Comparison

SmallFish Chess for Stockfish vs Chess Master

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

Head to head
About

SmallFish Chess for Stockfish

This app leverages the powerful Stockfish chess engine to help you analyze your games, study strategic thinking, and track your progress. It offers features like blunder checking, graphical evaluations, and opening books without any ads or in-app purchases.

Highlights
  • Stockfish chess engine integration
  • Game analysis with comments
  • Study Stockfish's thinking
  • Progress tracking
  • Blunder checking
  • Graphical game evaluation
  • Opening books
Features
Read full description

SmallFish is a project based on the Stockfish chess engine. It uses the latest Stockfish chess engine (Stockfish 19), rated about Elo 3600+ and is the strongest chess app on the App Store. SmallFish offers you three distinct ways to improve your game. You can review your game with comments, or study how Stockfish thinks, or track your progress. No in-app purchase, no ads, no data tracking. SmallFish is simply amazing. It's small but powerful, you'll be surprised. Features --------- - Blunder checking - Multiple line analysis - Graphical evaluation of your game - Game previews - Dark mode support - Endgame tablebase - Opening books - Import from Chess.com and Lichess Why not just download and try it yourself?

About

Chess Master

Master chess strategy and tactics with a vast collection of over 4600 unique puzzles, problems, and studies. Perfect for players of all levels looking to improve their game through instructive positions from grandmaster matches.

Highlights
  • 4600+ unique chess problems
  • Train chess strategy
  • Improve theoretical positions
  • Study instructive gaming positions
  • Endgame practice
  • Grandmaster game analysis
Features
Read full description

«Chess is difficult, they require serious work» The first world champion - Wilhelm Steinitz. «You can become a good master only when you realize your mistakes and shortcomings. Absolutely like in life» The first Russian world champion - Alexander Alekhine Unique collection of chess puzzles from 4600 combinations, problems, studies to train chess strategy, theoretical positions and instructive gaming positions of the endgame from the real games of grandmasters. All this will help you improve your skills! The collection of chess problems is addressed to coaches, young chess players, teachers, parents and can be used to train personal skills. SPECIAL DEAL - Discount 60%! We have collected all chess problems in one universal app for true fans of chess puzzles. From mate to 1 to strategies and studies. Our apps: - Chess? OK! (Mate in 1, 2 and 3) - Chess Win (Strategy) - Chess Tactic (Tactics) - Chess Tricks (Endgame and Strategy) Enjoy ;)

Screenshots

SmallFish Chess for Stockfish4 screens
Chess Master2 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: SmallFish Chess for Stockfish at 79% against Chess Master's 0%. SmallFish Chess for Stockfish also leads on price ($4.99 vs $19.99) and rating (4.8 vs 1.0). Chess Master's advantage is iOS requirement (12.0 vs 14.0). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model 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

SmallFish Chess for Stockfish costs $4.99 and Chess Master $19.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

SmallFish Chess for Stockfish holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 1.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SmallFish Chess for Stockfish has 4.5K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 79% of SmallFish Chess for Stockfish's written reviews are positive against 0% of Chess Master's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SmallFish Chess for Stockfish ships an update every 3 days, Chess Master every 11 months. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
SmallFish Chess for Stockfish versus Chess Master: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSmallFish Chess for StockfishChess Master
Price$4.99 — better$19.99
Rating4.8 (4.5K ratings) — better1.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews79.1% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings4.5K — better1
Update frequencyEvery 3 days — betterEvery 11 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
Best chart rank#22 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS14.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size195 MB43 MB
Age rating4++4
DeveloperTed WongSergiy Kurash

Customer experience

SmallFish Chess for Stockfish

All ratings4,541 ratings
Positive95.4%
Neutral2.0%
Negative2.6%
Written reviews608 reviews
Positive79.1%
Neutral7.1%
Negative13.8%

Chess Master

All ratings1 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

Bugs and requests

SmallFish Chess for Stockfish

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Crashes when setting up positions
  • Incorrect move suggestions and engine evaluations
  • Freezing and unresponsiveness during gameplay
  • Issues with board and coordinate display alignment

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add support for variations and multiple analysis lines
  • Implement a two-player mode with piece flipping
  • Add PGN file sorting, searching, and folder support
  • Provide an option to hide the board and show captured pieces
  • Integrate with chess.com and other platforms

Chess Master

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

SmallFish Chess for Stockfish

No in-app purchases

None

Chess Master

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is SmallFish Chess for Stockfish free?
SmallFish Chess for Stockfish costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Chess Master free?
Chess Master costs $19.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, SmallFish Chess for Stockfish or Chess Master?
SmallFish Chess for Stockfish is rated higher. SmallFish Chess for Stockfish averages 4.8 out of 5 from 4.5K ratings, while Chess Master averages 1.0 from 1 ratings.
Do SmallFish Chess for Stockfish or Chess Master have ads?
Neither SmallFish Chess for Stockfish nor Chess Master shows ads.
Which is updated more often, SmallFish Chess for Stockfish or Chess Master?
SmallFish Chess for Stockfish ships an update every 3 days, and Chess Master every 11 months. Most recently, SmallFish Chess for Stockfish was updated on November 6, 2026 and Chess Master on November 2, 2026.

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