Comparison

ChessView vs Chess

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

Head to head
About

ChessView

Scan chess positions from photos, books, or screenshots and instantly play them out on a digital board. Analyze PGN files, import your online games, and explore classic matches. Offers optional AI commentary for deeper insights.

Highlights
  • Scan positions from photos/screenshots
  • Import PGN and FEN files
  • Replay and branch off game moves
  • Full move validation
  • Import Chess.com games
  • Built-in classic games
  • Optional AI commentary
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

Chess

Features
Read full description

PROFESSIONAL ANALYSIS BOARD Turn your iPhone or iPad into a complete analysis board. Create, modify and analyze positions with our board editor. Study every game and take your chess to the next level. POSITION SCANNING Scan positions directly from photos or screenshots, in 2D and 3D. The app automatically recognizes the pieces and board layout. Ideal for studying real games or your own moves. POWERFUL ANALYSIS ENGINE Our advanced analysis engine evaluates each position with precision. Suggests the best moves, detects errors and displays strategic alternatives. PRACTICAL OPPORTUNITIES Discover the practical opportunities of each position. Identify tactics, strategic plans and key moves you can apply in your games. ADVANCED FEATURES + Complete opening books to study strategies from the initial phase of the game. + Database with more than 8 million games, updated weekly. + Download and upload .pgn files, share your analyses and save photos. + Share your studies with other players or coaches. PERSONALIZED ORGANIZATION Save all your games and analyses in your personal database. With an intuitive drag-and-drop system, organize your studies. COMPLETE AND FLEXIBLE ANALYSIS With interactive board, position scanning, powerful analysis engine and personalized organization, this app is the ultimate tool for chess analysis and training.

Screenshots

ChessView4 screens
Chess4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: ChessView at none against Chess's 2. ChessView also leads on ads (none vs shown). Chess's advantage is iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). On price, update cadence 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. Chess sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. ChessView asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ChessView ships an update every 2 weeks, Chess every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 29, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 6 level
ChessView versus Chess: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChessViewChess
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS26.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size21 MB146 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPavel GnatyukAlvaro Ribes

In-app purchases

None

ChessView

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Chess

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly$3.991 Month
  • Annual$17.991 Year

Questions

Is ChessView free?
ChessView is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Chess free?
Chess is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do ChessView or Chess have ads?
Chess shows ads; ChessView does not.
Which is updated more often, ChessView or Chess?
ChessView ships an update every 2 weeks, and Chess every 3 weeks. Most recently, ChessView was updated on September 29, 2026 and Chess on September 22, 2026.

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