Comparison

DGT Chess 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

DGT Chess

Connect your physical chess board to an online platform to play against real opponents worldwide. Enjoy a focused game experience with moves displayed on your board via LED rings. Save and share your games.

Highlights
  • Connect physical board to Lichess
  • Play against 100,000+ real opponents
  • Moves displayed via LED rings on board
  • Play against Lichess AI
  • Save and share games
  • Offline 2-player mode
Read full description

DGT Chess app connects your DGT Pegasus online Chess board to the global chess community Lichess, where you can find 100.000+ real opponents. After connecting with an opponent, you can put your phone away and concentrate fully on the board. You will see your opponent’s moves via pulsing LED rings on the board. Features • Play online against a random opponent • Play online against a friend • Play against the Lichess AI • Choose between rated or unrated games • Play over the board or on touchscreen • Play an offline and traditional 2-player game • PGN creator; save, share your favorite games DGT Pegasus The first dedicated board to play online connects also to the following chess apps • White pawn • Chessconnect ABOUT DGT DGT brings the best and most innovative chess products to players around the world. We are dedicated to creating unmatched chess experiences at tournaments, chess clubs and at home. DGT designs, develops, manufactures and distributes a wide range of chess-related products worldwide, such as digital chess clocks and game timers, as well as electronic chess boards, chess computers and chess accessories.

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, clean interface, no clutter. The ChessBase Online Database contains over 14 million games. Search by player, position, or opening. 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. Basic cloud analysis with Fritz is free. 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

DGT Chess4 screens
ChessBase Mobile Chess4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: DGT Chess at 3.7 against ChessBase Mobile Chess's 2.9. DGT Chess also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 1) and update cadence (monthly vs every 6 months). ChessBase Mobile Chess's advantage is review sentiment (41% vs 22%) and ratings volume (18 vs 6). On price, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. ChessBase Mobile Chess sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $3.99 per month. DGT Chess asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

DGT Chess holds the better App Store score, 3.7 against 2.9. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 6 and 18 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 22% of DGT Chess's written reviews are positive against 41% of ChessBase Mobile Chess's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

DGT Chess ships an update monthly, ChessBase Mobile Chess every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
DGT Chess versus ChessBase Mobile Chess: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDGT ChessChessBase Mobile Chess
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.7 (6 ratings) — better2.9 (18 ratings)
Positive reviews22.2% of reviews40.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings618 — better
Update frequencyMonthly — betterEvery 6 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.0 — better15.6
Further details — not scored
Size44 MB1 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDigital Game Technology B.V.ChessBase GmbH

Customer experience

DGT Chess

All ratings6 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral33.3%
Negative16.7%
Written reviews36 reviews
Positive22.2%
Neutral13.9%
Negative63.9%

ChessBase Mobile Chess

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

In-app purchases

None

DGT Chess

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

ChessBase Mobile Chess

Subscriptions1
  • ChessBase Premium (Monthly)$3.991 Month

Questions

Is DGT Chess free?
DGT Chess is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is ChessBase Mobile Chess free?
ChessBase Mobile Chess is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, DGT Chess or ChessBase Mobile Chess?
DGT Chess is rated higher. DGT Chess averages 3.7 out of 5 from 6 ratings, while ChessBase Mobile Chess averages 2.9 from 18 ratings.
Do DGT Chess or ChessBase Mobile Chess have ads?
Neither DGT Chess nor ChessBase Mobile Chess shows ads.
Which is updated more often, DGT Chess or ChessBase Mobile Chess?
DGT Chess ships an update monthly, and ChessBase Mobile Chess every 6 months. Most recently, DGT Chess was updated on October 16, 2026 and ChessBase Mobile Chess on October 24, 2026.

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