Comparison

OpenMate vs Play Chess & Master Games

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

Head to head
About

OpenMate

Master chess openings and play against a powerful engine with integrated coaching. This app offers a private, offline experience with visual guidance and strategy tips to improve your game. Enjoy uninterrupted play with no ads or distractions.

Highlights
  • Strong, fast chess engine
  • Fully offline functionality
  • Visual coaching with move suggestions
  • Built-in opening knowledge
  • Strategy tips and explanations
  • Play at your own pace, no clock
  • Undo moves freely
Features
Read full description

Learn chess openings, or play chess against a strong, fast engine with built-in coaching and analysis tools. OpenMate runs entirely on your device. No internet connection, no accounts, and no data collection. Everything is local, private, and instant. Designed for both play and improvement, OpenMate combines engine strength with visual guidance and practical coaching to help you understand the game as you play. Features: • Strong, fast engine with instant responses: ~4M nodes per second on an iPhone 16 (half on Low Power Mode), ~2800 ELO at 3s/move! • Fully offline: no network access required • Hint mode with visual coaching: - Opening guidance with move suggestions and lists (multicolor arrows) - Engine-recommended moves (green arrows) - Threat visualization (red arrows) • Built-in opening knowledge to guide early play • Strategy tips with both chess terminology and plain-English explanations • Play as White or Black • Flip the board anytime • Undo moves freely at any point • No clock: play at your own pace without time pressure OpenMate is designed to remove friction and distractions. There are no ads, no sign-ups, and no interruptions. Just chess. Whether you want to practice openings, analyze positions, or simply play strong games offline, OpenMate gives you a focused and responsive experience. Built for iPhone and iPad, tested across devices, and optimized for smooth performance.

About

Play Chess & Master Games

Play chess against a customizable engine or study the games of chess legends. Features include engine analysis, an opening explorer, and offline play. Unlock unlimited access with a one-time purchase.

Highlights
  • Play against 8 skill levels of Pulsar engine
  • Study games of 20 chess masters
  • Over 800 World Championship games
  • Engine analysis and opening explorer
  • Offline play, no sign-up required
  • Searchable game lists
Features
Read full description

Play chess against the custom Pulsar engine with 8 skill levels (approximately 1200–2100). Explore the games of 20 of history's greatest chess masters during their peak years, including over 800 World Championship games. Includes engine analysis, an opening explorer, searchable game lists, and autoplay. No sign-up, no ads, and works offline. The playing program is one i've designed and tested at different levels on internet chess servers in order to come up with the ratings on the board. Users get 12 plays and can view 30 chess games for free. These are separate counters. There is a single one time in-app purchase to unlock both unlimited chess play and viewing. There are about 400 games per player on average with fully searchable lists. Just search world when viewing a player for the world championships. Chess masters included are Carlsen, Anand, Kramnik, Kapsparov, Karpov, Korchnoi, Fischer, Spassky Petrosian, Smyslov, Tal, Keres, Botvinnik, Fine, Alekhine, Capablanca, Lasker, Pillsbury, Steinitz and Morphy. Played games are logged and can also be viewed/analyzed. When reviewing master or player's games, users can override the moves and start making their own moves. The engine analysis has a move now option for users to test their moves against the engine. Back up to main line to undo. After a few moves, the opening name is given. When reviewing there is an opening explorer and engine analysis options on the board. The explorer is built from over 600k high rated, mostly over the board games. The full game's text/moves can be seen and copied to the clipboard to share with others apps when viewing Moves.

Screenshots

OpenMate4 screens
Play Chess & Master Games4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: OpenMate at 5.0 against Play Chess & Master Games's 4.0. OpenMate also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 1) and ratings volume (8 vs 1). Play Chess & Master Games's advantage is iOS requirement (15.6 vs 17.0). On price, update cadence, ads 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. Play Chess & Master Games sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. OpenMate asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

OpenMate holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: OpenMate has 8 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

OpenMate ships an update every 6 days, Play Chess & Master Games every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
OpenMate versus Play Chess & Master Games: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterOpenMatePlay Chess & Master Games
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (8 ratings) — better4.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings8 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 6 daysEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.015.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size20 MB59 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRAMINE ROANEMichael Adams

Customer experience

OpenMate

All ratings6 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Play Chess & Master Games

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

OpenMate

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Play Chess & Master Games

One-time1
  • Play-Watch-Unlimited$3.99

Questions

Is OpenMate free?
OpenMate is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Play Chess & Master Games free?
Play Chess & Master Games is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, OpenMate or Play Chess & Master Games?
OpenMate is rated higher. OpenMate averages 5.0 out of 5 from 8 ratings, while Play Chess & Master Games averages 4.0 from 1 ratings.
Do OpenMate or Play Chess & Master Games have ads?
Neither OpenMate nor Play Chess & Master Games shows ads.
Which is updated more often, OpenMate or Play Chess & Master Games?
OpenMate ships an update every 6 days, and Play Chess & Master Games every 5 days. Most recently, OpenMate was updated on October 24, 2026 and Play Chess & Master Games on October 12, 2026.

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