Comparison

Chess Studio Lite vs Chess

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

Head to head
About

Chess Studio Lite

Manage and analyze chess games and databases in PGN format. Study openings, practice against engines, and solve puzzles with advanced analysis tools. Supports multiple devices and cloud storage integration.

Highlights
  • PGN database management
  • Game analysis with Stockfish 18
  • Opening book creation and import
  • Diagram recognition
  • Cloud storage integration
  • Play against engine (standard & Chess 960)
Features
Read full description

Chess Studio is the first and only application for iPhone and iPad able to completely manage chess database and games in PGN format. 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 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 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) and see the results also through the Engine Evaluation Bar. • See graphic visualization of moves suggested by Stockfish 19 engine. • See Win-Draw-Loss (WDL) probabilities during engine analysis. • Replay games automatically. • Visualize Pawn structure. • Manage Variations and sub-variatons: delete and promote variations. • Read the weekly Magazine The Week In Chess and download the games. • Uploading and Downloading PGN database to/from Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive. • Three different modes for moving pieces. • Analyse endgames with Endgame Tablebases. • Analyse and study Chess Openings. • Creation and management of Opening Books in Polyglot format. • Import and management of ChessBase Opening Books (ctg, cto, ctb 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. • Solving Puzzles. • 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 tapping on the board or through the Settings menu. • Professional chess fonts and figurines for moves notation and annotation. • Preview of the game in the board tapping the Info button. • Advanced search feature. • Visualization of ECO code and Opening during game replay or game insertion. • Visualization of Book Openings during game replay or game insertion. • Complete management of Null Moves with Tutorial. • Portrait/Landscape mode for all devices. • Support of Slide Over and Split View mode. • Function to move up within variants and subvariants. • Online manual frequently updated. • iOS 26 compatible and optimized for all the devices. • Sharing of databases across devices via iCloud Drive. • Sound option. • Support for iPad Pro Keyboard or bluetooth keyboard. • VoiceOver/Accessibility support. • Direct contact via email with the developer. • Languages: English, Italian, Spanish and German. Complete description at the following address: https://chessstudio.wordpress.com/chess-studio/ The application is continuously updated with new features and improvements. Chess Studio Lite is a smaller version of Chess Studio where some features are limited. To view the terms of service visit https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ No registration! No advertising! No sharing of personal data! If you own an iMac or a MacBook try the new Chess Lab!

About

Chess

Master defensive chess skills with over 3000 interactive exercises. This app acts as a personal coach, providing hints and explanations to improve your game. It's designed for beginners to consolidate fundamental defensive tactics.

Highlights
  • Over 3000 defensive exercises
  • Interactive coach with hints and explanations
  • Improve defensive tactics
  • Track ELO rating changes
  • Offline play capability
  • Play positions against computer
Features
Read full description

If you are a beginner, you just have to learn how to defend your pieces from being taken! Every chessplayer has to master and consolidate some basic defensive skills such as withdrawing or protecting a piece, interception or attacking an opponent's piece. Having consolidated your knowledge by doing a great number of exercises you will be able to improve your level of playing. This course includes more than 3000 exercises with lots of pieces on the board. Such a great number of exercises makes this course an excellent tool for quick training of chess beginners. This course is in the series Chess King Learn (https://learn.chessking.com/), which is an unprecedented chess teaching method. In the series are included courses in tactics, strategy, openings, middle game, and endgame, split by levels from beginners to experienced players, and even professional players. With the help of this course, you can improve your chess knowledge, learn new tactical tricks and combinations, and consolidate the acquired knowledge into practice. The program acts as a coach who gives tasks to solve and helps to solve them if you get stuck. It will give you hints, explanations and show you even striking refutation of the mistakes you might make. Advantages of the program: • High quality examples, all double-checked for correctness • You need to enter all key moves, required by the teacher • Different levels of complexity of the tasks • Various goals, which need to be reached in the problems • The program gives hint if an error is made • For typical mistaken moves, the refutation is shown • You can play out any position of the tasks against the computer • Interactive theoretical lessons • Structured table of contents • The program monitors the change in the rating (ELO) of the player during the learning process • Test mode with flexible settings • Possibility to bookmark favorite exercises • The application is adapted to the bigger screen of a tablet • The application does not require an internet connection The course includes a free part, in which you can test the program. Lessons offered in the free version is fully functional. They allow you to test the application in real world conditions before releasing the following topics: 1. Retreat 1.1. Defend your knight 1.2. Defend your bishop 1.3. Defend your rook 1.4. Defend your queen 2. Defending with another piece 2.1. Defend your knight 2.2. Defend your bishop 2.3. Defend your rook 3. Taking an attacking piece 3.1. Defend your knight 3.2. Defend your bishop 3.3. Defend your rook 3.4. Defend your queen 4. Interception 4.1. Defend your rook 4.2. Defend your queen 5. Defending from mate 5.1. Level 4 5.2. Level 5 5.3. Level 6 5.4. Level 7 5.5. Level 8 5.6. Level 9 5.7. Level 10 5.8. Level 11 5.9. Level 12 6. Difficulty level 6.1. Level 1 6.2. Level 2 6.3. Level 3 6.4. Level 4 6.5. Level 5 6.6. Level 6 6.7. Level 7 6.8. Level 8 6.9. Level 9 6.10. Level 10 6.11. Level 11 6.12. Level 12

Screenshots

Chess Studio Lite4 screens
Chess4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Chess Studio Lite at none against Chess's 1. Chess Studio Lite also leads on update cadence (fortnightly vs every 4 months). Chess's advantage is review sentiment (88% vs 64%) and rating (4.6 vs 4.4). On price, 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. Chess sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Chess Studio Lite asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Chess holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Chess has 60 ratings behind it against 11, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 64% of Chess Studio Lite's written reviews are positive against 88% of Chess's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Chess Studio Lite ships an update fortnightly, Chess every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and October 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Chess Studio Lite versus Chess: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChess Studio LiteChess
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (11 ratings)4.6 (60 ratings) — better
Positive reviews63.6% of reviews87.5% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1160 — better
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 4 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.08.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size237 MB42 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGiordano VicoliChess King

Customer experience

Chess Studio Lite

All ratings11 ratings
Positive81.8%
Neutral9.1%
Negative9.1%
Written reviews11 reviews
Positive63.6%
Neutral18.2%
Negative18.2%

Chess

All ratings59 ratings
Positive91.5%
Neutral3.4%
Negative5.1%
Written reviews8 reviews
Positive87.5%
Neutral0.0%
Negative12.5%

In-app purchases

None

Chess Studio Lite

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Chess

One-time1
  • Full course$3.99

Questions

Is Chess Studio Lite free?
Chess Studio Lite is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Chess free?
Chess is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Chess Studio Lite or Chess?
Chess is rated higher. Chess Studio Lite averages 4.4 out of 5 from 11 ratings, while Chess averages 4.6 from 60 ratings.
Do Chess Studio Lite or Chess have ads?
Neither Chess Studio Lite nor Chess shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Chess Studio Lite or Chess?
Chess Studio Lite ships an update fortnightly, and Chess every 4 months. Most recently, Chess Studio Lite was updated on October 7, 2026 and Chess on October 21, 2026.

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