Comparison

HIARCS Chess for iPad vs ChessLink App

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

Head to head
About

HIARCS Chess for iPad

This app offers a powerful chess engine for playing and analyzing games. It caters to all skill levels, from beginners to Grandmasters, with adjustable opponent strengths and coaching features to help you improve your game. Explore classic matches and learn from a vast opening theory database.

Highlights
  • Extremely strong chess engine
  • Suitable for all player levels
  • Advanced coaching features
  • Multiple playing modes
  • Adjustable Elo strengths
  • PGN database transfer
  • Large tournament book
Read full description

HIARCS is a multiple World Championship winning chess program and the only handheld chess program which has won matches and tournaments with Grandmasters. It twice won the Mercusor Cup tournament in Buenos Aires, Argentina ahead of Grandmasters, the last time with a performance beyond 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 ex World champion, Vishy Anand, in a recent 2011 interview when asked what chess program he uses to analyse with said "generally I use HIARCS". HIARCS Chess for iPad harnesses this chess power to enable your iPad 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. You can transfer PGN game databases to and from HIARCS Chess and load/save your chess games in PGN format, it even has databases of 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: + Extremely Strong chess program, genuine beyond 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, iPad tailored, user interface supporting all four screen orientations with multiple high quality piece sets, colour schemes and icons + 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 coaching provides move options, hints, move safety and quality highlights and watches your play to warn about mistakes + Transfer PGN databases to/from HIARCS chess via iTunes file sharing, load/save PGNs, email games and PGN DBs from HIARCS + Set up or edit a position to analyse or play from + Advanced game navigation with 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 + Integrated Html manual and help screens

About

ChessLink App

Connect your electronic chessboard to play chess games on Lichess or against a local partner or engine. LEDs on the board display opponent moves, providing an authentic over-the-board experience. Setup is quick and easy.

Highlights
  • Play on your physical chessboard
  • Connects to electronic boards
  • LEDs indicate opponent moves
  • Play on Lichess
  • Local playing partner option
  • Chess engine integration
Features
Read full description

Online chess that feels like real chess. Connect your electronic chessboard and play on Lichess, against a local friend, or the built-in engine — on your real board. Your opponent's moves light up on the board via LEDs, so your eyes stay on the game. WHAT'S NEW: A LOCAL CHESS ENGINE • Get hints in 2-player mode • Play against the engine — works fully OFFLINE, no internet needed • Free Analysis: set up any position, the engine shows best lines and gives a full evaluation — the spirit of the classic TASC R30/40 chess computer FEATURES • Free online play on Lichess — millions of opponents worldwide • 2-player mode with hints on one board • Free analysis with evaluation and best-move lines • Authentic over-the-board experience: real pieces, no screen-watching SET UP IN MINUTES Pair your board, launch the app, start playing. COMPATIBLE BOARDS Supreme T2, Supreme Boards, Exclusive Boards, Performance Boards, eONE. MORE INFO • Supreme T2 – computerchess.com/Supreme-T2/M880 • eONE – computerchess.com/eone/M841 • ChessClassics Exclusive – computerchess.com/en/chessgenius-exclusive-2/ • The King Performance – computerchess.com/the-king-performance/M830

Screenshots

ChessLink App4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: HIARCS Chess for iPad at 86% against ChessLink App's 0%. HIARCS Chess for iPad also leads on rating (4.7 vs 4.4) and ratings volume (195 vs 9). ChessLink App's advantage is price (Free vs $9.99) and device support (3 vs 1). On update cadence, ads, in-app purchases and iOS requirement 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

ChessLink App is free to download; HIARCS Chess for iPad costs $9.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

HIARCS Chess for iPad holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: HIARCS Chess for iPad has 195 ratings behind it against 9, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 86% of HIARCS Chess for iPad's written reviews are positive against 0% of ChessLink App's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

HIARCS Chess for iPad ships an update every 5 months, ChessLink App every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
HIARCS Chess for iPad versus ChessLink App: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHIARCS Chess for iPadChessLink App
Price$9.99Free — better
Rating4.7 (195 ratings) — better4.4 (9 ratings)
Positive reviews85.8% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings195 — better9
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsEvery 3 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details — not scored
Size38 MB34 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperApplied Computer Concepts Ltd.Juergen Precour

Customer experience

HIARCS Chess for iPad

All ratings192 ratings
Positive92.7%
Neutral3.1%
Negative4.2%
Written reviews155 reviews
Positive85.8%
Neutral5.8%
Negative8.4%

ChessLink App

All ratings9 ratings
Positive77.8%
Neutral22.2%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral50.0%
Negative50.0%

Bugs and requests

HIARCS Chess for iPad

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Compatibility issues with iOS 8 and newer
  • Graphical issues with move quality display
  • Inability to resign or stop the game clock

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add ability to view and navigate variations
  • Improve visibility and placement of game clocks
  • Implement FEN clipboard/email import function
  • Add back/forward buttons to navigate games
  • Increase font size and readability of text

ChessLink App

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

HIARCS Chess for iPad

No in-app purchases

None

ChessLink App

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is HIARCS Chess for iPad free?
HIARCS Chess for iPad costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is ChessLink App free?
ChessLink App is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, HIARCS Chess for iPad or ChessLink App?
HIARCS Chess for iPad is rated higher. HIARCS Chess for iPad averages 4.7 out of 5 from 195 ratings, while ChessLink App averages 4.4 from 9 ratings.
Do HIARCS Chess for iPad or ChessLink App have ads?
Neither HIARCS Chess for iPad nor ChessLink App shows ads.
Which is updated more often, HIARCS Chess for iPad or ChessLink App?
HIARCS Chess for iPad ships an update every 5 months, and ChessLink App every 3 months. Most recently, HIARCS Chess for iPad was updated on November 1, 2026 and ChessLink App on November 3, 2026.

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