Chess Problems Lite vs Chess Notation Trainer
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Chess Problems Lite
Sharpen your chess skills with directmate puzzles. This app offers 10 interactive problems, from easy mate-in-one to challenging mate-in-four moves. It features a revamped chess engine, a timing clock, customizable piece sets and color schemes, and social leaderboards with Facebook integration.
- Directmate chess puzzles
- Mate in 1 to 4+ moves
- Revamped chess engine
- Timing clock for puzzles
- Customizable piece sets and color schemes
- Leaderboards and Facebook integration
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A lite version of the Ultimate mate in 1 to 4+ chess puzzle apps! Sharpen your chess skills! Beginners and experienced players will enjoy solving these chess problems! This app has 10 interactive chess problems ranging from easy mate in one move problems to very challenging mate in four moves. The object is to finish each game by forcing a checkmate in a given number of moves. In the full versions of this app there are a much larger number of classical puzzles collected from a variety of sources. These puzzles are fun to play and can be enjoyed at your leisure on your iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Chess problems are especially useful for learning to play chess or anyone wanting to improve their skills. New features added include: ------------------------------ - Completely revamped chess engine that is much stronger - Timing clock is displayed while you are working on each puzzle. How long you take to solve a puzzle is stored. - New options: more chess piece sets (total of 7) and more colors schemes (total of 7) including wood and marble. (Improved the options menu as well) - Social Gaming: Leaderboards to compare the number of puzzles you have solved with your friends and other players. Facebook integration - including the ability to post your progress and ask your friends for help on a puzzle. - Universal app - works on iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad - high resolution graphics all around (where supported). For even more chess puzzle challenges check out these apps: - Mate in 1 Puzzles - Mate in 2 Puzzles - Mate in 3 Puzzles - Mate in 4+ Puzzles
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.
- 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
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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
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Chess Problems Lite at none against Chess Notation Trainer's 1. Chess Problems Lite also leads on iOS requirement (13.0 vs 18.6). Chess Notation Trainer's advantage is update cadence (every 2 days vs every 7 months) and review sentiment (100% vs 83%). On price, rating, ratings volume and ads 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
Both are free to download. Chess Notation Trainer sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Chess Problems Lite asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.3 for Chess Problems Lite against 4.4 for Chess Notation Trainer. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 8 and 18 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 83% of Chess Problems Lite's written reviews are positive against 100% of Chess Notation Trainer's.
Chess Problems Lite ships an update every 7 months, Chess Notation Trainer every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on September 21, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Chess Problems Lite | Chess Notation Trainer |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.3 (8 ratings) | 4.4 (18 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 83.3% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 8 | 18 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 7 months | Every 2 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 18.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 7 MB | 26 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Gano Technologies LLC | Nishat Majid |
Customer experience
Chess Problems Lite
Chess Notation Trainer
In-app purchases
Chess Problems Lite
No in-app purchases
Chess Notation Trainer
- Full Version$4.99
Questions
Is Chess Problems Lite free?
Is Chess Notation Trainer free?
Which has better reviews, Chess Problems Lite or Chess Notation Trainer?
Do Chess Problems Lite or Chess Notation Trainer have ads?
Which is updated more often, Chess Problems Lite or Chess Notation Trainer?
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