DGT Centaur chess computer brief review

The Novag Citrine uses a similar system to Centaur except the Citrine uses reed switches (mercury switches that react to magnetism). My Citrine unfortunately has some dud switches. It was pleasant to use while it worked. All my other computers use pressure switches that have had excellent reliability.

The question about the Centaur’s battery is a good one. All my chess computers use normal domestic batteries - easy to replace but prone to leaking if forgotten about. The Centaur can still be used even if the battery went dud given that it can be used while it is charging. As to replacing the battery - only DGT would have that information. The key to these modern rechargeable batteries is to not let them get too discharged otherwise they will not hold a charge. As long as it has some charge in it it should be fine. If you plan to put the computer away for a few months then just make sure to almost fully charge the battery. As to the number of charge cycles before the battery’s performance begins to taper off, again only DTG has that information.

By the way, when I say don’t let the battery get too flat, the battery meter will take into consideration this lower limit - simply charge the unit if you find it says the battery is empty or before. You’d only need to be concerned if you left it for a couple of months on an empty battery.

I like the way the pieces glide over the chessboard on the Centaur. I am guilty of occasionally nudging pieces to their new location with my finger when playing over the board so being able to do so on the Centaur does make it feel more natural.

I was interested in the Centaur over the Pi and smart board because I wanted a computer that did not require me to look away from the board when the computer communicated its move.

If DGT smart boards had the option of LEDs on the boards to denote moves then they’d have achieved the holy grail in my opinion.

 

Not all e-boards require you to perform en passant as you described. E.g. my own DIY e-boards allow all legal ways of executing en passant.  (I'm almost certain that the DGT e-board also allows it; I'll test it later.)  Per USCF rules, you may touch/remove the captured piece first (touch move means that you must capture that touched enemy piece if legal to do so).

 

WRT castling (as mentioned in your post), the new USCF rules requires king touch/remove first, but entirely clear about if rook can also be removed while the king has not been placed yet. My own e-boards handles all cases correctly; I'm almost certain that the DGT e-board can handle it (as my son sometimes likes to do that).

 

Anyway, just want to let people know that there are many different e-board and capabilities with many e-boards play just like a regular chessboard.

Would it not depend on the chess engine the DGT board was being used with?

You make good points though in my post I was ensuring that those who have older stand-alone chess computers would also be able to use the information if they too were having input issues.

As for the Centaur, with Castling, after moving the king the computer directs the user to move the rook. Whether it would accept the move if the king then rook were lifted and then king placed then rook is something I would have to test.

I was finally able to contact DGT about the Centaur's battery. They said that it is NOT replaceable. To me, this is an absolute deal-breaker. I was considering buying it, but I wouldn't be willing to spend US$400 every time the battery dies. It's a total shame. This was their response:

"Unfortunately, the battery isn’t replaceable. As so many products with an internal battery it will last a long time. We advise to charge it until it’s fully charged and then disconnect it from the mains. But you can also charge it for a few hours even when it’s not fully charged, this won’t damage the condition of the battery."

Talking about levels, I have played my Centaur on the Friendly mode and found that it played well in the opening and some way into the mid game before it would inexplicably offer up its queen for nothing. In two games I chose to override the computer’s kamikaze move for a better one. Later it had the opportunity of mate in 1 but wanted to make a different move. This is evidently how DGT designed it to give the player a “fair chance of winning”.

I played it on “Challenging” mode where the manual states “...centaur will play at your level, but will play stronger moves more often”. I lost both my two games (not had the computer long) by a mile. The computer attained a lead which I expected but instead of maintaining a small lead to keep me in the game, it increased its lead to equivalent of 17 pawns on one game announcing mate in 7. To me it seems Centaur makes better moves every move in this mode - which is different to what the manual says it should do.

So to test the theory that no matter how well I play on “Challenging” mode I actually can’t win, I played the Centaur against my strongest retro chess computer the Kasparov Astral, first on Level 1 (second level as it starts at Level 0) and the second game on Astral’s level 3. Both games the centaur won. I definitely know I have no chance of beating Astral on level 3.

So, in these early days it looks to me I have a choice of a level where the Centaur dive bombs a position (which I don’t want) or a level where I have no chance of winning (which I also don’t want).

It turns out I prefer the traditional level system on my older machines where I work my way up to a level number where I lose more than I win and then keep playing that level until I win more than I lose then manually progress to the next level. At least my older computers are more subtle in they way they eek out a lead or slightly drop behind.

My favourite auto levelling system I have come across is on the Shredder Mobile Chess app. If one wins a game it increases its level slightly and if one loses a game it lowers its level slightly. The playing strength does not change in the course of a game like it does with Centaur.

So while I really like the physical design of the DGT Centaur, I feel that the Centaur does not deliver in terms of being a perfectly matched opponent it is touted to be - for that I am disappointed.

I was choosing between the Centaur and the DGT pi with plastic smart board. I chose the Centaur because it has the neat lighting system and the auto square detection (don’t have to press the squares). I didn’t choose the Pi and smart board because I didn’t want to look at an LCD screen to see the computer’s move as I already have a collection of computers that use this form factor (some with LED squares too). However, given Centaur’s levelling system perhaps I would have been happier with the Pi given it has traditional level systems and one can tweak the engines. However, I can also tweak the engines on Arena Chess on my laptop so again didn’t see the point of the Pi.

I am going to play the Centaur on “Friendly” mode a bit more to see if doesn’t make those sacrifices. Perhaps my own play was inconsistent causing the Centaur to likewise reply. I could also play Centaur against one of my weaker chess computers such as the Millennium Orion 2000 to see if Centaur’s “Friendly” mode play is more consistent.

Ok, decided to play the Centaur on “Friendly“ mode against the Kasparov Astral set to level 0. The Centaur won the game and while neither computer played particularly strongly, the Centaur did not dive bomb the position. I conclude therefore Centaur did that when I played it because I played some blunders.

I feel better about the Centaur on “Friendly” mode now.

I had some very easy wins against Friendly mode. It must have been determined that I was playing pretty badly. Once it sacked it’s Queen for bishop after only five moves. Then it contrived to lose a completely draw opposite coloured bishop ending. So it’s onward and upwards to Challenging mode.

It is unclear whether the Centaur starts afresh at the beginning of every game for its levelling system or if it also uses statistics from previous games. I had assumed the former so that the whole family could use the computer as there are no options for profiles.

In the last game I played against it on Friendly mode I resigned. The Centaur did not make any of the sacrificial moves I had seen previously. Either I was playing better or the Centaur was taking into account previous games.

It is a nicely designed computer. I enjoy using it.

I am interested to know how you go on with the Challenge mode.

Lost my first two games on Challenging mode.  On Friendly mode it’s played the endgames very poorly.  You’d need to play fairly consistently to make the most of the adaptive feature because if you play badly for a few games it will also play badly.  On the YouTube review he says the Friendly modes plays up 2000 (uscf) while Challenging plays up 2100-2200. 

Regards the pieces, I sprayed the white pieces a sandstone colour as the original colour blended into the board way too much.

“Lost my first two games on Challenging mode”. Have you beaten the Centaur on that mode after your first two games or have I interpreted your statement incorrectly?

In the original OP he mentioned an issue with en passant. I set up some positions using two opposing kings and pawns to make the move and separately to encourage the computer to make the move. I found no issues though the computer did announce “Mate in 17”. In a game against me it announced “mate in 9” or something without delay. There is no doubt this computer has some grunt.

I got mine in the mail early this week and have been playing every day. I'm rusty from not playing much lately and I'm trying to figure out, on "Friendly" mode, if the computer "levels" over a number of games played or if it resets with each new game played? In other words, is it saving my skill level when I turn it off and using that info for subsequent games, or is each new game played resets the computer to it's factory preset level.

OR, possibly does it only level to you until you turn the power button off? It would seem pointless to me to reset each time but after playing it a good dozen times, it shows no sign of coming down to my level.

Thanks for any info you might have!

You pose a really good point that spurred me to recall something I saw in the manual.

The manual states on page 4 “Play/Pause - On/Off. Use this key to switch on the Centaur or to turn it off.”

On page 12 it states “Forced Shutdown. If the Centaur stops responding during a game and cannot be switched it off, you can force it to close down by holding the ‘Play/Pause’ for 10 seconds.”

From these two statements one thing can be known and another could be speculated.

To turn the Centaur off into standby, one presses the Play/Pause button only until the display changes to the “Let’s Play” screen - about three seconds at the most. Pressing it accidentally for longer would reset the computer. This can be known.

What could be speculated is that there is possibly some accumulative game data saved unless the computer is reset (so perhaps the centaur does adjust its playing level by accessing past games played).

The one setting I think is missing from the Centaur is “Profile” so that people sharing the computer can have the computer play at their strength (assuming the Centaur adjusts over several games). This would make sense in a family setting.

However, it is possible the computer would have been programmed to see trends in how games are played and automatically create profiles internally.

My presumption, going on the advertising blurb, is that the machine starts afresh each game. However, I did notice that the Centaur played a better game on Friendly mode after I had played it against one of my other chess computers though this could have be a coincidence.

Please, one question. Can you turn off centaur in a middle of a game and then one fay later turn it on and continue in the same position? Can it resume the game?

Thanks in advance

Yes, it stores the game in memory.

When you turn it back on you should not set up the chess pieces and pawns in their starting position because the Centaur will abandon the old game and start a new one.

Instead you should turn the computer on with no pieces and pawns on the board (unless you left them in their positions from the game you are resuming) and then set the pieces and pawn on the board following the diagram on the screen.

Also remember that to turn off the Centaur it is a short press of the play/pause button. Pressing the play/pause button too long will reset the computer and you’ll lose your saved game.

thank you for the quick response!

How much does it takes to turn on the computer? dont know if it is instant of takes several seconds. I have a millenium chess genius and I love that it is instant. I play some moves, then I have to to for lets say 15 minutes and it automaticaly turn off. I come back, turn it on (instant, the pieces are in the same position) and then I play for some minutes (until I have another interruption)

For me the feasibility of this is the key to consider the purchase

Thank you in advance!

There are many things to like about the Centaur and then there are some things that are puzzling and a couple that are irksome.

The whole turning on thing is an example of one of those irksome instances. Most of my other chess computers only do a power-up test when the batteries are changed or when the computer is reset.

The DGT has an internal non-removable battery so I get that the trigger for a power up test would need to be different - but not every time one turns the thing on from standby.

So in short, the computer powers up quickly but then proceeds to do an LED dance while it either accesses where the chessmen and pawns are and/or does a power-up test. This takes several seconds. The LED dance doesn’t even make sense as the two ranks both ends of the board are not illuminated (tested).

Yes, it remembers the game and will continue.

For more details you can find the manual here: http://www.digitalgametechnology.com/index.php/support1/manuals/chess-computer-manuals/centaur