“This is a garbage game. There is a cosmetic item that cost $980, to win this item with gameplay would take 2.5 years of perfect games. The free version has so many ads that it is unplayable. Pop-up ads start in the middle of a game and…”
Independent automated assessment · 6 signal sources · 495 reviews scanned · analyzed 2026-10-04.
4.7 ★115,632 ratings
10M+Downloads
4+Age rating
—App size
Free · In-app purchasesIn-app purchases
About this app
Want to play and learn chess for free? Chess Universe is the #1 place for learning and playing chess. Here you can enjoy free unlimited chess games online or offline.
Play chess online with your friends or challenge top players from the leaderboard. Learn chess for free with the most advanced tools. Sharpen your tactics, strategy, memory, and logical thinking.
With our latest chess app, you can enhance your skills from beginner to master. Review your games, analyze key moves, and elevate your chess proficiency. Improve while solving engaging chess puzzles created by Grandmasters and expert trainers.
🔥NEW MAJOR UPDATE IN 2025 – ISLAND ADVENTURES IN PLAY VS COMPUTER!
Your chess adventure just got a massive upgrade! Play vs Computer now takes you beyond standard matches into a world of exploration and rewards.…
Preview
Real screenshots from the store listing.
Independent evidence report
The evidence behind this assessment
This is where the page changes from an app-store listing into an evidence report: findings, important reviews, pricing and a dated history.
Which version this describes
When we ran this analysis, and what the store lists now.
This analysis describes version 1.27.6 of the app (the version number recorded inside the package we inspected), analyzed 2026-10-04 . The app may have changed since.
The store currently lists version 1.27.6, updated 2026-07-22.
What we measured
Each line is a measurement published as a measurement, never a verdict.
Each line is a measurement, published as a measurement. Where we have not looked, the line says so rather than reading as a zero.
Developer replies to reviews
Replies to at least 1 review in 20
Price in the store description
States no price and billing period
Cancelling, in the store description
Does not say how to cancel
Themes reported by reviewers
1 theme reported
Counted from the reviews we have read for this app. "No theme reported" means no theme reached our reporting threshold — it is not a finding that nothing is wrong with this app, and we do not say it is.
Five-star share of ratings
80–89% five-star
Arithmetic on the stores' own published rating counts. It says nothing about why the ratings fall where they do.
In the package we scanned
From the package we downloaded and read — version 1.27.6, scanned 2026-09-12.
Permissions Android classifies as dangerous
None requested
Counted against the eighteen permissions listed in collect-package.ts. A dangerous permission is one Android asks the user to grant; requesting one is not itself a finding.
Analytics or tracking SDKs in the scanned package
1–2 found
Advertising SDKs in the scanned package
10 or more found
Counted as distinct SDKs in the package we scanned. One mediation bundle can contribute several, so this is not a count of advertisers.
Graded bands · predicate set 1.4 · how these are measured
What the analysis found
App-specific findings, grouped by what each one rests on. How they are graded lives on its own page.
The catch list 1
Charges we publish at a strength we stand behind: measured from an artefact, agreed by independent sources, or reported by enough users to clear that charge's own published bar.
Multiple ad networks bundled
The package embeds several distinct advertising or mediation SDKs — a stack built for ad volume, not for a single house ad.
What we saw: Bundles 16 distinct ad networks / mediation SDKs: Amazon Publisher Services, AppLovin MAX, BidMachine, Chartboost and 12 more
Positive evidence 1
Things this app does right, published at the same strengths as the catch list.
Developer says data deletion can be requested
The developer's data-safety disclosure on the store states that users can request deletion of their data, or the app's own text offers a way to delete the account. This restates what the developer declares; it is not a test of whether deletion works. Apple publishes no equivalent disclosure, so on an Apple-only listing only the app's own text can support it.
What we saw: The developer's store data-safety disclosure states that data deletion can be requested; we have not seen a deletion control in the app's own text
One source only — shown, not confirmed 1
A single kind of evidence. We publish these because withholding them would be the bigger distortion, and we do not treat any of them as a finding we stand behind.
Reported by users: Aggressive ad load
Advertising volume or placement that interrupts normal use: ads between every action, unskippable or forced full-screen ads.
What we saw: Aggressive ad load: raised by 17 distinct reviewers (3.4% of 495 reviews scanned)
Highlighted reviews
Representative public review excerpts shown as user reports, not Appworthy audit evidence.
“Great chess app but the price to remove ads being 60 dollars a year is absolutely ridiculous. 1/5 just for that honestly just shows the creators of this app are extremely greedy individuals.”
“played a while, got to the top in my country, reasonably high world wide. the problem with this app is there are not enough players and too many ads. pretty much after every game, you get 1-2 ads. if this were the only "free" chess app…”
Assessment & version history
App changes and Appworthy events in one timeline.
Store listing updated to version 1.27.6.
What this app sells
Useful store-disclosed pricing, kept below the app listing.
Items shown0
Lowest—
Highest—
Google Play does not publish per-purchase prices.