SmallChess Pro Reviews – Page 4
5/5 rating based on 50 reviews. Read all reviews for SmallChess Pro for iPhone.
SmallChess Pro is paid iOS app published by Ted Wong
Small Chess app.
T0M. A.
Great app, nice graphics. It's so nice to have world champion training parter in your pocket:)
Needs work
edwardsx
When you load a .pgn file you can not view the board from blacks perspective. It is the only program that I have found that can handle .pgn files with more than one game in the file.
Great chess app that crashes now
Mattiedaddy
Smallchess is a wonderful app but something has been done to it in the latest update. The app crashes the moment you start to play. Other reviewers are saying it's because entering training mode. I'm not sure one way or the other. The developer just needs to fix this great app so it works again and then it will be 5 star. For now. Hold off downloading until it's fixed. Addendum: The app has been updated several months ago and that crashing issue seems to be fixed. The program is fabulous and the pro version is well worth the $. As a great bonus, FICS access was added but it’s somewhat limited. I was wondering if the developer had any intention of expanding the FICS access to “observe” games outside the preset Elo range of ~1700-1900 and give access to the FICS console like coreChess App does. The reason I say this is because the graphical interface on smallchess is far superior to the visuals of the board and chess pieces on coreChess. So if the developer improves the FICS access Smallchess would be the best overall chess app in the App Store. It would be fantastic to play on and would be the best FICS app in the App Store as well. I hope he does it. Addendum 2: The developer added a feature called blunder check in his SmallFish app. The feature is a GREAT way to have the engine review your games and point out your mistakes!! I really really hope he will add that feature to smallChess Pro!! Will you? And what about the flexibility improvements in FICS?
Online chess is the best feature
mmiphonex
This is my favorite chess app, and yes better than Smallfish. Lots of design features, you can import pgn games and more. Playing against the computer is fine but when you want to play online against other players, this is the go to app.
Missing one functionality
Notsuchnickiguess
This app is very close to satisfy my need except for one missing option. There are a million chess apps in App Store now, but none of them refuse to be a pure chessboard. SmallChess can load PGN file and show the set up position, what I need is the option of PUZZLE SOLVING mode that hides the moves and arrow, to be a real chessboard.
Difficult to use
richerchess
Sorry to be harsh but I bought the pro version and... had to delete it! One problem was I had no way to simply shut it off. Other chess apps have at least some way to do it. SmallChess Pro kept running in the background even when I set it to ‘play both’ and made no moves, and set my iPhone SE to NO background refresh. Both HIARCS and Stockfish at least have simple work arounds to stop them running. SmallChess pro is difficult to use compared to other chess apps.
Almost perfect
wiseachoo
Very useful chess app, one of only a couple that I turn to. The second mini analysis board is particularly awesome. My reason for not giving 5 stars? When loading a PGN with multiple games, there doesn’t appear to be a simple way to load the next game in the series with a simple tap. In my case, when following along with a book and a PGN with say 300 games within the file, it becomes hugely inefficient having to push load and manually scrolling to find the next game. If the developers are reading this review, please add this functionality or tell me if I am missing a simple way to accomplish this.
A must have iOS chess app!
comabereni
SmallChess Pro does several things better than other chess apps, if you’re looking for a chess toolbox and not just an app to play chess: 1. It saves/emails PGN files in a container file format that can be saved to Dropbox so you can open your game from anywhere, like your desktop PC, for later analysis 2. It easily, legibly, and controllably replays your games from either white or black side with adjustable speed or step by step moves with analysis 3. If you set coaching style to “none”, you can use SmallChess Pro to conveniently and quietly (i.e. without hints or analysis), record your over-the-board game with a live opponent for convenient later analysis without having to key your game by hand into a digital PGN file 4. It is one of the best freechess.org (FICS) portals I’ve used on any platform 5. The interface is extremely clean and straightforward and the graphics are crisp on my retina iPhone Recommendations: The only suggestions I have for the developer are to please build in direct PGN file save/open to Dropbox (and Google Drive) to eliminate having to email the file and save it from your inbox, and please build in the ability to add or select other chess engines to alter play and provide alternate analyses. In any case, wow what a great app! Thanks for making it! Hope to see it continue to be supported and get even better over time!
How I can do blunder check?
Xsan-21
Hi there, overall this app is great. I wonder how I can do Blunder check like in SmallFish?