Chess Score Pad vs ChessBase Mobile Chess
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Chess Score Pad
This app provides a modern, distraction-free electronic scoresheet for over-the-board chess tournament play. Record moves effortlessly, review positions, and export games in PGN or PDF formats for post-game analysis. Designed by a tournament player, it streamlines the scoring process so you can focus on the game.
- Effortless move recording (tap or drag)
- Automatic game saving
- Easy move correction
- Step-through and slider game review
- PGN export for analysis
- PDF scoresheet export with diagram
- Optional legal-move and time tracking
Read full descriptionHide full description
Chess Score Pad A modern electronic scoresheet designed for over-the-board tournament play. Record moves effortlessly and export PGN for post-game analysis. Chess Score Pad replaces paper scoresheets with a clean, distraction-free way to record your games move by move — so you can focus on playing, not writing. Designed by a tournament player with hundreds of USCF-rated games, Chess Score Pad is built for over-the-board chess and post-game review. Record games naturally • Enter moves by tapping or dragging pieces • No coordinates to write, no notation to translate • All moves are saved automatically — no “Save” button required • Easy move correction if a mistake happens Review positions and games • Step through moves one at a time • Scrub through the game with a live position slider • On iPad, view the board and notation side by side • Quickly return to critical positions after the game Export and share • Export games as PGN for analysis in your chess database • Share via AirDrop, Mail, Messages, Files, Notes, Clipboard, and compatible chess apps • Export a professional PDF scoresheet with a position diagram Built for tournament play • Start recording immediately — game details are optional • “Next Game of Event” copies event info and increments the round • Automatically place your pieces at the bottom of the board • Optional legal-move and position checking • Optional move-time tracking Flexible notation • Long or short algebraic notation • Figurine or standard notation Important note Chess Score Pad is an electronic scoresheet and does not provide analysis or engine assistance. Chess Score Pad is not currently certified for tournament use. It may be permitted at the discretion of the tournament director. More screenshots and documentation are available at the Support URL.
ChessBase Mobile Chess
Access a vast chess game database, save and analyze your own games, and practice openings. This app offers advanced notation and sharing features, with a free tier and optional premium upgrades for more extensive cloud storage and search capabilities.
- Access 13+ million chess games
- Save and sync personal game databases
- Analyze games with built-in engine
- Live opening book statistics
- Create and practice opening repertoires
- Advanced game notation and sharing
- PGN file compatibility
Read full descriptionHide full description
ChessBase Mobile is the training, playing, and analysis platform for chess players who track their progress by the numbers. ChessBase Mobile is built by ChessBase, the company behind the standard desktop software used by world champions and club players alike for over 30 years. Solve tactics puzzles rated by difficulty and watch your Elo rise or fall with every attempt. No participation trophies, your rating reflects exactly where you stand. The tactics database draws from positions in real games, not synthetic exercises, so the patterns you train are the patterns you encounter at the board. Puzzle Fight puts you head-to-head against another player in a timed series of 24 tactical positions. Both players solve the same puzzles simultaneously. The one who solves more, faster, wins - and gains Elo. Structured competition, not a casual minigame. Play live games in Blitz and Rapid formats against opponents worldwide. Premove support, clean interface, no clutter. The ChessBase Online Database contains over 14 million games. Search by player, position, or opening. Review grandmaster games, study endgame structures, track opening trends - the same database used by professionals, accessible from your phone. Cloud analysis with several engines, including Fritz and Lc0. Basic cloud analysis with Fritz is free. For deeper analysis, scalable cloud servers are available, from Large to Gargantuan, paid per minute in ducats. Lc0 brings neural network evaluation for positions where classical engines struggle. The engine panel shows evaluation, depth, and principal variation. Build and maintain your opening repertoire in the cloud. 300 opening overviews with repertoire suggestions help you get started with new systems. A live opening book provides up-to-date statistics for every position. Three practice modes let you drill your variations until they stick. Annotate your games with comments, symbols, variations, arrows, and markings. Save games and analyses in cloud databases that synchronise across all your devices. Share positions and games via link, image, GIF, FEN, QR code, or PGN. Upload and download PGN files for full compatibility with desktop software. AI Kibitzer provides live commentary during games and puzzles — with personality. Chess-legend anecdotes, opinions, the occasional bad joke. Like a friend with too much chess trivia sitting next to you. Audio output included. Available in 27 languages. Customisable board colours, piece sets, and notation display. Light and dark mode across all screens, or set to follow your device preference. No ads. No energy systems. No artificial gating. Open the app, train, close the app. Free to use, all functions are available at no cost. ChessBase Premium unlocks expanded cloud storage and unlimited database search results. Free: search the online database (max 50 games displayed), up to 10 cloud databases (10 MB total), cloud clipping for up to 10 games. Premium: unlimited database search, up to 200 cloud databases (500 MB total), cloud clipping for up to 400 games. Privacy policy: https://en.chessbase.com/pages/security Terms of use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: ChessBase Mobile Chess at Free against Chess Score Pad's $9.99. ChessBase Mobile Chess also leads on iOS requirement (15.6 vs 18.6). Chess Score Pad's advantage is rating (4.6 vs 2.9) and in-app purchases (none vs 1). On update cadence, ads 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
ChessBase Mobile Chess is free to download; Chess Score Pad costs $9.99 up front. ChessBase Mobile Chess sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $3.99 per month. Chess Score Pad asks for nothing beyond the download.
Chess Score Pad holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 2.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Chess Score Pad has 179 ratings behind it against 18, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Chess Score Pad ships an update every 5 months, ChessBase Mobile Chess every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Chess Score Pad | ChessBase Mobile Chess |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.6 (179 ratings) — better | 2.9 (18 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | — | 40.6% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 179 — better | 18 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 months — better | Every 6 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | Freemium — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.6 | 15.6 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 3 MB | 1 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | CalcFxC, LLC | ChessBase GmbH |
Customer experience
Chess Score Pad
ChessBase Mobile Chess
Bugs and requests
Chess Score Pad
Reported bugs
8 issues- Board not accessible to voiceover users
- Contact option on website is broken
- Screen controls are flaky, requiring repeated attempts
- Cost me a tournament game due to flaky controls
- Cannot use 'Save to Files' in iPad if the result is draw (1/2)
Show 3 moreShow fewer
- Shows own pieces checking own King
- Does not show when checking opponent's King
- App is 32bit and may not work in the future
Requested features
16 requests- Make board accessible to voiceover users or allow notation entry
- Ability to enter ??, !!, !? and ?! notations
- Cloud support (iCloud/Dropbox)
- Option to load a game
- Built-in player list
Show 11 moreShow fewer
- Export multiple games at once
- Different board colors or lighter dark green squares
- Ability to save games in .pgn format automatically
- Get app approved for USCF tournaments
- iCloud capabilities for syncing games
- Enhanced time controls for correspondence matches
- Feature to make notes and annotate games
- Review or journal mode for inputting variations and annotations
- Standard algebraic notation
- More tags for app store search (e.g., PGN)
- Move notations with time
ChessBase Mobile Chess
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Chess Score Pad
No in-app purchases
ChessBase Mobile Chess
- ChessBase Premium (Monthly)$3.991 Month
Questions
Is Chess Score Pad free?
Is ChessBase Mobile Chess free?
Which has better reviews, Chess Score Pad or ChessBase Mobile Chess?
Do Chess Score Pad or ChessBase Mobile Chess have ads?
Which is updated more often, Chess Score Pad or ChessBase Mobile Chess?
Other comparisons















