Play Chess & Master Games vs ChessGrind
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
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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.
ChessGrind
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ChessGrind is a tracker for chess players who want to improve. Log your games, see your real numbers, build your opening repertoire, and keep a list of the mistakes that cost you, with a fix for each. No account, no tracking. Everything lives on your device and in your private iCloud, and syncs across your iPhone, iPad, and Mac. A GAME JOURNAL THAT ADDS UP Log every game with the result, the side you played, the time control, the opponent, and the opening. Filter by result and watch the journal grow into your record. YOUR REAL NUMBERS ChessGrind computes your win rate and your record split by color and by time control, so you learn that you score well with White in rapid but leak points in blitz as Black. The numbers come only from the games you log. A RATING CHART YOU CONTROL Note your rating whenever you check it and ChessGrind plots the trend. Keep separate lines for Chess.com blitz, Lichess rapid, or your over the board rating, and see the change over the last thirty days at a glance. A STUDY ROUTINE AND A STREAK Log study blocks by theme: tactics, endgames, openings, strategy, and game review. A streak counts the days you keep it up, a two week strip shows your rhythm, and a chart breaks down where your time actually goes. Turn on a daily reminder to protect the streak. THE LEAK LIST YOU ACTUALLY FIX Name the mistakes that keep costing you games. Give each one a category, the pattern behind it, and the fix you will use instead, then advance it from open to working to fixed with a tap. This is the feature that turns review into progress. OPENING REPERTOIRE Save the openings you play with the main line, the ECO code, and the plans and ideas behind them. Pull one into a game entry with a tap. EXPORT WHAT IS YOURS (PRO) Generate a one page PDF performance report with your record, win rates, streaks, rating, and open leaks, ready to print or share with a coach. Export your games, ratings, and leaks as CSV files with ISO dates for any spreadsheet. ON EVERY DEVICE ChessGrind syncs across iPhone, iPad, and Mac with iCloud. The iPad and Mac layout puts your dashboard and charts side by side. FREE VS PRO Free includes 20 games and 3 leaks with every tool: the journal, win rate stats, the rating chart, study streaks, and opening repertoire. ChessGrind Pro unlocks an unlimited game journal, unlimited leak tracking, and the PDF and CSV exports. ChessGrind Pro is a subscription at $3.99 USD per month or $24.99 USD per year, or a one time Lifetime unlock at $59.99 USD. Pro subscriptions renew automatically until cancelled. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation, and the subscription renews unless you turn off auto renew at least 24 hours before the period ends. Manage or cancel anytime in Settings > Apple Account > Subscriptions; cancellation applies at the end of the current period. Terms of Use (Apple Standard EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Play Chess & Master Games at 15.6 against ChessGrind's 26.0. On price, ads, in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. Play Chess & Master Games sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and ChessGrind sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
| Parameter | Play Chess & Master Games | ChessGrind |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.0 (1 ratings) — better | — |
| Number of ratings | 1 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 5 days | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 59 MB | 2 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Michael Adams | InnovaLabWorks |
In-app purchases
Play Chess & Master Games
- Play-Watch-Unlimited$3.99
ChessGrind
- ChessGrind Pro$3.991 Month
- ChessGrind Pro$24.991 Year
- ChessGrind Lifetime$2.99
Questions
Is Play Chess & Master Games free?
Is ChessGrind free?
Do Play Chess & Master Games or ChessGrind have ads?
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