Comparison

Checkmate Master vs Chess Climb

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

Head to head
About

Checkmate Master

Features
Read full description

Sharpen your tactical vision with Checkmate Master! Solve checkmate puzzles of increasing difficulty — from quick mate-in-one challenges to deep multi-move combinations — and test your skills against a smart AI opponent. KEY FEATURES: • Checkmate puzzles for every level — from 1-move checkmates to multi-move combinations • Smart AI engine — play against a native engine that defends to the last • Star ratings — earn stars by solving puzzles in the optimal number of moves • Puzzle browser — explore puzzles by difficulty and track your progress • Game modes — human vs human, human vs AI, or AI vs AI • Beautiful themes — a variety of board and piece themes • Sound effects — immersive move and capture sounds • Supports 8 languages Whether you have a minute or an hour, Checkmate Master trains your checkmate instincts one puzzle at a time. Download now and start solving! The images of chess pieces and the chess board are from https://github.com/Kadagaden/chess-pieces and are used under the CC-BY-4.0 license (https://github.com/Kadagaden/chess-pieces?tab=CC-BY-4.0-1-ov-file#readme).

About

Chess Climb

This app provides an endless stream of personalized chess puzzles tailored to your skill level and areas needing improvement. It tracks your progress, offers hints, and allows offline play without ads or purchases.

Highlights
  • Adaptive chess puzzles
  • Personalized practice themes
  • Offline play
  • Puzzle review and analysis
  • Progress tracking
  • Customizable board and pieces
Read full description

Chess Climb is an endless feed of chess puzzles picked for you. Solve one and the next is ready, matched to your rating and aimed at the themes you most need to practice. EVERY PUZZLE COUNTS • Your rating moves with every rated puzzle, and each theme gets a skill rating of its own: forks, pins, back-rank mates, endgames and dozens more. • Missed a puzzle? It comes back for review after 12 hours, and a similar puzzle follows soon after, so the idea sticks. • Stuck? A hint shows which piece to move, or give up and watch the solution play out. • Take your time. The clock is optional, and time never affects your rating. • Choose how hard: relaxed, balanced or challenging. STUDY WHAT YOU PLAYED • Go back to any finished puzzle and step through the solution move by move. • Turn on the built-in chess engine to analyze the position and try your own ideas. • Replay recent puzzles from your history, or export your history as a CSV file. SEE YOURSELF CLIMB • Your rating over the last week, month or three months. • Your strengths and the themes to train next, each explained in plain English. • Day streak, solve rate, and how fast you solve each theme. • Practice one theme at a time, straight from your progress page. PLAY ANYWHERE • A million puzzles live on your phone, so everything works offline. • No account, no ads, no purchases and no tracking. • Nine board colors and nine piece sets. The puzzles come from the Lichess open puzzle database, which is in the public domain. Chess Climb is not affiliated with Lichess. The engine is Arasan.

Screenshots

Checkmate Master4 screens
Chess Climb4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is device support: Checkmate Master at 3 against Chess Climb's 1. Checkmate Master also leads on iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.0). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Checkmate Master ships an update every 2 weeks, Chess Climb every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Checkmate Master versus Chess Climb: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCheckmate MasterChess Climb
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—3 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 10 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
Monetization—Free
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size62 MB90 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTB SOFT(SK)NAVID SAMIEI

In-app purchases

None

Checkmate Master

No in-app purchases

None

Chess Climb

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Checkmate Master free?
Checkmate Master is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Chess Climb free?
Chess Climb is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Checkmate Master or Chess Climb have ads?
Neither Checkmate Master nor Chess Climb shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Checkmate Master or Chess Climb?
Checkmate Master ships an update every 2 weeks, and Chess Climb every 10 days. Most recently, Checkmate Master was updated on October 30, 2026 and Chess Climb on October 31, 2026.

Other comparisons