Comparison

Simple chess board vs Chess Opener Lite

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

Head to head
About

Simple chess board

This app provides a digital chessboard with unrestricted piece movement and a configurable chess clock. Save and load board positions, undo/redo moves, and even use checker pieces. It's ideal for analyzing games or setting up custom scenarios.

Highlights
  • Free piece movement
  • Undo/Redo functionality
  • Board rotation
  • Checker piece option
  • Save/load positions
  • Configurable chess clock
  • Tweet current position
Features
Read full description

A simple chess board and a chess clock without movement restrictions. Free movement as a real board. Current features are: • Move pieces freely, add or remove them. • Undo/Redo last movement. • Rotate board and/or pieces. • Use checkers game pieces. • Save/load positions for later use, or delete them when you don't need them anymore (swipe over them). Starting positions for chess and checkers are available. • Use a chess clock where you can configure initial time, move time increment, increment after a number of movement, hourglass time, ... • Set time independent for black and white if required. • Save/load time settings for later use. Already available some common times. • Tweet your current position.

About

Chess Opener Lite

Master chess openings with an interactive trainer and comprehensive database. Build and memorize your own repertoire, compare variations, and track your progress. Works offline and offers extensive opening exploration.

Highlights
  • Chess opening tree with game statistics
  • Encyclopedia of Chess Openings (ECO)
  • Build and edit opening repertoire
  • Interactive opening trainer
  • Offline functionality
  • PGN export
  • Progress tracking
Features
Read full description

Features: - Chess opening tree with game statistics - The Encyclopedia of Chess Openings (ECO) - Compare ECO and opening tree moves side by side in any position - Export chess openings in PGN format - Build your own opening repertoire - Add or edit comments on moves - Automatically classify any sequence of moves using the ECO system - Chess opening explorer highlights moves already in your repertoire - Chess database includes all transpositions - Interactive trainer to memorize your chess openings and variations - Train multiple variations at once against random opponent moves from your repertoire - Set up a starting position for training - Track your training progress - Customize chessboard colors and chess pieces - Supports dark mode - Works completely offline CHESS OPENING EXPLORER Search in the Encyclopedia of Chess Openings or browse the chess opening tree. Swipe left or right to switch between the exploration features in any position. BUILD YOUR OPENING REPERTOIRE Add your favorite opening lines to your repertoire using the chess opening explorer. You can always edit the names of your openings and organize them in your repertoire. OPENING TRAINER A simple and efficient method to memorize variations of openings in your repertoire. You can train either white’s moves or black’s moves only or both. Optionally, you can train all variations at once. The trainer chooses the opponent’s moves randomly from your opening repertoire. Chess Opener tracks your progress and shows your stats. Upgrade to Chess Opener PRO to unlock more features: - Unlimited repertoire size - Unlimited depth of openings - 6x larger opening tree with game statistics - Database of top 100+ grandmasters’ repertoires - Powerful chess engine analysis - Import openings in PGN format

Screenshots

Simple chess board4 screens
Chess Opener Lite4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Simple chess board at 88% against Chess Opener Lite's 43%. Simple chess board also leads on rating (4.5 vs 4.1) and ratings volume (68 vs 17). Chess Opener Lite's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and ads (none vs shown). On price 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Simple chess board sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Chess Opener Lite asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Simple chess board holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.1. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 68 and 17 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 88% of Simple chess board's written reviews are positive against 43% of Chess Opener Lite's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Simple chess board ships an update every 10 months, Chess Opener Lite every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 2 level
Simple chess board versus Chess Opener Lite: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSimple chess boardChess Opener Lite
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (68 ratings) — better4.1 (17 ratings)
Positive reviews88.2% of reviews — better42.9% of reviews
Number of ratings68 — better17
Update frequencyEvery 10 monthsEvery 5 weeks — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.0 — better15.1
Further details — not scored
Size9 MB55 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLuis LopezStanislav Basovnik

Customer experience

Simple chess board

All ratings68 ratings
Positive88.2%
Neutral2.9%
Negative8.8%
Written reviews51 reviews
Positive88.2%
Neutral3.9%
Negative7.8%

Chess Opener Lite

All ratings17 ratings
Positive76.5%
Neutral0.0%
Negative23.5%
Written reviews7 reviews
Positive42.9%
Neutral0.0%
Negative57.1%

Bugs and requests

Simple chess board

Reported bugs

7 issues
  • Keyboard not appearing to enter text/save
  • Cannot figure out how to save position
  • Pieces shift on their own
  • Kings and queens on wrong squares initially
  • Save position fails with 'You must insert text' error
Show 2 more
  • App froze mid-game
  • Write a review tab has trouble

Requested features

20 requests
  • Add scoresheet functionality
  • Export game for analysis
  • Move counter
  • Portrait view on iPad
  • Board expansion to fill screen
Show 15 more
  • Ability to turn board around
  • More board color options
  • Option to hide timers
  • PGN save and import facility
  • PGN export
  • Chess notation feature
  • Larger board size (optional timers)
  • Change chess set for better viewing
  • Fix 'write a review' tab issue
  • Delete saved games/setups easily
  • Better graphics
  • More realistic piece movement enforcement
  • Improve piece dragging and selection
  • Make piece representations larger
  • Add variations

Chess Opener Lite

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Simple chess board

One-time1
  • Remove ads$0.99
None

Chess Opener Lite

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Simple chess board free?
Simple chess board is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Chess Opener Lite free?
Chess Opener Lite is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Simple chess board or Chess Opener Lite?
Simple chess board is rated higher. Simple chess board averages 4.5 out of 5 from 68 ratings, while Chess Opener Lite averages 4.1 from 17 ratings.
Do Simple chess board or Chess Opener Lite have ads?
Simple chess board shows ads; Chess Opener Lite does not.
Which is updated more often, Simple chess board or Chess Opener Lite?
Simple chess board ships an update every 10 months, and Chess Opener Lite every 5 weeks. Most recently, Simple chess board was updated on November 1, 2026 and Chess Opener Lite on November 3, 2026.

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