Comparison

Chess vs Chessvis

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

Head to head
About

Chess

Manage and study chess databases and games in PGN format with advanced analysis tools. Supports game creation, modification, and import from various sources. Includes engine analysis, opening book management, and puzzle training.

Highlights
  • PGN database and game management
  • Create, modify, and import games
  • Advanced engine analysis with Stockfish
  • Opening book and ChessBase support
  • Chess 960 (Fischer Random) support
  • Diagram recognition for PGN conversion
  • Puzzle training and online play
Features
Read full description

Chess Studio is the first and only application for iPhone and iPad able to manage chess databases and games in PGN format in a complete and efficient way. Chess Studio is an application designed and built for those players who really want to deepen their knowledge in the field of chess, studying chess regularly and participate in tournaments. Chess Studio allows you to: • Read database and games in PGN format (also with extended notation of moves). • Create, delete and modify folders and databases. • View games with annotations and textual comments and keep track of the displayed games. • Use a double chessboard on the same screen for better game analysis. • Visualize moves and variants in compact mode or indented mode. • Modify existing games with move annotation and textual comments. • Insert new games and positions. • Insert, replay and analyze games in Chess 960 mode. • Insert moves with annotations and textual comments. • Insert variation, subvariations etc. • Insert and visualize graphical annotation (colored arrows and highlighted squares). • Share Databases and Games through Airdrop. • Download chess database from internet. • Download chess database directly from PGN Mentor site. • Import games, database and Opening Books from other applications. • Merge two or more databases. • Copy/Paste games and positions. • Analyze games with Stockfish 19 Engine with the support of the Neural Networks (up to 5 lines of analysis simultaneously) with the support of the Engine Evaluation Bar. • Replay games automatically. • Visualize Pawn structure. • Manage Variations and sub-variatons: delete and promote variations. • Read the weekly Magazine The New In Chess (TWIC) and download the games. • Uploading and Downloading PGN Database to/from Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive. • Three different modes for moving pieces. • Analyze endgames with Endgame Tablebases. • Analyze and study Chess Openings in the Chess Openings Section. • Create and manage Opening Books in Polyglot format. • Import and manage ChessBase Opening Books (ctg format). • Automatically classify a database according to ECO code. • Replay, enter and analyze Chess 960 games (Fischer Random Chess). • Play against the engine both in standard mode and in Chess 960 mode. • Play online through the LiChess platform • Train by solving Puzzles • ChessBase Database support. • Diagram Recognition: this feature allows the user to take and/or upload photos of chess diagrams and convert them into PGN format positions. Other features and technical details: • Modify the board size. • Professional chess fonts and figurines for moves notation and annotation. • Preview of the game in the board tapping the Info button. • Quick search feature. • Advanced search feature. • Complete management of Null Moves with Tutorial. • Visualization of ECO code and Opening during game replay or game insertion. • Visualization of Book Openings during game replay or game insertion. • Portrait/Landscape mode for all devices. • Support of Slide Over and Split View mode. • Function to move up within variants and subvariants. • iOS 26 compatible and optimized for all the devices. • Sharing of databases across devices via iCloud Drive (also with Chess Studio for Mac OS). • Sound option. • Support for iPad Pro Keyboard or bluetooth keyboard. • VoiceOver/Accessibility support. • Direct contact via email with the developer to report problems, ask for explanation and suggestions (very quick answer!). • Languages: English, Italian, Spanish and German. Complete description at: https://chessstudio.wordpress.com/chess-studio/ To view the privacy policy and Terms of Use (EULA) visit https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ The application is continuously updated with new features and improvements. No registration! No advertising! No sharing of personal data!

About

Chessvis

Enhance your chess skills with unique visualization exercises, including blindfold chess and progressive move following. Prepare openings by focusing on common opponent moves and practice with spaced repetition. Access millions of categorized puzzles with customizable difficulty and rating controls.

Highlights
  • Unique visualized puzzles
  • Blindfold chess training
  • Opening repertoire preparation
  • Progressive move following
  • Customizable puzzle categories and ratings
  • Offline puzzle access
Features
Read full description

Chessvis is designed to help you get better at the game. Its unique, "found nowhere else", puzzle, blindfold chess and progressive move following exercises will sharpen your visualization skills. Now with Version 11, all puzzle exercises are free - including working offline. There's a new menuing system that makes navigating around the huge 'toolbox' of features much easier. The opening repertoire preparation routines are also unique focusing on the "moves you'll see" and finding the "moves that work". Plus you can pull in your own games to see what's working for you. And now, use AI to help uncover the opening that will work for you. Puzzles The Chessvis puzzle collection starts with millions of categorized and rated puzzles from Lichess and adds several unique features including: Category and Rating Control Chessvis lets you set both the category and rating of the puzzles you’re challenged with. Want to try easy forks one day and hard multiple move mates the next? Do it! You’ll never be forced to only do puzzles around some hypothetical rating you’ve “earned”. The entire puzzle collection is always available for you. Visualized Puzzles A unique feature of Chessvis is the "Visualized" puzzle. It presents a puzzle showing the diagram from some number of moves before the actual tactic sequence starts. You're told the number of moves to "visualize" and then solve the problem from a board position that only exists in your mind. This is what got Chessvis started and it’s the only app with it. Other Puzzle Collection Features The “no repeat pledge” - with such an extensive puzzle collection, Chessvis is able to make sure you don’t see the same puzzle twice. Want to focus on solving puzzles quickly? Turn on the timer. Going to be away from the internet? Pull puzzles down to your device and work off-line. See your puzzle history. Download the puzzles you’ve done. All that is in Chessvis. Opening Preparation Build your repertoires focusing on the "moves you'll see". Chessvis believes that you need to think about the moves your opponents actually play and not some complex way too deep repertoire designed by a master who doesn't play anything like the way you do. At ever step in the repertoire design process, Chessvis shows you the moves your opponents actually make and highlights ones you need to think about. Then once you've built your repertoire, practice it with daily spaced repetition. Blindfold Chess Play against the computer with "stepping stones" to help ease your way into blindfold chess. Start with all pieces sharing one color then go to two color disks, one shared color disk and then eventually an empty board. Subscribers had the stockfish and Maia chess engines to the free-to-use Komodo engine. Who’s Guarding Whom A deceptively simple visualization exercise that forces you to mentally track piece movements and how they interact. (No other app has this.) Move Following & Static Boards Track a sequence of moves and then update the board to that point. Or memorize a board layout, then recreate it. Start off easy with just a few pieces and work your way up. Analyze Your Games Download your chess.com and lichess.org games for opening analysis. See what you've been playing, what's been played against you and the results. Videos What better way is there than videos to see Chessvis in action? You can watch the videos within the app. They're all kept short and to the point. Chessvis has always had unique tools to visualize the chessboard and win more games. A famous chess coach said: "Don't think about the pieces being exchanged, visualize how the board will look when the pieces are gone". Move a piece and you affect two places. But it's illegal to physically move the piece and see the effects -- you must learn to visualize. Chessvis is designed to help with that process. Download it today. Our Terms of Service can be found at: https://www.chessvis.com/tos.php

Screenshots

Chess4 screens
Chessvis4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Chessvis at Free against Chess's $3.99. Chess's advantage is review sentiment (92% vs 70%) and rating (4.7 vs 4.4). On update cadence, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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

Chessvis is free to download; Chess costs $3.99 up front. Chess sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month and Chessvis sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Chess holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Chess has 116 ratings behind it against 21, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 92% of Chess's written reviews are positive against 70% of Chessvis's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Chess ships an update fortnightly, Chessvis monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and August 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Chess versus Chessvis: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChessChessvis
Price$3.99Free — better
Rating4.7 (116 ratings) — better4.4 (21 ratings)
Positive reviews92.0% of reviews — better70.0% of reviews
Number of ratings116 — better21
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.0 — better15.6
Further details — not scored
Size237 MB38 MB
Age rating+44+
DeveloperGiordano VicoliConceptual Software, Inc.

Customer experience

Chess

All ratings116 ratings
Positive92.2%
Neutral2.6%
Negative5.2%
Written reviews174 reviews
Positive92.0%
Neutral2.9%
Negative5.2%

Chessvis

All ratings21 ratings
Positive85.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative14.3%
Written reviews10 reviews
Positive70.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative30.0%

Bugs and requests

Chess

Reported bugs

12 issues
  • Problem saving updated game data
  • Engine stopped working after 30 seconds
  • App crashes when adding annotations without hitting 'edit mode' first
  • Crash opening .pgn in landscape mode
  • Crashes when selecting a cell with 0 games associated
Show 7 more
  • App freezes sometimes
  • Download stuck on 'downloading'
  • Dropbox issues on earlier iOS versions
  • Program not bulletproof upon saving work
  • Can't download cbv files
  • Graphical annotations drawing unwanted arrows
  • App doesn't work after iOS update

Requested features

20 requests
  • Add dark mode
  • Add board flip button
  • Improve interface for screen reader users
  • Add private game feature with code
  • Add computer whole game analysis with annotations
Show 15 more
  • Add coloring moves based on annotation
  • Add drawing arrows that are saved
  • Add bookmark feature
  • Add buttons/swipe to go forward/backwards to next/previous game
  • Add select all function for copying games
  • Add autoplay games
  • Remember last position/game opened in a database
  • Support Millennium boards
  • Support UCI engine compatibility
  • Optimize database game view
  • Make edit mode arrows slimmer and add more colors
  • Allow direct iCloud access to databases without export
  • Make graphical annotations optional/disableable
  • Improve font size adjustment for moves and annotations
  • Add search with multiple criteria

Chessvis

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Chess

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Premium Subscription3 Days trial$0.991 Month
  • Yearly Premium Subscription3 Days trial$8.991 Year
3 purchases

Chessvis

Subscriptions2
  • Chessvis Monthly Subscription$3.991 Month
  • Chessvis Annual Subscription$29.991 Year
One-time1
  • Chessvis Perpetual$99.99

Questions

Is Chess free?
Chess costs $3.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Chessvis free?
Chessvis is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Chess or Chessvis?
Chess is rated higher. Chess averages 4.7 out of 5 from 116 ratings, while Chessvis averages 4.4 from 21 ratings.
Do Chess or Chessvis have ads?
Neither Chess nor Chessvis shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Chess or Chessvis?
Chess ships an update fortnightly, and Chessvis monthly. Most recently, Chess was updated on September 22, 2026 and Chessvis on August 25, 2026.

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