Chess Pro Trainer™ vs ChessFlow
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Chess Pro Trainer™
This app enhances tactical vision and calculation in chess through realistic in-game simulations. It teaches players when to look for tactics, not just how to solve them, with an advanced move evaluation system and diverse training modules.
- Realistic in-game tactical simulation
- Alternate Acceptable Move system
- 7 core training modules
- Opening preparation by rating range
- Stockfish-powered analysis board
- Global leaderboards
- Detailed statistics tracking
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Are you able to solve chess puzzles but struggle to find those same tactics in your own games? Or are you simply looking to improve your tactical awareness and opening knowledge? Then Chess Pro Trainer is for you. Chess Pro Trainer is unlike any chess training app available today. It is designed to improve your tactical vision, calculation, pattern recognition, opening preparation, and overall chess strength through realistic in-game simulation training. Most puzzle apps teach you HOW to solve tactics. Chess Pro Trainer teaches you HOW and WHEN to look for them. In traditional puzzle apps, you know a tactic exists before you make your first move. In real games, nobody tells you a tactic is there. Chess Pro Trainer recreates that experience by presenting positions from real games where tactical opportunities may appear immediately or several moves later. This creates a realistic training environment that directly improves practical over-the-board and online play. The app also features an advanced Alternate Acceptable Move system. Rather than simply marking moves right or wrong, users can earn credit for finding Valid, Equal, or even Better moves than those played in the original game. This rewards creativity, strong decision-making, and deeper calculation. 7 CORE TRAINING MODULES • Tactics Recognition Training Train both tactical awareness and tactical calculation through a unique two-phase training system. • Genius Training Develop attacking instincts through aggressive sacrifice positions and high-level tactical play. • Checks Training Master the ability to identify every possible check in a position. • Coordinated Squares Training Learn to recognize key action squares that often serve as the foundation of powerful tactics. • Unprotected Pieces Training Develop the ability to identify vulnerable pieces using a deeper definition of what "unprotected" truly means. • Mate Puzzles Training Sharpen your checkmate vision with puzzles from Mate in 1 through Mate in 8. Visualization Mode freezes the board so you must calculate the entire mating sequence in your head, and Multi-Checkmate Mode challenges you to find every mating solution in a position. • Openings Training (NEW!) Learn openings the way a coach teaches them. Lines are built for 4 rating ranges (0-799, 800-1399, 1400-1999, 2000+) based on what players at your level actually play. Study each line with coach comments, arrows, and highlighted squares, then train it from memory while the app plays your opponent's replies. Includes Only Move alerts, hints, random or in-order training, and Train All Subcategories to mix every line of an opening into one session. ADDITIONAL FEATURES • Stockfish-powered Analysis Board • Global Leaderboards • Detailed Statistics Tracking • Multiple Difficulty Levels • Board Themes and Sound Customization • Learning Coordinates Module • Random Position Generator • Regular Content Updates Whether you are a beginner or an advanced player, Chess Pro Trainer provides a focused and efficient way to improve your chess skills through realistic training. This is not just another puzzle app. This is a complete chess training system. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
ChessFlow
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ChessFlow is the training app built for tournament players - openings, middlegames and endgames - and the only one that lets you drill them on a real electronic chessboard. Train your lines on screen, or connect your Chessnut board over Bluetooth and practice with real pieces in hand, guided by the board's LEDs. Then let spaced repetition bring each line back right before you'd forget it, so your prep actually sticks. TRAIN ON A REAL ELECTRONIC BOARD Connect your Chessnut (Go, Air, Air+, Pro) and train with the pieces in your hands. The LEDs guide you - steady light for your opponent's move, a blink for a hint, a fast blink when the app plays the move for you. Make a mistake? Retry, ask for a hint, or let the app show you. REMEMBER YOUR OPENINGS WITH SPACED REPETITION ChessFlow uses an SM-2 algorithm adapted for chess openings: every line returns right before you're likely to forget it. Only a perfect run speeds up the schedule; anything shaky comes back tomorrow. No line ever disappears for months. A seven-day forecast shows how many lines come due each day, so you always know when a backlog clears. DRILL YOUR WEAK SPOTS ChessFlow tracks the positions where you go wrong most often and serves them back as targeted puzzles. Turn on Drill random positions for an endless stream of positions from the lines you've trained in the open repertoire - a fast way to keep it sharp. PRACTICE ANYWHERE ON THE VIRTUAL BOARD No hardware needed. Train on screen with tap-to-move and premove, just like chess.com and lichess. Your iPad becomes a training station; your iPhone keeps your repertoire in your pocket. PLAY IT OUT AGAINST STOCKFISH Stop anywhere in a line and play the position out against Stockfish 19, at a strength you choose. Explore variations in free analysis, with a slim evaluation bar beside the board, and export them. With ChessTools, our free clock app, on your iPhone, ChessFlow presses the clock for you. YOUR REPERTOIRE, FROM ANY SOURCE Keep building your repertoire in the chess app you already use - Chess Studio, for example. Link its iCloud folder and ChessFlow reads those PGN files without ever changing them: you study and edit there, you train here. Add a variation there and it's waiting the next time you open the file, with all your progress kept. You can also import single PGN files or paste FEN positions. Attach a course PDF or your notes to any repertoire; PDFs even reopen at the page you left, on every device. BUILT TO KEEP YOUR DATA SAFE Everything syncs across your iPhone and iPad via iCloud - lines, progress and colors. Training progress is merged across devices, never overwritten. Automatic daily backups, plus manual export and import. EXPORT & SHARE Copy or share your lines as PGN for lichess and chess.com. Export your games versus the computer as PGN or a tournament-style PDF scoresheet. Free to try, with a 14-day full-access trial. Subscriptions unlock unlimited training on the virtual board, or everything including the physical board. Requires iOS 17 or later. iPhone and iPad, one app. Questions or feedback? developer@chesstools.it Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://www.chesstools.it/chessflow/privacy.html
Screenshots
Verdict
Chess Pro Trainer™ and ChessFlow are too close to call on the numbers: across 6 compared parameters — price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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. Chess Pro Trainer™ sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and ChessFlow sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on November 13, 2026 and November 10, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Chess Pro Trainer™ | ChessFlow |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (15 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 15 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 3 days | Every 3 days |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 16 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 474 MB | 202 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Chess With Coach Mark, LLC. | Giorgio Donnoli |
In-app purchases
Chess Pro Trainer™
- Pro Monthly$2.991 Month
- Pro Annual$29.991 Year
- Pro Lifetime1$99.99
- Pro Lifetime 2 Licenses$149.99
- Pro Lifetime4$199.99
ChessFlow
- ChessFlow Virtual$4.991 Month
- ChessFlow Premium$8.991 Month
- ChessFlow Virtual$29.991 Year
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- ChessFlow Premium$49.991 Year









