Another DGT Centaur owner

Hi, everyone.

I've had mine for a couple days now, and I quite like it.

About me: I'm a rank beginner, I signed up here, picked up a few books, a couple chess sets, started watching YouTube videos (big fan of Hanging Pawns and John Bartholomew), and I play puzzles here and elsewhere via iPhone apps.

I read about the Centaur here and watched some clips on YouTube, a few hundred dollars later and here I am.

Considering my complete lack of skill, it might be a while before I outgrow the Centaur.

The comments about it being fragile because it's plastic aren't really fair. Don't we all buy cases for our fragile and expensive cell phones? It's certainly not like a wooden chessboard with no moving parts, as I tend to not bash my stuff around, I don't anticipate any problems.

Regarding the non-replaceable battery, it's becoming more the norm in electronics in order to keep prices and often, size, down. Get used to it. As an iPhone user, I'm well accustomed.

I guess I would have liked to export my games. I might have gone for a full-fledged DGT eboard if the software ran natively on a Mac. (Yeah, I know I can run an emulator....)

Even though the pieces are plastic, they feel pleasant enough during a game, I just wish they had felt on the bottom. With the board being so slippery it's hard to move the board around without the pieces sliding all over the place.

Cheers,

David

I liked it when I saw chesshouse's YouTube video on it but once I saw the price tag. I couldn't justify buying it. Reason being is DGT's plastic eBoard and pieces running near the same price with greater options than the Centaur offers.

http://chessgamesshop.com/index.php?c=12&p=111372

Hi David, I saw a YouTube video where a guy showed that by using copper felt, a regular or favourite chess set could be used on the Centaur.

If putting regular felt under the chessmen Centaur came with creates too much distance for them to be registered then you could try copper felt instead.

I just read on a dedicated chess computer site that the battery isn't replaceable. Once the battery goes kaput, you throw the whole thing out. I was keen on one, but I'm now out.

I have chess computers that are over 25 years old - they take standard batteries. A couple require ‘C’ size batteries so I just use those ones on their power adapter when I play them. When the time comes that the battery no longer works in the Centaur I’ll use it on its power adapter too.

I am not sure what the board surface is made of - it looks and feels like a thick paper but is probably made of something more hard wearing.

I am glad I bought mine because they appear to have become quite scarce so perhaps DGT did a limited run.

You are right, I just confirmed with DGT that the AC adapter/charger can be used with the Centaur even if the battery is dead

For portability you could power the centaur from a mobile phone battery bank thing.

I understand your point and don't disagree.  DGT would not have been able to achieve a slimline design using regular batteries - they would have had to use the watch type batteries such as the ubiquitous 2032 but even the lithium types would not last long and be expensive to replace.

I own the original Nintendo DS and DS lite with the rechargeable type battery that the Centaur uses and they are still going strong.  They tend to only go bad if one neglects to charge them when they are discharged.  I am not unduly worried about the Centaur's battery.

Whether the centaur will still be going strong in 25 years time like my Scisys Kasparov Astral or my Tandy 1650 is another matter but one can say that about most new technology these days.

Hi, Rubicon, I saw that video as well. I might give it a try.

How are you getting on with your Centaur @ItsMeDave?

I have received my board and played a couple of games. I cannot speak to the strength algorithm but I am really enjoying over the board play, the square lighting, and overall convenience of the all-in-one computer.

Accessorizing:

* I purchased a cheap wooden chess piece box from Amazon. 

* I made a travel case using an art portfolio (17x22x2) plus some poster board for reinforcement.

You are being ripped off. The technology in the centaur is dated. I helped develop them. What they don’t want you to know is these cheap plastic computerscost exactly $34.78 to produce yet they sell them for $400

That’s how business and retail works. It is called mark-up and often by eye watering amounts.

That’s definitely how retail works.

They found a price point that I was willing to adopt. They will recover R&D and sell boards with more features for less in a few years b

I just played a 30 min game against the Centaur on Friendly mode. I chose the 30 minute time option purely due to time restraints (not because I am any good at Chess).

Usually I play the Centaur without clock and it replies in about a second or under even in challenging mode. I was puzzled therefore to see the Centaur taking 10 minutes 34 seconds to make 40 moves (an average of just over 15 seconds per move), seemingly burning time for the sake of it - probably for the purpose of seeming more “human”.

I wasn’t sure how I felt about this. It was a bit like a real life opponent going “hmmmm, ahhhhh, hmmmm” over the last move of a mate sequence he/she had skilfully played in the hope I’d think they didn’t know what they’d done.

I don’t mind computers taking their time as it does give a more natural style of play - the 2 in 1 Travel Station (a handheld version of the Excalibur King Author) takes its time because it is conserving the power provided by watch type batteries that powers it. At least I know the computer needs to take that time. It’s not a pretence like on the Centaur.

In the end I decided it was just DGT programming the computer to not instantly reply as other strong computers do to make the flow of the game more natural and I am OK with that.

Interesting.... that behavior definitely gives the human time to think too.

DGT replied to my question about how the computer adjusts its levels (if the Computer accrues an idea of playing strength over several games) and also how it handles being played by several different people of different playing abilities.

Their reply follows:

Hello Geoff,

Thank you for your reply.

The DGT Centaur adapts during every game. When another chess player starts a new game we recommend to switch off on the chess computer. This way the computer clears his memory and you can start a new “fresh” game.

I hope I informed you sufficiently and in case of any questions I am happy to help you.

Best regards,

Rishma | DGT
Customer Service

 

Edit:  DGT's response is inaccurate because when the computer is turned on again, the current game is still in memory - unless the computer was reset to factory settings.  Resetting the computer should not be necessary if what they are saying is the Centaur adjusts its ability only within the current game.

"When another chess player starts a new game we recommend to switch off on the chess computer."

I think they're saying: (a) set the board to the starting positions, (b) play/pause until shutdown occurs, (c) play/pause to startup.

The implication being that several games in series will adapt to your play.

Well. like I wrote on the other thread. The battery seems to be easily replaced.

@KnightsForkCafe; Have you experienced chessgameshop to be a reliable seller? 

For me it's unfortunate that the DGT Centaur that I ordered becomes defective in just around 6-to-7 months even if I don't use it regularly. I just hope the DGT team will contact me and provide support. Here's the video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/nEhYXP3gjzM