App Profile: Chess Tactics Pro (Puzzles)

Shake down fandom

Rating: 5/5

I always return to this app for tactics. Probably the best engine in the store for analyzing your games. 5 stars because even with what I explain below, it is better than all the others. If I could give one improvement, it would be to report tactic bugs. I have ran into 2 out of hundreds so this is a small thing) where there was an equal move, or only worked because the wrong move was played during the sequence by the app. For instance, #50 of the easy set. The queen moving to f5 after you play the bishop capture allows you to mate with rook. A much stronger move for black would be bishop to f5, black loses the queen, but after bishop takes rook black is only down 3 points. Running the engine allows another 40 moves before a forced mate by white. Anyway, good job devs. Overall 5/5

A person83925

Rating: 4/5

A lot of the puzzles are really straight forward and good for beginner and intermediate players. What frustrates me the most about the puzzles is that several of the hard puzzles have more than one winning solution; backed by computer analysis. Sometimes you can play a move that absolutely wins, but it’s not the “best” line. Let’s be honest, if one line is +10, and I go with the line that’s +8, they’re both winning. In my mind, a puzzle should only have one “winning” solution. Additionally, there are some puzzles that are mate in x, and you can be wrong if you choose a mating line that takes more moves than the intended solution, i.e., The puzzle may be a mate in 3, but you choose a line that’s mate in 4. It really doesn’t matter. Checkmate is checkmate. I really like this app and have been using it for a long time; I don’t want my frustrations to dismiss that fact. It would beneficial (in my opinion) to introduce alternative correct moves that give the user a chance to find the best solution rather than flat out calling it wrong.

mdfynwa

Rating: 5/5

I have not encountered a better app-based tactical tool. Easy to use in spare moments (when one does not have enough time for a match). And one can spend a fair amount of time using this app and feel consistently challenged. Its navigation is perhaps not quite as fluid as it would be after some improvement. And I join others in hoping that bugs are fixed relating to scenarios when one can mate in a single move as opposed to the prescribed six, as just one of several examples. I do not write many reviews, but I do so in this instance to echo that a very, very good app could be made even better.