A method and apparatus for inspecting chips formed as a fine pattern on a surface of an object to be inspected, in which one visual field of an optical observation system is divided into a plurality of areas. A plurality of predetermined good chips are arranged sequentially to each area. Image data of the predetermined good chips are stored at each specific position of the area. In addition, one visual field of the optical observation system is divided into a plurality of areas. When a plurality of good chips are observed in one visual field, coordinates of each good chip are memorized. When good chips in the visual field during learning are recognized, image of the area is obtained as a learned image. Even if the plurality of chips in one visual field of the optical observation system are not entirely nondefective, it can inspect effectively the chips. Further, a problem caused by distortion (distortion aberration) in the optical observation system can be solved.