Mastersoft Chess vs OpenChess
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Mastersoft 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.
- 100 difficulty levels
- Interactive learning coach
- Thousands of chess puzzles
- Adaptive AI opponent
- ELO rating tracker
- Multiple game modes
- Offline play
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Chess – Learn Chess, Play Chess & Train Like a Grandmaster Learn chess step by step, play chess at any level, and train with the ultimate chess app for iPhone and iPad. Whether you’re a complete beginner learning chess or a competitive player mastering advanced tactics, this chess trainer gives you everything you need. Powered by an award-winning chess engine, you can play chess at up to 150 difficulty levels – from beginner to grandmaster. With adaptive AI, automatic ELO ratings, multiplayer modes, and thousands of chess puzzles, every match is a new challenge. No account required. Just download and start playing chess instantly. Key Features • 150 Levels of Chess – from beginner to expert strength and way beyond. • Learn Chess Easily – built-in trainer and interactive coach. • Adaptive AI – feels like playing against a real opponent. • Chess Puzzles & Tactics – thousands of puzzles to sharpen skills. • ELO Rating Tracker – follow your progress and growth. • Openings & Famous Games – study proven strategies. • Multiple Modes – Classic, Blitz, Training, 2-Player, and Analysis. • Custom Boards & Sets – from traditional to modern themes. • Full Chess Rules – castling, pawn promotion, en passant, and more. • Offline Play – play chess anywhere, no login or internet needed. Why Choose This Chess App? • Beginners can learn chess step by step. • Casual players can play chess for fun or practice. • Puzzle lovers can solve thousands of chess tactics. • Competitors can train like grandmasters with real challenge. Whether you enjoy slow strategy, fast blitz chess, or deep puzzle-solving, this chess app adapts to your style. Always challenging, always fun. End User License Agreement ("Agreement") (EULA) https://www.mastersoft.biz/eula.htm Privacy policy https://www.mastersoft.biz/privacy.htm
OpenChess
Master chess openings by playing against a specialized AI. Explore specific defenses or move sequences, and gain insights into positional advantages and piece values. Improve your game from the very first moves.
- Learn specific chess openings
- Play against AI focused on opening lines
- Analyze positional advantages
- Evaluate piece values and mobility
- Understand pawn structure
- Track defended and attacked pieces
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Learn chess openings with OpenChess: An Opening Explorer. Play against the computer, or play as both sides, and be shown the lines that are within any opening that you are interested in learning. Want to learn the Sicilian Defense or the Queen’s Gambit? Choose that category and play against that a computer that only follows lines within that opening category. Wany to focus on learning all of the openings that start with a specific move, such as pawn to “e4”? This category can also be selected, and you can play against a computer that only plays lines that start with “e4”. The chess engine in this app is not Stockfish, and it does not look very far ahead. It is meant to provide a decent base evaluation and allow the majority of the reason behind the evaluation of the current position to be shown to the user. The following information can be shown to the user: • Positional advantages for each piece type (pawn, knight, bishop, rook, queen and king) • Piece value advantages for each color • Mobility scores for each piece where mobility plays a big role (bishop, rook, queen, king) • Pawn advantages and disadvantages (passed pawns, isolated pawns, backwards pawns, doubled pawns) • Total value of pieces attacked by each color as well as total value of pieces defended by each color A lot of chess games are won and lost within the opening moves, this app was designed to help players learn solid openings that either help them gain a winning advantage out of the opening, or at the very least help them not lose due to the opening moves played. Terms of Service: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: OpenChess at none against Mastersoft Chess's shown. OpenChess also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.7) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.1). Mastersoft Chess's advantage is ratings volume (1.5K vs 2) and update cadence (every 5 days vs fortnightly). On price, in-app purchases, monetization model 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. Mastersoft Chess sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and OpenChess sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
OpenChess holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Mastersoft Chess has 1.5K ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Mastersoft Chess ships an update every 5 days, OpenChess fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and August 30, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Mastersoft Chess | OpenChess |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (1.5K ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 90.5% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 1.5K — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 days — better | Fortnightly |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 277 MB | 57 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Mastersoft | David Bryant |
Customer experience
Mastersoft Chess
OpenChess
Bugs and requests
Mastersoft 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
OpenChess
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Mastersoft Chess
- Chess Pro for 1 month.$2.991 Month
- Buy Chess Pro.$2.99
- Upgrade to Ginkgo. 10% Off.$9.95
OpenChess
- Tarrasch Defense Opening$0.99
- Trompowsky Attack Opening$0.99
- Scandinavian Defense Opening$0.99
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- Three Knights Opening$0.99
- Zukertort Opening$0.99
- Van't Kruijs Opening$0.99
- Vienna Game Opening$0.99
- Ware Opening$0.99
- Opening Explorer$4.99
- OpenChess Premium$19.99
Questions
Is Mastersoft Chess free?
Is OpenChess free?
Which has better reviews, Mastersoft Chess or OpenChess?
Do Mastersoft Chess or OpenChess have ads?
Which is updated more often, Mastersoft Chess or OpenChess?
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