Chess Lab 4+

For Serious Chess Players!‪!‬

Giordano Vicoli

    • 3.7 • 3 Ratings
    • Free
    • Offers In-App Purchases

Screenshots

Description

Make the right move. Get Chess Lab! Does what it promises and much more than you imagine!

Chess Lab is the macOS version of the Chess Studio application for iOS/iPadOS.

Chess Lab is the first and only application to manage Chess Databases and Games in PGN format in a complete and efficient way.

Chess Studio Lab 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.
• 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).
• Send games by email.
• 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 17 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 17 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 New In Chess (TWIC) and download the games..
• 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

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.
• 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.
• Function to move up within variants and subvariants.
• Online manual frequently updated.
• Sharing of databases across devices via iCloud Drive.
• Sound option.
• VoiceOver/Accessibility support.
• Help section contains videos to show the main features of Chess Studio.
• Direct contact via email with the developer to report problems, ask for explanation and suggestions (very quick answer!).
• Languages: Italian, English, Spanish and German.

These are the main features.

The application is continuously updated with new features and improvements.

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!

What’s New

Version 4.4.1

- IN THIS RELEASE (4.4.1)

• Fixes and improvements in the training section with games.
• Fixes and improvements in setting up a position (the Source tag has been added to the available tags).
• Chess Studio Database (Premium Subscription): Tournaments from the years 1950-1959 have been added.
• Minor bug fixes, general improvements and optimizations.

- MAIN FEATURES INTRODUCED IN THE LATEST RELEASES

• Chess Lab is enhanced with a new feature: the ability to browse an Online Database of games organized by Year and Tournament. Currently, the years considered range from 1960 to the present, but tournaments from years prior to 1960 will also be added. This extensive Online Database will be updated daily with new tournaments and games. Access to this database requires a symbolic Premium subscription.

• The new version of the Stockfish 17 engine with Neural Network (NNUE) support has been integrated. According to the authors, this version brings a gain of up to 46 ELO points and an increase in speed. Compared to version 14, this version can analyze games 6 times faster.

• A new training feature has been added: the user can load a game from a database and decide whether to move for White or Black without seeing the moves to evaluate his skills. At the end a report will be produced that traces the entire training session. It is possible to use this functionality either by choosing the game to train with or by letting the application decide the game in random mode. To use this functionality, some settings are possible via an appropriate interface. There are various ways to access this functionality, for example from the menu at the top center of the chessboard screen.

• Chess Studio can now read databases in ChessBase format. It can import cbh, cbp, cbt, cbg, cba, cbs and cbc formats, thus it is able to interpret not only the moves of a game but also the variations and comments.

• A new section dedicated to training has been added. At the moment it is possible to solve a series of puzzles taken from games played mainly online. These are puzzles suitable for all players. There are currently 10,000 puzzles available but they will be continuously updated. Other types of puzzles of increasing difficulty will be included in the future.

• New feature: Search for games by position. This new feature is found in the main menu under the "PGN Tools" section. It allows you to search for games in a database starting from a given position. The position can be set both with normal pieces but also with different symbols that have different meanings. In this way it will be possible to search, for example, all the games that have a typical pawn structure regardless of the position of the other pieces.

• Management of very large databases.

• Automatic insertion of engine analysis into games. To enter the analysis, simply touch the engine analysis line. To use this feature you need to activate it in the application settings.
• The new function "Search games by material" has been added, through which it is possible to search for games in a database according to the material present on the chessboard. This new functionality is accessed from the main menu of the application.

• New feature that allows you to delete tags in a database.

• In the Chess Board screen, you can customize the colors of the top bar, bottom bar, buttons and background. The customization is done in the Settings section. In the opening section is the new functionality to explore the Lichess Master Opening Tree. It is now possible to activate the speech synthesizer to announce the moves made both when entering and when viewing a game.

• From the opening section of a database it is possible to save the games relating to a single ECO code or to a single opening variant in a new database. To do this, just swipe left on the opening variant you want to save and follow the directions.

• Contact me at chess.studio.app@gmail.com to organize a Skype session.

Ratings and Reviews

3.7 out of 5
3 Ratings

3 Ratings

_NM_ ,

Simple and functional

This app has a lot to offer for its price. It can not only play and analyze, but manage PGN databases, download online issues of TWIC and PGN Mentor, and even build opening books based on the PGN databases, which is unheard of in an app in this price range. The functionality is identical to the versions for iPad and iOS that are also 5-star apps. As for the one-start review here: It is really unfair. I am constantly pasting games from Chess.com, etc. into Chess Studio, especially on my phone and iPad without problems.

I already have a nickname ,

Basic features missing

I can't copy and paste a game from a website into this app. In the Stockfish app I just use Shift-Command-V to paste a game into the app. Then I can use Stockfish to analyze the moves. I enjoy going through professional tournament games this way. Trying to do the same thing with move lists (FEN or PGN) that paste into the Stockfish app is impossible. The "Paste" option is greyed out.

This app also seems to limit Stockfish. I want the absolute maximum Stockfish analysis. This app caps the performance of Stockfish to an ELO of "2700-3300" It makes no sense to restrict Stockfish this way.

The entire interface is confusing and leads to a lot of dead ends.

Developer Response ,

Hi,

Your review seems interesting and useful for the improvement of the application even if it is not very clear in some points. Could you write me directly in order to clarify better at the following email: chess.studio.app@gmail.com?

Thanks and regards,
Giordano

App Privacy

The developer, Giordano Vicoli, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy.

Data Not Collected

The developer does not collect any data from this app.

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