HIARCS Chess for iPad vs Chessimo 2.0
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Extremely strong chess engine
- Suitable for all player levels
- Advanced coaching features
- Multiple playing modes
- Adjustable Elo strengths
- PGN database transfer
- Large tournament book
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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
Chessimo 2.0
Master the game of chess with unlimited free games, over 150,000 tactics puzzles, interactive lessons, and a strong computer opponent. This app offers a unique end-to-end training experience, allowing you to practice puzzles and then immediately apply your skills against AI. Improve your rating and unlock your potential as a chess player.
- 150,000+ tactics puzzles
- Interactive lessons and videos
- Play against computer opponent
- Game analysis
- Opening explorer
- Performance stats
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Play chess for free on one of the best chess app in the world! Enjoy free unlimited chess games and improve your chess rating with 150,000+ tactics puzzles, interactive lessons and videos, and a powerful computer opponent. Unlock your inner chess master today! We are the only app in the market that allows you finish a puzzle and continue playing the exercise against the computer! This will allow to have an end to end training experience, starting with the puzzle, and when it is solved, continue playing against the computer! THE FULL EXPERIENCE IS HERE! CHESS TACTICS & CHESS PUZZLES: - Enjoy 150,000+ unique puzzles - Rated mode automatically adjusts to your skill level to help you improve - Race the clock to beat your high score in game - Practice puzzles with specific themes in learning mode CHESS TRAINING LESSONS: - Hundreds of quality chess lessons and chess videos made by masters - Interactive tutorials and trainings with tips and recommendations and how to improve your game - Learn all the chess rules and strategies in a step-by-step lesson plan & trainings PLAY CHESS AGAINST THE COMPUTER: - Train with the different modules in the app - Choose the level of computer opponent you want to play - Analyze your chess games to see where you went wrong and how you can improve - See how high you can go! PLAY CHESS FOR FREE: - Play chess completely free with your friends - Play daily correspondence chess for low-pressure games on your own schedule - Try exciting chess 960 variant ... and MUCH MORE: - Strategies by the best authors, coaches, and trainers - Develop an unbeatable opening repertoire with the opening explorer - Get in-depth performance stats about your games, Puzzles and Lessons
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Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Chessimo 2.0 at Free against HIARCS Chess for iPad's $9.99. Chessimo 2.0 also leads on update cadence (every 2 months vs every 5 months) and device support (3 vs 1). HIARCS Chess for iPad's advantage is review sentiment (86% vs 44%) and in-app purchases (none vs 6). On 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
Chessimo 2.0 is free to download; HIARCS Chess for iPad costs $9.99 up front. Chessimo 2.0 sells 6 one-off in-app purchases. HIARCS Chess for iPad asks for nothing beyond the download.
HIARCS Chess for iPad holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.2. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 194 and 58 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 86% of HIARCS Chess for iPad's written reviews are positive against 44% of Chessimo 2.0's.
HIARCS Chess for iPad ships an update every 5 months, Chessimo 2.0 every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 22, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | HIARCS Chess for iPad | Chessimo 2.0 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.7 (194 ratings) — better | 4.2 (58 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 85.8% of reviews — better | 43.6% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 194 — better | 58 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Devices | iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 11.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 38 MB | 122 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Applied Computer Concepts Ltd. | 8 x 8 Media AG |
Customer experience
HIARCS Chess for iPad
Chessimo 2.0
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
Chessimo 2.0
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
HIARCS Chess for iPad
No in-app purchases
Chessimo 2.0
- Activation of all Tactics Units$2.99
- Activation of all Strategy Units$2.99
- Activation of all Endgame Units$2.99
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- Activation of all opening variations$2.99
- Activation of all Commented Engame-Units$2.99
- Activate all Train exercises$14.99
Questions
Is HIARCS Chess for iPad free?
Is Chessimo 2.0 free?
Which has better reviews, HIARCS Chess for iPad or Chessimo 2.0?
Do HIARCS Chess for iPad or Chessimo 2.0 have ads?
Which is updated more often, HIARCS Chess for iPad or Chessimo 2.0?
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