Comparison

Chess Strategy & Tactics Vol 2 vs ChessPrep

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

Head to head
About

Chess Strategy & Tactics Vol 2

This app offers an intermediate chess course based on a renowned Russian trainer's textbook. It features theoretical material with over 290 examples and more than 750 practical exercises of varying difficulty. The program acts as a personal coach, providing hints, explanations, and refutations for mistakes.

Highlights
  • Intermediate chess course
  • Theoretical material with examples
  • Over 750 practical exercises
  • Interactive lessons
  • Hints and error refutations
  • Progress monitoring
  • Offline play
Features
Read full description

This is a course for intermediate players based on a textbook by a distinguished Russian chess trainer Victor Golenishchev. The source material is supplemented with examples of play by lead chess players from the latest major contests and is organized in chess lessons. The course contains 34 themes, including theoretical material and practical exercises. The theoretical part includes more than 290 examples of play. The practical part includes more than 750 exercises of varying difficulty. This course is in the series Chess King Learn, 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. The program also contains a theoretical section, which explains the methods of the game in a certain stage of the game, based on actual examples. The theory is presented in an interactive way, which means you can not only read the text of the lessons, but also to make moves on the board and work out unclear moves on the board. 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 • Interactive theoretical lessons • 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. Preface 2. Solving combinations competition 3. Blitz competition 4. Solving problems competition 5. Solving study competition 6. Training the technique of calculation 7. Basics of strategy 7.1. Pawn majority on one of the flanks 7.2. Pawn chain 7.3. A qualitative pawn majority 7.4. Restriction of the mobility and blockade 7.5. A pawn pair "c3+d4" on the semi-opened files 7.6. An isolated pawn in the center of the board 7.7. Hanging pawns 7.8. Carlsbad structure 7.9. Closed center 7.10. Compensation for a pawn 8. Endings 8.1. A bishop against a knight 8.2. A bishop against the pawns 8.3. The bishops of the same color 8.4. The bishops of opposite color 8.5. A knight against the pawns 8.6. The knight endings 8.7. A rook against the pawns 8.8. The rook endings 8.9. A rook against a minor piece 8.10. The queen endings 8.11. A queen versus a rook

About

ChessPrep

Enhance your chess strategy with a powerful companion app. Build your repertoire from grandmaster moves, analyze opponent responses, and master tactics using a strong chess engine and spaced repetition.

Highlights
  • Build repertoire from grandmaster moves
  • Analyze opponent responses by elo
  • Stockfish 16 chess engine
  • Spaced repetition system
  • Position analysis and variation calculation
Features
Read full description

ChessPrep is the ultimate chess companion designed to enhance your strategic prowess and elevate your game. Whether you're a beginner or a seasoned player, ChessPrep empowers you to: Build Your Repertoire: Choose from a curated list of masterful moves played by grandmasters. Opponent Insights: Analyze the most common responses from opponents in your elo range, giving you a strategic edge. Stockfish 16 with NNUE: Access a powerful chess engine directly within the app to analyze positions, calculate variations, and refine your understanding of the game. Spaced Repetition: Master your chosen moves through an intelligent spaced repetition system, ensuring optimal retention and application during your games. ChessPrep is not just an app; it's your key to unlocking a deeper understanding of chess and outplaying your opponents.

Screenshots

Chess Strategy & Tactics Vol 24 screens
ChessPrep4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Chess Strategy & Tactics Vol 2 at 4.8 against ChessPrep's 3.0. Chess Strategy & Tactics Vol 2 also leads on review sentiment (50% vs 33%) and ratings volume (28 vs 2). ChessPrep's advantage is update cadence (every 3 days vs every 2 months). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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 Strategy & Tactics Vol 2 sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and ChessPrep sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Chess Strategy & Tactics Vol 2 holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Chess Strategy & Tactics Vol 2 has 28 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 50% of Chess Strategy & Tactics Vol 2's written reviews are positive against 33% of ChessPrep's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Chess Strategy & Tactics Vol 2 ships an update every 2 months, ChessPrep every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on November 4, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Chess Strategy & Tactics Vol 2 versus ChessPrep: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChess Strategy & Tactics Vol 2ChessPrep
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (28 ratings) — better3.0 (2 ratings)
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews — better33.3% of reviews
Number of ratings28 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS8.0 — better12.0
Further details — not scored
Size44 MB109 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperChess KingStephen Papadatos

Customer experience

Chess Strategy & Tactics Vol 2

All ratings28 ratings
Positive96.4%
Neutral0.0%
Negative3.6%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%

ChessPrep

All ratings2 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive33.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative66.7%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Chess Strategy & Tactics Vol 2

One-time1
  • Full course$7.99
3 purchases

ChessPrep

Subscriptions2
  • ChessButler Monthly Sub$0.991 Month
  • ChessButler Yearly Sub$9.991 Year
One-time1
  • ChessButler Lifetime Premium$19.99

Questions

Is Chess Strategy & Tactics Vol 2 free?
Chess Strategy & Tactics Vol 2 is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is ChessPrep free?
ChessPrep is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Chess Strategy & Tactics Vol 2 or ChessPrep?
Chess Strategy & Tactics Vol 2 is rated higher. Chess Strategy & Tactics Vol 2 averages 4.8 out of 5 from 28 ratings, while ChessPrep averages 3.0 from 2 ratings.
Do Chess Strategy & Tactics Vol 2 or ChessPrep have ads?
Neither Chess Strategy & Tactics Vol 2 nor ChessPrep shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Chess Strategy & Tactics Vol 2 or ChessPrep?
Chess Strategy & Tactics Vol 2 ships an update every 2 months, and ChessPrep every 3 days. Most recently, Chess Strategy & Tactics Vol 2 was updated on November 4, 2026 and ChessPrep on November 3, 2026.

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