Comparison

Chess Middlegame I 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 Middlegame I

Master chess middlegame strategies with this comprehensive course. Learn popular opening plans, pawn structures, and tactical intricacies through interactive lessons and practice problems. Improve your game with personalized coaching and track your progress.

Highlights
  • Middlegame strategies and intricacies
  • Theoretical section with interactive lessons
  • Practice problems with hints and refutations
  • Analysis of popular openings and pawn structures
  • Progress monitoring and rating changes
  • Offline play capability
  • Tablet optimization
Features
Read full description

Chess Middlegame I course composed by GM Alexander Kalinin is aimed at teaching a student much of the middlegame methods and intricacies through a theoretical section. Typical Plans and Methods in the Most Popular Openings: Scotch, Ruy Lopez, Sicilian, Caro-Kann, French, English opening, Dutch, Slav, Catalan, Nimzo-Indian, King's Indian, Grünfeld, Benko Gambit. The Encyclopedia of Middlegame course contains detailed material about typical pawn structures: Karlsbad, Hedgehog, etc. 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. 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. Scotch game 1.1. Scotch game 1.2. The variation with 4... Nf6 1.3. The variation with 4... Bc5 2. Ruy Lopez defense 2.1. Ruy Lopez defense 2.2. Classification of the closed Ruy Lopez 2.3. The closed pawn center 2.4. Positions with the closed pawn center and the open c-file 2.5. Rauzer's plan 2.6. The variation with Bc8-e6 2.7. The center is not blocked 3. Caro-Kann defense 3.1. Caro-Kann defense 3.2. The Capablanca variation 3.3. The Smyslov-Petrosian variation 4. French defense 4.1. French defense 4.2. The Winawer variation 4.3. The classical system (3... Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7) 4.4. The Tarrasch variation (3. Nd2) 5. Sicilian defense 5.1. Sicilian defense 5.2. The system with 2. c3 5.3. Scheveningen 5.4. The systems with e7-e5 5.5. Systems with an exchange Bxf6 gf 6. English opening 6.1. English opening 6.2. English opening, the dragon system with colors reversed 6.3. English opening. 1. c4 e5 (without d7-d5) 7. Dutch defense 7.1. Dutch defense 7.2. Stonewall 7.3. The Iljin-Zhenevsky system 7.4. Leningrad system 8. Slav defense 8.1. Slav defense 8.2. The Schlechter system 8.3. The Meran variation 8.4. The Botvinnik system 9. Catalan opening 10. Nimzo-Indian defense 11. Grünfeld defense, the system with Qd1-b3 12. King's Indian defense 13. Benko gambit 14. The "Karlsbad" pawn structure 15. Typical position with the mobile pawn center 16. The "hedgehog" system 17. Typical pawn structure with an outpost on the half-open d-file

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 Middlegame I4 screens
Chess Notation Trainer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Chess Notation Trainer at every 2 days against Chess Middlegame I's every 4 months. Chess Middlegame I's advantage is rating (4.7 vs 4.4) and ratings volume (68 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 Middlegame I 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 Middlegame I holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 68 and 18 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Chess Middlegame I ships an update every 4 months, Chess Notation Trainer every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Chess Middlegame I versus Chess Notation Trainer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChess Middlegame IChess Notation Trainer
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (68 ratings) — better4.4 (18 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings68 — better18
Update frequencyEvery 4 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
Size44 MB26 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperChess KingNishat Majid

Customer experience

Chess Middlegame I

All ratings68 ratings
Positive91.2%
Neutral7.4%
Negative1.5%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

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 Middlegame I

One-time1
  • Full course$7.99
1 purchases

Chess Notation Trainer

One-time1
  • Full Version$4.99

Questions

Is Chess Middlegame I free?
Chess Middlegame I 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 Middlegame I or Chess Notation Trainer?
Chess Middlegame I is rated higher. Chess Middlegame I averages 4.7 out of 5 from 68 ratings, while Chess Notation Trainer averages 4.4 from 18 ratings.
Do Chess Middlegame I or Chess Notation Trainer have ads?
Neither Chess Middlegame I nor Chess Notation Trainer shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Chess Middlegame I or Chess Notation Trainer?
Chess Middlegame I ships an update every 4 months, and Chess Notation Trainer every 2 days. Most recently, Chess Middlegame I was updated on September 25, 2026 and Chess Notation Trainer on October 14, 2026.

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