With today's computing advances it is impossible for any good enthusiast to the king of games not to be updated, in this era of digital resources, with a range of tools to learn, train and optimize the enjoyment of chess in any place and situation. Whether you want to stay in shape for the next round in a tournament, expand your theoretical background in strategy, or simply share the taste for chess to any neophyte in the subject, the following compilation is a brief approach to the best applications in the field of chess for Android OS devices at Google's PlayStore, truly recommended if carrying a laptop or printed books around for this purpose is somewhat of a tedium to you!

MAGNUS TRAINER by Play Magnus.

Designed by current world champion Magnus Carlsen and his team of experts, this program aims at sharpening one's overall understanding of the game with simple fun mini-games and lessons, suitable for all players from beginner to advanced who want to improve their intuition and visualization skills.

MANUAL OF CHESS COMBINATIONS by Chess King.

A complete course on the art of combinatorial sequences based on the work of a renowned coach, Sergey Ivashchenko. With high quality examples from actual professional games the app teaches the most effective tactical motifs in chess categorized by themes; giving you hints, explanations and even showing you refutations of the mistakes you might make, an all-in-one swiss knife for dynamic calculating players.

CHESS PGN MASTER by Gerhard Kalab.

An app that is possibly the best method to record a database with games by masters in a pocket device from which to learn various structures and planning ideas, while also working as a chess journal to record one's own games and keep a track of improvement over training sessions. It also features a diversity of functions like integrated chess engine, blunder check and autoplay to make the learning experience wholly interactive.

CHESS CLOCK by chess.com

Finally one that surely cannot be missing in a chess player's app library, a completely free, no in-app purchases, no ads, customizable timer for any occasion in which you have a board available for practical play and do not have an actual chess clock.

Even if you do not have an Android OS device, this selection of apps can also be found in the Apple store for those with iOS devices with basically the same titles, except for the 'Manual of Chess Combinations' which is called 'Chess King (Tactics & Puzzles)' by the same developer, and the analysis board by developer Asim Pereira called 'Analyze This Chess' in correspondence to Android's 'Chess PGN Master'. None of these are rated less than four stars each in the average user reviews so do not expect low quality products and have fun with chess!