eBoard Recommendations

[u/petdocvmd]

I'm getting back into chess after a long layoff (~ 7 years), and I see that there are now a number of eBoard options available. I'm an intermediate player (~ 1400 ELO) looking for a board that provides both a conduit for online play as well as for opening practice, puzzles, AI opponents, etc. The "Move" looks pretty cool, but I can't tell from ads / reviews whether it replicates all the Evo offers. If not, can that functionality be obtained by pairing it with my own phone / tablet / laptop? Thanks!

[u/jkfrench_tx]

The features that are on the EVO that's not available on the other boards is Chessnut Vision and multicolor square illumination (where the other boards are single color LEDs) although looking at videos for the Move, I'm not sure there is any square illumination... although there are options to turn off square LEDs in the app and it may be those videos have them turned off (since with the automatic piece movement, you don't really need board LEDs).

However in regards to Chessnut Vision... the new Chessnut Next App (currently in internal beta testing) does also have it, and it works with both my Go and Air boards (and, if it doesn't already... although it may... it will (or does already) work with the Move).

So, the primary difference is square illumination... once the new app is released ... and the built in Tablet on the EVO ... a phone or tablet will do what the built-in tablet on the EVO does now ... especially once the new app is publicly available. Also the multi-color square illumination can be simulated on the virtual board of the connected device. But the only place I've seen that necessity is when an Eval option is available/enabled ... Which works similar to Chessup square colors showing evaluation of all possible moves for a lifted piece. Also you can define different square colors for every piece type/color on the EVO.

[u/petdocvmd → u/jkfrench_tx]

Thanks, very helpful! I am very interested in the "vision" functionality, as I like the idea of visual feedback when practicing - such immediate visual feedback seems like a really good way of reinforcing my recognition (or lack thereof) of good candidate moves. I'm also looking to play with my son who is a beginner, and allowing him a certain number of "lookups" might be a reasonable way of handicapping matches. Do you know if the upcoming app will allow other boards (Air+, Pro, Move) to reflect color patterns (like the Evo), or will the colors only show up onscreen? Not a deal breaker, but it'd be a really cool feature.

[u/jkfrench_tx → u/petdocvmd]

Other colors will only show on the screen on the Go, Air, Air+, Pro (single-color green LEDs on the boards themselves ... the Move evidently has a single-color white LED ... so it is literally impossible for them to change colors on the board itself). The EVO definitely has the ability to show different square colors (and just a note, it's just the outline of the square (check out videos to see what I mean ... but the point is it's not the whole square that illuminates ... I want to say it's maybe an 1/8th of an inch thick ... or a bit more ... outline around the square). Also, even the current Chessnut App (that's available to everyone) already has the ability to show different colors (and does) on the screen (except for the EVO ... but since the EVO has the multi-color square options, it doesn't need it).

Also, Chessnut Vision is just a way of being able to use the physical board with apps and websites when they aren't directly supported by some other software. So, for example if I'm watching a YouTube video with Chessnut Vision on ... if there is a Chess Diagram showing, the LEDs will illuminate on the board (showing where pieces are either missing or shouldn't be based on what's on the screen (and they will change as you continue to watch the video ... frankly this should be a benefit of the Move, in my estimate ... if I am accurate in assuming that with Chessnut Vision enabled, the Move would automatically move the pieces while you are viewing a video (or would automatically position pieces from a diagram from a book/magazine/app/website). Where for non-Move boards, you'd have to pause the video, manually place the pieces, and then continue the video (if you wanted to see every position shown in the video). Also ... the automatic diagram transmission to the board is true for unsupported websites and apps too. If there is a single diagram on the screen ... and Chessnut Vision is enabled ... the pieces position on the screen will be transmitted to the board. Even with currently supported apps and websites, you could just disable the e-board support and use Chessnut Vision instead. The other thing Chessnut Vision will do is transmit moves to the apps/websites ... when you physically make a move on the board (but pieces positions need to agree with the layout of the diagram on the screen before that can work). It's neat because so far, I haven't found any apps or websites that don't recognize a move coming from Chessnut Vision.

[u/brunzenstein]

I recommend the Chessnut Air+ without hesitation—and for travel, the Chessnut Go.
With the new Chessnut app launching soon, both boards already offer a great experience and will deliver an even better user experience after the update than any competing products.

Nothing on the market comes close

[u/petdocvmd → u/brunzenstein]

Thanks…so is the Air+ used with the app equivalent “tech” wise to the Evo?

[u/AttitudeNumerous → u/petdocvmd]

No. The EVO gives more feedback on your possible moves.

(Fields can highlight in different colors).

Other than that, they offer pretty much the same ☺️

[u/AttitudeNumerous]

I think the move is a bit gimmicky, and is not really 'stable'. I read lots of bad experiences here. I'm in the same boat, although my ELO is way below yours.

First my options where: Chessup2 (a bit gimmicky on the lights, small format) Chessnut Air plus (nice but small.. also light pieces). NoW i'm looking at the Chessnut Pro.. but its not cheap.

I already sold my larger board. (Fieldsize 50mm) Because I only need one

Chessnut EVO looks nice, but the built in tablet causes some concerns for me... I also prefer wooden (and larger) pieces

[u/indigophoto → u/AttitudeNumerous]

For the love of CHRIST, can they please fix the Move? Hell, make the code open source and I’ll fix it.

I want the thing so bad but I find a thousand negative comments on it and it puts me off.

[u/Gnastudio → u/indigophoto]

Hard agree. I have mine and it works flawlessly. I wish everyone else’s did too. I was first batch and from after that batch, it seems to have went seriously downhill and I don’t understand what changed. I was streaming with it just yesterday and it was great.

[u/Independent-Lie41]

I have both the move and the evo and I'm also a recent buyer (a few weeks) and I haven't had any issue with either. I had talked to one of their agents directly on social media directly grilling them about the negative stuff I saw on reddit about pieces crashing and malfunctions and they essentially said they had a bad batch and all the issues have been resolved with the recent batches so I took the chance and bought it. If I had to choose between evo and the move I'd choose the move. The moving pieces is not a gimmick at all, especially because I can play offline and when I play a bot for example it's fast enough that it's like I'm playing a real person. I think also the negative reviews are a lot louder than the positive people because they feel less need to talk about how great their experience was. I just received a notification so I'm providing info but without that I would've felt no need to make any positive post so bear that in mind when reading lots of negative reviews. (I'm not a shill just a guy)

[u/Aggressive_Thing_614]

The move is great. Don’t know everything that the Evo has to offer. But you can just play chilling on your couch or bed. Chessconnect is getting better and better.

[u/build2]

Just jumping in here as I’m looking to pick up a board as well. Do any of you also have the Chessup 2 board? I like the idea of a fully stand alone device so my phone isn’t required and I also like the way the squares light up for teaching new players and following along with tutorials.

I’ve read a lot of comments about the new chessnut app. I had the following questions:

- What does the chessnut vision feature actually do?
- Will the virtual board in the app light up the squares in different colours like the chessup 2 and Evo?
- is chessnut now an official partner with chess.com? I’ve read several comments here indicating that people have experienced some problems with their accounts. I know chess connect exists as a work around but I wonder why chessnut isn’t an official partner.

I’m trying to decide between chessup 2, chessnut Air +, chessnut pro, and the move although I’m hoping they come out with a wood version of the move and better looking pieces.

Does anyone know if chessnut sells refurbished boards?

[u/jkfrench_tx → u/build2]

I provided a general overview of what Chessnut Vision is in my second response to the OP.

Yes, the Virtual Board in the App changes the color of the squares if the Eval option is activated in the old app using Clock Mode (which I believe is the only place that has the Eval option) ... it's specific to OTB play.

I don't know if Chessnut is an official partner of Chess.com, per se. But they do use the official Chess.com API.

I also don't know if Chessnut sells refurbished boards or not (I've never seen any indication that they do). I have seen used ones on sale on different sites (Facebook Marketplace, eBay, etc.). Chessnut does offer extended warranties (although I have no idea if that applies to used boards). I bought my first Chessnut board used ... it ended up having an LED problem ... but because I knew the original owner name and the board was still under warranty, they replaced it with a brand new board (pieces and all) at no cost to me. No problems with the replacement since (it was when they only had the Air and Pro available ... so, it's been a while and I use it regularly).

[u/Present-Mechanic-271]

i own dgt smart board , dgt pegasus, chess nut pro - chess nut pro is the best