Chess Notation Lab vs Board Brain
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
Read full descriptionHide 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.
Board Brain
This app helps chess players of all levels enhance their skills through interactive games and exercises. It focuses on mastering chessboard coordinates, understanding piece movements, and recognizing square colors to improve overall game vision.
- Interactive games
- Skill-building exercises
- Chessboard coordinate mastery
- Piece movement understanding
- Square color recognition
Read full descriptionHide full description
BoardBrain is designed to help both novice and experienced chess players improve their skills. It offers interactive games and exercises that focus on mastering chessboard coordinates, understanding piece movements, and recognizing square colors.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Board Brain at none against Chess Notation Lab's 1. Board Brain also leads on iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.6). Chess Notation Lab's advantage is update cadence (every 3 days vs every 6 days). 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 Lab sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Board Brain asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Chess Notation Lab against 5.0 for Board Brain. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 6 and 3 respectively.
Chess Notation Lab ships an update every 3 days, Board Brain every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on September 7, 2026 and September 12, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Chess Notation Lab | Board Brain |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (6 ratings) | 5.0 (3 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 6 — better | 3 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 days — better | Every 6 days |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 18.6 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 26 MB | 2 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Nishat Majid | Selvarajan Thangavel |
Customer experience
Chess Notation Lab
Board Brain
In-app purchases
Chess Notation Lab
- Full Version$9.99
Board Brain
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Chess Notation Lab free?
Is Board Brain free?
Which has better reviews, Chess Notation Lab or Board Brain?
Do Chess Notation Lab or Board Brain have ads?
Which is updated more often, Chess Notation Lab or Board Brain?
Other comparisons















