Comparison

Chess Tutor 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 Tutor

This app guides new players from novice to skilled chess players through interactive tutorials, mini-games, and puzzles. It offers various learning modules, practice challenges, and the ability to play full games against a computer opponent with adjustable difficulty.

Highlights
  • Interactive tutorials on piece movement and rules
  • Skill-honing mini-games and puzzles
  • Checkmate challenges for all skill levels
  • Play against a computer opponent with 5 difficulty levels
  • Customizable board colors and piece sets
  • Knight's Tour puzzle
Features
Read full description

Chess Tutor has been specifically developed for beginners and new chess players. It can take you through from complete novice to a good chess player. It makes learning and developing in chess fun by a range of tutorials, mini-games and puzzles that hone skills before the full chess game is tackled. Of course, you can just play it at chess if you please! The main features are: >Tutor Levels - How pieces move - The rules of the game - Special moves such as forks, pins, skewers and en-passant - Practice challenges to be completed in less than 1 minute - Puzzles - Can you check mate in as few moves as challenged - Ranging from beginner to advanced - Complete puzzles to unlock more > Minigames - Play games against the computer - Games for beginners and more experienced players - Games that teach end game techniques and practice specific pieces - Complete games to unlock more games and challenges > Challenges - Challenge style puzzles - Puzzles for beginners and more advanced players - The famous "Knight's Tour" puzzle > Play Chess - Computer opponent with 5 levels of difficulty - 3 piece sets to choose from - 3 board colours - animated pieces - Sounds - Undo/take back - Play White or Black - Integrated opening book

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 Tutor4 screens
Chess Notation Lab4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Chess Notation Lab at 100% against Chess Tutor's 0%. Chess Notation Lab also leads on rating (5.0 vs 2.3) and ads (none vs shown). Chess Tutor's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and iOS requirement (16.0 vs 18.6). On price, ratings volume and device support 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 Notation Lab sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Chess Tutor asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Chess Notation Lab holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 2.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 6 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 0% of Chess Tutor's written reviews are positive against 100% of Chess Notation Lab's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Chess Tutor ships an update every 2 weeks, Chess Notation Lab every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Chess Tutor versus Chess Notation Lab: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChess TutorChess Notation Lab
PriceFreeFree
Rating2.3 (4 ratings)5.0 (6 ratings) — better
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings46 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 3 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.0 — better18.6
Further details — not scored
Size13 MB26 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperR.D. HareNishat Majid

Customer experience

Chess Tutor

All ratings4 ratings
Positive25.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative75.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

Chess Notation Lab

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

In-app purchases

None

Chess Tutor

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Chess Notation Lab

One-time1
  • Full Version$9.99

Questions

Is Chess Tutor free?
Chess Tutor is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Chess Notation Lab free?
Chess Notation Lab is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Chess Tutor or Chess Notation Lab?
Chess Notation Lab is rated higher. Chess Tutor averages 2.3 out of 5 from 4 ratings, while Chess Notation Lab averages 5.0 from 6 ratings.
Do Chess Tutor or Chess Notation Lab have ads?
Chess Tutor shows ads; Chess Notation Lab does not.
Which is updated more often, Chess Tutor or Chess Notation Lab?
Chess Tutor ships an update every 2 weeks, and Chess Notation Lab every 3 days. Most recently, Chess Tutor was updated on October 15, 2026 and Chess Notation Lab on October 14, 2026.

Other comparisons