Comparison

ChessBase Mobile Chess vs Chessigma

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, 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/

About

Chessigma

Analyze your chess games with detailed move-by-move feedback and personalized puzzles based on your mistakes. Improve your play with clear explanations and a powerful engine, all for free.

Highlights
  • Game review with move grading
  • Plain-English move explanations
  • Integrated Stockfish engine
  • Mistake-based puzzle generation
  • Supports Chess.com, Lichess, and PGN
Features
Read full description

Chessigma reviews your chess games, shows you where the points went, and turns your own mistakes into training. The app has five tabs: Home, Train, Coach, Games and Brain. FREE - Game review: import your games from Chess.com or Lichess by username, or paste a PGN or a game link. Every move is graded, the turning points are marked, and you see the better move and the evaluation graph. The Stockfish engine runs on your phone, so a review needs no account. - Scan: pick a screenshot, a photo of a screen or a diagram from a book, and the analysis board opens on that position with the best move. It reads screens and diagrams, not real boards. - Puzzles: a daily puzzle to keep your streak, classic puzzles, and Woodpecker sets that repeat the same positions until the patterns stick. - Opening Trainer: learn opening courses line by line. The first lines of every course are free. - Brain Games: twelve short games with scores and leaderboards. Nine are built on chess, and three need no chess: a reaction time test, Queens and Memory Match. - Sparring: play the first bots on the sparring ladder. - A first look at your player report, built from your recent online games. - One move explanation from the coach each day when you are signed in. Signing in is free and keeps your streak, puzzle rating, scores and progress on every device. SUPERCOACH Supercoach is the paid plan. It adds: - Coach chat: ask the AI coach about your games, your openings and your habits. - Your full player report in six chapters (Overview, Blunders, Clock, Tactics, Conversion, Openings), with a heatmap of your blind spots. - A daily plan of coached tasks picked from your own games. - Move explanations in every game review, and the option to play on from any position. - Blunder Shield and Blunder Training: drills built from the positions where you blundered. - Conversion Trainer: practice winning the games you were winning. - Every rival on the sparring ladder and every line of every opening course. Coach messages come from a monthly allowance. Coach answers are written by an AI model through a third-party service, and every answer has a Report button. ACCOUNT Sign in with Apple, Google or your email address (we send a 6-digit code, no password). If your Chessigma account already has Supercoach, it works in the app as soon as you sign in. You can delete your account in Account > Delete account. SUBSCRIPTION Supercoach is an auto-renewing subscription, monthly or yearly. The price and billing period are shown in the app before you buy. Payment is charged to your Apple Account when you confirm the purchase. The subscription renews automatically unless you cancel it at least 24 hours before the end of the current period, and the renewal is charged within the 24 hours before the period ends. You can manage or cancel it in your App Store account settings. Terms of Use: https://www.chessigma.com/tos Privacy Policy: https://www.chessigma.com/privacy-policy Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

ChessBase Mobile Chess4 screens
Chessigma4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Chessigma at 4.7 against ChessBase Mobile Chess's 2.9. Chessigma also leads on review sentiment (81% vs 41%) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 6 months). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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. ChessBase Mobile Chess sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $3.99 per month and Chessigma sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $14.00 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Chessigma holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 2.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Chessigma has 92 ratings behind it against 18, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 41% of ChessBase Mobile Chess's written reviews are positive against 81% of Chessigma's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ChessBase Mobile Chess ships an update every 6 months, Chessigma fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
ChessBase Mobile Chess versus Chessigma: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChessBase Mobile ChessChessigma
PriceFreeFree
Rating2.9 (18 ratings)4.7 (92 ratings) — better
Positive reviews40.6% of reviews81.3% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1892 — better
Update frequencyEvery 6 monthsFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS15.615.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size1 MB12 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperChessBase GmbHChessigma

Customer experience

ChessBase Mobile Chess

All ratings18 ratings
Positive44.4%
Neutral5.6%
Negative50.0%
Written reviews32 reviews
Positive40.6%
Neutral0.0%
Negative59.4%

Chessigma

All ratings92 ratings
Positive93.5%
Neutral1.1%
Negative5.4%
Written reviews16 reviews
Positive81.3%
Neutral6.3%
Negative12.5%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

ChessBase Mobile Chess

Subscriptions1
  • ChessBase Premium (Monthly)$3.991 Month
2 purchases

Chessigma

Subscriptions2
  • Supercoach Monthly$14.001 Month
  • Supercoach Yearly$97.001 Year

Questions

Is ChessBase Mobile Chess free?
ChessBase Mobile Chess is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Chessigma free?
Chessigma is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, ChessBase Mobile Chess or Chessigma?
Chessigma is rated higher. ChessBase Mobile Chess averages 2.9 out of 5 from 18 ratings, while Chessigma averages 4.7 from 92 ratings.
Do ChessBase Mobile Chess or Chessigma have ads?
Neither ChessBase Mobile Chess nor Chessigma shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ChessBase Mobile Chess or Chessigma?
ChessBase Mobile Chess ships an update every 6 months, and Chessigma fortnightly. Most recently, ChessBase Mobile Chess was updated on October 30, 2026 and Chessigma on November 3, 2026.

Other comparisons