HIARCS Chess in IOS

Play Chess and analyse games

Walkthrough, Guilds, Tips on this special game

Our Expert Score

92/100

Hiarcs Chess is widely regarded as one of the most powerful and 'human-like' chess engines ever developed for mobile. Unlike many engines that play perfectly until they make a random, nonsensical blunder, Hiarcs can be tuned to play at various Elo levels where it makes the kind of mistakes a human player would. This makes it an incredible training partner.

The interface is professional and focused on analysis. The depth of the opening book is staggering, and the ability to analyze your own games in real-time is a feature that serious students of the game will find indispensable. It's not just a game; it's a comprehensive chess platform that rivals dedicated desktop software. Whether you are a beginner or a Master, Hiarcs provides a world-class experience.

Dinsun reviewed on: Fri Feb 27 2026

The Game

Available on: iPhone, iPod

Version 13.88Mon Oct 03 2022

+ Fix to long time control issue

+Β Improved coaching for white and black, shows mistakes and missed better moves

+ Improved Dark.mode support

+ Improved Millennium eBoard support

+ Coaching support on eBoards with LEDs, X for mistakes, + for missed opportunity

+ eBoard: Lift piece to ignore coach or take back move and follow advice


HIARCS is a multiple World Championship winning chess program and the only handheld chess program in the world which has won matches and tournaments with Grandmasters. It twice won the Mercusor Cup in Buenos Aires, Argentina ahead of Grandmasters with a performance of 2900 Elo, the best chess performance rating for any handheld device in history.

In 1997 the World's strongest ever human chess player, Garry Kasparov, said "HIARCS is much better positionally than Deep Blue" and even the current World champion, Vishy Anand, in a recent interview when asked what chess program he uses to analyse with said "generally I use HIARCS".

This power enables your iPhone to play chess like a super Grandmaster, analyse games and chess problems with you, or play at whatever weakened chess strength you want from beginner to GM strength while offering numerous features to help you learn and improve as you play with HIARCS. An advanced set of coaching features helps players of all strengths improve their chess play.

HIARCS Chess has a full range of realistic weaker opponent strengths and playing styles catering for players of all abilities from absolute beginners to Grandmasters. On the weaker playing levels HIARCS will make human-like mistakes appropriate to the level of play and this together with the integrated coach advice, assessments and alerts allow you to learn and improve quickly. HIARCS also monitors your chess performance and provides you with an Elo chess rating which tracks your chess ability in every game. It can continuously adjust its playing strength to give you challenging but beatable opponents as you improve.

HIARCS Chess will save battery life by using much less energy on the weaker levels, allowing more playing time on long journeys etc.

HIARCS Chess supports PGN chess game databases and has all the games between Fischer & Spassky and Kasparov & Karpov for you to play through and enjoy.

HIARCS has a large tournament book which is up to date with chess theory with over 235,000 variations. The book moves are displayed on screen with chess symbols and the opening variations are named and ECO coded.

Key features:

+ Strongest chess program on iPhone and iPod Touch, genuine strong GM-level performance

+ Suitable for all players from absolute beginners to strong Grandmasters with many handicap levels and opponents styles and advanced coaching

+ Intuitive and friendly user interface with multiple high quality pieces set, colour schemes and icons including high res support for iPhone 4 and 5 retina displays

+ Multiple playing modes: play white, black, both sides in two player mode, continuous analysis and interactive replay

+ Fully adjustable Elo strengths, adaptive levels and multiple playing levels and opponents

+ All levels below maximum are low energy to increase battery life

+ Rates your chess play and gives you an Elo rating which is updated after each game

+ Advanced coach can provide move options, give hints, indicate move safety and quality highlights and watch your play and warn about mistakes

+ Transfer PGN databases to/from HIARCS chess via iTunes file sharing, email games and PGN DBs from HIARCS

+ Launch HIARCS from PGN email attachments

+ Load, save or delete games to/from PGN databases

+ Set up or edit a position to analyse or play from

+ Advanced game navigation with game move slider and VCR buttons for rapid and precise game navigation

+ Many selectable preset blitz, incremental and average time clock settings for timed play

+ Large HIARCS tournament opening book as used by the professionals!

+ Permanent brain for enhanced playing strength

+ Numerous chess display functions for showing chess moves, analysis, book moves, coach advice, move quality even legal moves, offer draws or resign

+ 8 Piece sets and 9 colour schemes

+ Integrated Html manual and help screens

A discount coupon is included with a $10 USD discount on other HIARCS products on Mac and PC from www.hiarcs.com.


Requires iOSΒ 9.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPodΒ touch.

HIARCS is a multiple World Championship winning chess program and the only handheld chess program in the world which has won matches and tournaments with Grandmasters. It twice won the Mercusor Cup in Buenos Aires, Argentina ahead of Grandmasters with a performance of 2900 Elo, the best chess performance rating for any handheld device in history.

In 1997 the World's strongest ever human chess player, Garry Kasparov, said "HIARCS is much better positionally than Deep Blue" and even the current World champion, Vishy Anand, in a recent interview when asked what chess program he uses to analyse with said "generally I use HIARCS".

This power enables your iPhone to play chess like a super Grandmaster, analyse games and chess problems with you, or play at whatever weakened chess strength you want from beginner to GM strength while offering numerous features to help you learn and improve as you play with HIARCS. An advanced set of coaching features helps players of all strengths improve their chess play.

HIARCS Chess has a full range of realistic weaker opponent strengths and playing styles catering for players of all abilities from absolute beginners to Grandmasters. On the weaker playing levels HIARCS will make human-like mistakes appropriate to the level of play and this together with the integrated coach advice, assessments and alerts allow you to learn and improve quickly. HIARCS also monitors your chess performance and provides you with an Elo chess rating which tracks your chess ability in every game. It can continuously adjust its playing strength to give you challenging but beatable opponents as you improve.

HIARCS Chess will save battery life by using much less energy on the weaker levels, allowing more playing time on long journeys etc.

HIARCS Chess supports PGN chess game databases and has all the games between Fischer & Spassky and Kasparov & Karpov for you to play through and enjoy.

HIARCS has a large tournament book which is up to date with chess theory with over 235,000 variations. The book moves are displayed on screen with chess symbols and the opening variations are named and ECO coded.

Key features:

+ Strongest chess program on iPhone and iPod Touch, genuine strong GM-level performance

+ Suitable for all players from absolute beginners to strong Grandmasters with many handicap levels and opponents styles and advanced coaching

+ Intuitive and friendly user interface with multiple high quality pieces set, colour schemes and icons including high res support for iPhone 4 and 5 retina displays

+ Multiple playing modes: play white, black, both sides in two player mode, continuous analysis and interactive replay

+ Fully adjustable Elo strengths, adaptive levels and multiple playing levels and opponents

+ All levels below maximum are low energy to increase battery life

+ Rates your chess play and gives you an Elo rating which is updated after each game

+ Advanced coach can provide move options, give hints, indicate move safety and quality highlights and watch your play and warn about mistakes

+ Transfer PGN databases to/from HIARCS chess via iTunes file sharing, email games and PGN DBs from HIARCS

+ Launch HIARCS from PGN email attachments

+ Load, save or delete games to/from PGN databases

+ Set up or edit a position to analyse or play from

+ Advanced game navigation with game move slider and VCR buttons for rapid and precise game navigation

+ Many selectable preset blitz, incremental and average time clock settings for timed play

+ Large HIARCS tournament opening book as used by the professionals!

+ Permanent brain for enhanced playing strength

+ Numerous chess display functions for showing chess moves, analysis, book moves, coach advice, move quality even legal moves, offer draws or resign

+ 8 Piece sets and 9 colour schemes

+ Integrated Html manual and help screens

A discount coupon is included with a $10 USD discount on other HIARCS products on Mac and PC from www.hiarcs.com.


Ratings & Reviews

4.8 out of 5 with 193 Counts
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Age Rating 4+

Screenshots

HIARCS Chess screenshot 1HIARCS Chess screenshot 2HIARCS Chess screenshot 3HIARCS Chess screenshot 4HIARCS Chess screenshot 5

Hiarcs Chess is the premier chess application for players of all levels. Powered by a world-championship-winning engine, it offers a realistic challenge that can be tuned from beginner to Grandmaster. Explore a massive opening library, analyze your moves with professional-grade tools, and improve your game with the built-in coach.

Features

1

World-class HIARCS chess engine

2

Massive opening book and database

3

Real-time move evaluation and coaching

4

Full PGN support for importing and exporting games

Tips

News on this game

Learn Chess with Dr. Wolf by Chess.com

Meet Dr. Wolf, the ideal chess coach and companion. Play chess alongside Dr. Wolf as he explains everything step-by-step,...

AppAdvice - Thu Sep 18 2025

Gameplays

Q&A

Hiarcs Chess is primarily focused on offline play against the engine and game analysis, though it can export games to online platforms.

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