Chess Time - Multiplayer Chess 4+

I used to be a decent chess player but gradually fell out of love with the game. This app, recommended by a friend, is helping me to rediscover my past enthusiasm if not my past glories (!). What I love about this app is that it manages to keep things fairly simple and straightforward without the addition of too many unnecessary bells and whistles. I like the option to check on your opponent’s form and, unlike another reviewer, I do actually appreciate the analysis option as I’ve lost the ability to easily visualise the board in my head, so to speak. You can either stick to playing opponents in your home country or allow the app to choose an opponent for you from anywhere around the globe (I prefer to mix things up and have a bit of both). It sure makes a welcome change to playing against the computer on other apps like Chess Free. As you (hopefully) win more games, your rating increases and you get pitted against stronger opponents. Conversely, if your form suffers, your rating decreases and you play weaker opponents. All in all, it’s great fun and can be quite addictive if you’re not careful. Recommended!

It’s nice and simple and I can play with my friends and family. It was particularly great over lockdown when I couldn’t see them. We still use it a lot now. You can also play against other users from around the world and use the chat function if you like, and you can request rematches and add them as friends to play again. It’s also fun to try and get higher scores and increase your rank. There are different options for the games, such as time limits between moves (1 day, 2 days, 3 days, etc), so you can play as if it were in real time or you can leave several hours/days between moves (it’ll remind you when you your time has almost run out). There are no ads, no glitches and you can have several games going at once. Overall, it’s a great, easy app to use and I now play chess more often than before. I really enjoy it. 👍♟

I have been using this a while as a beginner and enjoy the games I have played on it. Other apps have a slicker interface but they cost you. For a freebie this is the best there is and there is a broad range of abilities to play against. More expert players have moaned at starting at a low rating but I suspect most players who use the app are recreational players who just enjoy the game as a passtime and are of intermediate ability. For that it is great.