Comparison

Encyclopedia 3 by Informant vs ChessBase Mobile Chess

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Encyclopedia 3 by Informant

This educational tool offers systematic chess training with advanced-level combinations for players rated 2400 ELO. It provides interactive lessons, hints, and explanations to improve tactical skills and game knowledge. The app challenges users consistently, unveiling new intricacies as they master specific tactics.

Highlights
  • Advanced level chess combinations
  • Systematic training by theme
  • Interactive theoretical lessons
  • Hints and refutations for mistakes
  • Play positions against computer
  • Monitors ELO rating changes
  • Offline functionality
Features
Read full description

Encyclopedia of Chess Combinations vol. 3 (ECC vol. 3) is the ultimate educational tool with systematic, carefully selected content for player with ELO 2400. The material is based on the latest edition of the eponymous bestselling book released by Chess Informant. This volume contains chess combination of Advanced Level (ELO 2400) 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

About

ChessBase Mobile Chess

Access a vast chess game database, save and analyze your own games, and practice openings. This app offers advanced notation and sharing features, with a free tier and optional premium upgrades for more extensive cloud storage and search capabilities.

Highlights
  • Access 13+ million chess games
  • Save and sync personal game databases
  • Analyze games with built-in engine
  • Live opening book statistics
  • Create and practice opening repertoires
  • Advanced game notation and sharing
  • PGN file compatibility
Features
Read full description

ChessBase Mobile is the training, playing, and analysis platform for chess players who track their progress by the numbers. ChessBase Mobile is built by ChessBase, the company behind the standard desktop software used by world champions and club players alike for over 30 years. Solve tactics puzzles rated by difficulty and watch your Elo rise or fall with every attempt. No participation trophies, your rating reflects exactly where you stand. The tactics database draws from positions in real games, not synthetic exercises, so the patterns you train are the patterns you encounter at the board. Puzzle Fight puts you head-to-head against another player in a timed series of 24 tactical positions. Both players solve the same puzzles simultaneously. The one who solves more, faster, wins - and gains Elo. Structured competition, not a casual minigame. Play live games in Blitz and Rapid formats against opponents worldwide. Premove support, legal moves shown as you pick up a piece, clean interface, no clutter. Follow live tournaments as they happen: standings, schedules and player profiles, grouped into current, upcoming and finished events. Watch games live with engine analysis and an evaluation bar. The ChessBase Online Database contains over 14 million games. Search by player, position or opening, and filter by correspondence, classical, rapid or blitz. Review grandmaster games, study endgame structures, track opening trends - the same database used by professionals, accessible from your phone. Cloud analysis with several engines, including Fritz and Lc0. Engines included in your membership are marked as Included. For deeper analysis, scalable cloud servers are available, from Large to Gargantuan, paid per minute in ducats. Lc0 brings neural network evaluation for positions where classical engines struggle. The engine panel shows evaluation, depth, and principal variation. Build and maintain your opening repertoire in the cloud. 300 opening overviews with repertoire suggestions help you get started with new systems. A live opening book provides up-to-date statistics for every position. Three practice modes let you drill your variations until they stick. Annotate your games with comments, symbols, variations, arrows, and markings. Save games and analyses in cloud databases that synchronise across all your devices. Share positions and games via link, image, GIF, FEN, QR code, or PGN. Upload and download PGN files for full compatibility with desktop software. AI Kibitzer provides live commentary during games and puzzles with personality. Chess-legend anecdotes, opinions, the occasional bad joke. Like a friend with too much chess trivia sitting next to you. Audio output included. Available in 27 languages. Customisable board colours, piece sets, and notation display. Light and dark mode across all screens, or set to follow your device preference. No ads. No energy systems. No artificial gating. Open the app, train, close the app. Free to use, all functions are available at no cost. ChessBase Premium unlocks expanded cloud storage and unlimited database search results. Free: search the online database (max 50 games displayed), up to 10 cloud databases (10 MB total), cloud clipping for up to 10 games. Premium: unlimited database search, up to 200 cloud databases (500 MB total), cloud clipping for up to 400 games. Privacy policy: https://en.chessbase.com/pages/security Terms of use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Encyclopedia 3 by Informant4 screens
ChessBase Mobile Chess4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Encyclopedia 3 by Informant at 100% against ChessBase Mobile Chess's 41%. Encyclopedia 3 by Informant also leads on rating (4.9 vs 2.9) and monetization model (free vs freemium). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and ads 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Encyclopedia 3 by Informant sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and ChessBase Mobile Chess sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Encyclopedia 3 by Informant holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 2.9. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 17 and 18 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of Encyclopedia 3 by Informant's written reviews are positive against 41% of ChessBase Mobile Chess's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on November 4, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Encyclopedia 3 by Informant versus ChessBase Mobile Chess: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterEncyclopedia 3 by InformantChessBase Mobile Chess
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (17 ratings) — better2.9 (18 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better40.6% of reviews
Number of ratings1718 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS8.0 — better15.6
Further details — not scored
Size44 MB1 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperChess KingChessBase GmbH

Customer experience

Encyclopedia 3 by Informant

All ratings17 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

ChessBase Mobile Chess

All ratings18 ratings
Positive44.4%
Neutral5.6%
Negative50.0%
Written reviews32 reviews
Positive40.6%
Neutral0.0%
Negative59.4%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Encyclopedia 3 by Informant

One-time1
  • Full Course$9.99
1 purchases

ChessBase Mobile Chess

Subscriptions1
  • ChessBase Premium (Monthly)$3.991 Month

Questions

Is Encyclopedia 3 by Informant free?
Encyclopedia 3 by Informant is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is ChessBase Mobile Chess free?
ChessBase Mobile Chess is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Encyclopedia 3 by Informant or ChessBase Mobile Chess?
Encyclopedia 3 by Informant is rated higher. Encyclopedia 3 by Informant averages 4.9 out of 5 from 17 ratings, while ChessBase Mobile Chess averages 2.9 from 18 ratings.
Do Encyclopedia 3 by Informant or ChessBase Mobile Chess have ads?
Neither Encyclopedia 3 by Informant nor ChessBase Mobile Chess shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Encyclopedia 3 by Informant or ChessBase Mobile Chess?
Encyclopedia 3 by Informant ships an update every 3 months, and ChessBase Mobile Chess every 3 months. Most recently, Encyclopedia 3 by Informant was updated on November 4, 2026 and ChessBase Mobile Chess on November 5, 2026.

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