Comparison

ChessView vs Invisible Chess

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

Head to head
About

ChessView

Easily import chess positions from photos, PGN files, or online games. Replay, analyze, and explore variations on an interactive board. Offers offline functionality and optional AI-powered commentary.

Highlights
  • Scan chess positions from photos or screenshots
  • Import PGN files and FEN strings
  • Replay and analyze games with full move validation
  • Branch off from any position to explore variations
  • Import Chess.com games offline
  • Optional AI commentary for positions and games
Features
Read full description

See a chess position anywhere — in a book, on another screen, on the table in front of you — and have it on a board you can play with, in seconds. ChessView is a study tool, not another place to play. Scan a position with the camera or from a screenshot, open a PGN file, or pull in your Chess.com games — then replay them, branch off, and work out what actually happened. Free, offline, no account, no ads, no tracking. SCAN A POSITION FROM A PHOTO Point the camera at a real board, or choose a screenshot from Chess.com, Lichess or a chess book. ChessView reads the position and puts it on your board. Anything it misreads, you fix in the position editor — then start playing it out. PLAY IT OUT ON A REAL BOARD Full move validation: legal moves, en passant, castling, promotion. Drag the pieces, step back and forth through the whole game, flip the board, and branch off wherever you want to see what would have happened. OPEN PGN AND FEN FROM ANYWHERE PGN files from Files, Mail, Messages or any app that can share them. Paste a FEN string and it loads. Export any position or game as PGN, FEN or a PNG image, and share it in one tap. YOUR CHESS.COM GAMES, OFFLINE Type your username, pick a month, and your games are in the library — ready to replay any time, with or without a connection. STUDY THE CLASSICS Famous games come built in — Byrne–Fischer, Morphy, Short–Timman, Lasker–Thomas — so there is always a position worth looking at. SEE THE EVALUATION Evaluations and main lines come from the Lichess cloud database: free, fast, no account needed. For positions the database doesn't know, ChessView offers a sensible continuation of its own. OPTIONAL: COMMENTARY IN PLAIN WORDS Add your own OpenAI API key and ChessView will explain a position or a whole game in sentences — the plan, the key ideas, the moment it turned. Entirely optional: everything above works without it. Your key is stored in the iOS Keychain, used only from your device, and never sent to us. PRIVACY, ACTUALLY No account. No ads. No analytics. No tracking. Your games and your settings stay on your iPhone and iPad. WHY I BUILT IT Getting a chess position onto my phone used to be absurdly hard. A diagram in a book, a screenshot from a game, a FEN string someone sent me — none of it could just be opened and played through on an iPhone. PGN files were worse. So I built the app I wanted: open anything, put it on a real board, move the pieces. — Pavel, solo developer Designed for iPhone and iPad.

About

Invisible Chess

Features
Read full description

Forget everything you knew about chess. Welcome to the Void. Invisible Chess: Master Void takes the world’s greatest strategy game and elevates it into a supreme mental challenge [cite: 2026-02-14]. In this version, moving the pieces is only the beginning—the real game happens entirely in your mind. How it works: Once a piece is placed or a move is made, the board slowly fades into the void. You must rely on your visual memory to track every position, plan your next strike, and predict your opponent's hidden maneuvers. Key Features: * Supreme Memory Training: Sharpen your concentration and visual-spatial memory with every move. * Minimalist Aesthetic: A dark, atmospheric design that removes distractions and focuses purely on the essence of strategy. * High-Stakes Tactics: One forgotten piece can lead to a sudden checkmate. Precision is everything. * Master the Void: Designed for those who find standard chess too predictable. Whether you are a Grandmaster looking for a new challenge or a puzzle lover wanting to test your limits, InvisiChess will make you see the board in a whole new way.

Screenshots

ChessView4 screens
Invisible Chess4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: ChessView at Free against Invisible Chess's $3.99. Invisible Chess's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 26.0). On 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

ChessView is free to download; Invisible Chess costs $3.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Scorecard2 real differences · 7 level
ChessView versus Invisible Chess: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChessViewInvisible Chess
PriceFree — better$3.99
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyFortnightly—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS26.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size24 MB5 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPavel GnatyukAPOSTOLOS KOUTIS

In-app purchases

None

ChessView

No in-app purchases

None

Invisible Chess

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is ChessView free?
ChessView is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Invisible Chess free?
Invisible Chess costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do ChessView or Invisible Chess have ads?
Neither ChessView nor Invisible Chess shows ads.

Other comparisons