Chess - Play & Learn 4+

Lots of users so very easy to find a game somewhere in the world no matter what time it is where you are. The courses are also pretty good if you are just starting out or looking to brush up on some skills. The game reviews and daily puzzle are hit and miss - sometimes some good tricks or better moves you could have played while other times it’s pretty clear they are not telling you the right move (and the puzzles have no concept of their being multiple good ways to solve the challenge which can be annoying). Another thing that irks me a bit and would be great to see is allowing chat with a player after the game rather than the BS agro chats you get from some players during the game. When I play in person chess, it’s enjoyable to review the game with your opponent after the match and their is often much less bravado then when online players try to chat to you (typically a stupid and premature laughing emoji or ‘bye bye’ before they realize they walked into your trap) during the game, particularly on the speed games.

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I find constant stalling etc ...There is no accuracy in this app I wouldn’t base anyone s chess rating according to this app !!! The lag has to be fixed and I find that when you are playing a player above 1700 when you re ahead on pieces or in an extremely good position you lose on time on most occasions ...and against a say 2000 plus rated player there seems to be a huge time advantage to that player particularly in bullet chess ,Is this coincidental or is it to do with internet speed I’m not sure but I VE played for a number of years and seen enough not to take any of it seriously including the rating system....you can never beat playing over the board !!!

Hello! Players ratings evolve according to the Glicko system, and one's strength then becomes comparable to others in the player pool. If you're experiencing problems with the app or during games, please let us know more at support@chess.com. We're very glad to help. :)

So the game is fun, it teaches you the game and has lots of AIs with different play styles to help you learn, though there is one issue that really ruins the game for me.

It often prematurely calls a stalemate. 2 minutes before writing this review, I had a game which I was winning. I had 2 queens, a castle and a bishop while the AI only had a king and pawn. When I was closing in about to get the checkmate, the game called stalemate. My king wasn’t in check, the AI wasn’t either yet. This should not have been a stalemate. This has happened in about 7 games for me so far.

I would have rated 4 stars though to get so close to a win so many times just to have it snatched away like that brings it down to 2 stars for me.

Also would like to say, there are a fair few in app purchases, but not too much of the game is locked behind them. There is a lot, but you can still have a good experience without spending money

Edit:
Not sure if this notifies the developer though in response to their response, the king was about to be in check, their pawn could move forwards and their king could still move left and right without going into check. All of my pieces could move at least 2 spaces (except king) as well so it wasn’t because mine were trapped. So according to what you stated in your response and the game conditions, that should still not have been a stalemate.

Hello, thank you for this edited review regarding stalemate determinations. Some stalemate positions can be very surprising, with several pieces on the board for both players. Especially if one player has two queens, they can cover many squares are the enemy king, surprisingly stalemating it, or also preventing an enemy pawn from moving, in case it would put the king in check. If you're certain that the position in your game is not a stalemate, could you send us a screenshot at support@chess.com? We'll take a look!