Memory Chess vs DarkSquares

DarkSquares is a seven-level blindfold chess course. Memory Chess trains position memory only. A feature table from both sites, and where each is ahead.

Memory Chess publishes this page, so it is one side of the comparison. Every fact about DarkSquares comes from DarkSquares' own public pages. Checked 20 October 2026.

Beginner to intermediate
3 min read
Updated 20 October 2026
By Bing Cheng

Written with AI assistance; chess positions checked by script and game facts traced to the code.

Quick answer

DarkSquares is a full blindfold chess course, with seven levels from square colours to blindfold games against Stockfish. Its position memory drill is one part of it. Memory Chess does only position memory, from 2 to 32 pieces, with no account and in 24 languages. Pick DarkSquares to learn to play blindfold, and Memory Chess for recall alone.

Takeaways

DarkSquares has more kinds of training, with seven levels, blindfold games, voice moves, famous games and endgames.
DarkSquares is free to start. Pro Lifetime is a one-time €39 launch price, €59 regular.
Memory Chess is free, with no paid tier and no account.
DarkSquares' position memory uses fixed tiers. Memory Chess lets you set the piece count and the look time.

Who this is for

Players choosing between the two for board memory.
Anyone who has used one and wants to know what the other adds.

Feature by feature

Feature	DarkSquares	Memory Chess
Price	Free tier. Pro Lifetime €39 one-time, a launch price with €59 regular.	Free. No paid tier.
Account	Not needed to start. A free account adds saved progress, streaks, XP and the leaderboard.	Not needed. A name and a country only to join the leaderboard.
Runs on	Web, iPhone, iPad and Android, with one account across them.	Any web browser.
Site languages	Nine. English, French, Spanish, German, Hindi, Portuguese, Italian, Turkish and Polish.	24. The Learn guides are in English only.
Position memory	Three tiers. 3 to 8 pieces, 9 to 16 pieces in 60 seconds, 17 to 24 pieces in 120 seconds. Whether the expert tier needs Pro is not stated.	Any count from 2 to 32 pieces and any look from 1 to 60 seconds.
Score after a round	Not stated on the position memory pages.	An accuracy percentage, with extra pieces costing points.
Rating and rewards	XP, streaks, achievements and rated puzzles.	A skill rating for each rated round.
Leaderboard	Weekly, monthly and all-time.	Today's daily board and four difficulty levels.
Blindfold games	Yes, against Stockfish at 8 levels, where levels 1 to 5 are free and 6 to 8 need Pro. Also against real players through Lichess, or with a friend.	No.
Course	Seven levels, and an 8-lesson blindfold method.	Learn guides with drills, no levels.
Voice moves	Yes. One voice game a day free, unlimited with Pro.	No.
Famous games and endgames	6 famous games and 3 endgame drills free, all with Pro.	No.

Where DarkSquares is ahead

Blindfold play. You can play full games against Stockfish in five board modes, from the full board to a blank one. You can also play real players through Lichess, or a friend. Memory Chess has no games at all.
A course. Seven levels take you from square colours to full blindfold games, each with a skill to check before you move on.
Mobile apps. DarkSquares has iPhone, iPad and Android apps. Memory Chess runs only in a browser.
Range of drills. Knight and bishop routes, attack detection, Position Reconstruction (apply a list of moves, then place the final position), tactics solved in your head, voice input and famous games.

Where Memory Chess differs

It has no paid tier, so nothing is held back for buyers.
You set the round. Any piece count from 2 to 32 and any look from 1 to 60 seconds, not three fixed tiers.
Every round returns an accuracy figure, rated rounds move a skill rating, and a daily board gives every player the same position.
The site is in 24 languages against DarkSquares' 9.
It does one job. If you want only position recall, there is less to choose between.

12 pieces · 8 s to lookPlay 12 pieces, 8 secondsTwelve pieces in eight seconds is the hard preset, the size of DarkSquares' middle tier with far less time to look.