Unboxing SquareOff's self-moving chess computer

Paul and Raphael unbox the new SquareOff and explore some features! You can get the Square Off on Amazon amzn.to/2N3xiiV or read more on the blog post here www.chesshouse...

[@alexandergillis9428]

This was the funniest video ever these guys are so awkward when filming. They show their phone for three minutes while waiting for an opponent

[@Edgar-uj9fh]

If you're going to review a product, it would probably make sense to read the instructions.

[@pigbagable]

Good for playing bullet - the computer will lose on time every game : )

[@yeyoangan2173]

pigbagable jajajajajajaj

[@AlainHubert]

This thing would be even better if we didn't have to press down on anything. Just pick up a piece and move it to another square to register a move into the computer (by using magnetic switches under each square to detect the presence, or not, of a piece for example).

[@AlainHubert]

As I said, a hall effect sensor, or electromechanical Reed switch (activated by the presence or absence of a magnet close to it) can detect the presence of a given piece. When you'll lift a piece up, the magnet underneath it will move away from the magnetic sensor and thus the computer will know what starting square is, and when you put down the piece on another square the magnet would close the magnetic switch underneath that destination square and the computer will register the piece as moved in its internal memory. And the computer knows where every piece is at any given time in its internal memory. There are already chess computers that work on this principle: the Excalibur Grandmaster is one, the Mephisto MM IV is another. There is no need to press down on any square to register moves on those machines.

[@nathanjohnson3430]

Might cause problems if you slide a piece across the board.

[@thor3203]

Yes great integration and very doable...I think that will come in next version so im.waitng. That would be huge difference...that and some form of chess clock that syncs to the board would ultimate but not bad setting phone i guess but yeah seems simple enough and should be part of the design.

[@smaklilu90]

you are absolutely right. for $300 equipment that is very fair to ask for. I will go with those old school chess computers that go for $20 lol.

[@sandrofabres]

@@AlainHubert Exact! LIke the Gradmaster Excalibur, still today the best choice in this feature, and very easy to change the reed switchs if necessary: kzbin.info/www/bejne/kJaQhpytdrONjK8 I have no idea why the models created after Grandmaster always want we press the pieces, it is unnecessary .

[@morbidfollower]

The stand is for your phone guys.

[@ChessHouse]

Yes yes =)

[@danMdan]

There are some functions I'd expect in a Chess Computer that seem to be missing in this machine: e.g.- 1) it does not appear to be possible to stop the game at any point and take a move back, - 2) you do not appear to be able to just abandon/abort/stop a game at any point without actually pressing a resign button on the blue-tooth connected control phone and having to suffer a mocking musical tone when you do, - 3) it does not seem possible to get the computer to run both sides by playing against itself, - 4) there is no teaching mode or hint modes, - 5) there are no problem solving modes, like "find the mate in 3" sort of problem. Effectively it is a very clever good player at the higher levels, but lacks facilities that many other cheaper electronic chess games do have.

[@miccr2655]

Just by playing itself would have been way better

[@canpusa655]

I'm trying to watch the board but somebody is blocking the view with a phone :(

[@ElieM1]

yeah, it would be nice if the manufacturer provided a phone stand instead of a chocolate holder

[@atomicmechanic3637]

If I beat it, I want a mechanical arm to come up and wipe the pieces off the board like a sore loser, Nakamura-style.

[@teachermichellebalatbat6148]

I'm more interested in the chocolate than the chess set itself 😂😂😂

[@Shootingstarcomics]

Nice! I think a wooden clunk sound would be better than the beep.

[@abhishekdsilva9673]

This is a great board, Had the chance to work on the app that goes with it, Great board and luxurious to have it, definitely will get one if I can

[@laz288]

Valid attempt but misses the boat. The height and sound and motor would drive me nuts. Better off with a thin board where you can use any chess pieces or magnet sensor pieces. The board would light up showing where to move and you just move the other player pieces. But I applaud the innovation and maybe one day it will be perfect.

[@ShengTheCraftsman]

it'll be even cooler if we can set our own set of voice we can get from everywhere as long as is in MP3 format, like when your move it will save your move with a bit of different tone each time, you can even ask your friend to voice acting for you

[@tonycruse3648]

Nicely done lads. Mine’s on order and I feel like a kid again.

[@ketchuploverful]

Hope it beats your expectation :)

[@7omle33]

What if i upgraded 3pawns to queens for example how did it know

[@aubreystewart3772]

I hope that they find some way to have moves played on the phone translated to moves played on the board. Definitely would make me consider buying

[@booates]

whats the point of buying a real board if you wanna play on your phone? just play online

[@Blinkers2007GameDev]

@@booates I agree with that

[@Duraltia]

Instantly knew when I saw the promotional video with no sound ( of the unit ) that It would feature an incredibly annoying one while doing a move. Wasn't disappointed with my suspicion while watching this video... That grinding sound goes against everything I consider to be Chess - Twice so in 2018.

[@ChessHouse]

The "grinding" sound is actually quite exaggerated by the directional mic used in this video. What do owners think?

[@danMdan]

In a normal domestic room it is relatively muted - but it's great fun watching your invisible opponent move a piece in fairly instant reply to a player's move.

[@AlanJet5]

When you had to press the piece down before moving it and got a generic and uninspiring beep, then the auto knight-move clumsily displaced the pawn, and the queen didn't move to the centre of the square, and the app moves were not reflected on the board, I got that profound half-baked waste-of-money feeling. Start again guys, and do it properly! Chess is a cool game ... this should be cool!

[@danMdan]

When setting up the pieces you need to place each piece very precisely in the exact center of its square.

[@ElegyForTheMasses]

I wish they would have used a standard USB micro, mini or type-C port on this board. It would be a lot easier to replace a lost of broken charger that way, and you would be able to recharge the board with a powerbank. The additional benefit is they would be better able to implement a mode that uses a PC instead of a phone to control the board so it could interface with software like Fritz or Chessbase.

[@ChessHouse]

Those are good ideas. SquareOff is reading all feedback. I do think their product is intended to be simple to use while focusing on personal play rather than interfacing with existing software on the market

[@August3B]

Chess House I would think employing this with Frits/Chessbase would be an excellent start! Until it does that, I don't think I'll be buying it.

[@pupandro]

Excellent video guys! I got the Kingdom set myself as well. Very nice presentation. I initially was caught off guard by the board lock mechanism on the bottom of the board as well. But what a preventive measure to make sure that the mechanism is secured during shipping. Love my board as well! Square Off has not disappointed for sure.

[@ChessHouse]

It seems well designed. When you play a game and multiple pieces are captured, so far it will place them in the same area, so you need to manage the captured pieces by hand. But apparently the Grand Kingdom design will place them in designated places alongside the board. That's kind of a more elegant approach.

[@pupandro]

Toneri that I know of the Grand Kingdom set has been released.

[@claytoncl4425]

The insanely loud shrill high-pitched and annoying beep would drive me crazy (I can barely watch the video with that noise). An option for audio to come from the app rather than an internal speaker, and the ability to select your own "ringtone" or other indicator (again, from the connected app/phone) would be a huge and very simple improvement.

[@ChessHouse]

I couldn't agree more. Mind you, the microphone for this video was directional and picks up the board sounds more than the voice. This results in the perception that the board is louder than it really is from the video. However I agree that the app should be the one controlling all sounds, not the board.

[@alexjwilson12]

Can you turn off the beep? A haptic would be awesome.

[@kevinmorrice]

why are people neer happy with something that just works

[@Absolution55]

Mr&Mrs Morrice I agree

[@caheddr]

Thank you for this review.

[@natirvinii9120]

I just got mine and thanks for the video!

[@mattikaki]

That really looks cool but sounds nasty. I am an electrtonic maintenance engineer and have been doing work with robot movements and this sounds bad to me. There are noises which are not healthy. Perhaps something is misadjusted or too tight cable or something. If I compare this to Milton Bradley Grand Master this is clumsy. It would be interesting to see this inside.

[@mcplutt]

LOL

[@Pond721]

I thought it was Level 3 out of 4 until you said so, I've just purchased one of these and I was a bit worried that the second highest level was even worse than me

[@Socrates...]

they should provide more internal padding to dampen the sound more

[@legendarypainter3000]

What if I make an illegal move?

[@gutenbird]

GoldenPerseus you get fined one hundred dollars.

[@caheddr]

You get sent to the jungle.😂

[@AlanJet5]

Jings, this would have been really good if it had used a standard board and a robot arm!

[@iiGingiey]

Of course we need this it be playable with voice assistance

[@Spaceshotx7]

There is probably a magnet attached to a robotic arm that moves the pieces. The pieces probably have a metal plate inside each one.

[@SaskSneeze]

I'm assuming you've figured out that the thing you used to hold up your chocolate is actually to hold up your smart phone

[@ChessHouse]

Oh yes =)

[@StopFear]

It is a cool invention but it is still crippling because the most popular game mode online is blitz and this would be useless for that. If someone wanted to play blitz over internet and on the board then you'd do much faster by using your hands to move the pieces. I still think the device is cool, but the application is not as good as the wow factor.

[@ketchuploverful]

The future of chess is HOLOGRAMS

[@sansan-yt3rs]

how could be work it..?

[@ruizu1677]

12:10 Also, you can see the love between a Black Pawn and the White Queen! That's my kind of gameplaying ♡

[@CrueLoaf]

The pieces you lose don't really get shifted far enough off the board. Kind of sit right on the board edge. Do you find that annoying during a game?

[@Ruskieit]

Seems kinda noisy

[@williammcgrattan9583]

Can this board play a game without the app? Does it have an inbuilt chess engine. What if you don't own a smartphone?

[@ChessHouse]

It requires a smartphone to play - with Bluetooth connection.

[@Sertao2013]

The one guy said chess is a 2 person game . The whole thing about the game is its a one person game . Hello its a phone stand .

[@jacobklein7482]

Great Video, Covered a lot of great areas that I personally would have tested out.

[@ChessHouse]

Thanks Jacob! SquareOff will be actively improving the product thanks to the ability to push out app updates!

[@LovesTheGash]

I want it

[@ChessHouse]

You can find it on Amazon here amzn.to/2N3xiiV

[@markstanton63]

Put the dumbphone down!

[@KK-ol5ov]

Are many backers receiving their boards? Just not seeing many video reviews on KZbin.

[@ChessHouse]

As far as we know, yes.

[@KK-ol5ov]

Chess House I received my board. I am so excited that I did not even open it yet.

[@KK-ol5ov]

I got my board and I'm over the moon.

[@JonBck]

I've received my board! From what I hear people are receiving theirs.

[@AlainHubert]

@12:00 There were other machines in the past that moved pieces on their own. Milton Bradley Milton, MB Grand Master, Fidelity Electronics Phantom, FE Chesster, Excalibur Phantom Force, just to name a few. All were relatively expensive. Some were fast, others were slow, some were noisy, others less so, some were robust, some were very fragile, but all of them didn't stand the test of time. It's great that SquareOff is reviving this kind of robotic chess playing. But their move algorithm is nowhere near the sophistication of the machines of the past. It would benefit from a lot of optimization and efficiency. Just have a look at how the MB Grand Master moved its pieces, and see how clever it is: kzbin.info/www/bejne/p6DNmqeHjtxlopY

[@uidzero]

The cleverness of this is not in the auto-moving which as you said existed in boards of the past but that combined with using an app for not only playing with the AI but other remote players.

[@AlainHubert]

uidzero Agreed, that's the real innovation here.

[@AlanJet5]

Yes! Take note guys, MB GrandMaster is showing you how you move a knight - the pawn moves slightly sideways to make room, then back once the knight has moved.

[@jeremycatches9766]

The question I have is; How fast does it play the endgame? Back in the 90ies I had a Radio Shack chess set that would play against you but as it got deeper into the game the computer would slow down to a crawl even on the low levels. It was pretty much impossible to finish a game.

[@claytoncl4425]

You are talking about the capacity of the processor to perform analysis of possible moves. You may be the only person to have failed to notice that processors are just a little bit more capable in 2019 than they were in the 1990s.

[@sammyfromsydney]

It sounds like you're bagging groceries.

[@dlerouxa]

A guitar finish and it plays songs as well :-)

[@RC-dj8rp]

I don't care for the beep sound when touching square to move...

[@n40798]

Why not make the moves detectable like on a DGT board instead of needing to press the squares?

[@51foxy]

Great product but can’t get one in the UK only imported from states. Then I get import tax of around $100 Nightmare

[@pasxalisskoutaridis]

wie kann man das bestellen

[@einSteppenwolf]

How does the machine promote? How do you underpromote?

[@g0tueSWL]

I've just ordered one of these :-)

[@Sup-jz2ow]

How do you like it?

[@maodurant]

Please tell me how has been your experience with it, specially its performance with the online mode through chess.com.

[@dakotashiflett6830]

What website

[@drutgat2]

Thanks for this. I must admit that I would like to be able to load games and positions. Does the SquareOff play any variants at all?

[@gilshannon1079]

This doesn't look like it save your games so you can also print and/or analyze them later.

[@melodychest9020]

Does it grind up the pieces after taking them?! Gee wiz sounds like a mulcher in there! Much rather prefer a chess board to have an arm to move pieces than this slow mechanism. That would be true achievement in mini robotics. This is not that great imo and likely to fail the market.

[@leonyates8575]

Don’t know why people are moaning so much about this.. what’s the problem with having this as an option? There have been over 200k people put in orders for this which speaks for itself. If you don’t like it that’s cool but it’s a damn good idea! I play at club level (also won the British under 120 chess championships in 2015) and think it’s brilliant! My friends aren’t into chess so it allows me to get the real board feel by playing online opponents as a screen just isn’t the same. Great idea, great product and I can’t wait to get one

[@LeroiPOV]

weird flex but okay

[@einSteppenwolf]

How do castling and en passant look like?

[@nalra7goner]

If you had this in a bigger size with some triple weighted wooden luxury chess set piece's like imperial edition for an example..

[@darrenjones3080]

Would have been nice to know if the review was unbiased or if you had something to gain from it i.e did you buy the board with your own money or was it supplied for free for review? Do you get a percentage from sales using the link you provided? I feel it’s important to be transparent about this kind of thing when it comes to reviews

[@ChessHouse]

That's good advice. This computer was purchased in the original kick starter campaign. The idea was to carry the product in store but the cost pricing has not worked out well enough to allow for that. So SquareOff provided a small percentage kickback if people use the discount code "ChessHouse" when they purchase one.

[@yahushaking4367]

Pieces are too small.

[@atajable]

Se ve entretenido, seguramente esa tecnología irá evolucionando.

[@jonywong1691]

awesome !!!

[@wayuragenres8646]

can play using only our voice commands.?

[@pnachtwey]

I had a Novag Excalibur long ago. It was a great practice partner back in the late 1980s but the quality was poor. It didn't last. The Novag was rated at 2300. I got a rating of 2057 my first tournament. Now I would never buy hardware. I would just download a computer chess program.

[@dlerouxa]

Hi. Excalubur was another brand, not a model manufactured by Novag. I believe you mentioned the Phantom Force of Excalubur.

[@mt1719]

Anything with moving parts, watch out. Another plane to crash.

[@arkadiuszjandylewski152]

The computer starts playing at 9:24.

[@Sweettweety666]

It is a holder for your phone

[@mcplutt]

Are you sure?

[@mensaswede4028]

It moves way too slow, and it's way too loud. I think it sucks. The piece movements need to be faster, it needs to be nearly silent, it needs to not require pressing your pieces when you move, it needs to be able to distinguish the types of pieces. Basically it has a long way to go before I would prefer it to playing online with a tablet.

[@mcplutt]

A faster cheaper board comes this year.

[@ricardo_2702]

I don't have a smartphone and will never have. Can I play only against the machine, just like in a normal chess computer?

[@ChessHouse]

It needs smartphone because it's not a normal computer.

[@andrejtajhman3054]

What if you don't have a cell phone......so you need internet cellphone and this board if you want to play

[@ozzyfromspace]

Optical system (camera of some kind for the ai) might have done better than this push to move piece system they've got here. For a split second I wanted to build one of my own (I do electromagnetics and this looked interesting)

[@royplayer]

It plays a great game of giveaway chess. what is it's peak rating?

[@stoundingresults]

Dear Santa....

[@kfalxa]

This was a little painful watching them fumble through without reading how it works, not plugging it in for an initial charge after shipping (very possibly it could operate erratically if the state of charge is unknown) when performing a video review, not placing pieces correctly initially (centered and leaving queens blocking path to side)... to name a few obvious errors, I had to stop watching.

[@mcplutt]

ok

[@danMdan]

Can someone please confirm the charging voltage needed - is it 12 volts ?

[@DudditsXCII]

THAT'S SO COOL!

[@ateam388]

Can the game be played with the beep off?

[@Harutjun]

i was thinking right about the knight before watching the video, XD how does that move without touching the other pieces & then at 11:22 i saw the move but it was touching the other pieces brushing it aside but i expected worse so not bad at all

[@danMdan]

As said elsewhere - when doing the initial set-up, and when moving your own pieces, you need to position the pieces very exactly in the precise center of the receiving square - there is e.g. only just enough space for a knight to come out of the back rank if you do that.

[@PHeMoX]

15:50 ...or you use it for what it was intended, ie. mount your phone or iPad LOL.

[@snakepliskin4898]

It's a cell phone holder.

[@ChessHouse]

Yes yes. =)

[@execrable3000]

I made something like usin Arduino and Python

[@tamirerez2547]

One simple question: WHY???? A world record for the ‏most unnecessary machine in the world!!!!! Login to lichess.com and simply play chess.

[@adrianwisa6084]

To me this seems a bit disappointing. Cool as a gimmick, but I don't think I could be bothered using the board if I owned it. Would probably stick to using a chess app or one of those simple, cheap computer chess boards :)

[@ahmadbchennaty123]

Wooow i love it 🥰 how much ?

[@zerocool2727]

Good idea but no people to play maybe because of the price

[@john2001plus]

Small board. Noisy. Slow. Many better ways to play online.

[@tcgmedia2023]

How does a knight jump blocked pieces???

[@ChessHouse]

It slides between them

[@palashpratimdeka230]

where will i get this

[@TrueScandinavia]

Incredible... really wonder how it works. Magnets under the board or something... but how does it not collide with other magnets?

[@OrigamiMaster06]

TrueScandinavia I think they said that they have an arm moving it

[@brumtraveller78]

There’s a robotic arm inside moving the pieces.

[@danMdan]

Probably one magnet on X and Y co-ordinated motorised tracks - it will be assuming that each piece at the start is correctly placed, and thereafter keeps a note of where each piece is supposed to be.

[@mcplutt]

OMG

[@Nemesis_HEX]

Me lost for level 5 so dificult al

[@bobl.1044]

To me this kind of thing is just gimmicky.

[@madpenguin9402]

Not really - just rubbish components and no ide why. When manufacturers give people what they can they will fly off the shelf - but it's like astronomy - high prices for a selective hobby it appears.

[@simonjeppsforever]

Complete waist of money. The guy's even holding the proof of this in your face. Just install a good Chess app and move the pieces yourself. It's noisy as hell too. I can't believe people buy this shit.

[@deonieboycero7241]

How to this one...

[@jempesa5376]

How much is that

[@nahuel7800]

Cool

[@TaitTv]

Were did you buy it i cant find one

[@ChessHouse]

You can buy it at www.squareoffnow.com and use coupon "chesshouse" to add some savings.

[@1683clifton]

whats the deal with the extra queens?

[@ketchuploverful]

In case you need an extra queen

[@Nathan411466]

Pawn promotion

[@danMdan]

A pawn which reaches the back rank can be promoted to any other piece, although it is often promoted to a Queen - so you need a spare queen for this of either color.

[@chesstherapy]

We ♥️ CHESS ✅

[@ChessHouse]

We do too - despite this video.

[@Joshuaposada]

cant u watch games online?