Originally published at: Square Off is a smart chessboard that lets you challenge opponents anywhere | Boing Boing
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It’s a cool idea in theory, but watching a couple videos on it (e.g. The World's Smartest Chessboard By Square Off | My Review - YouTube) makes the movement seem so slow and clunky and loud I think I would really dislike playing it – even ignoring the cost. Also it beeps every time you move a piece, and you can’t turn it off.
I think there’s definitely room for a open-source version – using lights instead of robotic magnets, like in the versions from 20 years ago – that could connect to the Lichess or Chess.com API (unsure if either are open enough). I would definitely be into playing that. Maybe I should make one…
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It would be neat if they could do a lichess/chess.com integration.
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My parents bought this for my kids a few years ago. For a while, this was a big hit. The hardware itself is quite good, but the software, not so much. The app kept on crashing and whenever there was a crash, you’d lose the game. On a few occasions, the app would auto-update and then just no longer work for a few days while it was being fixed.
This was a couple of years ago. We still have the board, but we no longer use it electronically. Maybe the software issues are better now.
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