Very Good

Chess Genius wont teach you to play chess. Doesnt have tutorials a good desktop program like Chessmaster or Fritz does but it is a program that has enough features and depth that it can grow with you as you get better. As of Dec 2008, its probably the best iPhone chess app.

First of all, if youre looking for internet play, youll need to look elsewhere. There is none here. Good options are Chess With Friends for turn based and Cyber Chess for FICS and ICC servers.

Before purchasing this game, I was considering between Chess Genius, Caissa Chess and Deep Green.

Deep Green:
People raved about Deep Greens interface and it certainly looks good but it seemed too simple to me. eg. You cant see a move list, doesnt show the name of the opening. It could be fine for a casual player who doesnt want to spend $10 on an app.

Caissa Chess
Completely different from Deep Green, with a ton of features, at least on paper. Unfortunately, theres not a lot of information available online about how some of the extra features work. eg. it says there are puzzles available but some reviews said there werent any. I was interested in the play by email feature but again, couldnt find any info from their website about how exactly this worked. Caissas cheaper but there were also quite a number of negative reviews, reports of problems and crashes. The user interface looks less polished than either Deep Green or Chess Genius.

In the end, it seemed worth it to spend a little more on Chess Genius.

Heres what I like about Chess Genius:
- starts very quickly. if youre in the middle of a game when you quit, itll get you right back in it, no waiting for splash screens or clicking on resume game.
- nice clean interface
- has a move list. landscape mode shows a more complete move list
- tells you the name of the opening
- many difficulty levels. im not an absolute beginner but the computer seems quite beatable on the easiest level and of course the hardest levels are grandmaster level.
- optional blunder alert will warn you when you make a bad move
- export your game via email
- import pgn files (only Caissa and Chess Genius have this function)
- next best move feature is really nice when you want the computer to follow a particular line of play.

Possible bug:
- next best move feature is sometimes not available in the menu. eg if you take back some moves, start playing again, you can no longer choose next best move after the computer moves.

Things that could be improved:
- separate the playing level from the time controls. eg. I cant choose to play a 1 min blitz game against an easier computer opponent
- more time control options. eg. play a 30 min game, 45 secs increment. this is useful in a two player game and also to train yourself, even if the computer opponent doesnt need or use that time.
- some kind of optional alert when a player has run out of time. there could be a one-time popup saying "White player has run out of time" but then let the game continue after that like it currently does.
- option to disable auto screen off. this is good when you need time to think and want to still see the board.
- option to show captured pieces. Could be tiny icons in the bottom right corner of the screen or bigger icons when the move list is off. or maybe show captured pieces in landscape mode where theres more space.
- an optional display of the algebraic coordinates of the chess board, maybe along the left and bottom sides of the board like Caissa Chess. this would be helpful for beginners.
- option to turn off the move list for those times when you want a super basic interface like Deep Green.
- when playing in two player mode, an option to auto-flip the board after each move.
- cant access any of the extra controls in landscape mode. its a pity because you can see the expanded move list but cant make use of it and go backwards and forwards to review a game.
- maybe something that lists all the openings in the opening book and lets you practice them.

appmonkey about Chess Genius