any chess player who play chess on the computer,
if its online and/or aginst an engine, and want to play on a real chess board /with a real pices-know's that basically there isn't much choice for him out there.
of course,you can allways play on a real board and after every move you make insert the move to the computer with the mouse..
but any one who try that knows that it can be very disturbing and confusing,:rolleyes:
so other than that, there is only 2 good options left for you
you can buy the expensive DGT CHESS BOARD (600-1000$)
or you can compromise and go for the "novag citrine" (300$ -support only in arena and against engines)
allso there is a cheap junk call "usb roll up chess board" that dosent support any chess software or servers and you can only use it with the internal software that come with the board.. so it worthless.

and no other choice i am afraid..
so that we all know,and i allso have the same problem myself,and for couple of years i look for a cheap solution,but didn't find any..
the reason i didn't buy the the dgt is not jest becuse its expansive ,but allso becuse its very large and i dont have enough space on my table for it
any way..
after long thinking and total exhaust from serching- i finally found a solution that is good and cheap,and i want to shere it with you guys

this is quite simple actually..
from what i know it work  with fritz,playchess server and fics. i dont know if it work with icc becuse i dont heve a membership there but i dont see any reason it wont,so you can try there too..

what you need to do is first to set "on" the "voice announcement " in the software so you can here the moves you'r opponent make without looking at the screen.
now,to insert the moves to the software i chose to buy a mini keyboard so i can put it on the board (somthing like this : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeTK_cwkcao&feature=related]YouTube - ITON Mini Bluetooth Keyboard @DayDeal_com Review 15$+5$ bluetooth adapter) but basically you can go with any keyboard ;)
to move the piece you jest type the starting and the ending square on the keyboard,(foe example: e2e4) and make the move on the board,thats it.
very simple and very good alternative,i am not saying that is good jest like the dgt but compering to the 600$ that the dgt cost,i think its good and worth a try..

*some servers like fics allso allowing to type the moves in a shortest way like jest "e4" or Nf6 for example,so its even better!

i hope you like it and give it a try yourself :-)

here some photos of my setup:
[IMG]http://img827.imageshack.us/img827/1471/dsc00365t.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/8206/dsc00366zh.jpg[/IMG]

Hi there,

Your idea's quite interesting, but I was thinking about something maybe simplier: a kind of software able to convert voice into text, so that you can simply say "e2e4" and the text would be introduced as if you typed on the keyboard. I don't know if such software exist, but chances are high. Well know are the voice text processors, and I'm pretty sure there must be something similar. 

That way you wouldn't even need to type, but just grab the mike or headset and talk.

Take care, and thanks for sharing :)

hi riuryk,thanks for your replay.

actually,there is such software.. ("dragon naturally speaking")

i download it maybe a year ago with the same idea as you mention,and i have it on my computer.

i can tell you that the voice recognition there dont work so well. sometime it work and some time it dosent,but allso maybe it have to do whith my voice,becuse i dont have a very good accent(english is not my first language)so if i say e4 for example,sometime's the software  recognize it like "e4" and sometimes its like- "e for"  :)

and that can be a big problem in our issue you know..

allso keep in mind that this software cost more than 100$.. so i dont know if its such a good and practical as it look.

there allso some board's that move the actual pices themself like the "phantom force"  or the "novag robot"

but the problem is that they dosen't supporet online play-aginst humans..

I've been toying with similar ideas for a while now. The price of the dgt is just a joke, considering what amount of technology is actually in these things.

so one solution i am growing fond of:

build up a webcam next to the board. the angle doesnt have to be crazy high, just high enough. then you can run a software on it, recognizing the board and the pieces (sift should be enough, considering the software has "learned" the board before). the lighting is an issue, but once you figured that out and combined the pure cv-part with a game logic you can work out cases where you can not see a firgure directly. so, that should work, and using good libraries the implementation shouldnt take forever.

so, next question: what kind of interfaces would be needed? is it enough when it works with chessbase? (with a bit of winapi-knowledge simulating the keystrokes would be enough)

While I like the idea of the web cam, it does sound like a Rube Goldberg solution.  :)  I'd suggest having the board identify the pieces instead of having to include a webcam and a light.

If the dgt boards were about half their price and they worked with chess.com, I'd be interested.  If they were half the price and worked with another online service only, I think my days here at chess.com would be numbered.

I really want to practice more with a real chess set than a virtual one.  I'm glad to see this thread to learn I'm not the only one.  :)

Eric

well... you dont have to include a light. hopefully ;)

just that: if you want the board to do anything you have to go into electronics, building stuff, buying equipment. the webcam-solution is ready available. most laptops do have one, so all you would need to do is train the software to the chessset and you are good.

so, after the software is developed, its pretty much no effort at all to download it and set it up. and its free. aint that smth?

cool idea- http://www.pcb-dev.com/index.php?Itemid=1&id=35&option=com_content&task=view&lang=english