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ChessNut GO

This page was last updated : 31-Aug-24 19:52:22

AKA a travel size sensor board for online and offline chess

I have been following Chessnut for a while and when they announced the Chessnut GO, I was interested  but thought about it for a while if I really needed another electronic chessboard.

While playing a game of chess with my college at work, we discussed the potential pro- and cons and agreed that it would be a nice board to have. And when you get a e-mail indicating that you can get 25% discount, the choice was easily made. So end of may 2024 I ordered the board and then the waiting started. First it would be delivered mid of July, then early August, then mid of August and finally it was stated that all ordered devices in Europa should be shipped before end of August.

So when I got a shipping notes at 26 Aug 2024, it started to get real. And at 30 Aug 2024 the package was delivered at the local DHL parcel station. So I my lunch break, I made a bike to pick it up. 

  

The parcel was was well packed with two Fragile, one UN3481 etc stickers on it. And for once I got a package that didn't look it was just as a puck on a hockey tournament. 

I didn't make a unboxing video, but if you want to see how it's packed, you can check out this one on youtube.

Inside I found the carry case with in it, as the wrapper indicated . . . . . 

the board, a quickstart guide, USB-C charge cable, 2 bags of chess pieces (incl extra queens) and spare adhesive filt  for underneath the pieces.  

The board looked good and is remarkable heave for it size, making it feels very stable. 

I unpacked the pieces and placed them on the board. As expected there are two additional queens. 

And yes, you can tilt the board with the pieces on it, and they don't shift. Only when I turned the board up side down, one of the kings dropped off. But that's not a normal position to transport a chess board in anyway.

After charging it for a hour, I installed the app on my mobile phone and played a few games.

A few points based on that experience : 

• The board is super responsive. it will detect every movement almost instantly and the full piece recognition works as advertised (I set up the board with 2 queens instead of a queen and king, it detects that and you can't start the game). 
• The app works very well, but found one thing when I used the app on two devices (mobile phone and tablet).
  • I wanted to use my tablet to play a game on the board, and it didn't want to connect to the board. I switched off the Bluetooth on my mobile phone, reconnected the board on my table, and everything worked again. 
• Because it's a travel size board, the pieces are a bit small compared to my DGT Pegasus, but big enough to have a good feeling. 
• The board is a close fit in the case. And sometimes a bit hard to get out of it. 
• When you put everything back in to the case, flatten the pieces, then close it with the side with the board in it, on top of it. and zip it tight. That way you are sure that no pieces standing up and poke into the board.
• I thought the the pieces were magnetic but it's the board does the magic (I found that out when I placed the DGT Pegasus pieces on the board for a piece size comparison) 
• In the app level 1 and 2 are to easy for me level 3 does it's job but I beat the engine 9  out of 10 at the moment (and i'm a average play). Time will tell how that is going, but there are levels enough. 

Then there are a few things that come to my mind as a software  developer and electronic engineer : 

• The Chessnut Go has a build in and although I didn't open the board yet, I expect it to have a non user exchangeable Lithium-Ion battery.
  So I think its fair to ask ourself : Will Chessnut do after sales services when the battery is worn out? 
• We have seen that closed source applications and protocols used by companies (big and small) don't benefit the consumer when a company goes bankrupt and doesn't make start through.
  So will there be a API or protocol description available so other people can write applications to use the board with there software?  
  
  

Primarily conclusion: I'm quite happy with it and have to say, that the board is more responsive then the DGT Pegasus. Not that the last one is bad, but the Chessnut GO is go-ing fast.

To be continued . . . . . 

 

Chessnut GO size comparision to DGT Pegasus

Of course I have to physically compare the Chessnut GO with my DGT Pegasus. 

As you see, the board is quite a bit smaller because of it's travel target. The Chessnut GO field size is 27.5mm compared to  the DGT Pegasus field size of 40mm. 

The Chessnut GO Kings height is 50mm compared to the  DGT Pegasus King height of 70 mm. 

And we of course we need to lineup The Usual Suspects . . . . 

Oh sorry, I mend the chess pieces, I do highly recommend that great movie though.

After I took this photo I found out that the board of the Chessnut GO is magnetic and not the pieces. The DGT pieces which also have metal in them (to trigger the for the capacitive detection in the DGT Pegasus), stick to the Chessnut GO board.

That all for now. 

To be continued . . . . . 

 

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