ChessBase Online App Reviews

please make the buttons bigger as you watch a game

I dont understand how can anyone even sell garbage like this. It is so full of bugs and features lacking that even if they have large database it is almost completely unusable. If only I had the database I could make better software myself in few months.

Opening book and Games will not load. IfI had it to do over I would not buy this.

I loved this app when I first purchased it. However the latest update has stripped it of everything useful. The opening book doesnt work anymore. The huge database of games is gone. You cant even explore variations in a game. It is now only a pgn viewer with the stockfish engine. Everything else does not work. Please fix, it used to be great.

Original review: What happened to this up, it is completely empty? I came back to it after a while, there is nothing, no games, no database or opening book. Just a shell. I reinstalled, same thing. BTW my internet was fine. Update: Connection on their side must have been an issue. Next day app is working fine. This is an inexpensive, though sometimes difficult, app to explore openings, look at recently played grandmaster games, or look up old games. It gives access to the online database for which you would pay much more if buying a PC version.

I wish I could give less than one star. The app basically does not work. Neither search or the opening tree retrieve any games and I am staring at a blank board. I want my five dollars back.

I have been looking for an app that is good for studying the opening lines. I have gone through a number of apps and this one works really well with my iPhone. I can save games for offline study and there is the huge db of openings that I can go through. The app has NOT froze unlike a few others I have tried. For me...it is well worth the $5 that I spent. Heads & tails above the other similar apps I have looked at.

On the surface chessbase software seems great. But it isnt. I swore I would never buy a product from them again and then I bought this! Dont make the same mistake I did. Search is inconsistent when it works. It is not easy to find games. There are better chess apps out there. Trust me dont waste your money or time on this.

For people who do not use a pc to play and study chess the features offered compliment the use of apple products perfectly

I just lost 5 dollars. I read the instructions. Im using wifi. Every time Im searching the position I get a blank screen. Dont be a victim like me. Unless you are perfectly ok with losing 5 bucks. Im pretty upset.

The search feature doesnt work. Input a player name and it just sits there. No progress bar either so you have no idea if it is doing something. You also cannot jump to a position search from opening book. What good is a chess database if you cant find the original game?

Works great on my iPad and iPhone...I would like to be able to control replay speed we cant change the speed, moves to fast,and please adds notes is needed.

Why you dont update this app?! Need stronger engine, better UI and many improvment since last year...

CB revolutionized chess by developing their database in the 80s. However, the Mac version of the app and this iPhone "effort" proves they couldnt give a **** about people using Apple products. The 2.30 product is the latest insult, as the move list is totally fubar. Save your $5 and buy Stockfish instead.

They fixed the move list problem! There are still other bugs. Trying to view certain player information, Botvinniks for instance, causes the app to crash. This app should be more user friendly and more interactive. The search is not bad per se. It is very sensitive. You must enter the exact form and spelling that the system recognizes in order to get good results. The standard anglicized spellings of certain names dont work. The app does freeze up fairly often. That being said, there is not a more comprehensive and up to date chess database that is searchable as one collection by name and position.

I love this great app. The app is almost perfect, but a bug remains: When selecting games, a list of user installed databases is displayed. I select a database to examine. The problem is that the button to return is labeled "Menu" and the app goes all the way back to the main menu. Instead, the app should return to the list of databases and the button should be labeled appropriately. Wasnt this bug fixed in an earlier version? Somehow it got re-introduced. It seems to me that any chess player who would test this app should immediately see this flaw.

No news!!?? What happened?? Can no longer read chess news thru the app portal. Why??

Often I come back to the app after some time and it seems to have "forgotten" where I was, and I have to key in the whole variation again. What a useless app. Rather shameful coming from such a well regarded company.

Its a crappy app. Cant even play a game of chess on it.

Found and reported a bug. App always promotes to Queen in the Opening Book even if you select a different piece, and even though my "Always promote to Queen" option is off. Please fix. Thanks.