Comparison

Chessbits vs Brass Pawn

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

Head to head
About

Chessbits

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Fetch interesting game bits from the cloud See color coded game notation to identify good moves, blunders and transpositions Show or hide the game evaluation at any time Hide the pieces at any time to play blindfold Change moves as often as you wish Change sides at any time to play from the Stockfish position Create and play your own positions Choose any Chess960 starting position or let the app choose one randomly Choose to receive a warning if you make a weak move Choose to announce draw by 50 move rule Choose to announce draw by repetition Use dark or light mode along with a selection of board colors

About

Brass Pawn

Features
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Brass Pawn is a chess trainer for iPhone, iPad and Mac. Practise tactics and endgames, compare your moves with an engine and play real opponents. No ads. FOURTEEN THOUSAND PUZZLES, CHOSEN FOR YOU Tactics picked from what you have been finding hard rather than at random. Rush, for when you want the clock. Fifteen endgame drills against an engine that will not let a draw slip past you. A hundred and sixteen positional exercises. And Guess the Elo: sixteen hundred real games, and you say how strong the players were. It is more fun than it sounds, and harder. NINE HUNDRED GAMES WORTH WATCHING Every one decisive, between two named players, and either finished inside twenty-five moves or famous enough to have a name of its own. Look up a player, watch the game unfold, and when you reach a position you would have played differently, take it over and carry on from there yourself. How can I learn from my mistakes? In a practice game, make your own move first. Compare its evaluation with the suggested alternative, then follow the engine's continuation on the board. Turn on move values to compare legal choices before moving. This is engine feedback, not a conversational tutor or a promise of a higher rating. Can I practise chess offline? Yes. Stockfish and Reckless run on your device for computer games and position analysis. Online matches, rankings and the Today feed need an internet connection. How can I play with friends? Use Game Center for online matches with 3, 5, 10, 15 or 30-minute clocks. Add players as in-game friends to invite them again. Friendly invitations and rematches are unrated; online games have no engine assistance. What is free? Computer games, online play and the game library are free. Training includes five daily attempts per activity. Pro removes the training limits through a subscription or one-time unlock. There are no ads. YOUR PRIVACY No ads, no advertising tracking, and no access to your phone's address book. Your training stays on your device. Online features use a player identifier, availability and in-game friendships. 'Contacts' means friends you add in Brass Pawn. You can hide your online status in Settings and remove in-game friends. Payment is charged to your Apple Account on confirmation of purchase. A subscription renews automatically unless it is cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period, and your account is charged within the 24 hours before it renews. Manage or cancel it in your App Store account settings. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://brasspawn.com/privacy

Screenshots

Chessbits4 screens
Brass Pawn4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Chessbits at none against Brass Pawn's 2. Brass Pawn's advantage is update cadence (every 9 days vs every 3 weeks) and iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. Brass Pawn sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Chessbits asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Chessbits ships an update every 3 weeks, Brass Pawn every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences ยท 3 level
Chessbits versus Brass Pawn: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChessbitsBrass Pawn
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 9 days โ€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo โ€” betterYes
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Mac โ€” better
Requires iOS26.017.0 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size104 MB200 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDavid SybertArte Soft Ltd

In-app purchases

None

Chessbits

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Brass Pawn

Subscriptions1
  • Monthly$3.991 Month
One-time1
  • One-off unlock$39.99

Questions

Is Chessbits free?
Chessbits is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Brass Pawn free?
Brass Pawn is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Chessbits or Brass Pawn have ads?
Neither Chessbits nor Brass Pawn shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Chessbits or Brass Pawn?
Chessbits ships an update every 3 weeks, and Brass Pawn every 9 days. Most recently, Chessbits was updated on October 7, 2026 and Brass Pawn on October 16, 2026.

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