Comparison

ChessRiddle vs Simple Chess Trainer

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

Head to head
About

ChessRiddle

Features
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ChessRiddle is not your average tactics trainer. Instead of guessing single moves, you train real calculation โ€“ as close to a real game as possible. WHAT MAKES CHESSRIDDLE DIFFERENT โ€ข The board stays static: you calculate the whole line in your head instead of trying moves on the board. โ€ข You enter the complete variation tree to prove you calculated the entire line โ€“ no move-guessing. โ€ข Mixed Mode: tactics and positional play combined, just like a real game โ€“ you first decide whether the position is tactical or positional. โ€ข Every solution is validated server-side with Stockfish. That sets ChessRiddle apart from the hundreds of pure tactics trainers where a well-guessed first move is enough. SIX TRAINING MODES โ€ข Tactics โ€“ Find classic combinations and tactical motifs โ€ข Mixed โ€“ Tactics and positional play in one mode: assess first, then solve โ€“ just like at the board โ€ข Pieceless โ€“ Solve puzzles without visible pieces and train your board vision โ€ข Visualization โ€“ Calculate announced moves (pre-moves), then solve the position โ€ข Opening Blunder โ€“ Spot and punish typical opening mistakes โ€ข Position Evaluation โ€“ Estimate who stands better TRAINING PLANS Structured training sessions of warm-up, main part and cool-down โ€“ automatically assembled by duration and focus. COLLECTIONS Build puzzle collections and edit them in bulk โ€“ for your own training or for students. TRAIN TOGETHER In a shared session a trainer and a student work through the same positions. DUELS Challenge a friend to the same puzzles at your own pace. The more accurate player wins, not the faster one. Full history and a faster way to create a duel. NOTIFICATIONS Get notified about duels, friend requests and shared sessions. COORDINATES TRAINING Sharpen your board vision: find and name squares โ€“ timed or as a streak. PERSONAL RATING Track your progress with an individual rating system. Every mode has its own rating, so you can target your weaknesses. DETAILED STATISTICS Analyze your performance with in-depth statistics and follow your development over time. LEADERBOARD Measure yourself against other players and climb the rankings. STREAK MODE Solve as many puzzles in a row as you can without a mistake and keep your streak alive. FRIENDS Connect with friends and compare your stats. ENGINE ANALYSIS Analyze positions with the built-in Stockfish engine. HISTORY Revisit solved and missed puzzles to learn from your mistakes. With Practice Mistakes you replay exactly the positions you got wrong. ChessRiddle is the ideal app for chess players who take their training seriously and want to improve in a game-like way โ€“ from beginner to advanced. Train like you play. Prove your calculation.

About

Simple Chess Trainer

Features
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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) โ€” all free, with no subscriptions or accounts. Square Recognition. Drill all 64 squares with timed sessions, custom filters (whole board, light/dark only, ranks 1โ€“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 โ€” 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 โ€” 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 โ€” 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

ChessRiddle4 screens
Simple Chess Trainer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: ChessRiddle at none against Simple Chess Trainer's 1. ChessRiddle also leads on ads (none vs shown) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.0). On price 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

Both are free to download. Simple Chess Trainer sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. ChessRiddle asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard3 real differences ยท 3 level
ChessRiddle versus Simple Chess Trainer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChessRiddleSimple Chess Trainer
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksโ€”
AdsNo โ€” betterYes
In-app purchasesNo โ€” betterYes
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod โ€” betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 โ€” better18.0
Further details โ€” not scored
Size64 MB8 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFelix Andreas BeckOleksandr Ioffe

In-app purchases

None

ChessRiddle

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Simple Chess Trainer

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

Questions

Is ChessRiddle free?
ChessRiddle is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Simple Chess Trainer free?
Simple Chess Trainer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do ChessRiddle or Simple Chess Trainer have ads?
Simple Chess Trainer shows ads; ChessRiddle does not.

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