Comparison

ChessBase Mobile Chess vs Chess Live & Latest Games

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read 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, legal moves shown as you pick up a piece, clean interface, no clutter. Follow live tournaments as they happen: standings, schedules and player profiles, grouped into current, upcoming and finished events. Watch games live with engine analysis and an evaluation bar. The ChessBase Online Database contains over 14 million games. Search by player, position or opening, and filter by correspondence, classical, rapid or blitz. 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. Engines included in your membership are marked as Included. 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/

About

Chess Live & Latest Games

Features
Read full description

Chess Live & Latest Games brings the world's top over-the-board chess to your iPhone and iPad — live tournament relays, the freshest grandmaster games, and the immortal classics, all replayable move by move on a board you can make your own. NOW COMPATIBLE WITH CHESSNUT MOVE. FOLLOW LIVE TOURNAMENTS - Real over-the-board events relayed move by move as they happen - See who's playing right now, with live game lists and results - Built on trusted public broadcast feeds THE LATEST GRANDMASTER GAMES - Browse a curated roster of the world's best players - Pull each player's newest games on demand - Real player photos for a richer browsing experience LEGENDS & DEEP DATABASES - Hand-picked classics, every move verified for accuracy - Download full game databases for the greats — thousands of games each - Morphy, Steinitz, Lasker, Capablanca, Tal, Spassky, Fischer, Karpov, Kasparov and more - Tap any player's photo for a short bio (sourced from Wikipedia) A BEAUTIFUL, PLAYABLE BOARD - Step through any game, or auto-play hands-free at an adjustable speed - Flip the board to view from either side - 15 board color schemes and multiple piece sets - Tappable move list, last-move highlighting MAKE IT YOURS - Bookmark any position and add your own notes - Import your own games by pasting PGN, fetching a URL, or opening a .pgn file - Download or share any game as a PGN file COMMENTARY - Jump to live human commentary streams for an event - Read written annotations when a game includes them - Optionally generate move-by-move AI commentary using your own Claude or ChatGPT API key (stored only on your device) PRIVATE BY DESIGN - No account required - No analytics, no tracking, no ads Game data is provided by public sources including Lichess and Chess.com. Chess Live & Latest Games is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Lichess, Chess.com, FIDE, or any tournament organizer.

Screenshots

ChessBase Mobile Chess4 screens
Chess Live & Latest Games4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: ChessBase Mobile Chess at Free against Chess Live & Latest Games's $9.99. ChessBase Mobile Chess also leads on iOS requirement (15.6 vs 17.0). Chess Live & Latest Games's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 3 months). On 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

ChessBase Mobile Chess is free to download; Chess Live & Latest Games costs $9.99 up front. ChessBase Mobile Chess sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $3.99 per month. Chess Live & Latest Games asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ChessBase Mobile Chess ships an update every 3 months, Chess Live & Latest Games every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
ChessBase Mobile Chess versus Chess Live & Latest Games: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChessBase Mobile ChessChess Live & Latest Games
PriceFree — better$9.99
Rating2.9 (18 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews40.6% of reviews—
Number of ratings18 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 5 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemium—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.6 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size1 MB3 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperChessBase GmbHJames Kinsman

In-app purchases

1 purchases

ChessBase Mobile Chess

Subscriptions1
  • ChessBase Premium (Monthly)$3.991 Month
None

Chess Live & Latest Games

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is ChessBase Mobile Chess free?
ChessBase Mobile Chess is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Chess Live & Latest Games free?
Chess Live & Latest Games costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do ChessBase Mobile Chess or Chess Live & Latest Games have ads?
Neither ChessBase Mobile Chess nor Chess Live & Latest Games shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ChessBase Mobile Chess or Chess Live & Latest Games?
ChessBase Mobile Chess ships an update every 3 months, and Chess Live & Latest Games every 5 weeks. Most recently, ChessBase Mobile Chess was updated on November 5, 2026 and Chess Live & Latest Games on October 31, 2026.

Other comparisons