Chess is one of the original logic games. A true, peaceful battle of wits and strategy that has one player beating another. There are thousands of activities that have been likened to playing chess but nothing really matches up to the real thing. Here are the best chess games for Android.
Chess – Analyze This
[Price: Free / $4.99]
Chess – Analyze This is mostly a chess game but it also contains features to help players improve their game. This includes support for PGN (not to be confused with PNG) files, FEN files, and the ability to comment and annotate on game replays. There is a pro version for $4.99 but you’ll be able to use a vast majority of the application on the free version if you don’t mind a little bit of advertising. There is no online mode so this is for local multiplayer or single player aficionados only.
Chess Free
[Price: Free / $0.99]
Chess Free, as the name implies, is a totally free game with no in-app purchases. The interface is a tad simplistic, but it’s a solid overall game. It features 12 play levels along with various modes, light analysis tools, ELO ratings, local multiplayer, and a host of chess boards and pieces to play with a bit of flair if you want. There is a paid version for $0.99US with the only defining difference being that the paid version has no advertising.
Chess Fusion
[Price: Free with in-app purchases]
Chess Fusion is a more simplistic chess game for the more mainstream chess fan. It doesn’t have any analysis features but it does have pretty decent looking graphics, online play with no registration required, and an AI opponent with adjustable levels. Some of the more recent features include a view-replay feature, a ranked online server, and new designs for 2D chess boards. It’s a good option and free to download.
Chess – Play and Learn
[Price: Free with in-app purchases]
Chess – Play and Learn is a chess game that is geared toward those who are newer at the game but is still playable for well-learned chess players too. It features an online multiplayer mode, a single player mode, and perhaps its most unique feature are all of the chess oriented puzzles. There are over 50,000 of them designed to help you learn chess and think outside of the box. It’s definitely something a little different and if you’re totally new, it also has thousands of videos and interactive lessons for you to learn with.
Chess-presso
[Price: Free with in-app purchases]
Chess-presso is another chess game but this one orients itself toward an online experience. It allows you to play Postal Chess online against your friends or other online players. It features a live chat, a Holo-inspired interface, an ELO based rating system, ranks, and it doesn’t use a lot of data. The boards are a little low-def but that helps keep the data usage low. It’s one of the better online chess experiences.
Chess Puzzles
[Price: Free with in-app purchases]
Chess Puzzles is a sort of training tool and puzzle game where you must solve puzzles using chess moves. The idea is pretty simple and includes things like choosing the most efficient next move for your pieces. It supports PGN files, several chess engines including Stockfish, and it’s even been recently updated with a Material Design inspired interface. All puzzles are available offline so no internet is required and there’s actually very little real chess games. It’s kind of the time waster version of chess so you can play a little bit without being sucked into a game.
Chess Tactics Pro
[Price: Free with in-app purchases]
Chess Tactics Pro is a lot like Chess Puzzles in that it focuses more on puzzles rather than actual games. This one boasts a chess engine that tries to show you puzzles based on your ELO rating and you can also engage with offline puzzles, and daily puzzles. There is also a progressive system that gives you harder stuff to do when you improve. It also boasts a no-nonsense interface so you can play chess and not get lost.
Chess With Friends
[Price: Free with in-app purchases]
If you’ve ever played other Zynga games “with friends” then you kind of know what you’re in for. It is a chess game that is played entirely online against random people or your friends. There is a practice mode with skill levels so you can learn the game a little better and you can view your stats like wins, losses, and even look at replays. You can play multiple games of chess at once against multiple people. It works by sending moves one at a time like the old school send-moves-in-the-mail method. It’s slow paced but fun nevertheless.
DroidFish Chess
[Price: Free]
DroidFish Chess is an Android port for the Stockfish chess engine with a GUI over top. It has a metric ton of features including analysis mode, adjustable player strength, themes, blindfold mode, clocks, local multiplayer mode, and a whole lot more. The graphics are nothing to write home about but let’s face it, that’s not why people play chess. It’s also open source and totally free with no in-app purchases.
Learn Chess
[Price: Free]
Learn Chess isn’t an actual chess game on the face of it, but more of a guide book of sorts. This is for absolute beginners and will introduce the concepts of chess to you with a little bit of reading, some inspirational quotes from chess masters, a few chess instruction videos, and around 50 puzzles. It’s nothing fancy or spectacular but it is totally free with no in-app purchases and it’s a great way to get into chess if you’ve never played before.
lichess
[Price: Free]
lichess is another chess game that focuses predominately on online play. It boasts 50,000 online users and it’s growing. You’ll be able to play multiple boards simultaneously, utilize live chatting, offline multiplayer, and it’s available in 80 languages. It supports various types of chess including King of the Hill and Antichess which is actually really interesting and a lot of fun to play. lichess is also free with no in-app purchases.
Chess by Mastersoft
[Price: Free]
Chess by Mastersoft is actually a newer chess game on Android. It boasts being 100% free with no in-app purchases and I know how much you guys and gals love that. The engine for the game reportedly finished in fourth place in the World Microcomputer Chess Championships so it’s definitely no slouch in that department. The game itself includes a training coach mode, local multiplayer mode, 100 graded levels, and ELO ratings.
Play Magnus Chess
[Price: Free with in-app purchases]
This interesting chess game. Instead of a standard chess engine, this one uses one called the Magnus Carlsen “tuned” chess engine. For those who may not know, Magnus Carlsen is a world-renowned chess player and has been for pretty much this entire century so far. It’s a bit of fan service as it also has personal details and the developers promise that one lucky player will get to play against Magnus himself in a secret event once a year although we don’t have proof that this event actually happens.
Stockfish Chess
[Price: Free]
Stockfish Chess is actually just the Stockfish engine that you’ve seen referenced several times already. This popular chess engine is an Android port of the Stockfish 4 engine. This is solely an engine which means you can’t actually play with just this. You’ll need a GUI app such as this one in order to actually use it. The features will depend heavily on which GUI you choose (there are several) but the Stockfish engine is trusted and powerful.
Wrap up
If we missed any great chess games, let us know in the comments! If you want to stay up to date on the latest and greatest Android apps and games news, don’t forget to subscribe to our app-centric newsletter using the button below!
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