Comparison

Chess vs Chess Acuity

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

Head to head
About

Chess

Transform your device into a professional chess analysis board. Scan positions from photos, analyze games with a powerful engine, and organize your studies with an intuitive interface. Access opening books and a vast game database to improve your play.

Highlights
  • Professional analysis board
  • Position scanning from photos
  • Powerful analysis engine
  • Opening books
  • 8 million+ game database
  • Personalized game organization
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.

About

Chess Acuity

Analyze any chess position with a powerful engine running locally on your device. Input positions from photos, PGNs, or manual setup. Offers move analysis, explanations, and a playable game against the engine.

Highlights
  • On-device board recognition from photos
  • PGN import and analysis
  • Manual board setup and FEN input
  • Stockfish 17 engine analysis
  • Multiple analysis lines with explanations
  • Play against Stockfish with adjustable difficulty
  • Private and ad-free experience
Features
Read full description

Chess Acuity turns any chess position into insight — entirely on your device. Set up a position and Stockfish 17, running locally on your iPhone, shows you the best moves and lines. No account, no ads, no analytics, no internet connection required. The app is free and open source. FOUR WAYS IN • From a photo — share a screenshot from any chess app or website, or pick one from your photo library. A built-in recognizer reads the board on-device and sets up the position. • From a game — paste a PGN, step through the moves, and analyse any position along the way. • By hand — set up the board in a clean, fast editor. • By FEN — paste a position directly. ANALYSIS • Powered by the Stockfish 17 chess engine, running natively on your device. • Multiple lines (MultiPV) with evaluations, searched by depth or thinking time. • Step through any line move by move on the board. • Plain-language explanation of the engine's choice. PLAY • Play a full game against Stockfish at eight strength levels. • Take a hint when you're stuck, then hand the finished game straight to the analyser. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Everything — board recognition, engine analysis, move explanations — runs on your device. The app makes no network requests and collects no data. Screenshots you import are processed locally and never uploaded. OPEN SOURCE Chess Acuity is free software under the GNU GPLv3. The complete source code is available at github.com/alexostar/chess-acuity-app. FAIR PLAY Chess Acuity is made for study and review. Please don't use it for assistance during live or rated games — that breaks the fair-play rules of every chess site and spoils the game for everyone.

Screenshots

Chess4 screens
Chess Acuity4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Chess at 5.0 against Chess Acuity's 2.0. Chess Acuity's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and ads (none vs shown). On price, ratings volume, device support and iOS requirement 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. Chess Acuity asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Chess holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 2.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 1 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Chess ships an update monthly, Chess Acuity every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on November 9, 2026 and November 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Chess versus Chess Acuity: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChessChess Acuity
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better2.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings11
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 4 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.016.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size148 MB135 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAlvaro RibesSigfus Bjarnason

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Chess

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly$3.991 Month
  • Annual$17.991 Year
None

Chess Acuity

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Chess free?
Chess is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Chess Acuity free?
Chess Acuity is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Chess or Chess Acuity?
Chess is rated higher. Chess averages 5.0 out of 5 from 1 ratings, while Chess Acuity averages 2.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Chess or Chess Acuity have ads?
Chess shows ads; Chess Acuity does not.
Which is updated more often, Chess or Chess Acuity?
Chess ships an update monthly, and Chess Acuity every 4 days. Most recently, Chess was updated on November 9, 2026 and Chess Acuity on November 10, 2026.

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