Best chess computer

I got my Chessnut Air a few days ago and love it. It works great using my phone. My only issue is that I can't connect the board to my desktop with Bluetooth. I have to use the provided connector cord, and if this is the only issue, life is good. It was a great gift!

@davidjddo - try the Chessconnect extension (works with Chrome, Edge, and maybe other Chromium based browsers), it works incredibly well with the Chessnut products (except the Evo). You play directly on the website

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-equipment/chessconnect-a-chrome-extension-for-chessnut-air-and-chessnut-pro-smartboards

Check out some videos about it:

https://www.chess.com/blog/vitualis/chessconnect-v3-play-chessnut-millennium-certabo-dgt-soon-eboard-online

Thanks, @Rsava! I'll try it.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask. Several of us have plenty of experienced with it, and we want to get more people using it successfully.

Hi, please see my reply above ^^

Thank you @LoseMagnet. I am familiar with the centipawn and the scoring concept, I don't understand the plus minus sign meaning. Normally plus is white, minus is black advantage. In my games I can see plus only and the engine is beating me with both black and white. So I guess plus is not the white color but engine, and minus is the poor player me regardless if playing black or white. But I am just guessing here.

I think, you are right. The manual for the Millenium King Competition/Performance says the following:

"The number +0.39 is the computer’s evaluation of the position: The King believes it has a slight advantage, 
worth 0.39 of a pawn. Further examples of what may appear in this place on the screen are:
-1.89 The computer has a disadvantage nearly equivalent to 2 pawns.

[...]
+M 7 The computer can force checkmate in 7 more moves.
-M 4 The opponent can force checkmate in 4 more moves."

Hi, @rsava. Although I like using the board, I won't be using the Chrome extension to play from my computer again. In the middle of the game, it disconnected, and after repeated tries to get it to reconnect, it wouldn't. During a game, I don't have the time or desire to screw around with software programming. Thanks for the suggestion, though. For me, Chessconnect is gone.

Strange. The only time it disconnects for me is if there is a page refresh or you leave the page and come back. I have used it for over 30 games and that is the only way it has ever disconnected, and I use test versions to test new functions and I try and break it. It is merely a button push to reconnect and reconnects immediately.

Sorry you had a bad time, good luck with your board.

Just curious if the OP ever made a purchase and what he thought of it?

A year late but for the budget I would go with either the Centaur by DGT or the latest Genius Pro by Millennium.

Hi, is there any value playing on older off-line chess computers. I haven't played on one for years. I have quite a few nice boards and pieces, and don't want to spend money on a chess board with built in access to the engines, but is there a good and versatile old school chess computer for peanuts that people can recommend. On a good day I might be 1500 ELO - mainly because I can't remember openings. Ideally not too small, and not with peg pieces.

Hi, my level roughly belongs to the same class (and I hate learning openings as well); I enjoy playing the Mephisto Mirage. It is not a rare device nor an expensive one. Best deal to my opinion is buying the module (often offerred low priced) plus a modular board, to benefit from the auto-response system (otherwise the complete Mirage device is a push-sensory board). You might want to check my webpage here. A MMII module can also be considered, it is very common and usually cheap, but it is much stronger.

Hi all

Some good advise in this forum.

I've ordered the Chessnut Pro with premium pieces a week ago. I live the North of Ireland Chessnut said there are problems posting from EU cause of Brexit so are posting from their main factory in I think China .

Does anyone know how long postage should usually take from china?

Are Chessnut a reputable company?

Nervous as this board has cost a lot of money

Best chess computer is the Tasc System but it almost impossible to find one

You can’t go wrong with most of the old Mephistos and there are also some good Novags for very little money. What I like most about these older machines is the fact that they don’t have to be dumbed down to play around 1500 to 1900 Elo unlike Stockfish etc.

@marcDazz - Yes, Chessnut has been around for a few years now. I have 3 of their board (Air, Evo, Pro) with a fourth (the Go) on order.
I have also ordered an extra set of pieces and two sets of sensors from them.
I have not had any issues other than they can sometimes be a bit slow to ship and also respond to emails. But they have always delivered, once later than promised, twice faster than promised.
If you have any questions about the Pro, don't hesitate to ask. Also look for the sub on Redditif you are inclined to visit that site.

The reason is the Tasc system uses the powerful King programme and enjoys an elo of 2300. Second, it has a state of art tournament size wooden board and chess set with light-indicating sound-effect squares. Third, you can increase its power and add many more features and functions through computer softwares. You can play 5 minute blitzs on it and use it for analysing positions. It has a massive tournament opening repertoire. Because of all these amazing features and functions it is called a system and not just a computer. The current price is over $1000 which is almost twice higher than Millenium king and many other modern advanced chess computers on the market which just go to prove what a treasure the Tasc System is.

Yes, it is basically the tasc system with higher elo and it can be used for online chess too but Tasc System is antique and valuable like Jaques of London sets!

No, it is not just vintage but its playing style is more dynamic than the Millennium and plays more like a human. The Milleniumm feels like an old Fritz engine and it plays artificial chess