I find it amazing that a past-time invented in the 15th Century can still be one of the most popular games in the World. And yet, here we have the ancient sport of chess recreated for the latest cutting-edge mobile device, the iPhone.
This free edition of iChess is a scaled-down version of the paid-app of the same name. It's very plain in its design, offering you a very simple 2D game board with rigid animation of the pieces. Luckily, you can customize the board somewhat though, with five different board designs to choose from.
You can select to play against the computer opponent with five selectable skill levels, or opt for a game against another human opponent. iChess also lets you add a clock to the game, and you get complete control of its setup. I also loved the detailed 'Statistics' section, where you can view lots of information about your game history.
Unfortunately iChess offers no help for newcomers to the game, so you'll need to swot up elsewhere if you've never played chess before. There is a handy 'Take back move' option if you do make a mistake though.
Be warned that there is an evaluation notification page that loads every time you launch iChess, and you'll need to wait a few seconds for it to disappear.
It's worth being patient though, because iChess presents a simple way to play chess for free on your iPhone.
