Best Chess Apps for Kids

Best Chess Apps
Updated: Feb, 2024
5 mins read

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Chess is one of the most helpful games to teach children.

With digital media, one of the best ways to teach chess to children is with interactive apps on mobile and tablet devices.

These chess apps should not only be enjoyable, but they should also be easy for kids to use.

This guide highlights the best chess apps for kids to download.

ChessKid

ChessKid by Chess.com is simply the best kid chess app- designed to be interactive, colorful, and easy to use.

One handy feature the ChessKid app has is the ability to create a parent account.

The parental accounts are for those who enjoy playing chess with children and teaching them while having fun together.

So, if you have to choose just one app from this list, this is your best bet.

Key Features

Play vs. Kid and Play vs. Bot: On the ChessKid app, getting a game is straightforward. Your child can play against bots or children of similar playing strength.
Puzzles: Your child has access to solve tactical puzzles on the app. Attempting puzzles is a helpful way to learn.
Lessons: ChessKid has interactive chess lessons for your kids to learn from. They are highly interactive and fun to follow.
Videos: This feature on the ChessKid app lets your kid watch educational chess videos on ChessTV. Chess personalities like Fide Master Mike and others are always a pleasure to follow, even for adults.

Overall, ChessKid has been built with features that can help stimulate your child’s interest in chess and cultivate a good playing habit for any child.

Play Magnus- Play Chess

Play Magnus- Play Chess has been a top kids app for a few years.

It is one of several apps from the Play Magnus group of companies.

The app simulates how the world chess champion (Magnus Carlsen) plays.

Your kid can choose to play him in different age brackets.

I recommend this app because it helps stimulate your kids and motivates them to improve at chess by playing the world champion.

In addition, your kid has the option of playing several other players, like Judit Polgar- the former women’s champion, and Wesley So.

Key Features

Challenging elements: Playing chess with experts like Judit Polgar and Magnus Carlsen is a delightful experience for kids who love challenges.
Motivational and training elements: The Play Magnus app has a dedicated feature that allows children to learn chess concepts from Magnus. The app also motivates them to keep playing and enjoy chess.

Play Magnus- Play chess is simply for kids who love challenges.

ChessCraft

The ChessCraft app is a blend of simplicity and interactive chess play.

It’s the app your kid needs if they want to play chess in its purest form.

The adventure mode on ChessCraft is interactive and has enjoyable modes for any child. It’s a good twist on classical chess for kids up for an adventure.

Key Features

Adventure mode: This is the highlight feature of the ChessCraft app. Children can move through a map and progress by completing various chess challenges.
Play online or against a computer: The option to play online or offline is useful.
Set up positions: This feature is important if your kids want to set up specific positions to play from.

Because of its unique features and interactive design, ChessCraft is another app to introduce to your chess-playing kid.

Chess for Kids- Learn and Play by ChessMatec

Chess for Kids is another interactive and fun-to-play chess app.

It teaches the basics of chess with the most fun illustrations and animations.

Aside from learning through courses, children can play chess games and have adventures with splendid music and sound effects.

The premium version also has more features, like puzzles, a dashboard, and the ability to play on various devices.

Key Features

Great for learning: The Chess for Kids app has perhaps the most interactive and unique learning features. Children can practice mating patterns and tactics in a lively manner.
Play chess: This lets your child play standard chess with a chess board and pieces that come to life.
Space Adventures: This is another fun variant available on the Chess for Kids app. This fun variant merges chess foundations in the most enjoyable way I have ever seen.

It isn’t far-fetched to state that the ChessMatec app is another must-see app for any parent looking for great chess apps for their kids.

Chess Adventure for Kids

The Chess.com brand has the best collection of children’s chess apps available.

Chess Adventure for Kids is the second app from Chess.com featured on this list.

The app is an interactive adventure-based app to learn and play chess.

The good part is the arts and characters that children can interact with. It makes the whole experience exciting for any kid.

Key Features

Adventures-based Play: On the app, kids can embark on adventures and quests. They can play against other kids or bosses who are stronger bots.

This adds a sense of thrill to the learning process, engaging them to have fun while playing chess.

Puzzles: They can solve puzzles for coins. Chess Adventure for Kids has an incentive-based puzzle-solving system.
Social Features: The app allows players to add friends and interact with the game world by buying items from a shop.

Chess Adventure for Kids should be on your radar of chess apps to try out for your kid.

Learn Chess with Dr. Wolf

Already, the simplicity and usefulness of this app is in its name. Dr. Wolf aims to teach you and your kids how to play chess.

Although the best part of what it offers is behind a paywall, it’s one of the best chess apps once you pay for the complete package.

It’s important to mention that Dr. Wolf is more suited for older kids when they get stronger.

Key Features

Play with Dr. Wolf: Your kid can choose the various strengths of Dr. Wolf to play with.
Lesson and Train from Positions: Dr. Wolf teaches chess concepts, and you can select several topics to learn.

Overall, Learn Chess with Dr. Wolf is another addition to the various chess apps available for kids.

Notable Mentions

There are some other kid chess apps we think are great and you can check them.