Comparison

Learn Chess with Dr. Wolf vs Plain Chess

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

Head to head
About

Learn Chess with Dr. Wolf

This app provides personalized chess coaching with interactive lessons and audible guidance. It helps beginners and intermediate players understand strategies, correct mistakes, and learn chess vocabulary. Choose from different coach personalities for a tailored learning experience.

Highlights
  • Personalized AI coaching
  • Audible explanations
  • 50+ interactive lessons
  • Mistake correction
  • Multiple coach personalities
  • Adaptive difficulty
Features
Read full description

Looking to learn how to play chess? Meet Dr. Wolf, the ideal chess coach and companion. Dr. Wolf explains everything to you step-by-step, points out strategic ideas, and alerts you to your mistakes. Whether you are a chess beginner eager to learn the basics or an intermediate player looking to refine your strategy, Dr. Wolf tailors the learning experience to your individual needs, offering over 50 comprehensive chess lessons and interactive guidance at every step. **Why Choose Learn Chess with Dr. Wolf?** - **Personalized Coaching:** Experience the unique teaching method of Dr. Wolf, who not only instructs but also plays alongside you, providing insights into every move. He will introduce topics to you as you play chess, ensuring you grasp the “why” behind each move. - **Audible Coaching**: Dr. Wolf speaks out-loud. Actual audio! Experience the unique advantage of having Dr. Wolf speak to you while you look at the board, offering clear, spoken explanations for every move. - **A Comprehensive Chess Curriculum:** Engage with an extensive suite of over 50 interactive chess lessons. Starting from foundational concepts, you'll progress through to advanced strategies and tactics, all structured to enhance your understanding and performance in chess. - **Mistake Correction and Practice:** Learn from your mistakes in a constructive environment. Dr. Wolf remembers all your moves and goes over them again with you so you don’t make the same mistakes again. - **Diverse Coaching Personalities:** Choose from four distinct coach profiles, each with a unique voice, teaching style and personality. You’ll be sure to find the right chess coach for you. - **Gradual Learning of Chess Vocabulary:** Expand your vocabulary and understanding of key terms and concepts at a comfortable pace. - **Adaptive Difficulty Level:** Choose from a variety of skill levels, ensuring you're always challenged but never overwhelmed. - **Multilingual Support**: Available in English, Spanish, French, and German. **Learn the game and how to win.** "Learn Chess with Dr. Wolf" blends comprehensive lessons, personalized feedback, and interactive learning, offering a standout experience for those new to chess or aiming to enhance their skills. Whether your goal is to understand chess better, win more games, or simply enjoy this timeless strategy game more deeply, Dr. Wolf is here to guide you every step of the way. --------------------------------------------- Dr. Wolf will coach you for free for 3 games of chess so that you can appreciate his style of in-game teaching. Then, to continue learning, you can subscribe to Coaching. With Coaching, Dr. Wolf teaches while you play chess, pointing out good moves and bad — both yours and his — and the reasoning behind them. At times, he'll gently suggest you reconsider a move, or ask a question at a critical moment. Plus, you get unlimited hints, unlimited undos, and unlimited access to our Lesson Library, with over thirty lessons in Dr. Wolf's unique style. Whether or not you choose to subscribe, Dr. Wolf will always play with you. He loves chess too much to turn down a good game. ** TERMS & DETAILS ** Payment will be charged to your iTunes account at confirmation of purchase. Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Account will be charged the same amount for renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period. You can manage your subscription and turn off auto-renewal by going to your Account Settings after purchase. Any unused portion of a Free Trial, if offered, is forfeited when you buy a subscription. Prices may vary by location. Terms of Use: https://www.learnchesswithdrwolf.com/terms-of-use Privacy Policy: https://www.learnchesswithdrwolf.com/privacy-policy

About

Plain Chess

Enjoy offline chess matches on your iPhone without ads or accounts. Play against the computer, a friend, or use the AI Coach for strategic advice. Perfect for learning, practicing, or quick games.

Highlights
  • Offline chess play
  • Play against computer
  • Pass-and-play multiplayer
  • AI Coach explanations
  • Saved games
  • No ads or account required
Features
Read full description

Chess without the stress. Play for free as often as you like, learn from a coach that explains your games, and play the people you know. FREE TO PLAY Play Fern, a friendly rival, as often as you like, or pass and play with someone on one iPhone. Your first three games come fully coached, with hints, threat checks, takebacks, coach notes and a full review in games against the rivals and the computer. Solve the daily puzzle, start the lesson library with How Chess Works, and accept any friend's invite. The coach and rival voices are free for everyone. SIX RIVALS WITH REAL PERSONALITIES From Pip, a beginner learning one move at a time, to Nova, an expert who loves to attack, each rival plays at their own level and talks like themselves. Choose how chatty they are: quiet, friendly or spicy. Every rival is an AI and always labeled as one. Fern is always free; the other five come with Plain Chess Coach. LEARN AS YOU PLAY 55 short, hands-on lessons take you from how the pieces move to tactics, checkmates, endgames and your first openings. Each one shows the idea on the board, then lets you find the move yourself. PLAY THE PEOPLE YOU KNOW Play friends through Game Center: a daily game, with up to three days a move, or a live game with a clock. Accepting an invite is always free. Inviting friends, and Play online, which finds a player near your level or one of our AI rivals when nobody's around, come with Plain Chess Coach. No chat, just six friendly reactions. PLAIN CHESS COACH Become a member for everything else: • All six rivals and the classic computer • Coach notes, and unlimited Hint, Threats and takebacks, in games against the rivals and the computer • A review of every game against a rival, the computer or another player online: where it turned, your best move and every mistake, explained in plain words and read aloud if you like. Play any moment again from the review • The full lesson library, 85 opening lessons, and nearly 5,000 checkmate puzzles on a path through ten lands • 300 AI Coach answers a month: ask about your position, typed or out loud • Invite friends and play online • My Games: every game you finish, synced with iCloud Choose Yearly, with a 7-day free trial for eligible new members, or Monthly. Family covers up to six people through Family Sharing, with 50 AI Coach answers a month for each person. Prices vary by country; the app shows your price before you buy. Plain Chess Lifetime, $99 once, includes everything except AI Coach answers. AI Coach answer packs (25, 75 or 250 answers) are available to Lifetime owners, original buyers and members who use up their monthly answers. Already a member, or bought Plain Chess early? You keep everything you have, and your price stays the same while your membership is active. Payment is charged to your Apple Account when you confirm the purchase. A membership renews automatically unless you cancel at least 24 hours before the end of the current period, and your account is charged for renewal within 24 hours before the period ends. Manage or cancel in your Apple Account settings. Deleting the app doesn't cancel a membership. AI Coach needs an internet connection and can make mistakes. No ads, no account to create. Privacy: https://cerebraenterprises.com/plain-chess/privacy Terms: https://cerebraenterprises.com/plain-chess/terms Apple Standard EULA: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Learn Chess with Dr. Wolf4 screens
Plain Chess4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ratings volume: Learn Chess with Dr. Wolf at 27K against Plain Chess's 6. Learn Chess with Dr. Wolf also leads on monetization model (free with in-app purchases vs paid) and chart position (#106 vs unranked). Plain Chess's advantage is update cadence (every 4 days vs every 3 weeks) and review sentiment (100% vs 82%). On price, rating, 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. Learn Chess with Dr. Wolf sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month and Plain Chess sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Learn Chess with Dr. Wolf against 4.8 for Plain Chess. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Learn Chess with Dr. Wolf has 27K ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 82% of Learn Chess with Dr. Wolf's written reviews are positive against 100% of Plain Chess's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Learn Chess with Dr. Wolf ships an update every 3 weeks, Plain Chess every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on November 7, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Learn Chess with Dr. Wolf versus Plain Chess: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLearn Chess with Dr. WolfPlain Chess
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (27K ratings) — better4.8 (6 ratings)
Positive reviews81.9% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings27K — better6
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 4 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
Best chart rank#106 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS13.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size111 MB117 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperChess.comCerebra Enterprises, LLC

Customer experience

Learn Chess with Dr. Wolf

All ratings27,118 ratings
Positive95.9%
Neutral2.4%
Negative1.7%
Written reviews647 reviews
Positive81.9%
Neutral7.0%
Negative11.1%

Plain Chess

All ratings6 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Learn Chess with Dr. Wolf

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Freezing or crashing when switching between apps
  • Subscription status not syncing across devices

Requested features

5 requests
  • More detailed explanations for suggested moves
  • Additional difficulty levels between beginner and expert
  • Ability to practice specific openings
  • Option to review full game history
  • Accessibility features for visually impaired users

Plain Chess

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Learn Chess with Dr. Wolf

Subscriptions9
  • Dr. Wolf Coaching - Monthly14 Days trial$5.991 Month
  • Dr. Wolf Coaching - Monthly7 Days trial$5.991 Month
  • Dr. Wolf Coaching - Individual7 Days trial$5.991 Month
Show 6 more
  • Dr. Wolf Coaching - Monthly7 Days trial$6.991 Month
  • Dr. Wolf Coaching - Yearly14 Days trial$39.991 Year
  • Dr. Wolf Coaching - Yearly7 Days trial$39.991 Year
  • Dr. Wolf Coaching - Individual14 Days trial$39.991 Year
  • Dr. Wolf Coaching - Yearly$49.991 Year
  • Dr. Wolf Coaching - Family14 Days trial$49.991 Year
One-time1
  • 30 Days of Coaching$4.99
10 purchases

Plain Chess

Subscriptions3
  • Plain Chess Monthly$4.991 Month
  • Plain Chess Annual7 Days trial$39.991 Year
  • Plain Chess Family$69.991 Year
One-time7
  • 25 AI Coach Answers$2.99
  • 10 AI Coach Credits$2.99
  • 75 AI Coach Answers$7.99
Show 4 more
  • 30 AI Coach Credits$7.99
  • 250 AI Coach Answers$19.99
  • 100 AI Coach Credits$19.99
  • Plain Chess Lifetime$99.00

Questions

Is Learn Chess with Dr. Wolf free?
Learn Chess with Dr. Wolf is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Plain Chess free?
Plain Chess is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Learn Chess with Dr. Wolf or Plain Chess?
Learn Chess with Dr. Wolf is rated higher. Learn Chess with Dr. Wolf averages 4.8 out of 5 from 27K ratings, while Plain Chess averages 4.8 from 6 ratings.
Do Learn Chess with Dr. Wolf or Plain Chess have ads?
Neither Learn Chess with Dr. Wolf nor Plain Chess shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Learn Chess with Dr. Wolf or Plain Chess?
Learn Chess with Dr. Wolf ships an update every 3 weeks, and Plain Chess every 4 days. Most recently, Learn Chess with Dr. Wolf was updated on November 7, 2026 and Plain Chess on November 5, 2026.

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