Chess Board vs Chess Notation Trainer
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Chess Board
This app provides a digital chess board for two players to compete face-to-face on a single device. It offers a realistic game-room aesthetic and allows for saving games, with additional customization options available through a one-time purchase.
- Face-to-face local multiplayer
- Realistic game-room aesthetic
- Piece and board customization
- Automatic game saving
- Move history and navigation
- Offline play
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Your next move, across the table. Use one iPhone or iPad as a chess board and play face to face with family or friends. There is no AI opponent and no online play: this is a board for two people at the same table. ■ A game-room look Green felt with walnut, gold and ivory. Boxwood and ebony pieces on a maple and walnut board by default. Pieces are larger and easier to see. ■ Play Tap or drag a piece to move it. Includes promotion, board flipping, coordinates and sound. Jump to the start, step back or forward one move, or jump to the end to rethink each move together. ■ Saved games Games save automatically on your device. Save, reopen, rename and delete up to 3 games for free, and continue after closing the app. ■ Additional Features (one-time purchase) One purchase unlocks everything below. No subscription, and nothing sold item by item. ・No ads ・Unlimited saved games ・Move records and a comment on every move ・Automatic iCloud backup (on/off switch, manual restore) ・Dress Up: freely mix 16 piece sets, 15 boards, 31 backgrounds and 5 sounds Earlier purchasers get all of it at no extra charge. ■ Dress Up Pieces in wood, marble, silver and bronze, glass, lacquer and gold, the Original ChessBoard style, and 10 classic flat sets under open licenses. Boards in wood, marble, ebony, glass, lacquer and more, plus 8 simple two-color boards. Backgrounds in felt, velvet, leather, night sky and solid colors. Sounds: wood, digital, glass, stone and metal. ■ 13 languages Choose in Settings: Japanese, English, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, French, German, Russian, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Indonesian, Thai and Vietnamese. Free, with ads. Playing and saving on your device work offline. Ads, purchases, purchase restoration and iCloud backup need an internet connection. For iOS and iPadOS 15 or later. iPhone in portrait; iPad in portrait or landscape.
Chess Notation Trainer
Master chess squares and notation with this training app. Improve your ability to identify coordinates, translate moves, and visualize the board, even without one. Ideal for serious players looking to enhance calculation speed and chess understanding.
- Identify squares by coordinate
- Translate move sequences to notation
- Determine square color instantly
- Stay oriented on the board
- Follow chess tutorials without a board
- Speed up calculation
- Practice blind chess
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Serious about chess? But struggling to identify the squares, remembering sequences and follow chess notations? Well, you just landed on the perfect app! This training app is designed to dramatically uplift your mastery over chess squares. There are 5 training sessions. A small dose of regular practice will make you: 1. Spot a square as soon as you hear or see its coordinate 2. Translate a sequence of moves into their notation at ease 3. Immediately identify the color of a square 4. Stay oriented regardless of you facing white or black 5. Follow along with chess tutorials, books or any discussion without a board 6. Massively speedup your thought process on any calculation 7. Finally, start playing blind chess! Don't be surprised if you see a sudden surge of rating simply increasing your strength on square reading. The free version is already good enough to cause a major spike in your chess career. However, a one time purchase will unlock the full version which includes: - Extended time controls - Untimed practice mode - Milestones and achievements - Board assistance during training - And a complete visualization of your records There will be no ads, neither in the full version nor in the free one. Just a beautiful and satisfyingly addictive way to your square mastery. Caution: If you are rated below 1500, this app is probably not gonna be as useful for you, and tactics training is something you should prioritize.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Chess Notation Trainer at 100% against Chess Board's 50%. Chess Notation Trainer also leads on rating (4.4 vs 2.0) and ads (none vs shown). Chess Board's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.6). On price, in-app purchases, monetization model 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
Both are free to download. Chess Board sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Chess Notation Trainer sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Chess Notation Trainer holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 2.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Chess Notation Trainer has 18 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 50% of Chess Board's written reviews are positive against 100% of Chess Notation Trainer's.
Chess Board ships an update every 30 months, Chess Notation Trainer every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Chess Board | Chess Notation Trainer |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.0 (1 ratings) | 4.4 (18 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 50.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 18 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 30 months | Every 2 days — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 18.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 17 MB | 26 MB |
| Age rating | +4 | 4+ |
| Developer | Yuki Honda | Nishat Majid |
Customer experience
Chess Board
Chess Notation Trainer
In-app purchases
Chess Board
- Additional Features$5.99
Chess Notation Trainer
- Full Version$4.99
Questions
Is Chess Board free?
Is Chess Notation Trainer free?
Which has better reviews, Chess Board or Chess Notation Trainer?
Do Chess Board or Chess Notation Trainer have ads?
Which is updated more often, Chess Board or Chess Notation Trainer?
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