Comparison

Chess Openings vs Gambora

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

Head to head
About

Chess Openings

Master chess openings by turning theory into muscle memory. Study curated lines with clear explanations, practice from real board positions, and review before it fades. Challenge your recall without engine clutter to expand your repertoire.

Highlights
  • Study curated opening lines
  • Practice from board positions
  • Review learned lines
  • Challenge recall
  • Track progress
  • Clear move explanations
Features
Read full description

Train chess openings until the next move feels clear. Chessmate helps you turn opening theory into board memory. Study curated lines, choose the move from the position, review before it fades, and challenge yourself until the line starts to stick. Built for online players who know openings matter but still get unsure after the first few moves. What you can do: - Study curated opening lines with clear move explanations - Practice from real board positions, not flashcard text - Review learned lines before they fade - Challenge recall without engine clutter or random puzzle noise - Track progress as your repertoire grows Chessmate keeps opening study simple: learn the idea, recall the move, repeat the line, expand your repertoire. Start with one line today. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Gambora

Features
Read full description

Your openings, drawn as lines. Gambora keeps the openings you actually play as a map you can read at a glance — one line per repertoire, a station for every move, and a shape that tells you what you know, what is due today, and what has quietly decayed. No lecture, no video course, no engine telling you what to think. BUILT BY PLAYING, NEVER BY TYPING Add a line by playing it on the board. Gambora names the position as you go, from 3,810 openings — "King's Knight Opening: Normal Variation", not "e4 e5 Nf3 Nc6". A MAP, NOT A LIST Every competitor flattens a repertoire into a list and loses the branching. Gambora draws it: your line runs down the page, a junction marks the choice point, and a second route leaves it. Transpositions are marked where two orders arrive at one position. DRILL WHAT IS ACTUALLY DUE Spaced repetition schedules each move you chose. A move you recall moves further away; a move you miss comes back sooner and then works its way out again. The drill screen asks you to play the reply on the board, and tells you plainly what your book says. IT TELLS YOU WHAT YOU FORGOT — WITHOUT BLAME A line you have not seen in a while is closed for maintenance, not marked wrong. You reopen it by visiting. THE MOVE WHERE YOU LEFT YOUR OWN BOOK Import your recent games from Lichess or Chess.com with just your username — no login, no password — and Gambora shows the exact move where the game left your repertoire, on the board, with the line beside it. FREE, AND HONEST ABOUT IT Everything works on the free plan: the map, every drill mode, retention, deviation, opening names, export. Gambora Pro removes two volume ceilings — 250 moves and 20 imported games — and nothing else changes. If a subscription lapses, nothing is deleted and nothing is locked. NO ACCOUNT. NO CLOUD. NO TRACKING. Everything stays on this device. There is no analytics SDK, no advertising identifier and no account to make. Settings has an export whenever you want to carry your repertoire elsewhere. Gambora Pro is $4.99 per month or $39.99 per year, each starting with a 7-day free trial. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase, and renews automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the period. Manage or cancel in your Apple Account settings. Terms of Use: https://theknack2020-sketch.github.io/gambora/terms.html Privacy Policy: https://theknack2020-sketch.github.io/gambora/privacy.html

Screenshots

Chess Openings4 screens
Gambora4 screens

Verdict

The call

Chess Openings and Gambora are too close to call on the numbers: across 5 compared parameters — price, ads, in-app purchases and device support among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

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 Openings sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month and Gambora sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
Chess Openings versus Gambora: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChess OpeningsGambora
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (14 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings14 — better—
Update frequencyWeekly—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemium—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone
Requires iOS16.4 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size143 MB3 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperwyverselabsUFUK OZDEMIR

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Chess Openings

Subscriptions2
  • Chessmate Premium Monthly$7.991 Month
  • Chessmate Premium Yearly7 Days trial$34.991 Year
One-time1
  • Chessmate Premium Lifetime$79.99
2 purchases

Gambora

Subscriptions2
  • Gambora Pro Monthly7 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • Gambora Pro Yearly7 Days trial$39.991 Year

Questions

Is Chess Openings free?
Chess Openings is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Gambora free?
Gambora is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Chess Openings or Gambora have ads?
Neither Chess Openings nor Gambora shows ads.

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