Comparison

Go Books vs Learn with Forward Chess

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

Head to head
About

Go Books

Access a vast library of high-quality digital books on the game of Go. Enhance your learning with interactive diagrams, note-taking, and adjustable layouts. Enjoy a superior reading experience compared to print, at a fraction of the cost.

Highlights
  • Interactive diagrams for move replay
  • Solve problems within diagrams
  • Inline diagrams in text
  • Add personal notes
  • Adjustable font and layout
  • Free chapter for each book
Features
Read full description

Enjoy high-quality books about the game of Go on your iPad and iPhone. Replay moves and solve problems directly within diagrams. A better experience than printed books, at half the price. Features: - Free chapter for each book. - Play and replay moves in diagrams. - Interactive problem diagrams. - Text enhanced with inline diagrams. - Links to pro games in SmartGo Kifu. - Add your own notes anywhere in a book. - Adjustable font and layout. - Some multi-lingual books (Japanese, German, French & Spanish). - Buy once, read on iPad, iPhone, and Mac. SmartGo Books currently offers more than 130 Go books that you can buy using in-app purchase; more books are in the works. To help you choose, the free “Guide to Go Books” provides clues as to which books might be appropriate for your level. Getting started: - “Learn to Play Go” (vol. 1-5) by Janice Kim 3 dan & Jeong Soo-hyun 9 dan - “Go: A Complete Introduction to the Game” by Cho Chikun 9 dan - “So You Want to Play Go?” (levels 1-4) by Jonathan Hop For more than 20 years, the Elementary Go Series books have been the standard texts for Go players who want to get a firm grasp of the fundamentals. Not only is the theory of Go explained clearly and simply, the reader is also given problems to show how these theoretical concepts are applied in actual games. - “In the Beginning” - “38 Basic Joseki” - “Tesuji” - “Life and Death” - “Attack and Defense” - “The Endgame” - “Handicap Go” Improving your technique: - “How Not to Play Go” (Spanish & French & English) - “Double Digit Kyu Games” - “Single Digit Kyu Game Commentaries” (vol. 1 & 2) - “More Go by example” - “Basic Techniques of Go” - “Fundamental Principles of Go” - “The Workshop Lectures” (vol. 1-5) - “Cho Hun-hyeon’s Lectures on Go Techniques” (vol. 1 & 2) – “Counting Liberties and Winning Capturing Races” - “Tesuji and Anti-Suji of Go” (out-of-print) - “Making Good Shape” - “All About Ko” - “Key Concepts in Life and Death” - “How to Destroy and Preserve” (out-of-print) - “Sabaki – How to Manage Weak Stones” (out-of-print) - “Punishing and Correcting Joseki Mistakes” (out-of-print) - “Correct Joseki” - “Vital Points and Skillful Finesse for Sabaki” Problem books: - “Black to Play! Train the Basics of Go” (German & French & Spanish & English) - “Graded Go Problems for Beginners” (vol. 1-4) - “501 Opening Problems” & “501 Tesuji Problems” - “Rescue and Capture” & “Tricks in Joseki” - “Get Strong at Life and Death” & “Get Strong at the Endgame” - “Shuko: The Only Move” (vol. 1 & 2) – “Gateway to All Marvels: The Xuanxuan Qijing of 1347” - “The most difficult problem ever: Igo Hatsuyôron 120” (German & English) “Invincible: The Games of Shusaku” by John Power has been widely acclaimed as a masterpiece on one of the greatest Go players who ever lived. Enhanced with in-diagram replay, inline diagrams, and links to referenced games, be prepared to experience this classic in a whole new way. “The Life, Games and Commentaries of Honinbo Shuei” by John Fairbairn provides a full-length biography, detailed commentaries on 79 of Shuei's games tracing the development of Shuei's elusive style, and a collection of Shuei's commentaries. A must-read for every serious Go player and student of Go history. Pro game analysis: - “Master Play: The Style of Lee Changho / Go Seigen / Takemiya / Kitani Minoru & Cho Chikun” - “The Games of Fujisawa Shuko” - “Modern Master Games: The Dawn of Tournament Go” - “The Go Consultants” - “Patterns of the Sanrensei” (Japanese & English) - “Understanding Pro Games” & “Deep Thought” (vol. 1 & 2) - Books on games by O Rissei, Naoki Hane, Keigo Yamashita, Go Seigen, Takemiya Masaki, and Sakata Go is a 4000-year-old board game that originated in China. The two players take turns placing stones in an effort to surround territory. The rules can be learned in minutes, yet the complexity of the game provides lifetime enjoyment. Also known as baduk, wéiqí, and igo, it is played by millions of people worldwide.

About

Learn with Forward Chess

This app is an interactive reader for chess books, allowing users to play through chess lines directly within the book. It offers a vast in-app store with over 100 chess eBooks and a growing collection of opening theory periodicals via subscription.

Highlights
  • Interactive chess book reader
  • Play through chess lines
  • In-app chess eBook store
  • Subscription for opening theory
  • Tactics training
Features
Read full description

Forward Chess is an Interactive reader of chess books. Play through the lines in the book, or try your own, it's like having a chess board and a chess book in the palm of your hand. Forward Chess includes the ability to purchase over 100 chess eBooks through our In-App Store. Check it out. Our collection is growing weekly! Forward Chess also contains the following subscription options - ChessPublishing's monthly periodical for the latest in opening theory - We offer a choice of 4 different auto-renewing subscriptions - 1 Section for 1 Year @ $19.99 USD - 3 Sections for 1 Year @ $39.99 USD - 6 Sections for 1 Year @ $69.99 USD - 12 Sections for 1 Year @ $99.99 USD - Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase - Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period - Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period, and identify the cost of the renewal - Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase - No cancellation of the current subscription is allowed during active subscription period - Links to Your Privacy Policy and Terms of Use - Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication. Forward Chess takes your privacy seriously See our privacy policy here: https://forwardchess.com/privacy-policy and term of use here: https://forwardchess.com/terms-of-service

Screenshots

Go Books4 screens
Learn with Forward Chess4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Learn with Forward Chess at fortnightly against Go Books's every 2 months. Learn with Forward Chess also leads on ratings volume (340 vs 35). Go Books's advantage is iOS requirement (8.0 vs 12.0). On price, rating, review sentiment and ads 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. Go Books sells 12 one-off in-app purchases and Learn with Forward Chess sells 70 one-off in-app purchases. 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 — 4.9 for Go Books against 4.8 for Learn with Forward Chess. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Learn with Forward Chess has 340 ratings behind it against 35, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 81% of Go Books's written reviews are positive against 75% of Learn with Forward Chess's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Go Books ships an update every 2 months, Learn with Forward Chess fortnightly. Both last shipped on October 21, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Go Books versus Learn with Forward Chess: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGo BooksLearn with Forward Chess
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (35 ratings) — better4.8 (340 ratings)
Positive reviews80.6% of reviews — better74.8% of reviews
Number of ratings35340 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS8.0 — better12.0
Further details — not scored
Size19 MB188 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSmart Go, Inc.Forward Chess, LLC

Customer experience

Go Books

All ratings35 ratings
Positive97.1%
Neutral2.9%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews124 reviews
Positive80.6%
Neutral7.3%
Negative12.1%

Learn with Forward Chess

All ratings334 ratings
Positive96.1%
Neutral2.4%
Negative1.5%
Written reviews123 reviews
Positive74.8%
Neutral9.8%
Negative15.4%

Bugs and requests

Go Books

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Learn with Forward Chess

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Login issues when changing devices
  • Books not properly filing into libraries
  • App crashing when trying to add books to libraries
  • Losing current position when switching between full screen and normal view
  • Inconsistent behavior when navigating through a book

Requested features

7 requests
  • Allow users to upload their own book PDFs
  • Implement spaced repetition learning program within books
  • Improve search and filtering options in the book store
  • Add more language support beyond English books
  • Provide better syncing of purchases across devices
Show 2 more
  • Improve text formatting and readability
  • Implement highlighting, bookmarking, and note-taking features

In-app purchases

12 purchases

Go Books

One-time12
  • "Double Digit Kyu Games" by Neil Moffatt$5.99
  • "Go: A Complete Introduction to the Game" by Cho Chikun$5.99
  • "How Not to Play Go" by Yuan Zhou$5.99
Show 9 more
  • "So You Want to Play Go? - Level 1" by Jonathan Hop$5.99
  • "Learn to Play Go: A Step-By-Step Guide to the Game" by Janice Kim$7.99
  • "Learn to Play Go II: The Way of the Moving Horse" by Janice Kim$7.99
  • "Learn to Play Go III: The Dragon Style" by Janice Kim$7.99
  • "Basic Techniques of Go" by Haruyama & Nagahara$9.99
  • "Graded Go Problems for Beginners 1" by Kano Yoshinori$9.99
  • "Graded Go Problems 2" by Kano Yoshinori$9.99
  • "Fundamental Principles of Go" by Yilun Yang 7 dan$11.99
  • "Tesuji" by James Davies$11.99
70 purchases

Learn with Forward Chess

One-time70
  • True Lies in ChessFree
  • CHESS INSIGHT 01/2026$2.99
  • Simple Attacking Plans$9.99
Show 67 more
  • Simple Chess$10.99
  • The Power of Pawns$12.99
  • My System: FastTrack Edition$12.99
  • Play the Mackenzie!$12.99
  • 1001 Ways to Checkmate$12.99
  • My System$13.99
  • The World's Most Instructive Amateur Game Book$14.99
  • Openings for Amateurs$14.99
  • Modern Chess Strategy$14.99
  • Techniques of Positional Play: 45 Practical Methods$15.99
  • American Dream$16.99
  • Zurich Chess Tournament, 1953$16.99
  • Chess Endgame Calculation 1$16.99
  • Chess Strategy for Club Players$16.99
  • 100 Endgames You Must Know$17.99
  • Capablanca the Great Minimalist 1$17.99
  • Attacking Chess for Club Players$17.99
  • Openings for Amateurs - Vol. 3$17.99
  • Capablancas Best Chess Endings$17.99
  • The Most Instructive Games$17.99
  • Improve Your Chess Pattern Recognition$17.99
  • Steps to Giant Improvement$19.99
  • Perpetual Chess Improvement$19.99
  • Playing 1.e4 e5 - A Classical Repertoire$19.99
  • Amateur to IM$19.99
  • The Complete Manual of Positional Chess$19.99
  • Chess Tactics from Scratch$19.99
  • COR: The London System$19.99
  • Attacking the English/Reti$19.99
  • COR: Accelerated Dragon$19.99
  • Mastering Chess Exchanges$19.99
  • Study on Your Own Workbook 3$19.99
  • OR: Strategic Play with 1 e4$19.99
  • Playing 1.d4 d5$19.99
  • Reimagining 1.e4$19.99
  • Beating the QG – Indian Style!$19.99
  • Endgame Studies You Must Know$19.99
  • Pawn Endgames$19.99
  • 100 Tactical Patterns$19.99
  • 100 Tactical Patterns Workbook$19.99
  • Drill Your Chess Strategy!$19.99
  • Thinking Inside the Box - Grandmaster Preparation$19.99
  • Chess Imbalances - a GM Guide$21.99
  • The Modernized Colle-Zukertort$21.99
  • Ding Liren's Best Games$22.99
  • Winning Chess Middlegames 2$22.99
  • Dream Moves$22.99
  • Rock Solid Chess: Volume 3$22.99
  • Positional Decision Making in Chess$23.99
  • Pump Up Your Rating$23.99
  • Chess Structures - A Grandmaster Guide$23.99
  • The Woodpecker Method$23.99
  • Mastering Chess Defence$23.99
  • Associative Thinking$23.99
  • The Philosopher&the Housewife$23.99
  • The Real Paul Morphy$23.99
  • 50 Mistakes You Should Know$23.99
  • The Woodpecker Method 2$23.99
  • Chess Informant 158$24.99
  • A Killer Guide to Attacking Chess$25.99
  • School of Future Champions 1$25.99
  • Chess Informant 161$26.99
  • Vasily Smyslov: Volume II$27.99
  • Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual$27.99
  • Akiba Rubinstein (UCC Series)$29.99
  • Pushing Horizons$29.99
  • OR for Black after 1...e6$29.99

Questions

Is Go Books free?
Go Books is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Learn with Forward Chess free?
Learn with Forward Chess is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Go Books or Learn with Forward Chess?
Go Books is rated higher. Go Books averages 4.9 out of 5 from 35 ratings, while Learn with Forward Chess averages 4.8 from 340 ratings.
Do Go Books or Learn with Forward Chess have ads?
Neither Go Books nor Learn with Forward Chess shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Go Books or Learn with Forward Chess?
Go Books ships an update every 2 months, and Learn with Forward Chess fortnightly. Most recently, Go Books was updated on October 21, 2026 and Learn with Forward Chess on October 21, 2026.

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