Magnus Trainer - Train Chess 4+

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 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.

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 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?

Developer Response ,

Hi Chris, thanks for getting in touch. We’re sorry that you've experienced these issues with Croc Tamer. I'll look into it, and see if there is something we can do differently or change. About the lessons, lessons get's unlocked when you reach them in the course. If you have a membership, all lessons are unlocked from the beginning. If this isn't the case, feel free to email us at feedback@playmagnus.com with the details, and we'll do what we can to help you out.

- Martine from Play Magnus

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 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.

Developer Response ,

Hi there, thanks for letting us know how we can improve. We’ll be sure to take that into account when we plan future improvements to the app.
- Michelle from Play Magnus