Comparison

Tactics vs Chess

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

Head to head
About

Tactics

Sharpen your chess skills by solving tactical puzzles. The app offers hints and tracks your progress, with positions repeating for practice. Compete for a high score and play as a guest or with your PlayChess account.

Highlights
  • Solve chess tactic positions
  • Get hints for solutions
  • Guest or PlayChess account login
  • Repeat unsolved positions
  • High score list
  • Universal app support
Features
Read full description

Master the game of Chess by solving tactic positions. - Get a hint if you don't know the solution - You can solve tactics as guest or login with your PlayChess account - Positions which you haven't solved, will appear again later - High score list - Universal application

About

Chess

Manage and study chess databases and games in PGN format with advanced analysis tools. Supports game creation, modification, and import from various sources. Includes engine analysis, opening book management, and puzzle training.

Highlights
  • PGN database and game management
  • Create, modify, and import games
  • Advanced engine analysis with Stockfish
  • Opening book and ChessBase support
  • Chess 960 (Fischer Random) support
  • Diagram recognition for PGN conversion
  • Puzzle training and online play
Features
Read full description

Chess Studio is the first and only application for iPhone and iPad able to manage chess databases and games in PGN format in a complete and efficient way. Chess Studio is an application designed and built for those players who really want to deepen their knowledge in the field of chess, studying chess regularly and participate in tournaments. Chess Studio allows you to: • Read database and games in PGN format (also with extended notation of moves). • Create, delete and modify folders and databases. • View games with annotations and textual comments and keep track of the displayed games. • Use a double chessboard on the same screen for better game analysis. • Visualize moves and variants in compact mode or indented mode. • Modify existing games with move annotation and textual comments. • Insert new games and positions. • Insert, replay and analyze games in Chess 960 mode. • Insert moves with annotations and textual comments. • Insert variation, subvariations etc. • Insert and visualize graphical annotation (colored arrows and highlighted squares). • Share Databases and Games through Airdrop. • Download chess database from internet. • Download chess database directly from PGN Mentor site. • Import games, database and Opening Books from other applications. • Merge two or more databases. • Copy/Paste games and positions. • Analyze games with Stockfish 19 Engine with the support of the Neural Networks (up to 5 lines of analysis simultaneously) with the support of the Engine Evaluation Bar. • Replay games automatically. • Visualize Pawn structure. • Manage Variations and sub-variatons: delete and promote variations. • Read the weekly Magazine The New In Chess (TWIC) and download the games. • Uploading and Downloading PGN Database to/from Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive. • Three different modes for moving pieces. • Analyze endgames with Endgame Tablebases. • Analyze and study Chess Openings in the Chess Openings Section. • Create and manage Opening Books in Polyglot format. • Import and manage ChessBase Opening Books (ctg format). • Automatically classify a database according to ECO code. • Replay, enter and analyze Chess 960 games (Fischer Random Chess). • Play against the engine both in standard mode and in Chess 960 mode. • Play online through the LiChess platform • Train by solving Puzzles • ChessBase Database support. • Diagram Recognition: this feature allows the user to take and/or upload photos of chess diagrams and convert them into PGN format positions. Other features and technical details: • Modify the board size. • Professional chess fonts and figurines for moves notation and annotation. • Preview of the game in the board tapping the Info button. • Quick search feature. • Advanced search feature. • Complete management of Null Moves with Tutorial. • Visualization of ECO code and Opening during game replay or game insertion. • Visualization of Book Openings during game replay or game insertion. • Portrait/Landscape mode for all devices. • Support of Slide Over and Split View mode. • Function to move up within variants and subvariants. • iOS 26 compatible and optimized for all the devices. • Sharing of databases across devices via iCloud Drive (also with Chess Studio for Mac OS). • Sound option. • Support for iPad Pro Keyboard or bluetooth keyboard. • VoiceOver/Accessibility support. • Direct contact via email with the developer to report problems, ask for explanation and suggestions (very quick answer!). • Languages: English, Italian, Spanish and German. Complete description at: https://chessstudio.wordpress.com/chess-studio/ To view the privacy policy and Terms of Use (EULA) visit https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ The application is continuously updated with new features and improvements. No registration! No advertising! No sharing of personal data!

Screenshots

Tactics1 screens
Chess4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Chess at 92% against Tactics's 14%. Chess also leads on rating (4.7 vs 3.0) and ratings volume (118 vs 3). Tactics's advantage is price (Free vs $3.99) and iOS requirement (5.2 vs 15.0). On update cadence, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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

Tactics is free to download; Chess costs $3.99 up front. Tactics sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Chess sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Chess holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Chess has 118 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 14% of Tactics's written reviews are positive against 92% of Chess's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Tactics ships an update every 3 weeks, Chess fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 10, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Tactics versus Chess: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTacticsChess
PriceFree — better$3.99
Rating3.0 (3 ratings)4.7 (118 ratings) — better
Positive reviews14.3% of reviews92.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings3118 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS5.2 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size9 MB237 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperChessBase GmbHGiordano Vicoli

Customer experience

Tactics

All ratings3 ratings
Positive33.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative66.7%
Written reviews28 reviews
Positive14.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative85.7%

Chess

All ratings118 ratings
Positive92.4%
Neutral2.5%
Negative5.1%
Written reviews174 reviews
Positive92.0%
Neutral2.9%
Negative5.2%

Bugs and requests

Tactics

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Chess

Reported bugs

12 issues
  • Problem saving updated game data
  • Engine stopped working after 30 seconds
  • App crashes when adding annotations without hitting 'edit mode' first
  • Crash opening .pgn in landscape mode
  • Crashes when selecting a cell with 0 games associated
Show 7 more
  • App freezes sometimes
  • Download stuck on 'downloading'
  • Dropbox issues on earlier iOS versions
  • Program not bulletproof upon saving work
  • Can't download cbv files
  • Graphical annotations drawing unwanted arrows
  • App doesn't work after iOS update

Requested features

20 requests
  • Add dark mode
  • Add board flip button
  • Improve interface for screen reader users
  • Add private game feature with code
  • Add computer whole game analysis with annotations
Show 15 more
  • Add coloring moves based on annotation
  • Add drawing arrows that are saved
  • Add bookmark feature
  • Add buttons/swipe to go forward/backwards to next/previous game
  • Add select all function for copying games
  • Add autoplay games
  • Remember last position/game opened in a database
  • Support Millennium boards
  • Support UCI engine compatibility
  • Optimize database game view
  • Make edit mode arrows slimmer and add more colors
  • Allow direct iCloud access to databases without export
  • Make graphical annotations optional/disableable
  • Improve font size adjustment for moves and annotations
  • Add search with multiple criteria

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Tactics

One-time1
  • 100 tactics positions$0.99
2 purchases

Chess

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Premium Subscription3 Days trial$0.991 Month
  • Yearly Premium Subscription3 Days trial$8.991 Year

Questions

Is Tactics free?
Tactics is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Chess free?
Chess costs $3.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Tactics or Chess?
Chess is rated higher. Tactics averages 3.0 out of 5 from 3 ratings, while Chess averages 4.7 from 118 ratings.
Do Tactics or Chess have ads?
Neither Tactics nor Chess shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Tactics or Chess?
Tactics ships an update every 3 weeks, and Chess fortnightly. Most recently, Tactics was updated on October 10, 2026 and Chess on October 14, 2026.

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