Comparison

Think Like a Master vs Chess Coach

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

Head to head
About

Think Like a Master

Features
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Can you think like a chess legend? Think Like a Master puts you in the shoes of Josรฉ Raรบl Capablanca โ€” one of the greatest chess players who ever lived. Study his real games, guess his moves, and discover what separates world-class chess thinking from the rest. HOW IT WORKS Each session replays a real Capablanca game from his historical record. After a short opening, you take control. For every position where Capablanca had to make a decision, you make your move first โ€” then see how the master responded. Did you find his move? Did you find something even better? Were you close, or did you miss something critical? WHAT YOU'LL LEARN โ€ข How a world champion evaluates positions and selects moves โ€ข Which moves Stockfish considers the top candidates in any position โ€ข Where your thinking diverges from elite-level play โ€ข How to spot the tactical and strategic patterns used by the greats THE CAPABLANCA AI CHALLENGE At the heart of the app is an AI model trained exclusively on Capablanca's games โ€” not just to find good moves, but to find his moves. The model has studied his patterns, his style, his preferences. It knows he favored clean piece activity over speculative attacks. It knows he simplified when ahead. It knows how he thought. Every time you guess a move, the AI is guessing too. You're not just competing against Stockfish's cold engine evaluation โ€” you're trying to outthink a model built in Capablanca's image. Did you find the move the engine rates highest? Or did you find the move that he would have played? Sometimes those are the same. Often they're not. That tension is where the real chess learning happens. FEATURES โ€ข 597 real games from Capablanca's complete career โ€ข Stockfish-powered analysis shows the top 5 candidate moves for every position โ€ข AI style model trained on Capablanca's games predicts his preferred move โ€ข See when you think like the engine, when you think like the master, and when you found something neither did โ€ข Post-game report card grades your performance with detailed statistics โ€ข Deep analysis mode reveals continuations after every key decision โ€ข Fully on-device โ€” no internet required for analysis โ€ข Covers his full career from 1901 through 1939 YOUR REPORT CARD After each game you receive a full breakdown: โ€ข How often you matched Capablanca exactly โ€ข How often your move was in the top 5 candidates โ€ข How often you found something better than the master โ€ข Your blunder count and where you went wrong MORE MASTERS COMING Capablanca is just the beginning. Future updates will bring more legendary players from chess history โ€” each with their own AI model trained on their unique style. Every great player thought differently. Every one is worth studying. FOR ALL CHESS PLAYERS Whether you're learning the game or pushing toward a higher rating, studying master games is one of the most effective ways to improve. Think Like a Master makes it interactive โ€” not passive. Stop watching. Start thinking.

About

Chess Coach

Features
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Most chess apps hand you a wall of mistakes. Chess Coach gives you one. It reads your recent games and finds the single highest-leverage weakness holding your rating back โ€” then shows you the evidence, the resources to fix it, and tracks whether it's actually getting better over time. ONE FOCUS, NOT A FIRESALE After every analysis you get one Focus Area โ€” "endgame conversion," "hanging pieces under time" โ€” with a number behind it, not a dashboard of forty things you'll never read. FROM YOUR REAL GAMES Connect Chess.com or Lichess, or import a PGN. Chess Coach reads the games you actually played โ€” blitz, rapid, classical โ€” not generic puzzles. SEE THE EVIDENCE Every Focus Area cites the specific games it came from, with a one-line note on what went wrong. Tailored book, video, and article recommendations point you at the fix. TRACK REAL IMPROVEMENT Re-check the same weakness on your newer games and see the trend โ€” improving, holding, or slipping โ€” on a simple progress timeline. When you've solved it, Chess Coach moves you on to the next thing. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Runs on your device. Start free with no account and no setup. Upgrade to Pro for up to 30 sharper analyses a month on a stronger model, or bring your own Anthropic API key. Stop guessing what to work on. Fix one thing at a time. All required subscription information is presented in the in-app paywall: Terms of Use (standard Apple EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Link to our Privacy Policy: https://apps.superduper.nz/privacy/chess-coach-game-analysis

Screenshots

Think Like a Master3 screens
Chess Coach4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Chess Coach at none against Think Like a Master's shown. Chess Coach also leads on update cadence (every 4 days vs every 2 weeks). Think Like a Master's advantage is device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.6). On price and in-app purchases 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. Think Like a Master sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Chess Coach sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Think Like a Master ships an update every 2 weeks, Chess Coach every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences ยท 2 level
Think Like a Master versus Chess Coach: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterThink Like a MasterChess Coach
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 4 days โ€” better
AdsYesNo โ€” better
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod โ€” betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.1 โ€” better17.6
Further details โ€” not scored
Size72 MB1 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperKenneth SparksSuper Duper

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Think Like a Master

One-time1
  • Remove Ads$2.99
1 purchases

Chess Coach

Subscriptions1
  • Pro$3.991 Month

Questions

Is Think Like a Master free?
Think Like a Master is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Chess Coach free?
Chess Coach is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Think Like a Master or Chess Coach have ads?
Think Like a Master shows ads; Chess Coach does not.
Which is updated more often, Think Like a Master or Chess Coach?
Think Like a Master ships an update every 2 weeks, and Chess Coach every 4 days. Most recently, Think Like a Master was updated on October 25, 2026 and Chess Coach on October 28, 2026.

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