Magnus Trainer - Train Chess
(12,709 App Store ratings)
🏆 Best: #53 Top Grossing (RUS)
⚙ Built with SpriteKit analyzed v1.19.16
IPA Analysis Preview
Description
A better, more fun way to learn and train chess! Master chess through engaging games and interactive lessons with Magnus Carlsen, the World Chess Champion! WHY MAGNUS TRAINER? Curated courses created by our learning experts and Grand Masters. 250+ unique lessons covering chess foundation to openings and endgames. Bite-sized games designed to reinforce your learning, each game has dozens of levels and thousands of puzzles. Caters to beginners and advanced players alike. Learn chess with the greatest player of all time! UNIQUE TRAINING BY CHESS EXPERTS Play unique, beautiful games crafted by chess experts and game design experts. Deepen your chess skills through premium lessons based on games by Magnus Carlsen and other world-leading chess players. All games and lessons are created by Magnus Carlsen and his team of experienced Grand Masters, all of whom have years of coaching experience. Magnus Trainer makes learning chess easy and engaging for players of all levels. New games are updated and added regularly to bring you the best possible experience, and we're adding new theory lessons every week. Each mini-game has dozens of levels, ranging from beginner to advanced, allowing all chess players, new and experienced, to find a challenging fit to improve their skills. Those who have never played chess before are able to learn the fundamentals in a series of introductory lessons, while more experienced players have access to advanced tactics and strategies, covering a range of endgame essentials. FROM AN AWARD WINNING TEAM The Magnus Trainer app has been featured in Fast Company, The Guardian and VG, and is the creation of the team behind the popular Play Magnus app, winner of several design awards. “I’ve always done things a little differently. That is what inspired me to create Magnus Trainer. Chess has always been fun, but this takes learning and training chess to a new level. Magnus Trainer is chess training for everyone!” — Magnus Carlsen “The Future of Chess!” — Rob, App Store Reviewer You can also check out our other free app, Play Magnus. Play against Magnus at any age from 5 years and up! REACH FURTHER WITH A MEMBERSHIP The app is free to use, with added benefits for paying members. Members enjoy instant access to all 250+ premium lessons, many exclusive only for members. As a member, you also get infinite lives so you can always keep playing, including exclusive bonus levels. In addition, members get detailed statistics with insights into their performance and game progress. For Magnus Trainer we offer the following subscriptions: 1 month 12 months Lifetime TERMS OF PAYMENT Payment will be charged to your iTunes account after you’ve confirmed a purchase. Subscription to a membership automatically renews, unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Your account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours of the end of the current period, and the price for the renewal will be provided. You can change your subscription settings in Subscriptions in App Store, or in the More tab in Magnus Trainer when a subscription is active. It is not possible to cancel an active subscription to get a refund of the remaining time. Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication. TERMS OF USE https://company.playmagnus.com/terms PRIVACY POLICY https://company.playmagnus.com/privacy
What's New
Version 1.19.16 2021-04-30
Small improvements. Version 1.19.15 2021-03-26
Extended the time limited offer on our yearly subscription plan to April 4. Open the app to get a 25 % discount. Version 1.19.14 2021-03-19
Bug fixes and improvements Version 1.19.11 2021-03-14
We are having a time limited offer on our yearly subscription plan. Open the app to get a 25 % discount. The offer will last until March 31. Version 1.19.6 2020-12-23
Merry Christmas! Magnus Carlsen gives our dear members a mini version of our game Tactics Frenzy, for free inside the Magnus Trainer app – exclusively for membe...Merry Christmas! Magnus Carlsen gives our dear members a mini version of our game Tactics Frenzy, for free inside the Magnus Trainer app – exclusively for members. Exciting new lessons coming during the Christmas holiday. Version 1.19.2 2020-12-09
Now you can search for lessons by name or tag. Version 1.19.1 2020-12-03
Fixing a bug with audio lessons. Add apple sign up. Version 1.19.0 2020-10-26
Bugfixes Version 1.18.0 2020-09-21
New 25% yearly discount. Bugfixes and improvements. Version 1.17.1 2020-08-14
The app should now take you to the corresponding lesson when you use a "theorylesson" link. App Store User Reviews
Lc8801 2020-04-26
Didactical and so practical learning!! ♟
I’ve tried learning chess on many platforms but this one is my favorite! Despite of having premium features, free ones help you to learn how to play on many cre...I’ve tried learning chess on many platforms but this one is my favorite! Despite of having premium features, free ones help you to learn how to play on many creative ways. That’s the thing I’ve never seen before, the alternative methods for making you improve abilities on the board (sometimes even not playing strictly chess!!). Furthermore, since I downloaded Magnus Trainer I’ve incredibly improved at recognizing patterns of mates and tactics, playing strategically and learning one or two openings with all it’s combinations; and despite some exercises could seem unpractical I could see my results against lot of people. Finally, I affirm that this the most didactic way of learning this beautiful game and it’s designed for beginners and advanced players. So after what you have read, you know a quarter of what the app is and you have my word that you’re gonna like it.
sarahrose93 2026-05-01
Good but still needs some work
I’ve struggled to learn how to play chess, and this is the first app I’ve been able to understand…mostly. Once you get to learn the pawn, the game suddenly adds...I’ve struggled to learn how to play chess, and this is the first app I’ve been able to understand…mostly. Once you get to learn the pawn, the game suddenly adds in pieces to avoid or capture without noting it or reminding you of their movement patterns. To a total newbie, this was immediately chaos. The checkmate lesson/practice was essentially impossible. Too many pieces to keep track of right as the knowledge is still fresh. It was like being thrown into the deep end of the pool after a 15 min swimming lesson. The pieces should’ve had a lot more practice that gradually introduced obstacles, and the checkmate level should’ve stayed much simpler for that first lesson. Also, I find it off-putting that the developer has his face everywhere, as well as his own games and moves as examples, as well as a way of writing the lessons that is absolutely giving narcissist. Listen, I get that you’re good at chess but you don’t have to center that in your app design. Make it about the users, not yourself. Lastly, there’s a huge lag when you tap the lesson levels, it takes about 10 seconds to actually load. I’ve only gotten through the piece lessons so far, but I do appreciate that I’ve learned more about chess with this app than any other. I hope it continues to be helpful!
Conspiriton 2017-11-21
Great app!
I play this app a lot and love trying to 3-Star the different games. One thing though, and I have seen other reviews like this before is that some of the Croc T...I play this app a lot and love trying to 3-Star the different games. One thing though, and I have seen other reviews like this before is that some of the Croc Tamer Levels are physically impossible to 3-star. You have to fully wait for the croc to land on its square even if it’s a knight moving all the way across the board for example, and if the 4th or 5th croc is the one that makes a wrong move, too much time is eaten up waiting for animations. Even tapping as fast as possible does not achieve a 3-Star. Test Croc Tamer Level 9 in Session 32 with the only intention of 3-starring it to see what I mean. Perhaps there is a part of that gameplay that I am missing? I have 3-starred Croc Tamer 1-8, and have 2-starred every other available Croc Tamer above that. It’s also somewhat confusing just what criteria unlocks levels as a free to play player. I have 3-starred every level my Dad has even attempted, yet he has “Hanging Pawns” lesson unlocked, and I cannot figure out how to unlock it. Do different accounts have random extra lessons unlocked?
Serenityx1234029483828 2018-03-23
Amazing, but could use more functionality
Its obvious a huge amount of effort went into this app, but I think there some things Id still like to see different. One example is it would be awesome if the...Its obvious a huge amount of effort went into this app, but I think there some things Id still like to see different. One example is it would be awesome if there was a “sandbox” mode. One where you could control all pieces on the board/ability to move all pieces into a desired position before initiating play. Do for example you start “sandbox mode”, you set up the board however you like then once you’re done you can allow AI to come in and start playing from a pre-made board. Another thing Id LOVE to see is more functionality within the mini games, the mini games are already above and beyond my expectations for this app but the fact that you are only allowed to play them with semi-random pieces is kind of a disappointment. A way to fix this would be allowing players to choose which piece they play mini games with e.g. if I want to play a game with the knight only, I should be allowed to do so.
Battlewithin 2021-05-04
Infuriating
The app makes zero sense. I can do some of the mini-games WAY better than Magnus supposedly did, then the next level I can barely pass. There’s no reward for pl...The app makes zero sense. I can do some of the mini-games WAY better than Magnus supposedly did, then the next level I can barely pass. There’s no reward for playing those well, they ultimately seem to serve no purpose. And the early levels are beyond frustrating when you’ve answered, “yes, I know how to play chess.” I don’t need a primer. Then, the lessons have no backing material. You basically have to read them over and over until you process it. Well, that’s not how I learn. I learn by doing. Not having some “play this lesson” options is a real detriment. I’m paying monthly, but I think as soon as I’m through all the lessons, I’ll stop. It’s just not worth it. Also, it focuses so much on what white does, what about black?! I think I just got the first, “this is how to play black” lesson yesterday, halfway through the medium difficulty.. huh?! And not only that, the board was the wrong way around to play black. Considering the companion app, Play Magnus, switches you back and forth every match, you’d think there would be a LITTLE attention paid to “the other side.” Last, but not least, hire someone who can read and write English properly. There are several grammatical mistakes in just the first half of the lessons. One or two make it really difficult to figure out what was meant. Unless you’re serious about chess, don’t pay for this. Even if you are, you’re probably better off studying with books...
Ablaze247 2020-12-23
Good but needs bug fixes
I’ve recently gotten back into chess and found that this app really helps in keeping me interested and showing me how to improve. I love their approach and styl...I’ve recently gotten back into chess and found that this app really helps in keeping me interested and showing me how to improve. I love their approach and style in the app and it really dose help (for example I’ve always been slow at finding specific squares on the chess board but after playing one of their mini games I’ve cut my time in half) It’s vary informative and interactive allowing you to not only study but to practice opening, checkmates, endgames, etc. I would love to give this app 5 stars but there’s still issues throughout the app, I’ve had crashes and bugs thrown at me randomly and I can’t complete some challenges because if I attempt them It’ll just crash or simply not work. The bugs are not frequent enough to make it unusable but it dose allow for some annoyance and missed learning opportunities.
DanRear 2018-03-13
Interesting but questionable
The timing aspect is the elephant in the room. I understand it’s good to get facile enough to be able to do quick calculations... but pegging notation perfectly...The timing aspect is the elephant in the room. I understand it’s good to get facile enough to be able to do quick calculations... but pegging notation perfectly under time stress? Identifying illegal moves when 4 pieces are moving on the board? Capturing occasionally vanishing keys with multiple pieces moving on the board? I’m going to keep playing, but I fail to understand how these things are actually helping my chess playing, even in a timed setting. The best stuff is clearly the motifs, mate puzzles, lessons, and quick identifying of these. The rest feels like pointless, dexterity challenge to wear the player down to paying for the app, which I would have gladly done at the onset if I could skip all this nonsense with arbitrarily timed challenges that seem to have dubious positive value on OTB gameplay. tl;dr Two dots app model. Can’t blame people for making money, but wish 1/2 the energy went into making an app that focused purely on chess training.
jacketpants 2023-12-01
Fantastic trainer, but for one issue with puzzle engine
One of the best chess apps out there. Really fantastic design, lessons, games, etc. However, in some of the mate and motif puzzles, it only allows for ONE solut...One of the best chess apps out there. Really fantastic design, lessons, games, etc. However, in some of the mate and motif puzzles, it only allows for ONE solution, even in cases where there are multiple solutions. In particular, this often happens with knight attack direction where you have the right attack with the right piece, but you chose to attack from c6 instead of d5. I understand that sometimes that does matter when the engine can counter, but there are times I am looking at a “failed” puzzle when in fact I have mate. Other than that fantastic app. Adding two more glitches I am finding. There are times when playing Magnus 7 where it does not recognize an “available” move for a particular piece. As an example, I just played a game where I could not take a bishop with a pawn because the engine only recognized that the pawn could only move forward. It’s not that the move would have opened up a check, it’s almost like the engine didn’t even recognize the opponent’s piece was there. Also had a game where the pieces would just disappear without being attacked (a rook or a bishop behind the pawn rank). Had to reboot the app. Thanks!
SolveThisNeedUpdate 2020-12-09
Very nice app, however needs an update on UI
It is a little difference and nice chess app. My first suggestions is please draw a line on the edge of the board. Or change the background color. Dark square...It is a little difference and nice chess app. My first suggestions is please draw a line on the edge of the board. Or change the background color. Dark squares and background are in same color and chess board not look like a chess board. Especially on the edges, dark squares and background is merged and it is weird to play like this. My second suggestion is, it is good to provide some games without time restriction. For example I would like to study some positions in more relax state rather than solving quickly. It is ok that study mode doesn’t give any score or star. And it is ok that study mode won’t be available until you beat the challenge first. At the end of the day, I would like play/study the positions in more relaxed mode.
AGoodQualityLamp 2020-05-30
Problem with tactics
First off great app. It’s like lichess if lichess had instructional videos behind a paywall(and I’m not even gonna mention chesscom)..so it’s actually good and ...First off great app. It’s like lichess if lichess had instructional videos behind a paywall(and I’m not even gonna mention chesscom)..so it’s actually good and we understand that money has to be made you know. Just one burning problem with the tactics games like the rajahs riddles. If we get the tactical idea wrong we CAN NOT see the solution???? I really don’t understand this functionality and it’s pretty annoying especially at the higher lessons like lessons 90+ where the problems require some calculation..I mean you spend some minutes on a tactical problem double check if you calculated correctly but you just missed some detail, click the wrong tactical idea and BOOM wrong next question...of course if you get the idea right but still miss something you can see the correct answer-you should still be able to see the solution if you get the idea wrong.
Technical Analysis
Package Overview Package analysis available
Bundle ID
pm-trainer Current Version 1.19.16
Minimum iOS 12.0
Package Size App Store Size
Package Metadata 1 / 63 version records
Alamofire
org.cocoapods.Alamofire v5.2.2iOS 10+1.21 MB
Branch
org.cocoapods.Branch v0.35.1iOS 10+684.01 KB
ChessKit
com.playmagnus.ChessKit v1.0iOS 9.3+217.0 KB
FacebookCore
org.cocoapods.FacebookCore v0.9.0iOS 10+116.75 KB
FacebookLogin
org.cocoapods.FacebookLogin v0.9.0iOS 10+99.15 KB
FacebookShare
org.cocoapods.FacebookShare v0.9.0iOS 10+77.71 KB
FBLPromises
org.cocoapods.FBLPromises v1.2.11iOS 10+111.94 KB
FBSDKCoreKit
org.cocoapods.FBSDKCoreKit v5.15.1iOS 10+1.1 MB
FBSDKLoginKit
org.cocoapods.FBSDKLoginKit v5.15.1iOS 10+172.29 KB
FBSDKShareKit
org.cocoapods.FBSDKShareKit v5.15.1iOS 10+403.21 KB
GoogleUtilities
org.cocoapods.GoogleUtilities v6.7.2iOS 10+228.25 KB
M13Checkbox
org.cocoapods.M13Checkbox v3.4.0iOS 10+240.25 KB
Moya
org.cocoapods.Moya v14.0.0iOS 10+225.22 KB
nanopb
org.cocoapods.nanopb v1.30906.0iOS 10+75.59 KB
PromiseKit
org.cocoapods.PromiseKit v6.13.1iOS 10+382.34 KB
Reachability
uk.co.joylordsystems.Reachability v5.0.0iOS 9.0+102.34 KB
ReactiveSwift
org.cocoapods.ReactiveSwift v6.4.0iOS 10+716.04 KB
RxAlamofire
org.cocoapods.RxAlamofire v5.6.2iOS 10+164.59 KB
RxCocoa
org.cocoapods.RxCocoa v5.1.1iOS 10+760.09 KB
RxRelay
org.cocoapods.RxRelay v5.1.1iOS 10+80.09 KB
RxSwift
org.cocoapods.RxSwift v5.1.1iOS 10+994.56 KB
SnapKit
io.snapkit.SnapKit v1.0.0iOS 10.0+171.54 KB
SQLite
com.stephencelis.SQLite v0.12.2iOS 8.0+502.8 KB
SwiftDate
org.cocoapods.SwiftDate v6.2.0iOS 10+1.46 MB
SwiftKeychainWrapper
org.cocoapods.SwiftKeychainWrapper v4.0.1iOS 10+122.87 KB
SwiftyJSON
com.swiftyjson.SwiftyJSON v1.0iOS 8.0+200.62 KB
UICircularProgressRing
org.cocoapods.UICircularProgressRing v7.0.0iOS 10+164.5 KB
4.8 / 5.0 (12,552 ratings)
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Developer Information
Known Version Records
1 version record with stored package metadata • 63 known version records
Stored metadata does not guarantee a package is currently available to download.
| Details | Version / IDs | Version date | Action |
|---|---|---|---|
 119.46 MB | v1.19.16 App Store ID: 842024497Build: 345 | 2021-04-30 05:55:26 | Get Version |
| Not archived | v1.19.15 App Store ID: 841080887Build: 1.19.15 | 2021-03-26 21:14:09 | Request Version |
| Not archived | App Store ID: 840954715 | Unknown | Request Version |
| Not archived | v1.19.11 App Store ID: 840853857Build: 1.19.11 | 2021-03-14 16:20:08 | Request Version |
| Not archived | v1.19.6 App Store ID: 839639886Build: 1.19.6 | 2020-12-23 23:46:35 | Request Version |
| Not archived | v1.19.2 App Store ID: 839557358Build: 1.19.2 | 2020-12-09 04:28:05 | Request Version |
| Not archived | v1.19.1 App Store ID: 838481597Build: 1.19.1 | 2020-12-03 17:51:43 | Request Version |
| Not archived | v1.19.0 App Store ID: 838349803Build: 1.19.0 | 2020-10-26 11:10:07 | Request Version |
| Not archived | v1.18.0 App Store ID: 837815740Build: 1.18.0 | 2020-09-21 15:24:35 | Request Version |
| Not archived | v1.17.1 App Store ID: 837348794Build: 1.17.1 | 2020-08-14 09:26:04 | Request Version |
| Not archived | v1.17.0 App Store ID: 836556292Build: 1.17.0 | 2020-06-25 11:05:18 | Request Version |
| Not archived | v1.16.0 App Store ID: 836385995Build: 1.16.0 | 2020-06-19 10:57:09 | Request Version |
| Not archived | v1.15.0 App Store ID: 835739097Build: 1.15.0 | 2020-05-01 20:38:42 | Request Version |
| Not archived | v1.14.0 App Store ID: 835373796Build: 1.14.0 | 2020-04-19 09:45:26 | Request Version |
| Not archived | v1.13.3 App Store ID: 833476684Build: 1.13.3 | 2019-11-28 10:17:48 | Request Version |
| Not archived | v1.13.2 App Store ID: 832967135Build: 1.13.2 | 2019-09-30 09:29:07 | Request Version |
| Not archived | v1.13.1 App Store ID: 832832227Build: 1.13.1 | 2019-09-26 12:03:20 | Request Version |
| Not archived | v1.12.4 App Store ID: 832223131Build: 1.12.4 | 2019-08-15 12:14:57 | Request Version |
| Not archived | v1.12.1 App Store ID: 832128426Build: 1.12.1 | 2019-07-26 08:53:04 | Request Version |
| Not archived | v1.11.9 App Store ID: 832046360Build: 1.11.9 | 2019-07-19 08:41:32 | Request Version |
| Not archived | v1.11.8 App Store ID: 831456612Build: 1.11.8 | 2019-06-24 10:57:30 | Request Version |
| Not archived | v1.11.7 App Store ID: 831304193Build: 1.11.7 | 2019-05-15 07:52:56 | Request Version |
| Not archived | v1.11.6 App Store ID: 831286185Build: 1.11.6 | 2019-05-14 07:07:48 | Request Version |
| Not archived | v1.11.5 App Store ID: 831239781Build: 1.11.5 | 2019-05-12 12:17:21 | Request Version |
| Not archived | v1.11.3 App Store ID: 830988074Build: 1.11.3 | 2019-04-30 22:24:32 | Request Version |
| Not archived | App Store ID: 830294851 | Unknown | Request Version |
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