Comparison

Chess Openings vs Chess Notation Lab

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

Head to head
About

Chess Openings

Master chess openings with this trainer. Memorize popular professional game sequences, explore over 1750 openings, and test your recall with randomized drills. Learn a new opening daily to enhance your chess strategy.

Highlights
  • Memorize popular openings
  • Explore 1750+ openings
  • Test memory with randomized openings
  • Daily opening learning
  • Learn grandmaster variations
Features
Read full description

- Learn: Memorize the most popular openings played in professional games. - Browse: Explore 1750+ openings. - Test: Test your memory by going through randomized openings that you've memorized. - Daily Openings: Learn one random opening a day. Learning different opening sequences is critical in improving in chess. Chess Openings is an app that makes it easier for you to memorize all of your favorite openings. Browse through 1700 openings and learn variations of openings that grandmasters use.

About

Chess Notation Lab

Master chess board coordinates and piece movement with this training app. Improve your ability to visualize moves, read notation, and understand square colors. Designed to enhance your chess calculations and potentially boost your rating.

Highlights
  • Identify squares by coordinate
  • Fluid piece movement visualization
  • Translate moves to notation
  • Identify square color
  • Orient on the board
  • Speed up calculation
  • Blind chess practice
Features
Read full description

Welcome to Chess Notation Lab! Are you struggling to identify squares, remember sequences, and follow chess notations? Do you have trouble visualizing Bishop diagonals? Or Knight jumps? Or worse, mapping the available moves for the Queen to get/avoid a deadly fork? This training app is designed to end this misery. There are 2 training modes, each with 5 unique training sessions carefully designed to dramatically uplift your mastery over chess squares and fluid piece movement. A small dose of regular practice will empower you to: 1. Spot a square as soon as you hear or see its coordinate 2. Fluidly move any piece around the board, even without a board 3. Translate a sequence of moves into their notation with ease 4. Immediately identify the color of a square 5. Stay oriented regardless of whether you're white or black 6. Follow along with chess tutorials, books, or discussions at ease and comfort 7. Massively speed up your thought process on any calculation 8. Finally, start playing blind chess! Don't be surprised if you experience a sudden surge in rating simply by improving your square reading skills. The free version is already effective enough to significantly boost your chess career. However, if you want to support me and get the full version, first of all, thanks!! And then just a one-time purchase will unlock: - Longer time controls - Untimed practice mode - Milestones and Achievements and - Complete visualization of your records - Compete with friends over the complete leaderboards There will be no ads, neither in the full version nor in the free one. Just a beautiful and satisfyingly addictive path to mastering squares. The level of comfort you will feel about talking, reading or even thinking about chess is, believe me, just priceless. Caution: If you are rated below 1500, this app may be less useful for you, and tactics training should be prioritized.

Screenshots

Chess Openings4 screens
Chess Notation Lab4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Chess Notation Lab at 5.0 against Chess Openings's 3.2. Chess Notation Lab also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 60%) and ads (none vs shown). Chess Openings's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.6). On price, ratings volume, 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 Openings sells 3 one-off in-app purchases and Chess Notation Lab 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 Notation Lab holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.2. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 6 and 6 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 60% of Chess Openings's written reviews are positive against 100% of Chess Notation Lab's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Chess Openings ships an update every 4 months, Chess Notation Lab every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Chess Openings versus Chess Notation Lab: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChess OpeningsChess Notation Lab
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.2 (6 ratings)5.0 (6 ratings) — better
Positive reviews60.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings66
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 3 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better18.6
Further details — not scored
Size60 MB26 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHodgepodge Apps LLCNishat Majid

Customer experience

Chess Openings

All ratings6 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral16.7%
Negative33.3%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive60.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative40.0%

Chess Notation Lab

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

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Chess Openings

One-time3
  • Remove Ads$2.99
  • Unlimited Engine$2.99
  • Extra Openings$3.99
1 purchases

Chess Notation Lab

One-time1
  • Full Version$9.99

Questions

Is Chess Openings free?
Chess Openings is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Chess Notation Lab free?
Chess Notation Lab is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Chess Openings or Chess Notation Lab?
Chess Notation Lab is rated higher. Chess Openings averages 3.2 out of 5 from 6 ratings, while Chess Notation Lab averages 5.0 from 6 ratings.
Do Chess Openings or Chess Notation Lab have ads?
Chess Openings shows ads; Chess Notation Lab does not.
Which is updated more often, Chess Openings or Chess Notation Lab?
Chess Openings ships an update every 4 months, and Chess Notation Lab every 3 days. Most recently, Chess Openings was updated on October 7, 2026 and Chess Notation Lab on October 14, 2026.

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