Encyclopedia 2 by Informant vs Openings Mastermind
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Encyclopedia 2 by Informant
This educational tool offers systematic chess training with intermediate-level combinations sorted by theme. It provides interactive lessons, hints, and explanations to help players improve their tactical skills and understanding of the game.
- Systematic chess combinations
- Intermediate level training (ELO 2200)
- Themed sorting of tactics
- Interactive theoretical lessons
- Hints and mistake refutations
- Play against computer
- Rating monitoring
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Encyclopedia of Chess Combinations vol. 2 (ECC vol. 2) is the ultimate educational tool with systematic, carefully selected content for player with ELO 2200. The material is based on the latest edition of the eponymous bestselling book released by Chess Informant. This volume contains chess combination of Intermediate Level (ELO 2200) for solving, all hand-picked and sorted by theme to provide the most exciting and efficient training experience possible! Unlike disorganized, basic tactics you can learn all over the Internet, this Chess Sphinx will challenge you consistently and systematically, unveiling new intricacies right when you decide you have mastered that particular tactic. This course is in the series Chess King Learn (https://learn.chessking.com/), which is an unprecedented chess teaching method. In the series are included courses in tactics, strategy, openings, middle game, and endgame, split by levels from beginners to experienced players, and even professional players. With the help of this course, you can improve your chess knowledge, learn new tactical tricks and combinations, and consolidate the acquired knowledge into practice. The program acts as a coach who gives tasks to solve and helps to solve them if you get stuck. It will give you hints, explanations and show you even striking refutation of the mistakes you might make. The program also contains a theoretical section, which explains the methods of the game in a certain stage of the game, based on actual examples. The theory is presented in an interactive way, which means you can not only read the text of the lessons, but also to make moves on the board and work out unclear moves on the board. Advantages of the program: • High quality examples, all double-checked for correctness • You need to enter all key moves, required by the teacher • Different levels of complexity of the tasks • Various goals, which need to be reached in the problems • The program gives hint if an error is made • For typical mistaken moves, the refutation is shown • You can play out any position of the tasks against the computer • Interactive theoretical lessons • Structured table of contents • The program monitors the change in the rating (ELO) of the player during the learning process • Test mode with flexible settings • Possibility to bookmark favorite exercises • The application is adapted to the bigger screen of a tablet • The application does not require an internet connection The course includes a free part, in which you can test the program. Lessons offered in the free version is fully functional. They allow you to test the application in real world conditions before releasing the following topics: 1. Annihilation of defence 2. Blockade 3. Clearance 4. Deflection 5. Discovered attack 6. Pinning 7. Demolition of pawn structure 8. Decoy 9. Interference 10. Double attack
Openings Mastermind
Master chess openings with this app. Import studies, explore with advanced engines, and practice specific lines through repetition. Track your progress and improve your game.
- Import Lichess Studies or PGNs
- Explore openings with Stockfish 15
- Practice openings by repetition
- Smart practice queue
- Track learning progress
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Get ready to take your chess game to the next level with Openings Mastermind, the ultimate chess opening app! Some of the features include: - Import Lichess Studies or custom PGNs - Explore openings with Stockfish 17 and the Lichess position database - Practice openings by repetition against your own custom openings database - Take advantage of the smart practice queue and improve your learning - Observe your learning progress in different openings With our app, you can take your opening game to the next level by practicing against the specific lines you want to master. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced player, our app is the perfect tool to help you improve your opening moves and become a better chess player. Planned Features: - Continue against engine, after study line ends - Analysis of your games from Lichess and Chess.com compared to your openings database
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Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Encyclopedia 2 by Informant at 100% against Openings Mastermind's 50%. Encyclopedia 2 by Informant also leads on rating (4.9 vs 4.3) and iOS requirement (8.0 vs 18.6). Openings Mastermind's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 4 months). On price, ratings volume, ads and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Encyclopedia 2 by Informant sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Openings Mastermind asks for nothing beyond the download.
Encyclopedia 2 by Informant holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 15 and 6 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of Encyclopedia 2 by Informant's written reviews are positive against 50% of Openings Mastermind's.
Encyclopedia 2 by Informant ships an update every 4 months, Openings Mastermind fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Encyclopedia 2 by Informant | Openings Mastermind |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.9 (15 ratings) — better | 4.3 (6 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better | 50.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 15 — better | 6 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 8.0 — better | 18.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 44 MB | 88 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Chess King | Christian Heise |
Customer experience
Encyclopedia 2 by Informant
Openings Mastermind
In-app purchases
Encyclopedia 2 by Informant
- Full Course$9.99
Openings Mastermind
No in-app purchases
Questions
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