Chess Deluxe vs White Pawn
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Chess Deluxe
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.
- 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
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Experience the timeless game of chess with beautiful design and intelligent gameplay. Chess Deluxe brings the classic strategy game to life with a modern, elegant interface and responsive AI that adapts to your skill level. Whether you're learning your first moves or honing your tactics, enjoy chess exactly how you want to play it - with no ads, no distractions, just pure chess. Play Your Way: - Smart AI opponents with Easy, Medium, and Hard difficulties that provide quick, challenging gameplay - Local multiplayer for face-to-face games on the same device - Game Center integration for online matches with friends anywhere - Flexible move controls with unlimited undo/redo and move highlighting - Complete game tracking with move history in Standard Algebraic Notation Beautiful & Intuitive: - Clean, distraction-free interface designed for pure chess enjoyment - Smooth animations and satisfying piece movement - Board rotation for comfortable two-player games - Captured pieces display and game timer with customisable durations - Light and dark themes to match your preference - Crisp sounds that enhance gameplay without interruption Seamlessly Connected: - Settings sync across all your devices with iCloud - Navigate through your game history by selecting any completed move - No advertisements to interrupt your focus - Universal purchase includes iOS, iPadOS, and macOS versions Chess Deluxe is crafted for chess lovers who appreciate thoughtful design and straightforward gameplay. From quick casual games to focused strategy sessions, experience chess the way it should be - simple, beautiful, and always ready when you are.
White Pawn
Enhance your chess experience by connecting a physical board, analyzing games with a powerful engine, and playing against others online or offline. Solve handcrafted puzzles, create your own, and share your best games as animated GIFs.
- Connect physical chessboards via USB/Bluetooth
- In-depth game analysis with powerful engine
- Online and offline multiplayer modes
- Handcrafted and custom chess puzzles
- Export games as GIF animations
- Standalone chess clock functionality
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Want to take your chess game to the next level? WhitePawn is the ultimate chess app for players of all levels. Connect your chessboard with a USB or Bluetooth connection and play with friends online or offline. WhitePawn also allows you to analyze games with a powerful engine and play fun puzzles. # Physical chessboard Connect your physical chess set to the app and get the ultimate chess experience. WhitePawn can be played on both touchscreen or physical devices, has an inbuilt move announcement function and can display moves on connected chess hardware too. # Analyse Games With the WhitePawn app, you'll never have to annotate or analyse your games with a computer anymore! Get all the benefits of engine analysis, but on your device. Analyse your game, find out where you went wrong, find out how to improve. # Play Online Whether you're a pawn or a king, WhitePawn's here to make your day better. Play chess across the world - on WhitePawn Online or Lichess, with friends, or strangers! Connect with the world of chess. # Play Offline Use the app completely offline, play games which are automatically stored then export them as PGN for your favorite chess analysis software or directly export it to lichess. # Chess Puzzles Play handcrafted chess puzzles and bring your position understanding to the next level. Missing some puzzles, create your own puzzles and import them to the App. # Share Games Had a stunning game? Want to share that game with your friends? Edit and export your game as GIF-Animation and share it with everyone! # Standalone Chess Clock Use the app as a normal chess clock for offline games on electronic and non-electronic chess boards. # Supported external hardware DGT Pegasus Millennium eONE Millennium Supreme Tournament 55 Millennium Exclusiv Millennium Performance Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: White Pawn at Free against Chess Deluxe's $2.99. White Pawn also leads on review sentiment (65% vs 33%) and update cadence (every 2 days vs every 2 months). Chess Deluxe's advantage is rating (4.6 vs 4.1) and ratings volume (190 vs 11). On ads, in-app purchases, device support 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
White Pawn is free to download; Chess Deluxe costs $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Chess Deluxe holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Chess Deluxe has 190 ratings behind it against 11, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 33% of Chess Deluxe's written reviews are positive against 65% of White Pawn's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Chess Deluxe ships an update every 2 months, White Pawn every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on November 4, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Chess Deluxe | White Pawn |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $2.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.6 (190 ratings) — better | 4.1 (11 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 32.7% of reviews | 65.4% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 190 — better | 11 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 2 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17 | 16.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 18 MB | 275 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Nicholas Cooke | Khadim Fall |
Customer experience
Chess Deluxe
White Pawn
Bugs and requests
Chess Deluxe
Reported bugs
28 issues- 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
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- Hard version is easy to beat
- Movements don't feel good
- Sound isn't good
- Cannot play online without crashing
- No way to start a game
- No play button
- Unable to use program
- Doesn't work on iPad
- Doesn't seem to work on IOS 9
- Unable to go past add player name screen
- Game ends with incorrect checkmate
- Rook unable to move to corner piece
- Check counted as checkmate
- Stalemate called incorrectly
- Computer castles illegally
- Computer throws pieces away
- Internet mode doesn't work
- Cannot find users online
- King turns into opponent's queen
- Valid moves blocked
- Cannot play online without redoing moves
- Castling doesn't work
- Cannot resign or remove game
Requested features
8 requests- 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
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- Cross-platform compatibility (iPhone/Mac)
- Sound effects for piece movements
- Online play beyond Wi-Fi proximity
White Pawn
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Chess Deluxe
No in-app purchases
White Pawn
No in-app purchases









