Comparison

Opening Prep 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

Opening Prep

Features
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Opening Prep: Chess Trainer is a chess opening trainer for studying and memorizing chess openings from your own PGN repertoire. Import PGN files or paste PGN text, organize your opening repertoire, and train chess lines move by move directly on the board. Opening Prep: Chess Trainer is built for focused opening preparation, repertoire study, and fast memorization of opening variations. Train as White, Black, or both sides, review repertoire trees, continue previous training sessions, and improve difficult positions with targeted repetition. Perfect for tournament preparation, online chess, and daily opening practice. Features โ€ข Import chess repertoires from PGN files โ€ข Paste PGN text directly into the app โ€ข Train chess openings as White, Black, or both โ€ข Practice opening lines move by move โ€ข Continue previous training sessions anytime โ€ข Continue training for a specific repertoire โ€ข Study repertoire trees and branching variations โ€ข Preview repertoire lines before training โ€ข Autoplay repertoire variations on the board โ€ข Tap moves in notation to jump to any position โ€ข Track mistakes, accuracy, and training streaks โ€ข Train difficult positions and weak opening lines โ€ข Quick actions for new sessions and hardest positions โ€ข Optional move sounds and haptic feedback โ€ข Works fully offline with local storage โ€ข No account required Opening Prep: Chess Trainer is a lightweight PGN repertoire trainer designed for serious chess opening preparation without unnecessary complexity.

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) 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

Opening Prep4 screens
Simple Chess Trainer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Opening Prep at none against Simple Chess Trainer's 1. Opening Prep also leads on ads (none vs shown) and iOS requirement (16.6 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. Opening Prep asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard3 real differences ยท 3 level
Opening Prep versus Simple Chess Trainer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterOpening PrepSimple Chess Trainer
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 4 daysโ€”
AdsNo โ€” betterYes
In-app purchasesNo โ€” betterYes
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.6 โ€” better18.0
Further details โ€” not scored
Size5 MB8 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRoman BogatenkoOleksandr Ioffe

In-app purchases

None

Opening Prep

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Simple Chess Trainer

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

Questions

Is Opening Prep free?
Opening Prep 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 Opening Prep or Simple Chess Trainer have ads?
Simple Chess Trainer shows ads; Opening Prep does not.

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