Mate in 2 Chess Puzzles App Reviews

Well done!

I like this app quite a bit. When ever I am bored I find myself testing myself against these puzzles instead apps that waste my time.

fun to pass the time away, though!

But very fun, and it feels good when you finally figure a puzzle out.

Updated Review: May 7th, 2013 Reduce stars for no way to play and check alternative answers. I had thought that this program wasnt good. I couldnt solve many of the puzzles and had thought that they were wrong. Puzzle # 17 is a good example of this situation. I spent many hours on it till I set it up on chessgenius where it was solved it in 3 moves. BUT CHESSGENIUS WAS WRONG! The problem is that there are multiple solutions, but they are nevertheless all really mate in 2 moves. I found this out after the programs was updated and the author added a hint/solution option that was surely needed. After the first move, the second move can be multiple move depending on what the computer does. But it will ALWAYS be mate in 2. If they didnt add the hint button I would have never discovered this. So, many cudos and nuff respect to a great chess puzzle program. Everything thing else about the program is good. I like how it has the option to look like a real chess board. It doesnt look cheap. I give maximum stars for the effert that went into creating it. And sorry for my former negative review. Well that new hint button made the difference.

Excellent - very well done

Early puzzles are easy and then the end of the puzzles are very hard and they dont give you the answers and you cant move on so you get stuck

.

I was afraid this one was going to be full of trivial puzzles. Instead it has turned out to be quite fun and challenging.

More clever, fun puzzles than I could ever solve! Once you get past the handful of "easy" problems, you get into the really clever, brilliant, fun puzzles – ones that might well take you an hour to solve. I think there are something like 1000 puzzles…? I am pretty sure there are more than I could ever do, and theyre good ones too! There is one small feature that this app sorely needs: the ability to just freely move the chess pieces yourself. Part of why it is so hard to figure out how white can mate black in 2 moves is that you cant try a white move, and then try blacks various responses for yourself. You can try a white move, and then the app will make blacks move – presumably blacks best possible move – but thats not the same effect, since it can lead to you accidentally "solving" a puzzle when you just meant to try out a theory. If they could fix that – maybe by offering a Sandbox button, where you can then move the pieces freely – this app would probably be worth $5. But still, 1000 clever chess puzzles for $1 easily deserves a 5-star rating! Additional note: I dont know why someone said the app wont give you the answers, because it will if you click the Hint button.

very challenging and enjoyable

The puzzles are hard for a newbie like me, but I like it! :)

Great app, with an extensive selection of puzzles!

Very enjoyable chess puzzles.

I am very much an amateur, and I have not been able to solve any of the 20 problems I have worked on so far without using the hints. However, I very much enjoy studying the positions and trying to figure out how they work and why the opponents make the moves they do. It is very engaging, and I hope educational, to go back over them several times I dont know if the exercises will improve my playing, but I do know that they greatly increase my appreciation for the game and my respect for the masters. The graphics are excellent with nice options as to colors and styles, it is easy to retrace ones moves, the clock is unobtrusive, the hint button allows choosing the degree of help desired, and everything works smoothly and quickly (except for the occasional crash). I have solved all of the problems in Mate in One; they are merely entertaining and a nice ego boost, some rather clever given the parameter of leaving just a single move to consummate checkmate. If I end up getting Mate in Three, it will no doubt be to just sit back and enjoy the elegance of watching how the moves are made. Without doubt, these apps are worth much more than the measly buck they cost.

Mate in two has 1200 problems from very basic to incomprehensible. It is one of the few apps that has migrated from my old iPad (along h Star Walk and Periodic Table of the Elements) and that I still use. As a very inexpert chess player I cant comment on the accuracy of the puzzles and their provenance. It looks like a lot of them come from old journals. At any rate they are entertaining and do a pretty good job of demonstrating pins, revealed check, sacrificing the queen, etc. Beats the heck out of sudoku. Highly recommended.

Lots and lots of puzzles with nice graphics.

Solid puzzles. Some are intermediate others advanced. Whats weird is how the App sometimes skips a puzzle when going to the next one.

As a beginner, I bought this game to practice. The scenarios are unrealistic. In a lot of these the solution requires a move that doesnt make sense, but just happens to invoke the right response from the AI.it kinda felt like i was looking for the one random move that caused the AI to malfunction. Dont buy this for practice

1,200 puzzles of varying difficulty. Fantastic training. Must-buy if you want to get better at chess.