Comparison

Chess Notation Lab Pro vs zenchess

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

Head to head
About

Chess Notation Lab Pro

Master chess board coordinates and piece movement with interactive training modes. Improve your ability to visualize moves, read notation, and speed up calculations for a stronger game.

Highlights
  • Identify squares by coordinate
  • Visualize piece movement
  • Translate moves to notation
  • Identify square color
  • Two training modes
  • Untimed practice mode
  • Global leaderboards
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! There are well thought out features everywhere, like different time controls for training, untimed practice mode, hints and tips during gameplay, achievements and milestones, global leaderboards and a complete visualization of your records. Don't be surprised if you see a sudden surge of rating simply increasing your strength on square reading. This is a beautiful and satisfyingly addictive way to master over the chessboard. Caution: If you are rated below 1500, this app may be less useful for you, and tactics training should be prioritized.

About

zenchess

Enhance your chess skills with puzzles, visualization exercises, and tactical training. Practice blindfold chess, analyze your games, and track your progress with personalized coaching. Offers offline play and integration with online chess accounts.

Highlights
  • Blindfold puzzles and visualization
  • Tactical puzzle modes (Classic, Blink, Glyph)
  • Daily challenges with leaderboards
  • Online chess account integration
  • Targeted training games (Coordinates, Memory)
  • Opening study and analysis
  • Personalized coaching and analytics
Features
Read full description

House of all chess training. Train your mind to see the board. zenchess builds chess vision through blindfold puzzles, visualization exercises, and focused practice. PUZZLE MODES โ€ข Classic โ€“ Solve tactical puzzles from a highly curated list โ€ข Blink โ€“ See the position for a few seconds, then solve with the board hidden โ€ข Glyph โ€“ Position shown as notation only (PGN or piece list), solve without seeing the board Each mode has its own rating system. DAILY CHALLENGE One puzzle per day across all three modes. Global leaderboard and 14-day completion tracker. Streak tracking. PLATFORM INTEGRATION Link your favorite online chess account to track ratings directly inside zenchess. Monitor your blitz, rapid, and bullet ratings as they update. View recent games. Set improvement goals based on your real rating and track your progress over time. TRAINING GAMES โ€ข Coordinates โ€“ Identify squares quickly โ€ข Memory โ€“ Recall piece positions โ€ข Knight vs Queen โ€“ Endgame practice with optional blindfold mode โ€ข Colors โ€“ Square color recognition Leaderboards and statistics for each game. OPENING TRAINER Browse openings by ECO category. Filter by color. Interactive board for studying lines. COACHING Personalized training tasks based on your performance data. Identifies weaknesses and suggests what to work on. Goal tracking with progress visualization. ANALYTICS Rating history, tactical theme breakdown, activity tracking, and detailed performance insights. PROGRESSION Unlock new pieces by ranking higher, levels, achievements, and global leaderboards. ADDITIONAL FEATURES โ€ข Offline mode โ€ข No ads โ€ข Free tier with daily limits โ€ข Premium for unlimited access, coaching, and full analytics Terms of Use: https://zenchess.app/terms

Screenshots

Chess Notation Lab Pro4 screens
zenchess4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: zenchess at Free against Chess Notation Lab Pro's $9.99. zenchess also leads on iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.6). Chess Notation Lab Pro's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 4). On review sentiment, update cadence, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

zenchess is free to download; Chess Notation Lab Pro costs $9.99 up front. zenchess sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Chess Notation Lab Pro asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Chess Notation Lab Pro ships an update weekly, zenchess every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on September 7, 2026 and September 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences ยท 4 level
Chess Notation Lab Pro versus zenchess: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChess Notation Lab Prozenchess
Price$9.99Free โ€” better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Update frequencyWeeklyEvery 5 days โ€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo โ€” betterYes
MonetizationPaidFreemium โ€” better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod โ€” better
Requires iOS18.615.0 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size25 MB106 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperNishat Majidata kaan bulut

Customer experience

Chess Notation Lab Pro

Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

zenchess

Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Chess Notation Lab Pro

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

zenchess

Subscriptions3
  • Monthly Subscription$4.991 Month
  • Annual Subscription7 Days trial$29.991 Year
  • Annual Subscription1 Year trial2 variants$29.991 Year

Questions

Is Chess Notation Lab Pro free?
Chess Notation Lab Pro costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is zenchess free?
zenchess is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Chess Notation Lab Pro or zenchess have ads?
Neither Chess Notation Lab Pro nor zenchess shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Chess Notation Lab Pro or zenchess?
Chess Notation Lab Pro ships an update weekly, and zenchess every 5 days. Most recently, Chess Notation Lab Pro was updated on September 7, 2026 and zenchess on September 14, 2026.

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