With so many board games available to people nowadays it’s easy to sometimes forget about the classics, but here’s one classic that will never go out of style. The following list of apps takes a look at the game of Chess, which is the ultimate challenge of strategy and logic. People can literally spend years trying to master the game and still not manage it. These apps offer you a chance to sharpen your skills and have a bunch of fun in the process.
The best iPhone apps for chess
5 Jun 2021, by Cherry Mae Torrevillas
OpeningTree, a good chess app for iPhone is a chess openings book that lets one explore the tree of openings and Crafty engine analysis is available. Chess games can be optionally loaded to check against the book or to just view. Users can make their own side line moves and back up to return to main line. The updated opening moves in chess app is compiled from 345,000 high rated games from recent years with both players rated 2300 and over.
- OpeningTree's board is accessible to the blind and visually impaired using Voice Over
- Choose from three move methods
- An option to make a note on a position using the control bar
- Games are saved with opening name as white and black name to spot the lines in each game
- Export data out of the app such as favorite lines with the mail games
Next Chess Move (NCM), a chess tactics app is a powerful chess calculator that runs Stockfish 12 directly on your device. The app also includes free access to Stockfish 12, GNU Chess 6.2.5, and LcZero running on NCM's single CPU core hardware.
The optional NCM Pro in-app purchase provides a full year access to powerful hardware and features that significantly enhance the strength of calculations:
- Dual Xeon E5-2680 v2 20 CPU-core servers
- RTX 2080 GPUs for LcZero
- 6-man syzygy tablebases on SSD drives
- Stockfish development builds for up-to-the-minute improvements to the engine
The best 3D Chess game is here! Play Chess in immersive 3D graphics. Customize the look and feel of your game by choosing the chess board, checkers, piece type, table. It's like you are actually playing chess in real because of the realistic 3d graphics. Tap on a piece to choose it and then tap on the desired target position to make your move.
- Challenge your friends to matches or play against the AI players in the best chess game.
- Customize the look and feel of the board.
- Real Chess 3D is one of the most realistic and enjoyable chess games available on mobile.
- Download now for Free!
If you're new to the game of Chess or you are looking for ways to improve your game, the CHESS app is the way to go. This one is very easy to play in that the board is large, user-friendly, and uncluttered. It's as close to having an actual Chess board in front of you as possible. As you're playing there is a coach that is helping you and guiding you by providing you with the moves that a Grandmaster player would make. Each time it’s your turn you are given four moves to choose from so you are still in control of the game. If you are a pro the game features 4,500 games that were played by a Grandmaster so you can study the moves and learn from them.
- Ideal for beginners
- You are given four possible moves to use on each turn
- They are moves a Grandmaster would make
Here's your chance to take part in one of the most classic and popular games in the world. The Chess app gives you a way to enjoy the challenging game no matter where you are because there's no need to carry around a board and pieces. This one features five levels of difficulty, you can play against a friend or the computer, you can undo your last move, and you can pick whether you want to play as black or white. If you find yourself stuck be sure to use the hint tool. Set the time control feature, get a game history, there is an auto-save, and there are animated moves.
- Play in 2D or 3D and either black or white
- Animate moves
- Set the time control
- Unlimited undo options
- Five levels of difficulty
- Play against a friend or the computer
If you love to play chess but can never find a partner to play it with near you, then this app is the right one for you as it allows you to play chess with someone from anywhere in the world. Users can either choose to find players to challenge in other countries including US, UK, and Germany, or they can challenge their friends to play a game over the app. There is an in-game chat for trash talking or discussing strategy, whatever is your style. Users can also flaunt their wins or analyze losses by exporting games as pgn and screenshots.
- Find people to play with from various parts of the world
- Play with your friend online
- Chat with your opponent
- Pgn and screenshot exports
- Various chess sets and themes
When it comes to chess Mastersoft Ltd has the genre locked up in terms of desktop PC gameplay. Now you can enjoy the same great action on your mobile device with the Chess by Mastersoft app. You can pick this one up and easily start to play but be prepared for very challenging gameplay. If you're a beginner you won't want to shy away from this offering because there is a built-in coach and a hint tool if needed. There are even training levels that can help you improve your skills. Don't worry, if you're an advanced player, this one offers 100 levels that increase in difficulty to keep things challenging.
- Auto-saves your game
- Great for beginners and pros
- Use the built-in coach or hint tool
- There are 100 levels that increase in difficulty
If you're searching for a no frills approach to the game of Chess, one that keeps the game true and real, then the Pure Chess app is a great option. This one is ideal if you are a beginner because it offers step-by-step game tutorials to get you started. If you're a pro, you can take part in tournaments and challenges with all your friends to prove who the real master is. The graphics in this game are incredibly realistic, so much so that it will look like there is an actual board in front of you.
- Perfect for beginners and advanced players
- Challenge your friends
- There are step-by-step tutorials
- The graphics are sleek, sharp, and realistic
- The app takes an uncluttered approach to the user interface
It's online Chess playing like never before with the Shredder Chess app. This app features 1,000 chess puzzles that you will need to solve. The app adjust to your skill level and your "opponent," who is the computer, is able to play just like a real human with a matching skill level to you. The computer will even make occasional mistakes just as a human would. There is a coach that can help you out and highlight your mistakes so you can learn from them, you can load and save your games, you can customize the experience by picking the chess pieces and the board, and you can analyze the different positions.
- There are 1,000 games to solve
- The app adjusts to your skill level
- The computer makes mistakes just like a real human
- There is a coach to help you out and discuss your mistakes
Whether you're looking to play chess against a friend or the computer the t Chess Pro app can provide you with the opportunity. Before you begin you may want to check out the Learn Chess ebook that is included in the app. You can save and load games, check out your stats and progress in your profile, and play against an opponent with an ELO rating from 500 to 2,500. If you play a game in analysis mode then you will be learning about the game as you play thanks to the "expert opinion" it offers. This opinion is offered in real-time.
- Check out the Learn Chess ebook
- Play against an opponent with an ELO rating from 500 to 2,500
- Get an expert opinion in real-time
- You can save and load games
- Check out your stats and progress
If you're new to Chess here's your chance to learn the game in an interactive and engaging way with the Chess Lite - with coach app. This app provides you with the opportunity to play through 21 levels that will take you from beginner status to pro. The app offers a coach that will show you four moves that you could make helping you to figure out the game and how to create your own strategy. The official Chess rule book is included in the app as are 100 historical games. The user interface is lively and filled with the information you need all within reach.
- There are 21 levels to work through
- Start as a beginner and become a pro
- There are 100 historical games
- Make use of the built-in coach
- The coach suggests four moves that you can make on each turn
- The user interface is lively
This wonderful chess app is not only great for playing, but also for teaching users how to play. Join millions of chess players from around the world and play against a wide range of skill levels. There are 50,000 tactics puzzles, free lessons by grandmasters, you can play and analyze moves, learn the best opening moves, send messages to others, select from a wide range of themes and review detailed performance stats. There’s an active community forum to interact with others and learn. This app is brought to you by Chess.com and has numerous in-app purchases for various memberships. It’s one of the best chess apps for the iOS.
- Join millions of players from around the world
- Brought to you by Chess.com
- Numerous options for learning moves
- Detailed stats, Message others, Different themes
- Various in-app purchases for memberships
This free chess training app will teach you different tactics to improve your overall chess game. If you want to share your skills, you can create tactics and allow other users to view them. Compete with other users to make the toughest tactics out there. Learn from your mistakes by viewing the correct solution, see leaderboards, use the forums to talk to others and much more. This app is all about making users better chess players and is a sweet option especially for beginners. There are several in-app purchases to remove ads, buy various chess boards and to save puzzles.
- Learn different chess tactics
- Interact with others via the forums
- Leaderboards, Compete for toughest tactics
- View solutions to your mistakes
- In-app purchases to remove ads, save puzzles, themes
