# Diamond Chess Online — Online or Computer Play

> Online and offline chess game with variants, opening explorer, and analysis. (iPhone/iPad app by Michael Adams.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/diamond-chess-online/id1496131224 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Michael Adams](https://appshunter.io/developer/743520896)
- Category: Games, Board
- Price: Free
- Rating: 5.00/5 from 5 App Store ratings · 8 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 9.0 · 68 MB
- Languages: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish
- Released: 2020-02-28
- Data updated: 2026-07-07
- Monetization: free
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/diamond-chess-online/id1496131224/reviews.md

## What is Diamond Chess Online?

Play chess online at FICS, the worlds oldest chess serve, play the Pulsar Engine on or offline with chess and variants like Chess960 with levels, and use the Explorer with an opening tree book based on 640k over the board games and analysis which also works offline. There is In-App help. For online play, if no account, use the Connect as Guest button to play unrated. FICS accounts are life time free accounts. Diamond supports Dark Mode and has no ads.

The On-Board program with difficulty levels available on and offline plays Chess, Chess960, and variants such as Crazyhouse, Losers and Atomic.

The Explorer Tab which works offline or online with certain restrictions while playing, offers an Opening Tree based on 640K over the board games were both players are rated over 2300. The move table view can be toggled to show analysis and PGN games including the players log file can be loaded. Openings are named after a few moves are made. There are 10 PGN game collections available in app that include Morphy 1858, Fischer’s best games, a Capablanca and Kasparov collection, and a range of game collections from classical too modern to be viewed with the opening book and analysis, on and offline.

Guests can play on FICS unrated, and watch games. FICS is the original Free Internet Chess Server, and a sign up link is given in the console when connecting to both servers as a guest as a resource if a user wants to play rated or chat. Guests and members can use the Training tab of Find a Game Board Option.

The Diamond board features engine analysis with one click when observing a game or examining one, such as when going to Actions - Examine last game. There is also has a Load PGN option which includes some grandmaster game collections that can be opened on FICS board as well as in Explorer. Diamond saves all played games. Multiple games can be up at once, with navigation through the next and previous buttons.

Diamond has chess and the server's variants such as Chess960, a form of shuffle chess known as wild fr on FICS, Crazyhouse, Losers, Atomic, and Giveaway or Suicide. Guests can play any unrated game type.

Diamond Chess has an accessible board to use with Voice Over for the visually impaired. With voice over on, if a user taps a square it will speak its contents such as "e4 empty" or "e4 white pawn" and there is a speak move with Voice Over on.

Members on FICS can join channels and chat with players online in the Diamond's Main View by tapping the Channels button. In Shouts on FICS there is also blikII, an AI bot who responds to his name. His last response to me was "blikII(TD) shouts: I appoint you ambassador to Fantasy Island!!!". The in-app help in this view has more tips on how to chat including a guide on which channels chat more.

 FICS, the Free Internet Chess Server, is entirely free.

## Key features

- Online and offline play
- Multiple chess variants (Chess960, Crazyhouse, etc.)
- Opening explorer with game database
- Engine analysis
- Accessible board for visually impaired
- Save and review played games

## Recent user reviews (8 of 8)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/diamond-chess-online/id1496131224/reviews.md

### 4/5 — My preferred Chess GUI

*2025-10-05*

I’ve been using Diamond Chess for years on my Mac, and have found the developer very responsive.  Recommended!

### 5/5 — Fantastic chess app

*2024-07-04*

1) Sign up for free on FICS 

2) login on the app. 

3) enjoy!

Between this app, SmallFish, and Chesstree, I feel like there’s a fresh start with playing chess electronically. I got sick of the bloat of chess dotcom and the politics of Lichess. Here, I can final,y be back to basics. FICS is a lot of fun, and is a great way to keep playing chess.

### 5/5 — Diamond chess online

*2023-07-29*

The one I use for internet chess. User friendly and works great with a Mac, for whom some sites do not have many interfaces.

### 5/5 — Awesome.

*2023-02-20*

Was very happy to find this app in the store. I appreciate the dev making this free with no ads. Too kind ✌️

### 4/5 — Very complete Fics/ICC interface.

*2021-01-03*

Unlike most mobile FICS/ICC interfaces this has a console, which is key to exploiting the servers full features. Necessary for any serious FICS interface, in my opinion. A list of sought games would be nice and when I set seeks ro ‘1’ I don’t see them in the console for some reason? Otherwise very full featured app for serious online chess players!

**Developer response:** Thanks for your review.  The seeks are going to a seek graph. You can get to it by going to the board's option button at top then "Find a game"

### 1/5 — Too complex , definitely not user-friendly, and poor support, if any

*2020-10-21*

First of all you have to meet all the help files in order to get a game rather than having simple commands as part of the interface to obtain a game. I’ve tried four times to get a game as a guest and each time when someone responded it was immediately aborted. The server window gave two different sources to contact for help via a tell. This was at about 11 AM central time; So there should’ve been someone “on duty” 
Both help sources were not available, to answer my question why were my games aborted. And when I did put it in the command to find out how many people were seeking games, there were only three. Clearly this is not a popular interface...
Don’t bother with this interface unless you have a lot of time to figure it out... moreover there doesn’t seem to be help responders available... not sure if I can give this app zero stars so I just give it one

**Developer response:** Board has two menu buttons and on Options there is Find a game which has a seek graph and a graphical seek a game view. Sorry you had a bad experience. I'd encourage you to try it again and also my other app, lantern chess interface to icc, which people can see if they go to my other apps on app store page, also totally failed you, as you said and you could not move the pieces.  I'd encourage you to try that again.

### 4/5 — Takes some getting used to...

*2020-05-09*

Takes some getting used to, but once you get it configured it is not bad.

Under settings set queen promote to off or you will regret it, ought to be the default, no idea what they were thinking. while there maybe set slide pieces to on.

This app has some bugs so don’t be surprised.

### 3/5 — Too confusing

*2020-03-30*

For experienced FICS or ICC users this app may make sense but I found it confusing looking at a Linux screen and then having to figure out how to set up a game.

After developer’s response I took a second look and updated my rating from 1 to 3 stars.

**Developer response:** wanted to reply again since i deleted my original response after things worked better, that i'm glad it improved second try and wanted to remind everyone we have a lot of getting a game options if you go to board's option menu and the apps presentation on first use has been updated in reflect this.

## Frequently asked questions about Diamond Chess Online

### Does Diamond Chess Online have ads?

No, Diamond Chess Online is ad-free, allowing for an uninterrupted gaming experience.

### Can I play Diamond Chess Online offline?

Yes, you can play against the Pulsar Engine and use the Explorer offline. Online play requires an internet connection.

### What chess variants does Diamond Chess Online support?

Diamond Chess Online supports Chess960, Crazyhouse, Losers, Atomic, and Giveaway/Suicide variants, in addition to standard chess.

### Is Diamond Chess Online free to play?

Yes, Diamond Chess Online is completely free to download and play. The FICS server accounts are also free.

### How does Diamond Chess Online help visually impaired players?

The app features an accessible board that works with Voice Over, speaking square contents and moves to assist visually impaired users.

### What is the Explorer feature in Diamond Chess Online?

The Explorer is an offline feature that provides an opening tree based on over 640,000 rated games, allowing for analysis and study of openings.

### Can I play rated games on Diamond Chess Online?

You can play unrated games as a guest on FICS. For rated games, you can sign up for a free FICS account via the provided link.

### How often is Diamond Chess Online updated?

The latest version is 2.20, last updated on August 29, 2025, indicating active development and regular updates.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 2.20 — 2025-08-29

Increased explorer opening book database by 295k games

### 2.10 — 2025-08-11

The on-board engine, Pulsar Chess, now writes the log of chess games in standard PGN format to be open by more apps if exported

### 2.03 — 2024-09-06

Removed the ICC connection option now that ICC has moved to a new format and no longer supports third party clients.

### 2.02 — 2024-05-07

Fix for threading issue with move animation that could cause flickering on some devices

### 2.01 — 2024-05-05

Fix for bug in new animate moves feature that it was not saving the value for that setting between runs of app.

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## More apps by Michael Adams

- [Lantern Chess - ICC Online](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/lantern-chess-icc-online/id743520893)
- [Pulsar Chess Engine](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pulsar-chess-engine/id839640447)
- [OpeningTree - Chess Openings](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/openingtree-chess-openings/id882614935)
- [Astrology Charts Mars & More](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/astrology-charts-mars-and-more/id1615627889)
- [Crocodile Math Speed Quiz](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/crocodile-math-speed-quiz/id6740887531)

All apps by Michael Adams: https://appshunter.io/developer/743520896

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-07-07.*