Chess Vision Trainer: what's free, what's Pro
Chess Vision Trainer never shows a board at all. DarkSquares fades one out in stages. Same goal, opposite method.
Checked against Chess Vision Trainer’s own pages on
Chess Vision Trainer takes a purist position: it builds a mental board by never displaying one. Its exercise list is Square Color, Bishop Intermediate and Knight Path free, then K+Q, K+R and K+B+B checkmates, a K+P endgame and a Blindfold Game behind Pro.
That is a clean idea and the endgame drills in particular are something DarkSquares does not have in that form. The disagreement is about method: whether you get to a blank board by starting blank, or by dimming a real one.
Feature by feature
| What you are comparing | Chess Vision Trainer | DarkSquares |
|---|---|---|
| How the board is presentedThe real difference between the two products. Neither is wrong; one is a cliff and one is a ramp. | No board is ever displayed; everything is done from notation | Seven visibility levels, from a fully visible board down to a blank one, with silhouettes and plain disks in between |
| Free exercisesDarkSquares gates AI difficulty and voice volume rather than exercises. | Square Color, Bishop Intermediate and Knight Path | Every exercise, unlimited, on a free account |
| Blindfold games | Blindfold Game, behind Pro | Full games against Stockfish; the highest engine levels are Pro |
| Blindfold endgamesTheir named mate ladder is more explicit than ours. Worth saying plainly. | K+Q, K+R, K+B+B mates and a K+P endgame, all behind Pro | An endgames trainer, though not as a named blindfold mate ladder |
| Coordinate and colour work | Square Color and Knight Path, free | Square colours, coordinates, quadrants, diagonals, same-colour, knight and bishop mazes |
| Where it runs | iOS and Android apps | Browser, iOS and Android |
| Paying for it | Pro subscription through the app stores | One optional one-time unlock; no subscription exists |
| Price | Three free exercises; the rest requires a Pro subscription bought in the app stores | Free tier with unlimited exercises; optional Pro Lifetime at €39, paid once |
Where Chess Vision Trainer is better
Every comparison written by one of the two products is worth less than it claims. Here is the part of this one that costs us something.
- The named checkmate ladder — K+Q, K+R, K+B+B — is more explicit than anything in the DarkSquares endgame trainer.
- Refusing to show a board at all is a defensible design, and for players who already visualise it removes a crutch DarkSquares leaves available.
- Three genuinely free exercises is enough to know whether the method suits you before paying.
Where the two actually differ
A cliff against a ramp
Starting with no board works if you can already hold one. If you cannot, there is nothing to hold on to and the first session is a wall. DarkSquares degrades the board in stages so there is always a rung above the one you are failing at, which is the difference between practising and guessing.
What the free tier contains
Chess Vision Trainer's free tier is three exercises; the blindfold game and the mate ladder are Pro. A DarkSquares free account gets every exercise, unlimited, and unlimited games; what Pro adds is the top engine difficulties and unlimited voice games.
Browser or nothing
Chess Vision Trainer is mobile only. You can try a blindfold game right here, without installing anything.
Choose Chess Vision Trainer if you want a strict, board-free method and a named blindfold checkmate ladder, and you train on a phone.
Choose DarkSquares if the all-or-nothing board is exactly where you have failed before, if you want the exercises without a subscription, or if you want to train in a browser too.
Questions people ask
Is Chess Vision Trainer free?
Partly. Square Color, Bishop Intermediate and Knight Path are free; the checkmate drills, the K+P endgame and the Blindfold Game require Pro, bought through the app stores.
Does Chess Vision Trainer show a chess board?
No. It is built specifically to train visualisation without displaying a board, which is its core design decision.
What is a free alternative to Chess Vision Trainer?
A DarkSquares free account includes every exercise, unlimited, in the browser and in the apps, with an optional one-time Pro unlock rather than a subscription.
Which is better for learning blindfold mates?
Chess Vision Trainer names them explicitly: K+Q, K+R and K+B+B. DarkSquares covers endgames in its trainer but does not present them as a blindfold mate ladder.
Start at the rung you can actually reach
Seven levels, from naming one square to a full game on a blank board. Free, no card.
How this was checked
Every claim about Chess Vision Trainer on this page was read off the pages below on . Store prices are US storefront prices and change without notice; check the listing before buying.
Chess Vision Trainer is a product of chessvisiontrainer.com and is not affiliated with DarkSquares. Product names and trademarks belong to their respective owners and are used here only to identify the products being compared. Found something wrong? Tell us and we will fix it.