Comparison

Elementary Chess Tactics 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

Elementary Chess Tactics I

Master fundamental chess tactics with over 4300 exercises designed for beginners and club players. Learn to identify and exploit common tactical patterns like forks, pins, and discovered checks. Improve your game quality and never miss an elementary combination again.

Highlights
  • Over 4300 tactical exercises
  • Covers forks, pins, discovered checks, and more
  • Interactive lessons with hints and explanations
  • Monitors ELO rating changes
  • Offline play capability
  • Tablet optimized
Features
Read full description

If you are a beginner, it is necessary for you to study simple tactical methods and learn how to employ them! This course includes more than 4300 exercises for beginners on the following tactical methods: Fork, pin, double check, discovered check, annihilation of the opponent's king defense, exploiting a back (1st) rank weakness. If you are a beginner or a club player, this is the program for you! After going through this course you will never miss an elementary combination in a practical game of your own and will be able to improve the quality of your play considerably. 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 • 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. The fork 1.1. Pawn 1.2. Knight 1.3. Bishop 2. Pin or skewer 2.1. Bishop 2.2. Rook 3. Double check 3.1. Level 5 3.2. Level 6 3.3. Level 7 3.4. Level 8 3.5. Level 9 3.6. Level 10 3.7. Level 11 3.8. Level 12 3.9. Level 13 3.10. Level 14 4. Discovered check 4.1. Level 3 4.2. Level 4 4.3. Level 5 4.4. Level 6 4.5. Level 7 4.6. Level 8 4.7. Level 9 4.8. Level 10 4.9. Level 11 5. Annihilation of defence of a king 5.1. Level 8 5.2. Level 9 5.3. Level 10 5.4. Level 11 5.5. Level 12 5.6. Level 13 5.7. Level 14 5.8. Level 15 5.9. Level 16 5.10. Level 17 5.11. Level 18 5.12. Level 19 5.13. Level 20 5.14. Level 21 5.15. Level 22 5.16. Level 23 6. Annihilation of the back rank defence 6.1. Level 7 6.2. Level 9 6.3. Level 10 6.4. Level 11 6.5. Level 12 6.6. Level 13 6.7. Level 14 6.8. Level 15 6.9. Level 16 6.10. Level 17 6.11. Level 18 6.12. Level 19 6.13. Level 20

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

Elementary Chess Tactics I4 screens
Chess Notation Trainer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Chess Notation Trainer at every 2 days against Elementary Chess Tactics I's every 3 months. Elementary Chess Tactics I's advantage is rating (4.8 vs 4.4) and ratings volume (147 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. Elementary Chess Tactics 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

Elementary Chess Tactics I holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Elementary Chess Tactics I has 147 ratings behind it against 18, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Elementary Chess Tactics I ships an update every 3 months, Chess Notation Trainer every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 12, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Elementary Chess Tactics I versus Chess Notation Trainer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterElementary Chess Tactics IChess Notation Trainer
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (147 ratings) — better4.4 (18 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings147 — better18
Update frequencyEvery 3 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

Elementary Chess Tactics I

All ratings147 ratings
Positive97.3%
Neutral1.4%
Negative1.4%
Written reviews4 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

Elementary Chess Tactics I

One-time1
  • Full course$3.99
1 purchases

Chess Notation Trainer

One-time1
  • Full Version$4.99

Questions

Is Elementary Chess Tactics I free?
Elementary Chess Tactics 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, Elementary Chess Tactics I or Chess Notation Trainer?
Elementary Chess Tactics I is rated higher. Elementary Chess Tactics I averages 4.8 out of 5 from 147 ratings, while Chess Notation Trainer averages 4.4 from 18 ratings.
Do Elementary Chess Tactics I or Chess Notation Trainer have ads?
Neither Elementary Chess Tactics I nor Chess Notation Trainer shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Elementary Chess Tactics I or Chess Notation Trainer?
Elementary Chess Tactics I ships an update every 3 months, and Chess Notation Trainer every 2 days. Most recently, Elementary Chess Tactics I was updated on October 12, 2026 and Chess Notation Trainer on October 14, 2026.

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