# Fichess - Online Chess — Unofficial client for FICS

> Unofficial client for FICS (iPhone/iPad app by Thomas Casali.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/fichess-online-chess/id6761561513 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Thomas Casali](https://appshunter.io/developer/1878584489)
- Category: Games, Entertainment, Board, Strategy
- Price: Free
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 14.0 · 26 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2026-07-29
- Data updated: 2026-07-31
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/fichess-online-chess/id6761561513/reviews.md

## What is Fichess?

Fichess is an online chess client that connects to the Free Internet Chess Server (FICS, freechess.org), one of the longest-running free chess communities on the internet, active since 1995. A modern, mobile-first interface for real-time games against human opponents worldwide.

REAL-TIME GAMES
- Rated and unrated games against real players on FICS
- Blitz, bullet, standard: choose your pace
- Create custom games or accept challenges from the list
- Watch other players' games live

PREMIUM CHESSBOARD
- Natural drag & drop with finger offset
- Legal move indicators (dots and rings)
- Premove for fast play
- 7 board themes: Classic, Blue, Green, Marble, Tournament, Elegant, High Contrast
- 3 piece sets: Cburnett, Merida, Unicode
- Last move and check highlights
- Promotion with piece choice or auto-queen

FULL FEATURES
- Sign in with your FICS account or play as a guest, no registration needed
- Lobby with available games list and filters
- Real-time countdown clocks
- Move list with back/forward navigation
- Chat: private messages, FICS channels, global shout, kibitz and whisper
- Player profile with stats, ratings and trend chart
- Full game history stored on device, with replay
- Export/import your history as JSON, or a single game as PGN
- Online players list with quick challenge
- Network lag compensation
- Rematch and takeback

STABLE CONNECTION
- Automatic keep-alive for an always-on connection to FICS
- Auto-reconnect on disconnection
- Lag compensation for fair clocks even on slow networks

PRIVACY AND SIMPLICITY
- No advertising
- No in-app purchases
- No subscriptions
- No data collected by the developer

Fichess is an independent, unofficial client and is not affiliated with or endorsed by FICS or the operators of freechess.org. Play instantly as a guest, or create a free account on freechess.org from within the app.

Feedback: casali.thomas@gmail.com


## Version history (last 2 releases)

### 2.3.1 — 2026-07-30

- The "Rate the app" button now opens the App Store review page directly
- The GitHub link now opens the app's public page, with the privacy policy, terms of use and support guide

### 2.3.0 — 2026-07-29

No release notes.

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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 2026-07-31.*