
| A Survey of the Basic Tesujis | $11.99 | one-time |
| Tesuji | $11.99 | one-time |
| Tesuji for Beginners | $14.99 | one-time |
| AlphaGo to Zero, vol. 4 | $14.99 | one-time |
| Trouble Master, volume 2 | $14.99 | one-time |
| Trouble Master, volume 1 | $14.99 | one-time |
| AlphaGo to Zero, Vol. 2 | $14.99 | one-time |
| Invincible | $24.99 | one-time |
| Essential Go Proverbs | $24.99 | one-time |
| Pro – Lifetime Unlock | $99.00 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Awesome app
- 👍 Great for playing and learning Go
- 📚 Excellent integration with Go books
- 🔍 Powerful analysis and review features
- 💻 Seamless experience across devices

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Occasional crashes and stability issues
- 🤔 Unintuitive user interface for beginners
- 💰 Paywall for full 19x19 board and some features
- 🤖 AI too strong for novice players

**Reported bugs**

- Illegal move detection issues on certain board positions
- Problems with missing variations or incorrect answers
- Inconsistent behavior when passing moves

**Requested features**

- Add read-only mode
- Improve move suggestion explanations
- Introduce difficulty settings for AI
- Integrate online play functionality
- Provide more randomness in AI moves


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Chess Deluxe free?

Chess Deluxe costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.

### Is SmartGo One free?

SmartGo One is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Chess Deluxe or SmartGo One?

SmartGo One is rated higher. Chess Deluxe averages 4.6 out of 5 from 190 ratings, while SmartGo One averages 4.8 from 2K ratings.

### Do Chess Deluxe or SmartGo One have ads?

Neither Chess Deluxe nor SmartGo One shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Chess Deluxe or SmartGo One?

Chess Deluxe ships an update every 2 months, and SmartGo One every 8 days. Most recently, Chess Deluxe was updated on November 1, 2026 and SmartGo One on October 30, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*