t Chess Pro

I wrote the developer and asked if there was a way to show the captured pieces and he said that this was coming soon. That was several months ago and there has been no update for a very long, long time.

I've bought almost every other chess program on iTunes and while they all do one or two things well this one trumps them all by being the best overall package. *The UI is clean and well thought out. *The range of AI levels is broad. *The whole app is very quick and responsive. Perfect for a quick game on the go. Kudos to the author!

Although expensive by iPhone app standards, you get your money's worth if you are at least a mid-level player. Beginners or spectator players interested in fancy 3-D graphics should stay away as this is not for you. But if you like simple chess-book illustration style graphics combined with a really thorough chess engine that will whip your a** (as it does mine starting at Level 6), you'll love this. BTW, for the reviewer who said it doesn't allow some legal moves, my suggestion would be to look carefully: you may be in check, or getting into check by the move, or castling across a check. So it's okay, although I'll admit that a text message making the reason clear might help beginners. I would like more on the "Learn Chess" side, though. What they have now is for complete beginners, not for mid-level folks looking for theory to improve their games. For example, it would really be nice to have the analysis feature provide a running commentary on the strategy behind the computer's moves and/or strategic weaknesses of your moves.

Great for play; serious analysis tool. Rybka it's not, but I'm USCF 2046 and I find it useful. Would like to see more robust support of PGN databases in future versions.

This is a perfect chess app.if it only had only play like real time online play then this would be the best chess app in the world!!!!!!!!

This is easily one of the top three iPhone chess programs (Shredder and Fritz being the others). My only problem with it is the awkward way of cycling through menus with each move to use the opening library, and the lack of an editable board appearance. Otherwise solid, great fun.

The main reason to buy this over other programs is that the GUI is perfect, bug free, and more pleasant to look at. This is very important when playing on a 3.5 inch screen. The program has levels that go from beginner to chess master and the analysis mode is also useful. I like how positionally astute the engine is. I have recommended it to my students. I am using T-Chess Pro to improve my game by playing it speed chess at level that is tough for me and using the takeback button when I make mistakes or fail to find a way to win. I think that this trial and error approach is very educational and I gotten better because of it!

love this app...worth the $
I am an amateur chess player
best chess program for hand held that I have found
intuitive operating system
opening book is ez and has expanded my play

Nice app with lots of options to opt for. Dissapoints when it doesn't allow some of the valid moves.

I love this program. Very strong engine and fantastic interface. Highly recomended.!!!

I haven't tried all the chess apps but I've tried quite a few and read reviews until I was SURE I had read too many reviews. My advice to you? Depending on your needs you might find that tChess stomps the other apps pretty bad. If you're goal is to learn chess really well and pass n' play with friends you'll love this app as much as I do. At first I was kinda put off by the lack of online multiplayer (if it gets added after I write this we will have to figure out how to add a sixth star) but I soon found the free "chess with friends" app and if I want to play against others online that's the way to go. I usually prefer to play against the computer and I can't beat the computer above level 6....even if I cheat and take back moves. It's insanely good.

The look of the board seems "simple" at first but you will love it after you start playing on it. It's clean and uncluttered so you'll find it melts away and you don't see the icons you just see pawn, bishop, knight, etc. I prefer it to playing on a real board...it's so much faster.

Another feature that has to be mentioned is the save/load game setup. It's perfect. Exactly what you'd want. I have games going with several friends and family members and I and pull them up and continue them at any point. Now you can even email an export of a game to your pc. How sweet is that.
The manual board set up option couldn't be better either. You can put any number of any piece anywhere...so if you wanted to give someone an extra queen handicap to start it's no problem at all.
I also love how this app NEVER crashes and ALWAYS saves my game no matter how the game gets interupted...To me that is so valuable, I hate losing work or "game" in this case and great to not have to worry about that.
Oh btw, you can rock your tunes while you play....I guess some apps have issues with that.
By number of hours this is the most used app on my phone by a factor of 3. If you love chess don't deny yourself this cause you're afraid to part with eight bucks....that's the price of a hamburger man! Trust me..it's soooo worth several hamburgers.

This chess app is great! The interface is very pleasant to use and responds well to touches.

Love this app. Full featured and smart engine.

I have been playing tChess Lite constantly for months. I finally upgraded to tChess Pro so I could save my games, and it's amazing how many more features Pro has. I just started using the Opening library feature to learn the names and moves of the common openings and my game is already improving.

Finally a chess program for the iPhone that is worthy of the platform.

Not only does it come with a powerful engine (I haven't managed to beat the program on the highest difficulty level yet, but I am beginning to be good at playing the third difficulty setting), it also truly looks like a program made for the iPhone. Stylish, elegant, streamlined and beautiful. I've had people ask me on the subway what the name of the program was! :)

It's been very obviously made by a person with a love of the game and great attention to details - subtle move cues, saving your game so you can switch apps and pick up seamlessly from where you left, the ability to flip the board for multiplayer and on top of that you can enter chess board positions for in depth analysis (it's been pretty handy with helping me with a chess puzzle I was ready to give up on).

There's nothing like it. If you're looking for a chess program for the iPhone, this is the best choice by far.

Quick Update - it's even better in the new version! There is now a feature that shows the opening currently being played and a blindfold mode (you have to go enable it in the options and then you can use gestures to activate). Awesome! :)

Love the blindfold feature allows me to play without the board and also to play with a regular board with out getting confuse with what I see on the screen. Fully recomend it.

Some features are missing: 1) Add a statistic option which keeps track of games played, win, loss, and draws each difficulty level? (ichess has this feature)
2 )Add other display options with different looking pieces like wood etc …(download ichess free and see the four available—I like the wood version)

I am 1880 uscf, and it keeps up with me when i play a game on the run. I usually always beat it on 12 when i play slow, but when i play fast i will take back one or two moves and usually draw. This and shredder are the only programs worth more than a penny, and i would pay $20 if it were just a little stronger

I love this app, I'm not good at chess, but the top computer level seems like it would be a challenge for even the best. I would have given five if cheaper.

Great program with great support from developer--when I thought that the program was making an illegal capture, I wrote the developer. He responded within minutes that the move was a lawful move unknown to me (en passant) that I haven't seen in other chess software. Bravo!

Would have given it 5 stars, but the absence of representation for lost pieces is a little annoying, especially for the money spent.

Awesome chess game for beginners and experts. The skill levels mimic the live players I gone against online. Very quick play so that you can finish off a game in minutes. Well worth the money.

Graphics are simple and clean with some of the most difficult levels.

I’ve purchased several Iphone chess apps and this is by far the best. The display is clear & crisp and easy to take in. What I like best is the ability to save games. I like to go back and see the outcome of different actions, hmm what if I traded Queens? I see this feature as a great tool in improving my game. You can replaying openings with different decisions. If you love chess, this is the one for you. Thank you tom for creating this

wish i could pick openings

I love the abilty to customize ply and time.. Its got a pretty stout engine. I tested it against a couple other chess games on here and it thumped them. The only one that is stronger than tchess is chess genius, but its feature set is not appealing to me. Unlike tchess you canot customize time or ply depth. For my money tChess is the best chess app on the iTunes store. Even if you're a grand master, who might find chess genious stronger engine more attractive, just think, tChess has much more power even if it simply due to the fact that you can give it unlimited time to think, a feature chess genius lacks.

When i play against the computer it's really good at taking all my prices but when I'm down to my king it won't mate me. It just moves it's king around and it ends as a three repirion draw. Other than that. The computer gameplay is feniminal and very strong!

Well worth the price for enthusiasts and beginners alike. If you're looking for online play, look at another app. tChess Pro's analysis mode is great for people wanting to improve their game. Reading the real-time move analysis, especially as you try different variations, can help you understand what move combinations are strong and why.

If it included some kind of textual (and not necessarily grammatically correct) description of the strategy behind the engine's analysis, you could probably improve VERY rapidly, and would earn it 5-stars.

The recently updated 1.2 version includes a hint button on the toolbar (great!) and a help/FAQ section, which was really missing in previous versions. It also includes PGN output capability, which should be great for analyzing your games in other software packages (i.e., Fritz). No more confusion about the analysis output! Great update.

I bought this a while back, thinking this could be used as a good chess engine and a player. On the highest level, I win 70% of the time! The engine finds moves incorrectly also. Occasionally, there is a good move or two.

I love this APP. The graphics are superb. (Until I got t Chess Pro, I played chess on two stand-alone handheld chess computers, one by Excalibur, the other by Saitek. The graphics on both are shabby compared to those on t Chess Pro.) What I like most is that chess positions can be set up easily for analyzing games; that the user can backtrack and track forward through moves; and that games can be named and saved. And all this and more for a measly $7.99.

I'm completely dissapointed in the fact that I thought u could play an Internet version! If I wanted 2 beat the computer on a consistent basis-I would have signed on yahoo amatuer!

Wow, I'm seriously impressed by this chess application. Well done! The possibility to set up your own boards is fantastic, I use it all the time to train openings and replay games from chess books. It clearly surpasses other chess applications in the AppStore. The developer didn't lie when he said, you have an analysis tool at your hand. Also, all the funtionality is very easy to use. Definitely worth the few bucks if you like chess and want to improve your game! Kudos to the developer! I have just one suggestion: could the 'Hint' button be placed among the main buttons underneath the chess board? Thank you for such a great app!

This chess app is perfect! It surpasses all other chess games on the app store, and on iTunes. Very high praise to the creator!

I recommend a shortcut on the chess panel for hints. I like to play with level 7-8, which I was never able to beat; yet. And want to see what would be the best move to make when I am being beated. Going back to find the hint for each move could get really tedious for learners like me. But great app by far.

I'll buy it again if;
1 More Board Colors
2 More Piece Colors and
3 Graphical representations rather than by initials: for example, ♞c6. This is called figurine algebraic notation or FAN and has the advantage of being language independent. Thanks for you time. (vote yes)

Of all the app's I've purchased, this one has garnered the most play time by far. This is such an elite chess app. You won't regret the purchase.

Also, some of the early reviews don't mention how the newer versions have fixed some of the minor flaws. This baby is flawless now.

The AI does not often make random blunders, but it has an ungodly level of agression. This was a poor choice for an attempt at a human-like engine, because an AI has infinite patience. The analysis tool is hardly useful at all, as it doesn't explain hints in words.You won't learn anything about chess from it. This is a well made chess program that won't come close to being worth it's price until some sort of online functionality is added.

Very clean smooth program, it just needs an online feature. Pretty fun for playing against a computer

Beautiful, simple, perfect UI with all the features and playing strength necessary to keep me happy for a good, long time! The only feature that is DESPERATELY lacking is some way to get the saved games off my iPod onto an external computer (in PGN format, of course!) for archival, analysis, etc. using email, web upload, or faked photo (camera) export. Please keep up the EXCELLENT work -so far I'm Lovin' It!!!!

Very nice engine, the interface is fast and pleasant. Please move the settings button to the actions menu and put the hint button there in the front.

After reading the reviews and looking at all the other iPhone chess games, I chose to go with tChess and have been very pleased. I play reasonably well and can beat the 1st through 4th levels fairly easily but levels 5 through 8 are a great challenge. The range of levels let's my kids play and enjoy the game and at the same time gives me a great mental workout. The game starts up fast, the levels are challenging, the interface is perfect, the game is saved so you can continue playing later and analysis mode helps you improve. This is the best chess program on the iPhone.

Great for those times I'm away from the computer!

All the positive praise you read here is pretty much true. I had been waiting to buy a good chess app since 2.0 was released and am happy to have finally gotten my hands on this one. I've never written a review for an app before, but felt compelled to after purchasing this great program!

This is by far the best chess app out there. For those of you wondering, analysis mode tells you what the best next couple of moves are for both players so you can learn and get better. This app is also great for quick notation of a friendly game (in two player mode)and for a good challenge against the computer. Kudos to the developer!!! P.S. The only feature missing is a go to beginning or end of game button. I will add a sixth star if you add it.

Looks like it's the best chess game so far.

After reading all the reviews to this chess game, seeing how the chess board looks, and getting insight to all of the options that can be changed in this game, I didn't even bother looking at any of the other chess games available. A bug-free version of challenging chess, no matter who you are or how good you are, will guarantee you every penny is worth it for this game. Don't pass this chess game up. It's well worth the price, and you're sure to learn something. There are so many things that can edited in the chess options. Not only that, but you get a very crisp looking interface giving you great looking gameplay. I gave this chess game 5/5 stars. The only thing I would like added would be an option to record a game for replay later. That would make for a very interesting chess game that would make this one worth twice it's display value.

I wasted my money on all the other crappy chess games. This is THE cleanest, smoothest, bug free, lag free chess game for iphone.

I guess I'm doing something wrong because I've had three very easy checkmates in a row - nice feeling but don't know if it improves my game.

A good and challenging game. Statistics page would not hurt. And seriously, tougher levels need to be added.

This game goes to details that many others don't consider. Well written program loaded with features. Only thing I'll say is that a brief "Help Page" to understand the analysis mode won't hurt. By the way, the ability to choose openings styles could be a significant plus...
Great application, get it and have fun!

Amazing game. Flawless. Thought of buying the lite version, but anyways later I wanted to play some higher levels. Best chess game. Strongly recommended.

The best chess game out there for the iPhone/iPod

I'm a beginner in chess and recently I decided I wanted to better my game. I looked on the App Store for a chess app that I could get that could help me practice and was free. Unfortunately, I could not find one that was free, but I did run across this app. The price ($8) seemed too high especially since I haven't bought an app before (I relied on free apps only). After looking around and reading some of the reviews, I realized how much of a powerhouse this app actually is. I was going to get tChess Lite since I'm a beginner, but I figured if I'm going to get better there might be a point when tChess Lite would become too easy so why not just invest the $8 now and get the Pro version. The feature list definitely warrants the price as this app has everything you need from just playing a quick pickup game to analyzing each and every move and strategy. I also looked at Caissa Chess as it has been out longer, has more reviews, and seems to be the choice chess app currently. I still went with this app because a) the computer seems to be stronger as it has beaten Caissa Chess repeatedly and b) the app was released less than a month ago which explains the small number of reviews at the moment (7 when I bought it). It's very simple to use and the developer is definitely invested in the product. He's responsive in emails and already has plans for updates with new features. If you're on the fence about any of the chess apps or want an app that can be useful to you in the short (quick pickup games) and long term (practice and develop strategies to become better), then definitely go with this one. Pay the $8 as it is well worth the price. Email the developer as well with any questions as he is very helpful and responds quickly.

Good game I'm really enjoying it + improving my game. I would just like to know what analysis mode is ( I'm assuming to play against yourself??) Only thing I want implemented is the ability to watch replay of your saved games.

Nice interface, nice options, nice chess engine.

I use to play a lot of chess and was once rated around 1700. I probably play around a 1200 level now. This guy has 8 levels of difficulty. The difficulty can also be set based on availabe time, fixed search time and fixed search depth. I like the levels setting. Level 4 gives me a tough game.

I love that I can pull out my iPhone and play whenever I have the time and feel like it. My game is getting better already.

Things I wish it did better:
Allowed me to take moves back, so that I could quickly analyse different lines of play. This would also make it less of a pain when I make an accidental move.

There is a setting to have to computer play either white or black.... It would be nice to have the computer alternate sides each game.

I like to study different openings. It would be nice if you could set it to play Ruy Lopez, Queens Gambit, 2 Knights, etc.

All in all.... I think its a great program and well worth the few bucks that I paid for it.

This is the best chess game I've played, not only on the iPhone but for the Mac too. I play heads-up with my wife all the time. It has the best user interface I've seen and it has some features I haven't seen in any other chess programs, like the time controls screen. It has a highly efficient engine because it's fast, yet, I play chess all the time and the engine is really strong, but my wife can play it on easy and some of the best players I know can't beat the higher levels.

I've been playing tChess Pro for a few days now and it's a solid application. I'm not a very advanced player so I usually give into the hint button for almost every single move. There's also an analysis mode if you're really stuck on what to do. I was first surprised at this because I used to play the Chessmaster series for Windows and their analyses actually told you what moves you should do, how it will improve your game and still automate black. This program takes you into two player mode and you have to move black yourself; you have to turn off analysis mode to go back to single player. But this is a luxury feature and it's not found in other apps anyway, I think. It also has a position editor whenever you want to recreate a historical game you can put all the pieces whereever you want, provided you remember the exact positions of that game. Pro: Easy, uncomplicated UI, plenty of options in the settings, great for just sitting down and immediately getting into the game. Cons: It's expensive, but arguably you get what you pay for; currently only available in portrait mode;

Intuitive UI is easy to pick up, and the tools make it easy to work on your game.

The strongest chess engine that I've Played so far on the iPhone.