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
Play chess against another person on a digital board. Move pieces by selecting or dragging them. Features include undo, redo, and reversing the board.
- Two-player mode
- Piece selection and dragging
- Undo and redo moves
- Reverse board option
- Start from beginning
- Intuitive icon-based controls
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Your next move, across the table. Clear pixel pieces on a blue and cream board. Use one iPhone or iPad as a chess board and play face to face with family or friends. Tap or drag a piece to move it. Includes promotion, board flipping, coordinates and sound. Go back to an earlier position or move forward again to rethink each move together. Games save automatically on your device. Save, reopen, rename and delete up to 10 games for free, and continue after closing the app. A one-time Additional Features purchase removes ads and unlocks unlimited saved games, move records, comments on each move, and iCloud backup and restore. Existing purchasers receive ad removal at no extra charge. iCloud backups run automatically after changes, with an on/off switch. Offline changes are retried when the app can connect again. Restore is manual and keeps games already on your device. 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 portrait and iPad portrait or landscape. Choose from 10 languages in Settings: Japanese, English, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, French, German, Russian, Korean, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese. Changing the language keeps your current game.
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 in-app purchases (none vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.6). On price 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 Notation Trainer sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Chess Board asks for nothing beyond the download.
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 59 months, Chess Notation Trainer every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 14, 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 59 months | Every 2 days — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 18.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 9 MB | 26 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Yuki Honda | Nishat Majid |
Customer experience
Chess Board
Chess Notation Trainer
In-app purchases
Chess Board
No in-app purchases
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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