Comparison

Chess vs Chess School for Beginners

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

Head to head
About

Chess

Master the game of chess with this comprehensive app. Learn step-by-step, play against adaptive AI across 100 difficulty levels, and sharpen your skills with thousands of puzzles. Enjoy offline play and track your progress with an ELO rating.

Highlights
  • 100 difficulty levels
  • Interactive learning coach
  • Thousands of chess puzzles
  • Adaptive AI opponent
  • ELO rating tracker
  • Multiple game modes
  • Offline play
Features
Read full description

Play Chess – Learn, Train & Challenge with the Ultimate Chess App Take your chess to the next level with the ultimate chess app for iPhone and iPad. Whether you’re a beginner learning chess, an intermediate player looking to improve, or an advanced competitor training like a grandmaster, our app has everything you need. Powered by an award-winning chess engine, it feels like you’re playing against a real opponent – not just a computer. With 100 skill levels, automatic ELO rating tracking, and personalized difficulty that adapts to your style, you’ll always find the perfect challenge. No accounts. No fuss. Just download and start playing chess instantly. Key Features World Chess Champion Software 2026 Award Winner using Ginkgo 150 difficulty levels – from beginner to grandmaster strength Adaptive chess engine – plays like a human and adjusts to your skill ELO rating calculator – track your progress and growth Powerful AI – ranked 4th in the World Microcomputer Chess Championship Learn chess with a built-in coach – highlights best moves and alternatives Solve 1000s of chess puzzles – improve tactics, strategy, and endgame skills Huge book of chess openings Database of famous chess games – study, replay, and analyze the masters Multiple modes – Classic, Blitz, Training, Two-Player, and Analysis Mode Custom boards and sets – from traditional chess book style to modern themes Full chess rules supported – castling, en passant, pawn promotion, and more Minimal ads, no login required – play chess instantly without interruptions Whether you enjoy casual games, serious training, or fast-paced blitz chess, this app has you covered. Always challenging, sometimes aggressive, and never boring – just like real chess should be. Perfect for: Beginners who want to learn chess step by step Casual players who enjoy fun, relaxing games Competitive players who want to train like a grandmaster Puzzle lovers who want to sharpen their tactics End User License Agreement ("Agreement") (EULA) https://www.mastersoft.biz/eula.htm Privacy policy https://www.mastersoft.biz/privacy.htm

About

Chess School for Beginners

Learn chess with an interactive course designed for beginners of all ages. It offers structured lessons, practice exercises with hints and explanations, and theoretical sections with interactive board play. Improve your game with over 500 examples and track your progress.

Highlights
  • Interactive chess rules lessons
  • Practice exercises with hints
  • Theoretical sections with board play
  • 500+ carefully chosen examples
  • Progress tracking (ELO rating)
  • Offline access
Features
Read full description

This friendly interactive course is intended for both children and adult beginners. It is divided into 2 main sections: Chess rules and Playing. 500 carefully chosen, and in many cases designed, examples to help a student. This course is in the series Chess King Learn, 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. Introduction 1.1. Chess board 1.2. Chess pieces 1.3. Starting position 2. Pieces' moves 2.1. Rook 2.2. Bishop 2.3. Queen 2.4. Knight 2.5. King 2.6. Pawn 3. Capture 4. Pawn promotion 5. The relative value of the pieces 6. Castling 7. The role of the king, Check and mate 7.1. Check and mate 7.2. Mate 7.3. Mate in one move 7.4. Stalemate 7.5. Perpetual check 8. Notation (How to read moves) 9. Elementary capture 9.1. Winning a knight 9.2. Winning a bishop 9.3. Winning a rook 9.4. Winning a queen 9.5. Win a piece 10. Simple defense 10.1. Retreat 10.2. Defending with another piece 10.3. Taking an attacking piece 10.4. Interception 10.5. Defending from mate 11. Chess skills development 12. The role of the king. Continuation 12.1. Mate in 1 12.2. Mate in 2 12.3. Discovered check 12.4. Double check 12.5. Perpetual check 12.6. Stalemate 13. King and queen against a king 14. King and rook against a king 15. King and minor piece or a pawn against a king 16. Etiquette during a game

Screenshots

Chess4 screens
Chess School for Beginners4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Chess School for Beginners at none against Chess's shown. Chess School for Beginners also leads on iOS requirement (8.0 vs 15.1). Chess's advantage is review sentiment (90% vs 59%) and update cadence (every 5 days vs every 3 months). On price, rating, ratings volume 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

Both are free to download. Chess sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and Chess School for Beginners sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Chess against 4.6 for Chess School for Beginners. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1.6K and 647 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 90% of Chess's written reviews are positive against 59% of Chess School for Beginners's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Chess ships an update every 5 days, Chess School for Beginners every 3 months. Both last shipped on October 21, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Chess versus Chess School for Beginners: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChessChess School for Beginners
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (1.6K ratings) — better4.6 (647 ratings)
Positive reviews90.5% of reviews — better58.8% of reviews
Number of ratings1.6K — better647
Update frequencyEvery 5 days — betterEvery 3 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.18.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size276 MB64 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperMastersoftChess King

Customer experience

Chess

All ratings1,556 ratings
Positive92.1%
Neutral3.9%
Negative4.0%
Written reviews2,036 reviews
Positive90.5%
Neutral4.1%
Negative5.5%

Chess School for Beginners

All ratings646 ratings
Positive91.6%
Neutral5.1%
Negative3.3%
Written reviews34 reviews
Positive58.8%
Neutral14.7%
Negative26.5%

Bugs and requests

Chess

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Pawn disappearing issue when castling
  • Ratings not updating properly after games
  • Crashes on certain iOS versions

Requested features

4 requests
  • More detailed explanations for suggested moves
  • Option to play against other users online
  • Ability to set up custom board positions
  • Slower computer move speeds for beginners

Chess School for Beginners

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Chess

Subscriptions1
  • Chess Pro for 1 month.$2.991 Month
One-time2
  • Buy Chess Pro.$2.99
  • Upgrade to Ginkgo. 10% Off.$9.95
1 purchases

Chess School for Beginners

One-time1
  • Full course$7.99

Questions

Is Chess free?
Chess is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Chess School for Beginners free?
Chess School for Beginners is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Chess or Chess School for Beginners?
Chess is rated higher. Chess averages 4.7 out of 5 from 1.6K ratings, while Chess School for Beginners averages 4.6 from 647 ratings.
Do Chess or Chess School for Beginners have ads?
Chess shows ads; Chess School for Beginners does not.
Which is updated more often, Chess or Chess School for Beginners?
Chess ships an update every 5 days, and Chess School for Beginners every 3 months. Most recently, Chess was updated on October 21, 2026 and Chess School for Beginners on October 21, 2026.

Other comparisons