Comparison

Chess Endgame Studies vs Chess Notation Trainer

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Chess Endgame Studies

Master chess endgames with a curated collection of instructive studies and exercises. This app provides hints, explanations, and feedback to help you improve tactical skills and consolidate knowledge.

Highlights
  • 950+ endgame compositions
  • 900+ subsidiary exercises
  • Unique 5x5 mini-position hints
  • Interactive coach with hints and explanations
  • Refutation of common mistakes
  • Play positions against the computer
  • Tracks ELO rating changes
Features
Read full description

This training course is a special subset of famous CT-ART 4.0 course, based on best chess studies, especially chosen for their instructive value. There is simply no substitute for the ease and quality of the studies presented, not to mention their eternal beauty. Endgame Studies includes about 950 greatest endgame compositions and 900 subsidiary exercises. Each position comes with a special hint unique to this course – a 5x5 mini-position designed to convey the very essence of the tactical maneuver used in the main example. This course is in the series Chess King Learn (https://learn.chessking.com/), which is an unprecedented chess teaching method. In the series are included courses in tactics, strategy, openings, middle game, and endgame, split by levels from beginners to experienced players, and even professional players. With the help of this course, you can improve your chess knowledge, learn new tactical tricks and combinations, and consolidate the acquired knowledge into practice. The program acts as a coach who gives tasks to solve and helps to solve them if you get stuck. It will give you hints, explanations and show you even striking refutation of the mistakes you might make. Advantages of the program: • High quality examples, all double-checked for correctness • You need to enter all key moves, required by the teacher • Different levels of complexity of the tasks • Various goals, which need to be reached in the problems • The program gives hint if an error is made • For typical mistaken moves, the refutation is shown • You can play out any position of the tasks against the computer • Structured table of contents • The program monitors the change in the rating (ELO) of the player during the learning process • Test mode with flexible settings • Possibility to bookmark favorite exercises • The application is adapted to the bigger screen of a tablet • The application does not require an internet connection The course includes a free part, in which you can test the program. Lessons offered in the free version is fully functional. They allow you to test the application in real world conditions before releasing the following topics: 1. Chess Tactics Art for Advanced 1.1. Attacking the king 1.2. Stalemate 1.3. Pawn promotion 1.4. Domination 1.5. Positional fortresses and their destruction 1.6. Draws by perpetual check or by repetition 1.7. Other ideas and conjunction of ideas 2. Gallery of Chess Composers 2.1. Kubbel 2.2. Kasparyan 2.3. Troitzky 2.4. Rinck 2.5. Platov M. and V. 2.6. Nadareishvili 2.7. Prokesh 2.8. Chekhover 2.9. Grigoryev 2.10. Mattison 2.11. Pogosyants 2.12. Seleznyov 2.13. Kaminer 2.14. Gurvich 2.15. Reti 2.16. Duras 3. Difficulty 3.1. Studies with difficulty level 100 3.2. Studies with difficulty level 110 3.3. Studies with difficulty level 120 3.4. Studies with difficulty level 130 3.5. Studies with difficulty level 140 3.6. Studies with difficulty level 150 3.7. Studies with difficulty level 160 3.8. Studies with difficulty level 180

About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read full description

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

Chess Endgame Studies4 screens
Chess Notation Trainer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Chess Notation Trainer at every 2 days against Chess Endgame Studies's every 2 months. Chess Endgame Studies's advantage is rating (4.8 vs 4.4) and ratings volume (117 vs 18). On price, review sentiment, ads and in-app purchases 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Chess Endgame Studies 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.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Chess Endgame Studies holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Chess Endgame Studies has 117 ratings behind it against 18, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 93% of Chess Endgame Studies's written reviews are positive against 100% of Chess Notation Trainer's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Chess Endgame Studies ships an update every 2 months, Chess Notation Trainer every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 19, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Chess Endgame Studies versus Chess Notation Trainer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChess Endgame StudiesChess Notation Trainer
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (117 ratings) — better4.4 (18 ratings)
Positive reviews93.3% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings117 — better18
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS8.0 — better18.6
Further details — not scored
Size42 MB26 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperChess KingNishat Majid

Customer experience

Chess Endgame Studies

All ratings117 ratings
Positive95.7%
Neutral2.6%
Negative1.7%
Written reviews15 reviews
Positive93.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative6.7%

Chess Notation Trainer

All ratings18 ratings
Positive83.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative16.7%
Written reviews6 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Chess Endgame Studies

One-time1
  • Full Course$3.99
1 purchases

Chess Notation Trainer

One-time1
  • Full Version$4.99

Questions

Is Chess Endgame Studies free?
Chess Endgame Studies is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Chess Notation Trainer free?
Chess Notation Trainer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Chess Endgame Studies or Chess Notation Trainer?
Chess Endgame Studies is rated higher. Chess Endgame Studies averages 4.8 out of 5 from 117 ratings, while Chess Notation Trainer averages 4.4 from 18 ratings.
Do Chess Endgame Studies or Chess Notation Trainer have ads?
Neither Chess Endgame Studies nor Chess Notation Trainer shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Chess Endgame Studies or Chess Notation Trainer?
Chess Endgame Studies ships an update every 2 months, and Chess Notation Trainer every 2 days. Most recently, Chess Endgame Studies was updated on October 19, 2026 and Chess Notation Trainer on October 14, 2026.

Other comparisons