Square off Pro?

The Centaur doesnt connect to anything unless  you mod the hardware.

Try their new beta firmware. It resolves the error very quickly. You can request support of square off for the same.

The Chess dotcom app for Android does not allow to play against bots with the Pegasus (not bad, games against bots are not rated so I see no real challenge here), desktop version (PC Windows) does (through a Chrome extension). Of course you can play rated/unrated games against Lichess bots (I usually play rated games against Maia5, Maia9, LeelaLevel5, LeelaRogue, Sargon-4ply, Entebot, Zeekat, Lynx_BOT) through the DGT Chess app (by the way, the latest 2.0.2 version works wonderfully on Lichess). Ciao  

After spending a week with my chessnut air I can say that this by far my favorite chess eboard. I had become so frustrated with the unreliability of the square off pro, but this thing is a wonderful experience. The only thing the square off pro does better is illuminate the moves on the board since there are multiple leds on every  square while the chessnut air only has 1. But that is easily circumvented by moving my head a little bit when necessary, usually during the opening, to see the led that might be out of sight behind the piece.

I've only tried playing on my iphone and chesscom so far. I absolutely love this thing!

The Pegasus does work fine too both on Chess dotcom and Lichess:

Is that just on android or on IOS as well? and which app are you using to play?

Hey @lasertswift

It's the latest DGT Chess app for Android, it works well on Lichess (White Pawn works fine too but no tournaments support). Chess dotcom (Android version) offers "native" support for the Pegasus but the connection via Chess dotcom iOS version is not yet supported. Ciao

The support for E-chessboard is slow to respond. I have been having trouble with configuring my app to chess com IOS version. The page keeps reloading at the initial stage.

Is their any email id where someone actually checks and responds back.

Entire months waiting for a board replacement and you have to pay $24/$48 shipping for a (pledge) board yet received ? C'mon, this can't be serious !

Hi guys,

i was wondering if anyone experiences also long waiting times for rated games when using the square off pro via the square off app? Im ~ 950 rated, usually im looking for a 20 minute game while the rating range is set to +/- 50 points.

Also i tried to connect the board directly with the chess.com app but it didnt work, do you know if this is going to be a thing in the future or not? I hope the question wasnt asked too many times before.

Greetings

Nikola

Hi
You can write to hello@squareoffnow.com

I've been reporting some buggy app issues and they've gotten back to me in a couple of days.

Hope they manage to give this great board the app it deserves...

all the best

I was the earliest of adopters of the Square Off Pro and the DGT Pegasus. I must regretfully agree with your statement whole-heartedly. The Chessnut Air is, by far, the best consumer e-board out there. I have experienced absolutely no bugs. It's so refreshing after more than a year of the Square Off Pro and the Pegasus.

Experiencing a new issue with my Square Off Pro. Whenever I try to start a new game of any kind, I get a message saying "Please make sure pieces are kept in the center of the square". I check and double check the piece locations and everything looks fine. There are no lights that indicate the piece that may be causing the problem (I feel like the board used to do that) so I don't even know where to start in terms of troubleshooting. Board is fully charged, I'm using the latest iOS app version, the board itself is on firmware 2.5.7 and says that is the latest. I disconnected/reconnected, restarted the app, etc. Anyone have any ideas?

Experiencing a new issue with my Square Off Pro. Whenever I try to start a new game of any kind, I get a message saying "Please make sure pieces are kept in the center of the square". I check and double check the piece locations and everything looks fine. There are no lights that indicate the piece that may be causing the problem (I feel like the board used to do that) so I don't even know where to start in terms of troubleshooting. Board is fully charged, I'm using the latest iOS app version, the board itself is on firmware 2.5.7 and says that is the latest. I disconnected/reconnected, restarted the app, etc. Anyone have any ideas?

I'm having the same issue. Went through all the troubleshooting after I contacted Square Off through the chat bot and it was no help. Glad to see it's not just me so hopefully there will be a fix and I wont have to return it. It was working fine until the app updated.

I have some good news. As a final effort, I deleted the Square Off app and then re-installed it from my phone. Once re-connecting the board, it then told me there is a new firmware available. I was on version 2.5.7 and the new one is 3.0.5. There appear to be a lot of improvements. Anyways, after the firmware update everything is working again. I need to do more testing to see the differences but I was able to get past that error and start a game. I wanted to report back as soon as possible.

Hi digital chess gurus,

I have made it through a few pages of this thread, but thought I'd take a stab at posing my question directly!

I am looking for a digital chessboard for my dad's birthday, who is in his 80s, because - why not! and how awesome would that be!!! ♟️ The intent is that he would play against ('good') AI / online community, as well as have the ability to play with me and his grandkids once in a while.

I've started doing my research on Square Off Grand Kingdom, mainly because it has a classic wood look, and the auto-movement is cool (and the Square Off marketing has me hostage). But I've started to realize some drawbacks, and possibly the novelty would wear off quickly? Reading this thread made me realize that there are other, and possibly better options out there!?

In my mind the main considerations are:

- Piece size: Larger pieces preferred, as small pieces might be too fiddly for his fingers (those of same age welcome to comment!). Are Square Off Grand Kingdom pieces smaller than standard?? I watched a couple of review videos and the auto-movement occasionally will knock them over, only adding to the fiddliness of having to pick them up etc. This is the main reason I started thinking SqOff GK might not be the best option. But I might be making more of a big deal of it than it is - so if you're over 80 let me know your thoughts

- Board size / portability: He'll be using it at home, so there's enough space to lay out a large board (and he'd keep it out).

- Platform connectivity & decent AI: From what I read the built-in AIs can get a bit dull, so ability to play bots as well as having access to a large member community via chess.com or another platform is important. I am not sure how "good" he is, but he is certainly not bad, as he used to play a lot back in the day, and I don't want him to hit a limit with the board.

Also, on this topic - I couldn't figure out exactly what platforms and bots Square Off gives you access to without the Plus subscription?? (Beyond it's own AI)

- Ability to play friends online (let's say that's "me" for simplicity): I assume this is given, but a couple of specific questions on this from the research I've done on Square Off:

1) Do I need to have a SquareOff (or whatever other) board or can I play with him just via app on my side? The need would be to be able to play via app only on my side.

2) Does every game have to have a time limit or can you play a 'lazy' game over a few days? (apologies if this offends anyone 😅 I would be the lazy one obviously, not my dad)

Reliability and lack of bugs goes without saying. He is not a tech guru, so the board just needs to work. Ideally with a super simple app as well, but hopefully I can get him up to speed on how to use his cell phone 😂.

Based on this, I'd love to hear your thoughts and recommendations on what the best option would be for my dad. Square Off Grand Kingdom / Square Off Pro / Chessnut / Pegasus / ??

And if there are any important considerations I've missed please chime in!

Thanks!!

I Understand that some people may not have had great experience with Square off but their reviews seem decent on Amazon.

Amazon.com: Square Off Grand Kingdom Set | Automated Chessboard for Adults & Kids | World's Smartest Electronic Chess Board | Magnetic Wooden Chess Sets with Self Moving Pieces : Toys & Games

www.amazon.com/Square-Off-Chess-Set-Electronic/dp/B07PDQ8K7T

I just bought a Pro and fails on so many levels and for over $300 (Canadian), I expect it to work and have some polish, which it has neither. It locks up and loses games, sometimes because you bump a piece, other times because of the magnets moving other pieces, or sometimes just because it feels like it. Once the board locks it cannot recover and this is just unacceptable. I would avoid this product and find something that actually works as it should, I wish I had read the online discussions about how horrible this is even after several years on the market. Just no.

ETA: I should also mention that you don't have full access to the engine opponent unless you pay for a subscription, it doesn't allow you to play engines here, nor does it allow you to play anything below 10min rapid. My board also does not sit flat due to poor packing that put creases in the back of the board, which also increases the error rate.

Yes, the SOP is not a very good product. I had such high hope for it when it came out that I bought an extra one to give to a friend so we could play together online.

I never even opened the second box (still sitting in my closet for anyone looking to buy one, let me know, willing to make a deal), the experience just kept going down as I used it more.

I put it away for a while, someone on Reddit (or maybe here) convinced me to try again as it "was improved".

Tried it. Put it away again. Still not a very good experience and the "subscription" model was a joke.