I just got it and it sure is an improvement vs the eOne in terms of speed of recognition for online play; build quality is nice indeed (I hope they get wooden pieces out soon, that should be amazing).
A few negatives: the single square led is sometimes hard to see, I wish it had 4 leds like the eOne and they don't blink for opponent move you just get the two squares lit up. I was stuck in a game once because one piece was slightly misplaced, its led was on as a consequence (not blinking) but I missed this because the led was hidden behind the piece.
Also I can't get it to connect with my PC (BT or USB), and the android app is seriously buggy and disconnects with chess.com often (haven't tried lichess), IOS works fine with no serious disconnects.
, no bots, just like the EOne I also have...shame really!
Backstory:
For those that recognize me you probably remember my posts on just about every e-board thread in this forum. I spent months almost daily reading about the latest updates on the different e-board offerings. I’m the type that likes to get it right the first time when it comes to purchases I want my stuff to last as I’m a minimalist I don’t like owning too much stuff. Quality over quantity.
I wasn’t even thinking of buying the Chessnut Air I didn’t do much research on it to be honest and there was not a whole lot of info. It was only until I saw a random post from someone showing a pic of Chessnut Air boxes ready to be shipped that I got serious about it. This came as a surprise as they didn’t raise a lot of money as compared to other projects and I read some people saying it was a dead project and a scam. Boy were those people wrong!
Then I saw a review from someone on youtube who got it quick because they live in Hong Kong and I just knew this board was the one. After months of learning and knowing pretty much all the details of the current crop of e-boards I finally found the one.
Mechanics:
This is the reason why I bought it as it has the best mechanics of any board out there (only one I have seen that has as good mechanics is the Chessup but the price is double the Chessnut Air). You can play on it naturally as if you were playing on a regular board. This is due to automatic piece recognition. It knows which piece is which. Only the chessup board from what I remember is supposed to have this from the current crop of e-boards. This makes play much faster and smooth. You don't have to worry about placing each piece carefully on the square. You just put it there and done no thinking about it it's very fast and natural feeling of play.
I'm really happy with this as this was the most important thing which led to my decision of buying it. The software can always be updated but the mechanics can't so they definitely got the mechanics right.
Quality:
The board is really good looking and it’s great quality. I was a little worried due to it being from China but I was pleasantly surprised. It’s nicer than I expected.
Online play:
It’s the only one of the e-boards that came ready to play on chess.com for both android and IOS. To be honest this is one of the reasons I bought it because at the time I only played on chess.com and I have IOS. I probably wouldn't even have gotten it if the DGT Pegasus had IOS support at the time as that's the one I liked up to that point and was almost ready to buy until I saw the Chessnut Air news of it being shipped (plus the Millenium eONE). I decided to wait to see the reviews on those two first to see which was the overall best and then make a decision.
My chess coach told me to start practicing on lichess and I ended up liking it and guess what it’s the only one I use now! It’s funny how life works. I waited months for a board capable of playing on chess.com on IOS to not even using it on chess.com
I’ve played close to 30+ games now had it for about a week. It’s very addicting to play online on an e-board and not only that but I’ve found I play much better with a physical board. I’m making less mistakes for some reason and I can focus much better. Maybe it’s having actual physical pieces? Who knows..
App:
The mobile app is easy to use. Turn on the board, connect to blue tooth then click online play and choose lichess or chess.com and you’re ready to play. The advantage it has over the competition is it’s using like a browser so it’s using the actual website of lichess/chess.com itself which is genius since we know from the other boards how much or a struggle it’s been with bugs to have the app do it all.
The computer app does need a lot of polishing but I rarely used it. It has the option to import UCI engines (not yet on the Mac OS version from what I saw).
Conclusion:
So far I’m having a blast and if you don’t have an electronic chess board I would recommend it or any e-board because to be honest you’re missing out just staring at a screen. Chess is meant to be played with pieces. The quality and the mechanics of the Chessnut Air surprised me they are better than I expected. The board could use integration with third party apps which the creator of the board said that's coming soon so that will be a plus.
The only thing I have to warn you guys about is that playing on an e-board is addicting...very addicting specially online play. Do not make the mistake of putting the board on your work desk and playing the AI (for those that work from home). BIG MISTAKE! You won't be able to concentrate on work even when playing on unlimited time