Daily iPhone chess programs releases

[arenati]

Thank you very much Julien!

I didn't expect there were so many chess programs

[tomgdrums]

I've just got an iPhone 4.
i would like to know which commercial and free apps do you suggest.
i'm interested in game playing not analysis.

if i'm no wrong there was a Komodo for iPhone in development. Any time frame for the release?

Thanks

I just got an Ipad 3 and for what it is worth I really like:

Shredder
Hiarcs
Stockfish
Chess Tiger (but goes under the name Chess Pro)

All four of these are great and each one has pros and cons.

If I had to pick one, probably Hiarcs because of better integration of timed play and levels. (although Shredder can access Tablebases via WIFI so that is cool!! And Shredder has puzzles)

Chess Tiger is a GREAT app for the Ipad. Setting up a position is easy and the engine is fun. This is the first version of any Chess Tigers that I have ever owned. Cool engine to play against!

[JuLieN]

I've just got an iPhone 4.
i would like to know which commercial and free apps do you suggest.
i'm interested in game playing not analysis.

if i'm no wrong there was a Komodo for iPhone in development. Any time frame for the release?

Thanks

I just got an Ipad 3 and for what it is worth I really like:

Shredder
Hiarcs
Stockfish
Chess Tiger (but goes under the name Chess Pro)

All four of these are great and each one has pros and cons.

If I had to pick one, probably Hiarcs because of better integration of timed play and levels. (although Shredder can access Tablebases via WIFI so that is cool!! And Shredder has puzzles)

Chess Tiger is a GREAT app for the Ipad. Setting up a position is easy and the engine is fun. This is the first version of any Chess Tigers that I have ever owned. Cool engine to play against!

That's great, Tom!

Some other chess programs of high quality:
- tChess Pro (IMO the best iOS chess app)
- Chess-Wise (by Marcel Nijman. Can also serve as an interface for FICS)
- Deep Green Chess (strong AND beautiful. Also this is one of the oldest chess app for Apple devices: its first version was released for... the Newton! )
- Mastersoft Chess (pleasant interface)
- 3D Magic Chess (a good take while waiting for the release of Battlechess for iPad)
- Morphchess 3D (a good contender to 3D Magic Chess)
- Chess Genius (a classic!)
- Chess: Battle of the Elements (beautiful!)

It's very difficult to single out a handful of programs: I have 140 chess programs on my iPad. Plus half of them just have "chess" as a name, so it's difficult to remember how they are We should make a collective effort to review all those chess apps on iOS, there are so many of them that a single man can't do it with the limited time he has.

[tomgdrums]

I've just got an iPhone 4.
i would like to know which commercial and free apps do you suggest.
i'm interested in game playing not analysis.

if i'm no wrong there was a Komodo for iPhone in development. Any time frame for the release?

Thanks

I just got an Ipad 3 and for what it is worth I really like:

Shredder
Hiarcs
Stockfish
Chess Tiger (but goes under the name Chess Pro)

All four of these are great and each one has pros and cons.

If I had to pick one, probably Hiarcs because of better integration of timed play and levels. (although Shredder can access Tablebases via WIFI so that is cool!! And Shredder has puzzles)

Chess Tiger is a GREAT app for the Ipad. Setting up a position is easy and the engine is fun. This is the first version of any Chess Tigers that I have ever owned. Cool engine to play against!

That's great, Tom!

Some other chess programs of high quality:
- tChess Pro (IMO the best iOS chess app)
- Chess-Wise (by Marcel Nijman. Can also serve as an interface for FICS)
- Deep Green Chess (strong AND beautiful. Also this is one of the oldest chess app for Apple devices: its first version was released for... the Newton! )
- Mastersoft Chess (pleasant interface)
- 3D Magic Chess (a good take while waiting for the release of Battlechess for iPad)
- Morphchess 3D (a good contender to 3D Magic Chess)
- Chess Genius (a classic!)
- Chess: Battle of the Elements (beautiful!)

It's very difficult to single out a handful of programs: I have 140 chess programs on my iPad. Plus half of them just have "chess" as a name, so it's difficult to remember how they are We should make a collective effort to review all those chess apps on iOS, there are so many of them that a single man can't do it with the limited time he has.

Hey Julien!

I probably won't purchase all of them ... but I think will start posting some reviews of the ones I have! And on your recommendation above I purchased IGrandmaster and the Mastersoft Chess App. Nice apps. They both look very nice. I will review those as well at some point.

Should we start a different thread or stay in this one?

Anyway, here is my Shredder App for IOS Review (viewed and used on my IPad3):

Shredder for the Ipad

Pros:

Looks amazing!
Has an opening database!
Multiple levels, with reasonably realistic play.
Adjusts its strength to you if you want it to.
You can set up positions
Has a few different "style" of engine to play against
Endgame Tablebases when connected to the internet! Simply amazing for study!
1,000 Tactical Problems included for your study
A great tool to use for playing through an annotated game out of a collection!
Import/export games. (not its strongest feature but it is there)

Cons:

Only one: It doesn't have timed games. (unless I missed it!) Kind of a bummer as the Droid version of Shredder does have timed games.

Shredder App for IOS review score: 8 (out of ten..would like timed games)


Chess Tiger for Ipad will be next!

[JuLieN]

Should we start a different thread or stay in this one?

Good initiative! This thread should do well for now! I actually created a website last year and intended to publish reviews there on a regular basis, and make it a community site for iOS chess users, but never got the time for it. Anyway, maybe the only review I did can inspire your own reviews:
http://ioschess.com/?q=node/4

Also maybe people interested in iOS chess programs here can open an account that I would promote to redactor, so you guys could post your reviews there?

Anyway, here's a nice daily update because it's the first iOS chess program I see based on... Faile!

Touch Chess (universal, 0.79 €):

Description
Touch Chess is an app based on the Faile chess engine by Adrien Regimbald.
You can play versus the computer at varying difficulty levels,
setup your own board positions or replay classic games.

Features
-Powerful chess AI
-Play vs friends locally
-Setup board positions
-5 board styles
-Over 10 levels of difficulty
-Over 2000 openings
-Over 200 classic games, traps, miniatures and more

iPhone screenshot:


iPad Screenshot:


iTunes link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/touch-chess/id518266745
Website: http://2dengine.com/

[JuLieN]

For all you FICS players here's a seemingly interesting new Application:

CoreChess (iPhone ($4.99) /iPad ($6.99)):
Their description:

coreChess includes great features you need for playing your favorite game. On-line game with FICS, local game with AI and chess puzzles are really enjoyable.

Online game on the Free Internet Chess Server (FICS) - the most popular chess server with many players of different skill levels ready to play with you anytime.

FICS Features:
- timeseal;
- premoves; (on iPad)
- real time thought list;
- fast and simple game seek and match player by name interface;
- seeks history;
- full variant support;
- save/mail current game for future analyze;
- full integration with EndGameBot, PuzzleBot, LectureBot and WesBot;
- players list with filtration and sorting ability;
- chat while playing game;
- observe currently played games;
- ability to use the console while playing;
- bots detection and filtration;
- server console for advanced FICS players;
- shortcuts for take back for 1-2 ply(s);
- shortcuts for abort, adjourn, draw, resign game;

Local Game Features:
- Fisher 960 random and classic game mode
- Save/load games
- 5 difficulty levels
- Play with friend mode
- Moves navigation (first, previous, next, last moves)


Puzzles Features:
- 500 puzzles
- 3 difficulty levels
- filter puzzles by level and resolved/unresolved state

* board and pieces themes
* Retina display support

If you have any issues to report or suggestions to make, please visit our support site at: support@coregames.mobi

iPad Screenshots:






iPhone screenshots:








iTunes link for the iPhone version: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/coreches ... 99232?mt=8
iTunes link for the iPad version: http://itunes.apple.com/app/id521087930?mt=8

I didn't buy any of them because I don't support applications that are separated into an iPhone one and an iPad one. Also I don't play so much anymore on FICS. Maybe someone here will buy it and give us their impressions?

[kinderchocolate]

It's not a new app. It's the old iChessPack with name changed. Unless it has the bugs fixed, this is another inferior and very buggy app. I remember last time I played iChessPack, my opponent captured his own king. Despite a queen up, I couldn't force a checkmate and lost on time.

[JuLieN]

It's not a new app. It's the old iChessPack with name changed. Unless it has the bugs fixed, this is another inferior and very buggy app. I remember last time I played iChessPack, my opponent captured his own king. Despite a queen up, I couldn't force a checkmate and lost on time.

Wow, thanks for the information, Tim!

And sorry, but your bad luck made me laugh...

[Cubeman]

Looks different to ichesspack and has different developer. I have ichesspack and there is no update on iTunes.

[kinderchocolate]

You sure? It looks exactly the same as the iPhone version. You're probably using the iPad verson, are you? The screenshots were taken from iPhone. Either the iChessPack author made another account for his software since Apple wouldn't allow him selling the same app with another name. Or, it's a scam, someone just uploaded the iChessPack screenshots, when you buy it, it's our famous Stockfish!!!!