Comparison

ChessIconic vs Simple Chess Trainer

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

Head to head
About

ChessIconic

Features
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Master chess faster: analyze your games, study iconic matches, and train tactics. ChessIconic gives players of every level free game analysis, hundreds of puzzles and tactics, plus a curated library of commented master games so you learn why moves work, not just what to play. Study the greats by era, each collection teaches a different part of chess thinking: • Romantic era: Daring tactics, bold sacrifices, and attacking principles. Learn the spirit of decisive, creative play. • Classical era: Sound development, central control, and technique. Perfect for understanding strategic foundations. • Soviet era: Deep preparation, systemic thinking, and endgame mastery. Focuses on structure, planning, and precision. • Modern era: Practical opening systems, engine-influenced ideas, and prophylaxis. See how modern theory and psychology shape practice. Each game is commented to highlight key moments, plans, and mistakes so you can learn patterns and apply them to your own games. • Free game analysis to review mistakes and improve decision-making • 30+ commented master games • 300+ puzzles and 400+ tactics for daily training • Learn from your mistakes: puzzle generated from your games • Opening explorer, coordinate trainer, and chess timer • Learn chess endgames: essential checkmate patterns every player must know • Analyze your chess games with the latest version of stockfish Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned player, ChessIconic explains why moves succeed so you can improve faster. Upgrade to ChessIconic PRO to remove ads, unlock every iconic game, and the full puzzle & tactics library. Terms & Conditions https://chessiconic.com/terms.html Privacy https://chessiconic.com/privacy.html

About

Simple Chess Trainer

Features
Read full description

Simple Chess Trainer is a focused practice tool for chess players who want faster board recognition, sharper annotation skills (for beginners), and tighter opening repertoire memory (for all levels) — all free, with no subscriptions or accounts. Square Recognition. Drill all 64 squares with timed sessions, custom filters (whole board, light/dark only, ranks 1–4, etc.), and a focus list that biases toward squares you've missed in the last 90 days. Toggle coordinates off when you're ready to find squares from memory. Annotation Drill for Beginners. Step through any PGN game move-by-move, identify mistakes, and let the engine queue tough positions for review. The Review Queue surfaces moves you've gotten wrong three times running until you've beaten them three times in a row. Opening Repertoire & Move Trainer (All levels). Drag the right move (or type it) for both sides of any game or opening line in your library. The new Random Review mode picks games weighted by how much you've struggled — your hardest lines surface first; mastered ones come up rarely so you don't drill what you already know. Library. Import any standard PGN file to build your own repertoire or review your own games. The app indexes thousands of games in seconds and ships with 20 verified historical classics on first launch — Morphy's Opera Game, Anderssen's Immortal, the Game of the Century, Kasparov's Immortal, and more. Stats. 7-day / 30-day / 90-day / all-time views of accuracy, response time, square-error heatmap, piece-error breakdown, and per-game Move Trainer mastery. Export everything as JSON anytime. Works fully offline. Private by default. Every drill, import, and statistic stays on your device. No accounts, no servers, no chess-data analytics, no subscriptions — ever. Ads are served by Google AdMob and gated by App Tracking Transparency; remove them permanently with a one-time in-app purchase. Designed for iPhone and iPad. Built for iOS 18.

Screenshots

ChessIconic4 screens
Simple Chess Trainer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: ChessIconic at 14.0 against Simple Chess Trainer's 18.0. On price, ads, in-app purchases 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. ChessIconic sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $20.99 per year and Simple Chess Trainer sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Scorecard1 real difference · 7 level
ChessIconic versus Simple Chess Trainer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChessIconicSimple Chess Trainer
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 9 days—
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS14.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size72 MB8 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMenes BuccinoOleksandr Ioffe

In-app purchases

1 purchases

ChessIconic

Subscriptions1
  • Unlock all the features$20.991 Year
1 purchases

Simple Chess Trainer

One-time1
  • Remove All Adds (One-Time)$12.99

Questions

Is ChessIconic free?
ChessIconic is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Simple Chess Trainer free?
Simple Chess Trainer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do ChessIconic or Simple Chess Trainer have ads?
Both ChessIconic and Simple Chess Trainer show ads.

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