Last updated on December 8th, 2025 at 11:47 pm
Chess Deluxe – Board Game Review
Chess Deluxe is a Board/Strategy game from Nicholas Cooke, first launched in 29th February 2012.
It’s rated 4+ and currently has 183+ ratings on the App Store.
What Makes Chess Deluxe Stand Out
Experience the timeless game of chess with beautiful design and intelligent gameplay.
Chess Deluxe brings the classic strategy game to life with a modern, elegant interface and responsive AI that adapts to your skill level. Whether you're learning your first moves or honing your tactics, enjoy chess exactly how you want to play it – with no ads, no distractions, just pure chess.
Play Your Way:
- Smart AI opponents with Easy, Medium, and Hard difficulties that provide quick, challenging gameplay
- Local multiplayer for face-to-face games on the same device
- Game Center integration for online matches with friends anywhere
- Flexible move controls with unlimited undo/redo and move highlighting
- Complete game tracking with move history in Standard Algebraic Notation
Beautiful & Intuitive:
- Clean, distraction-free interface designed for pure chess enjoyment
- Smooth animations and satisfying piece movement
- Board rotation for comfortable two-player games
- Captured pieces display and game timer with customisable durations
- Light and dark themes to match your preference
- Crisp sounds that enhance gameplay without interruption
Seamlessly Connected:
- Settings sync across all your devices with iCloud
- Navigate through your game history by selecting any completed move
- No advertisements to interrupt your focus
- Universal purchase includes iOS, iPadOS, and macOS versions
Chess Deluxe is crafted for chess lovers who appreciate thoughtful design and straightforward gameplay. From quick casual games to focused strategy sessions, experience chess the way it should be – simple, beautiful, and always ready when you are.
This Board game offers engaging gameplay and regular updates for mobile players.
Player Feedback
As a newer release, Chess Deluxe is building its player community. Early feedback suggests .
Recent Updates & Development
Latest Update: 12th September 2025
Recent improvements include:
Thanks for playing Chess Deluxe! This update includes:
- New FAQ with expanded help documentation in all supported languages
- Enhanced AI performance with smarter gameplay
- Better overall app performance and stability
- Various bug fixes and performance optimizations
Download & Availability
Chess Deluxe is available through the official App Store for iOS devices.
Requirements: Requires iPhone 5s / iPad Air / iPad Air (Cellular) / iPad Mini 2 (Retina) / iPad Mini 2 (Retina, Cellular) / iPhone 6 / iPhone 6 Plus / iPad Air 2 / iPad Air 2 (Cellular) / iPad Mini 3 or later.
Compatible with iPhone and iPad devices.
Player Experience Highlights
Community Insight:
Is what it is.The computer goes from entry-level to whoop you right real quick just between normal and medium. Some intermediate level would be nice.
Fun Chess app. Easy setup,,,fast play,,progressive levels of difficulty. Has all a casual player could want. Inexpensive for hours of entertainment.
This is a good basic version of a chess app. However there are a few things that could be improved upon. We would definitely give it a 5 if some of these things were fixed. – make it so we can see the g on the g column. The lower part of the g is cut off and it looks like an a. – we play using the letters and numbers of the board so having those situated in a way where they would be visible even with pieces on the square would be immensely helpful. (Maybe put them outside of the board?) -we purchased this version of the game for our Mac for $2.99 expecting that we could switch from our iPhone and Mac and keep playing the same game but that is not the case. (Unless we have missed some cross compatibility sign-in somewhere). Its not a big deal but it would be a nice feature for a paid app on Mac. Overall its a good basic chess app if you just want to play by yourself or with a friend.
Muy Bueno, deberina de poner sonido, gracias.
We were frustrated by how 'easy' wasn't easy for us . . . Though apparently too easy for other users. Ah, well . . . Anyway, we also felt that the hints weren't helping much . . . So we vowed to give it one more try. You must have been reading our mail, as they used to say. We asked for a hint at just the right time, got mate, and was able to see how it was done . . . What we'd have missed, probably, on our own. So, okay . . . On we go.
The computer alwasy wins – even on "easy" setting. We even let the computer recommend all white moves and white still lost by 25 points. We didn't learn a thing other than the computer is smarter than we are. We gave up and trashed the game.
We just played our first game of chess on this app and played against a computer just to try it out. We tried to castle our king and rook and it would not let us. If there is no fix for this than this is a terrible app and should be fixed immediately.
The computer vs one player is very weak regardless of setting. This app is okay for two player games but is of no value vs computer. It gives up the queen readily.
Rediscovering the chess of our youth when we can get away with it on our computer. Good stuff.
Great Chess program. Everything we want.
How do we turn off the timer? We dont want a time limit.
This used to work well but we guess the last update broke it. When we now corner the black king in a single player game it just moves up to our white king. Very odd.
Very nice and simple to use and no annoying bells and whistles. Thanks.
The worst. Game says it won when it is loosing.
Other than that, it's fine! Game does not have chess rules implemented correctly. One-player mode calls stalemate whenever computer king cannot move, even when other legal moves exist. Computer castles even after king has moved from original position – illegal. This is apart from the absolutely ridiculous gameplay in which the computer simply throws pieces out to be taken. Can't get Internet mode (what we bought it for) to work. IOS version doesn't allow searching for user IDs. OS X version (yes, we bought both like an idiot) allows searching, but it doesn't work – can't find our friend who is logged in and sitting across the room watching.
There's no way to start a game. Do not pay $$$ for it.
We can't even play the game 1 player or 2 player we can only do a online game. THEY SHOULD REMOVE IT. It's a WASTE OF MONEY.
It doesn't even let u play theres no play button so don't buy it's a waste of money.
The app will only let you put in player name and just stays on that page in 1 or 2 player mode.
Rook was unable to move to corner piece for no reason ( could move to every square except that one) and check was made but counted as check mate. Terrible programming, waste of money. DO NOT BUY, TERRIBLE GAME IF YOU WANT TO PLAY CHESS AND NOT SOME FACTIOUS VERSION OF IT. Would like money back ASAP.
We love chess more than anyone… We were in an epic battle with our friend and since we took to long to place a move, It timed us out. We were so mad that after paying two bucks we deleted the app. We are, by the way, an active chess tournament player. We love this game but the app is terrible, so please DO NOT buy this.
Lots of bugs in this game. If your king backs up to your own first row, it turns into your opponent's queen! Sometimes completely valid moves are blocked too. We like that you can play with 2 players, but until the bugs are fixed we won't be playing again.
Can't play online without one player always having to redo last move to be able to make next move. Bought for online play.
We bought this app to play two players with our son. The latest version is Perfect. THANKS.
User feedback from Apple App Store
App Details
- Version: 2.14
- Size: 15.85 MB
- iOS: 16 or later
- Languages: DA, NL, EN, FR, DE, NB, ES, SV
- Content Advisory:
- Developer: Nicholas Cooke
Last updated: 12th September 2025 | Genre: Board, Strategy | Developer: Nicholas Cooke