Mastersoft Chess vs Chess
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
Chess
Manage and study chess databases and games in PGN format with advanced analysis tools. Supports game creation, modification, and import from various sources. Includes engine analysis, opening book management, and puzzle training.
- PGN database and game management
- Create, modify, and import games
- Advanced engine analysis with Stockfish
- Opening book and ChessBase support
- Chess 960 (Fischer Random) support
- Diagram recognition for PGN conversion
- Puzzle training and online play
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Chess Studio is the first and only application for iPhone and iPad able to manage chess databases and games in PGN format in a complete and efficient way. Chess Studio is an application designed and built for those players who really want to deepen their knowledge in the field of chess, studying chess regularly and participate in tournaments. Chess Studio allows you to: • Read database and games in PGN format (also with extended notation of moves). • Create, delete and modify folders and databases. • View games with annotations and textual comments and keep track of the displayed games. • Use a double chessboard on the same screen for better game analysis. • Visualize moves and variants in compact mode or indented mode. • Modify existing games with move annotation and textual comments. • Insert new games and positions. • Insert, replay and analyze games in Chess 960 mode. • Insert moves with annotations and textual comments. • Insert variation, subvariations etc. • Insert and visualize graphical annotation (colored arrows and highlighted squares). • Share Databases and Games through Airdrop. • Download chess database from internet. • Download chess database directly from PGN Mentor site. • Import games, database and Opening Books from other applications. • Merge two or more databases. • Copy/Paste games and positions. • Analyze games with Stockfish 19 Engine with the support of the Neural Networks (up to 5 lines of analysis simultaneously) with the support of the Engine Evaluation Bar. • Replay games automatically. • Visualize Pawn structure. • Manage Variations and sub-variatons: delete and promote variations. • Read the weekly Magazine The New In Chess (TWIC) and download the games. • Uploading and Downloading PGN Database to/from Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive. • Three different modes for moving pieces. • Analyze endgames with Endgame Tablebases. • Analyze and study Chess Openings in the Chess Openings Section. • Create and manage Opening Books in Polyglot format. • Import and manage ChessBase Opening Books (ctg format). • Automatically classify a database according to ECO code. • Replay, enter and analyze Chess 960 games (Fischer Random Chess). • Play against the engine both in standard mode and in Chess 960 mode. • Play online through the LiChess platform • Train by solving Puzzles • ChessBase Database support. • Diagram Recognition: this feature allows the user to take and/or upload photos of chess diagrams and convert them into PGN format positions. Other features and technical details: • Modify the board size. • Professional chess fonts and figurines for moves notation and annotation. • Preview of the game in the board tapping the Info button. • Quick search feature. • Advanced search feature. • Complete management of Null Moves with Tutorial. • Visualization of ECO code and Opening during game replay or game insertion. • Visualization of Book Openings during game replay or game insertion. • Portrait/Landscape mode for all devices. • Support of Slide Over and Split View mode. • Function to move up within variants and subvariants. • iOS 26 compatible and optimized for all the devices. • Sharing of databases across devices via iCloud Drive (also with Chess Studio for Mac OS). • Sound option. • Support for iPad Pro Keyboard or bluetooth keyboard. • VoiceOver/Accessibility support. • Direct contact via email with the developer to report problems, ask for explanation and suggestions (very quick answer!). • Languages: English, Italian, Spanish and German. Complete description at: https://chessstudio.wordpress.com/chess-studio/ To view the privacy policy and Terms of Use (EULA) visit https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ The application is continuously updated with new features and improvements. No registration! No advertising! No sharing of personal data!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Mastersoft Chess at Free against Chess's $3.99. Mastersoft Chess also leads on update cadence (every 5 days vs fortnightly) and ratings volume (1.5K vs 116). Chess's advantage is ads (none vs shown). On rating, review sentiment, in-app purchases and monetization model 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
Mastersoft Chess is free to download; Chess costs $3.99 up front. Mastersoft Chess sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and Chess sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Mastersoft Chess against 4.7 for Chess. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Mastersoft Chess has 1.5K ratings behind it against 116, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 90% of Mastersoft Chess's written reviews are positive against 92% of Chess's.
Mastersoft Chess ships an update every 5 days, Chess fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Mastersoft Chess | Chess |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $3.99 |
| Rating | 4.7 (1.5K ratings) | 4.7 (116 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 90.5% of reviews | 92.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 1.5K — better | 116 |
| 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 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 277 MB | 237 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | +4 |
| Developer | Mastersoft | Giordano Vicoli |
Customer experience
Mastersoft Chess
Chess
User reviews
Mastersoft Chess
From 1.5K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Great learning tool
- 🚀 Smooth gameplay
- 💡 Helpful training mode
- 👍 Challenging at higher levels
- 👍 Customizable board and pieces
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional crashes or bugs
- 🔋 Battery drain issues
- 🔍 Unclear move suggestions
- 🤖 Computer plays too strong at times
Chess
From 116 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Powerful chess database features
- 👍 Comprehensive analysis tools
- 👍 Excellent PGN management
- 👍 Great value for price
- 👍 Frequent updates and improvements
Room to improve
- 🐛 Steep learning curve
- 🐛 Occasional crashes
- 🐛 Unintuitive interface
- 🐛 Some users find it confusing
- 🐛 Missing dark mode
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
Chess
Reported bugs
12 issues- Problem saving updated game data
- Engine stopped working after 30 seconds
- App crashes when adding annotations without hitting 'edit mode' first
- Crash opening .pgn in landscape mode
- Crashes when selecting a cell with 0 games associated
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- App freezes sometimes
- Download stuck on 'downloading'
- Dropbox issues on earlier iOS versions
- Program not bulletproof upon saving work
- Can't download cbv files
- Graphical annotations drawing unwanted arrows
- App doesn't work after iOS update
Requested features
20 requests- Add dark mode
- Add board flip button
- Improve interface for screen reader users
- Add private game feature with code
- Add computer whole game analysis with annotations
Show 15 moreShow fewer
- Add coloring moves based on annotation
- Add drawing arrows that are saved
- Add bookmark feature
- Add buttons/swipe to go forward/backwards to next/previous game
- Add select all function for copying games
- Add autoplay games
- Remember last position/game opened in a database
- Support Millennium boards
- Support UCI engine compatibility
- Optimize database game view
- Make edit mode arrows slimmer and add more colors
- Allow direct iCloud access to databases without export
- Make graphical annotations optional/disableable
- Improve font size adjustment for moves and annotations
- Add search with multiple criteria
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
Chess
- Monthly Premium Subscription3 Days trial$0.991 Month
- Yearly Premium Subscription3 Days trial$8.991 Year








