Comparison

HIARCS Chess vs Chess Openings Explorer Pro

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

Head to head
About

HIARCS Chess

This app offers a powerful chess engine for playing, analyzing, and learning chess. It provides adjustable difficulty levels and coaching features to help players of all abilities improve their game. Analyze professional games and track your progress with an Elo rating.

Highlights
  • World Championship winning chess engine
  • Adjustable playing strengths and styles
  • Advanced coaching features
  • Elo rating tracking
  • PGN database support
  • Large tournament book
  • Multiple playing modes
Features
Read full description

HIARCS is a multiple World Championship winning chess program and the only handheld chess program in the world which has won matches and tournaments with Grandmasters. It twice won the Mercusor Cup in Buenos Aires, Argentina ahead of Grandmasters with a performance of 2900 Elo, the best chess performance rating for any handheld device in history. In 1997 the World's strongest ever human chess player, Garry Kasparov, said "HIARCS is much better positionally than Deep Blue" and even the current World champion, Vishy Anand, in a recent interview when asked what chess program he uses to analyse with said "generally I use HIARCS". This power enables your iPhone to play chess like a super Grandmaster, analyse games and chess problems with you, or play at whatever weakened chess strength you want from beginner to GM strength while offering numerous features to help you learn and improve as you play with HIARCS. An advanced set of coaching features helps players of all strengths improve their chess play. HIARCS Chess has a full range of realistic weaker opponent strengths and playing styles catering for players of all abilities from absolute beginners to Grandmasters. On the weaker playing levels HIARCS will make human-like mistakes appropriate to the level of play and this together with the integrated coach advice, assessments and alerts allow you to learn and improve quickly. HIARCS also monitors your chess performance and provides you with an Elo chess rating which tracks your chess ability in every game. It can continuously adjust its playing strength to give you challenging but beatable opponents as you improve. HIARCS Chess will save battery life by using much less energy on the weaker levels, allowing more playing time on long journeys etc. HIARCS Chess supports PGN chess game databases and has all the games between Fischer & Spassky and Kasparov & Karpov for you to play through and enjoy. HIARCS has a large tournament book which is up to date with chess theory with over 235,000 variations. The book moves are displayed on screen with chess symbols and the opening variations are named and ECO coded. Key features: + Strongest chess program on iPhone and iPod Touch, genuine strong GM-level performance + Suitable for all players from absolute beginners to strong Grandmasters with many handicap levels and opponents styles and advanced coaching + Intuitive and friendly user interface with multiple high quality pieces set, colour schemes and icons including high res support for iPhone 4 and 5 retina displays + Multiple playing modes: play white, black, both sides in two player mode, continuous analysis and interactive replay + Fully adjustable Elo strengths, adaptive levels and multiple playing levels and opponents + All levels below maximum are low energy to increase battery life + Rates your chess play and gives you an Elo rating which is updated after each game + Advanced coach can provide move options, give hints, indicate move safety and quality highlights and watch your play and warn about mistakes + Transfer PGN databases to/from HIARCS chess via iTunes file sharing, email games and PGN DBs from HIARCS + Launch HIARCS from PGN email attachments + Load, save or delete games to/from PGN databases + Set up or edit a position to analyse or play from + Advanced game navigation with game move slider and VCR buttons for rapid and precise game navigation + Many selectable preset blitz, incremental and average time clock settings for timed play + Large HIARCS tournament opening book as used by the professionals! + Permanent brain for enhanced playing strength + Numerous chess display functions for showing chess moves, analysis, book moves, coach advice, move quality even legal moves, offer draws or resign + 8 Piece sets and 9 colour schemes + Integrated Html manual and help screens A discount coupon is included with a $10 USD discount on other HIARCS products on Mac and PC from www.hiarcs.com.

About

Chess Openings Explorer Pro

Master chess openings with a comprehensive dictionary and analysis of over 2 million Grandmaster games. Test your knowledge with interactive quizzes and analyze positions using a powerful built-in engine.

Highlights
  • Chess opening dictionary
  • Grandmaster game analysis
  • Interactive quiz modes
  • Position win/loss/draw stats
  • Built-in chess engine
  • PGN export
Features
Read full description

Explore chess openings and their variations through a simple and friendly interface, and learn the follow-ups from 2 million+ Grandmaster games! Main features: - Complete dictionary of chess openings and their variations - Browse Grandmaster games associated with each opening - Test your knowledge with various Quiz modes: The app picks an opening and your goal is to either find its name, find which move is best, or play the moves that leads to the opening - Accurate stats for each position: % of wins, losses, draws - Powerful built-in Chess engine (2800+ Elo) to analyze any position - Games can be exported to other apps (PGN format) - Search openings by name or ECO code - Easy to use, simple and clean interface - Full translations in French and German, including opening names - And of course, new features will be added over time!

Screenshots

HIARCS Chess4 screens
Chess Openings Explorer Pro4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Chess Openings Explorer Pro at $3.99 against HIARCS Chess's $9.99. Chess Openings Explorer Pro also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 3 months) and iOS requirement (10.0 vs 15.0). HIARCS Chess's advantage is review sentiment (76% vs 55%). On rating, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases 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

HIARCS Chess costs $9.99 and Chess Openings Explorer Pro $3.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

HIARCS Chess holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 205 and 357 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 76% of HIARCS Chess's written reviews are positive against 55% of Chess Openings Explorer Pro's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

HIARCS Chess ships an update every 3 months, Chess Openings Explorer Pro every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on November 6, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
HIARCS Chess versus Chess Openings Explorer Pro: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHIARCS ChessChess Openings Explorer Pro
Price$9.99$3.99 — better
Rating4.8 (205 ratings) — better4.6 (357 ratings)
Positive reviews75.9% of reviews — better54.5% of reviews
Number of ratings205357 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS15.010.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size21 MB40 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperApplied Computer Concepts Ltd.Emmanuel Mathis

Customer experience

HIARCS Chess

All ratings199 ratings
Positive95.5%
Neutral1.0%
Negative3.5%
Written reviews220 reviews
Positive75.9%
Neutral5.9%
Negative18.2%

Chess Openings Explorer Pro

All ratings349 ratings
Positive89.4%
Neutral3.4%
Negative7.2%
Written reviews66 reviews
Positive54.5%
Neutral10.6%
Negative34.8%

User reviews

HIARCS Chess

From 205 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Strong chess engine
  • 👍 Human-like play
  • 🧠 Excellent coaching/analysis features
  • 🔧 Customizable difficulty levels
  • 💾 Saves and loads games well

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes and stability issues
  • 🔍 Lacks advanced features (PGN import/export, database navigation)
  • 🖼️ Outdated or subpar UI/UX
  • 💤 Slow move animations
  • 🤖 Engine strength may be overstated

Chess Openings Explorer Pro

From 357 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 📚 Extensive database of grandmaster games (2 million+)
  • 🎯 Intuitive opening explorer interface
  • 📊 Clear visualization of move statistics and win rates
  • 🎮 Easy access to replay master games
  • 💡 Practical and pedagogical approach to learning openings

Room to improve

  • ⚠️ Limited depth - only covers ~5 moves in most lines
  • ❌ Lacks built-in chess engine for analysis
  • 😕 Confusing user interface for beginners
  • 📖 Insufficient documentation and help instructions
  • 🤷 Unclear what statistics and percentages mean

Bugs and requests

HIARCS Chess

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Crashes on certain iOS versions
  • Discount codes not working
  • Issues with hotspot mode

Requested features

5 requests
  • PGN import/export functionality
  • Advanced database navigation (next/previous game)
  • Endgame tablebase support
  • Improved UI/UX for modern devices
  • More customization options

Chess Openings Explorer Pro

Reported bugs

6 issues
  • Games fail to load with 'failed to load games' error
  • Wrong position displayed when accessing games from position
  • Text truncation on opening names (iPhone)
  • Incompatibility with older devices (iPad 4)
  • App crashes or freezes
Show 1 more
  • Recent update caused game loading issues

Requested features

12 requests
  • Built-in chess engine for position evaluation
  • Ability to play own moves and get engine feedback
  • Play openings against computer opponent
  • PGN import functionality
  • Quiz mode by opening
Show 7 more
  • Deeper variant coverage beyond move 5
  • Suggest new openings feature
  • Engine analysis when opening book ends
  • Better explanation of move choices
  • Expanded opening database
  • Improved text display for full opening names
  • More sophisticated sorting options

In-app purchases

None

HIARCS Chess

No in-app purchases

None

Chess Openings Explorer Pro

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is HIARCS Chess free?
HIARCS Chess costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Chess Openings Explorer Pro free?
Chess Openings Explorer Pro costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, HIARCS Chess or Chess Openings Explorer Pro?
HIARCS Chess is rated higher. HIARCS Chess averages 4.8 out of 5 from 205 ratings, while Chess Openings Explorer Pro averages 4.6 from 357 ratings.
Do HIARCS Chess or Chess Openings Explorer Pro have ads?
Neither HIARCS Chess nor Chess Openings Explorer Pro shows ads.
Which is updated more often, HIARCS Chess or Chess Openings Explorer Pro?
HIARCS Chess ships an update every 3 months, and Chess Openings Explorer Pro every 3 weeks. Most recently, HIARCS Chess was updated on November 6, 2026 and Chess Openings Explorer Pro on November 6, 2026.

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