PGN Trainer vs Chess Reflex
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
PGN Trainer
Master chess openings with a personalized repertoire builder. Import PGNs, download studies, and train using spaced repetition and engine analysis. Syncs across devices.
- Build custom chess opening repertoires
- Import PGN files and download studies
- Search openings by move sequence or ECO
- Train with spaced repetition
- Analyze games with engine integration
- Sync library across iPhone, iPad, and Mac
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As an adult improver who reached a 2100+ rating in my 50s, I founded PGN Trainer to solve my own problem: I needed a better way to truly master my openings without relying on expensive, proprietary courses. By building and training my custom repertoire with these exact tools, I shattered my plateau and raised my rating by over 300 points. Whether you are a young club player crafting your first set of openings or a veteran organizing deep theoretical preparation, this is the all-in-one tool designed to help you do the exact same thing. BUILD & ORGANIZE YOUR LIBRARY • Create Your Way: Import your own PGN files, analyze and build a repertoire from the ground up, or download from our rich built-in library of effective, popular openings. • Tailored to You: Find downloadable studies that perfectly match your playing level (Intermediate, Advanced, or Master) and your personal style (whether you prefer Dominating attacks or Solid/Defensive setups). • Total Control: Reorganize your library effortlessly. Separate files, merge repertoires together, or edit and expand your lines directly using deep engine analysis. ADVANCED SEARCH & DISCOVERY • Find Any Line: Search your entire library by specific move sequences, official ECO names (e.g., "Sicilian"), or ECO numbers (e.g., "B90"). • Spotty Search: Use wildcard "spotty" moves to skip moves in your search and easily find transpositions. • Position Matching: Instantly search your custom repertoire for matching positions while you are analyzing your actual, real-world games. STUDY, TRAIN, AND ANALYZE • Three Seamless Modes: Effortlessly surf between Studying the theory, Training your memory, and Analyzing with the engine—all in one fluid experience to enhance your learning. • Spaced Repetition: Train your customized lines using smart spaced repetitions, ensuring you focus your time exactly on the variations you struggle to remember. • Active Learning: Play your prepared responses directly against the engine so you are fully prepared when you sit down at the board. GENEROUS FREE TIER & CLOUD SYNC • Truly Free for Most Players: Enjoy access to intermediate libraries, full study modes, and active training completely for free. We only require a premium upgrade for massive, master-level studies containing more than 2,000 total moves. • iCloud Sync: Your complete opening library syncs automatically across your iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Build a study on your Mac, and train it on your iPhone during your commute! Stop renting your chess knowledge. Build your ultimate repertoire, train your exact lines, and step up to the board with total confidence. Download PGN Trainer today! Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://chesspgntrainer.smartworldinnovations.com/privacy-policy
Chess Reflex
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Chess Reflex teaches you to beat a player who has never taken a lesson. Not to become a grandmaster — to stop losing to careless mistakes. Everything is built on six rules. Six, not sixty. Develop your pieces in the right order, check what the opponent's last move threatens, count before you capture, count the attackers and defenders of a square, hold an endgame, and never answer in three seconds. These six rules are enough to beat the vast majority of casual players. SIXTEEN ANIMATED LESSONS Each rule is explained on the board, sentence by sentence, with arrows showing exactly what's being discussed. Two minutes per lesson. A voice reads them aloud — a real built-in synthetic voice, not the system's robotic one. 581 EXPLAINED POSITIONS Which piece is hanging? Where's the pin? Mate in one? Every position comes with a written explanation: why this answer, and why not the other one. None is left unexplained. SPACED REVIEW THAT LASTS Cards come back just before you'd forget them. The grade isn't set by hand — it's worked out from your answer and how long you took. PLAY, THEN UNDERSTAND A game against the app, at three levels. At the end, the board stays and you replay your game move by move, with what each move did underneath — what it captured, what it threatened, and where you went wrong. A button jumps straight from one mistake to the next. AND A FULL PATH Eleven drills in the order of a real game: the opening, checking before each move, counting, the four tactical motifs, the endgame, checkmate. OFFLINE, FOR REAL No account. No ads. No trackers. The app never connects to a server: lessons, positions, voice and the artificial opponent all work on a train, on a plane, or deep underground. IN THIRTEEN LANGUAGES French, English, Spanish, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Turkish, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Arabic, Hindi. Translated, not machine-run: piece names follow each country's usage, and so does the notation. HOW MUCH IT COSTS Seven days, everything unlocked, no account or card. After that, the theory and the basics stay readable for free, with no time limit. For the rest: $4.99 a month, $29.99 a year, or a one-time $49.99. The first month of the subscription is free. Terms of Use: https://abventis.fr/chessreflex/cgu.html Privacy Policy: https://abventis.fr/chessreflex/confidentialite.html
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Verdict
PGN Trainer and Chess Reflex are too close to call on the numbers: across 5 compared parameters — price, ads, in-app purchases and device support among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.
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. PGN Trainer sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per year and Chess Reflex sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
| Parameter | PGN Trainer | Chess Reflex |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better | — |
| Number of ratings | 1 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 4 days | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 17.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 121 MB | 343 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Smart World Innovations LLC | Alexandre ABELLO |
In-app purchases
PGN Trainer
- QueenBeak$7.991 Year
- KnightBeak$5.99
- KingBeak$19.99
Chess Reflex
- Monthly$3.991 Month
- Yearly$24.991 Year
- Lifetime$44.99
Questions
Is PGN Trainer free?
Is Chess Reflex free?
Do PGN Trainer or Chess Reflex have ads?
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