Comparison

Chess Tactics Pro (Puzzles) vs Chess King

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

Head to head
About

Chess Tactics Pro (Puzzles)

Sharpen your chess skills with a vast library of puzzles for all levels. Practice daily, offline, or track your progress with adaptive challenges. Analyze your moves with a built-in engine and customize your experience with various themes.

Highlights
  • Daily puzzles
  • Offline puzzle packs
  • Progress mode with Elo rating
  • Puzzle analysis engine
  • Bookmark puzzles
  • Multiple board themes
Features
Read full description

Improve your chess tactics with this large collection of chess puzzles for all levels! This tactic trainer lets you practice in 3 different modes : - Solve daily puzzles - Solve offline puzzle packs - Use the "Progress" mode to get random problems of your level and know your Elo rating All puzzles are of a high quality and are guaranteed to have a unique solution. The difficulty ranges from beginner to advanced (2000+ Elo). Other features : - A free powerful engine to analyze the puzzles - Level history - Bookmark puzzles - Several board themes - Optimized for both phones and tablets - A simple and intuitive interface, with no useless stuff, and no weird problems

About

Chess King

Master the game of chess with this comprehensive learning app. It offers interactive lessons, puzzles, and analysis for all skill levels, from beginner to advanced. Improve your tactics and strategy with a personal chess trainer, available online and offline.

Highlights
  • 100+ learning courses
  • Interactive theoretical lessons
  • High-quality, double-checked puzzles
  • Personal chess trainer
  • Computer analysis
  • Offline support
  • Chess tasks for kids
Features
Read full description

Don't just play chess. Train like a master. Chess King teaches the game the way strong players are actually built — with a rigorous, structured curriculum, not a random feed of puzzles. 147 complete courses take you from your first move to advanced play, step by step. WHY CHESS KING IS DIFFERENT Most chess apps let you play. Chess King trains you. Every course is a real lesson built on classical training methods refined over 30 years — the same approach behind CT-ART, the tactics trainer used by serious players worldwide. You don't just solve a position and move on. Chess King gives you hints when you are stuck, explains the idea behind the right move, and shows you the striking refutation of the mistakes you might make. That is how understanding is built — not memorized. WHAT YOU GET - 147 structured courses covering tactics, strategy, openings, the middlegame, and endgames, organized by level from beginner to master. - Chess King University: 7 guided learning paths and 44 courses that give you a clear, ordered route to real improvement — no guessing what to study next. - Interactive theory: read the lesson, then play the moves on the board yourself. Learning by doing, not just reading. - Thousands of carefully selected exercises with graphic hints and full explanations. - Play against the computer to put what you have trained into practice. - A progress report for every lesson, so you always see how far you have come. TRAIN ON EVERY DEVICE Your subscription, purchases, progress, and rating sync automatically across web, iPhone, iPad, and Android. Train on your phone on the commute, continue on the web at home — your progress follows you. TRY IT FREE Preview courses before you commit. When you are ready, choose a monthly or yearly plan, or buy individual courses to keep forever. Chess King — train like a master. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Chess Tactics Pro (Puzzles)4 screens
Chess King4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Chess King at every 3 weeks against Chess Tactics Pro (Puzzles)'s every 2 months. Chess King also leads on iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.6). Chess Tactics Pro (Puzzles)'s advantage is review sentiment (90% vs 78%). On price, rating, 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

Both are free to download. Chess Tactics Pro (Puzzles) sells 11 one-off in-app purchases and Chess King sells 17 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Chess Tactics Pro (Puzzles) against 4.8 for Chess King. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3.7K and 2.5K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 90% of Chess Tactics Pro (Puzzles)'s written reviews are positive against 78% of Chess King's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Chess Tactics Pro (Puzzles) ships an update every 2 months, Chess King every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on September 22, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Chess Tactics Pro (Puzzles) versus Chess King: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChess Tactics Pro (Puzzles)Chess King
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (3.7K ratings)4.8 (2.5K ratings) — better
Positive reviews90.0% of reviews — better78.3% of reviews
Number of ratings3.7K — better2.5K
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better
Requires iOS15.613.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size13 MB108 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperEmmanuel MathisChess King

Customer experience

Chess Tactics Pro (Puzzles)

All ratings3,685 ratings
Positive95.7%
Neutral1.8%
Negative2.5%
Written reviews331 reviews
Positive90.0%
Neutral4.5%
Negative5.4%

Chess King

All ratings2,490 ratings
Positive95.2%
Neutral2.3%
Negative2.4%
Written reviews323 reviews
Positive78.3%
Neutral5.3%
Negative16.4%

User reviews

Chess Tactics Pro (Puzzles)

From 3.7K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Simple and easy to use
  • 🚀 Offline functionality
  • 💡 Wide variety of puzzles
  • 🎯 Helpful for improving tactics
  • 🕰️ Daily puzzles of varying difficulty

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Some puzzles have flawed or ambiguous solutions
  • 🤔 Difficulty levels not always accurate
  • 📊 Lack of explanation for best moves
  • 🔀 Inability to accept alternative winning solutions

Chess King

From 2.5K App Store ratings

What we love

  • ⭐ Best game in the world
  • 👍 Helpful for practice
  • 💡 Excellent tutorial and training content
  • 🎨 Well-chosen puzzles
  • 🧠 Improves pattern recognition and tactics

Room to improve

  • 💰 Expensive
  • 🐛 Crashes on iPhone and iPad
  • 🐛 Buggy after recent update
  • 🤔 Confusing interface and lack of instructions
  • 🤔 Difficult for beginners

Bugs and requests

Chess Tactics Pro (Puzzles)

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Occasional crashes or freezes
  • Incorrect move validation in some cases

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add option to see captured pieces
  • Provide more context and analysis for puzzles
  • Improve difficulty categorization of puzzles
  • Allow for user feedback on puzzle issues

Chess King

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Crashes on M1 Macs
  • Doesnot work with iOS 13 dark mode
  • Doesnot show board and pieces in exercises
  • Cannot restore purchases
  • Doesnot sync progress across devices

Requested features

7 requests
  • Add dark mode option
  • Improve user interface and design
  • Add more opening courses
  • Provide better explanations for moves
  • Allow resetting progress
Show 2 more
  • Improve syncing across devices
  • Add online chess mode

In-app purchases

11 purchases

Chess Tactics Pro (Puzzles)

One-time11
  • Easy mates$1.99
  • Intermediate mates$1.99
  • Hard mates$1.99
Show 8 more
  • Easy tactics$1.99
  • Intermediate tactics$1.99
  • Hard tactics$1.99
  • Mates in 2, 3 and 4 moves$1.99
  • Intermediate Tactics - Vol. 2$1.99
  • Hard Tactics - Vol. 2$1.99
  • Easy Tactics - Vol. 2$1.99
  • All-Access Pass$9.99
17 purchases

Chess King

Subscriptions6
  • CT-ART: The Best Tactics7 Days trial$5.991 Month
  • Chess King University7 Days trial$11.991 Month
  • Chess King Courses3 Days trial$11.991 Month
Show 3 more
  • Chess King Maximum Pack1 Month trial$17.991 Month
  • Chess King Courses3 Days trial$89.991 Year
  • Chess King Maximum Pack1 Year trial$119.991 Year
One-time11
  • Mate in 1 move (Chess Puzzles)$3.99
  • Chess Endings for Beginners$7.99
  • Chess: From Beginner to Club$12.99
Show 8 more
  • Chess Combinations Vol. 1$12.99
  • Chess Tactics for Beginners$12.99
  • Chess Opening Blunders$12.99
  • Chess Opening Lab (1400-2000)$12.99
  • Chess Strategy for Beginners$12.99
  • Elementary Chess Tactics 1$12.99
  • CT-ART 4.0 (Chess Tactics)$17.99
  • Total Chess Endgames 1600-2400$17.99

Questions

Is Chess Tactics Pro (Puzzles) free?
Chess Tactics Pro (Puzzles) is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Chess King free?
Chess King is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Chess Tactics Pro (Puzzles) or Chess King?
Chess King is rated higher. Chess Tactics Pro (Puzzles) averages 4.7 out of 5 from 3.7K ratings, while Chess King averages 4.8 from 2.5K ratings.
Do Chess Tactics Pro (Puzzles) or Chess King have ads?
Both Chess Tactics Pro (Puzzles) and Chess King show ads.
Which is updated more often, Chess Tactics Pro (Puzzles) or Chess King?
Chess Tactics Pro (Puzzles) ships an update every 2 months, and Chess King every 3 weeks. Most recently, Chess Tactics Pro (Puzzles) was updated on September 22, 2026 and Chess King on September 22, 2026.

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