Comparison

Beyond Chess D20 vs PGN Chess Recorder

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

Head to head
About

Beyond Chess D20

Features
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Beyond Chess is a strategy game that takes the core of chess and adds one missing ingredient: uncertainty. Choose how you want to play: CLASSIC MODE Pure chess. Deterministic captures. No randomness. STATISTICAL MODE Captures are resolved by probability. Each piece has a fixed chance to capture other pieces, sometimes you win, sometimes you bounce back. No victory is guaranteed. RPG DICE MODE (D20) Every capture attempt rolls a d20: • 1: Critical fail — your piece self-destructs • 2–5: Capture fails — your piece stays in its original square • 6–19: Normal capture • 20: Wololo conversion — the target piece turns to your color while your piece stays in place ONLINE PvP Play online matches in public or private rooms, choose a nickname and jump in. (Online play requires an internet connection.) If you enjoy chess, tabletop RNG, and tactical risk management, Beyond Chess is built for you.

About

PGN Chess Recorder

Record chess games by speaking moves. The app updates the board live and builds a move list, which can be exported as PGN. It's useful for older devices, over-the-board play, training, and analysis.

Highlights
  • Voice dictation for chess moves
  • Live board updates
  • PGN export
  • On-device engine analysis
  • Move quality assessment
  • Interactive board with navigation
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Chess Recorder lets you record chess games by speaking your moves. Say square names, pieces, captures, castling, and undo in plain language — the board updates live, the move list builds as you play, and you can export everything as PGN. Built to capture PGN from games on older chess computers and devices that don’t offer export capabilities— and just as useful for over-the-board play, training, and quick analysis on iPhone and iPad. VOICE DICTATION • On-device speech recognition tuned for chess moves • Support for English and German language dictation • Live transcript while you record • Teach custom phrases when recognition misses something • Optional touch input when you prefer to tap moves instead BOARD & NOTATION • Clear interactive board with move navigation and scrubbing • ECO code and opening name as you play • Browse opening continuations from the current position • Multi-game archive with PGN copy and export • Flip the board and customize colors, coordinates, piece size, and many more ENGINE ANALYSIS • On-device Stockfish analysis via LucidEngine • Evaluation, win probability, main line, and best-move arrow • Each display option can be turned on or off MOVE QUALITY • Background assessment of played moves • Inaccuracy, mistake, blunder, and miss marks in the move list • Accuracy summary with charts for White and Black • Optional assessment symbols in exported PGN When supported, speech recognition runs on your device. Microphone access is used only for move dictation. Chess Recorder is free and open source (GPLv3).

Screenshots

Beyond Chess D204 screens
PGN Chess Recorder4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: PGN Chess Recorder at Free against Beyond Chess D20's $9.99. PGN Chess Recorder also leads on update cadence (every 2 days vs monthly). Beyond Chess D20's advantage is device support (4 vs 2) and iOS requirement (14.0 vs 26.5). On ads and in-app purchases 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

PGN Chess Recorder is free to download; Beyond Chess D20 costs $9.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Beyond Chess D20 ships an update monthly, PGN Chess Recorder every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Beyond Chess D20 versus PGN Chess Recorder: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBeyond Chess D20PGN Chess Recorder
Price$9.99Free — better
Rating—5.0 (6 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—6 — better
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
Monetization—Free
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS14.0 — better26.5
Further details — not scored
Size187 MB126 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperOMER GULERYUZPhilipp Guntermann

In-app purchases

None

Beyond Chess D20

No in-app purchases

None

PGN Chess Recorder

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Beyond Chess D20 free?
Beyond Chess D20 costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is PGN Chess Recorder free?
PGN Chess Recorder is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Beyond Chess D20 or PGN Chess Recorder have ads?
Neither Beyond Chess D20 nor PGN Chess Recorder shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Beyond Chess D20 or PGN Chess Recorder?
Beyond Chess D20 ships an update monthly, and PGN Chess Recorder every 2 days. Most recently, Beyond Chess D20 was updated on November 5, 2026 and PGN Chess Recorder on October 31, 2026.

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