MonRoi Pros and Cons - Purchase decision

For those (or their kids) who CURRENTLY own a MonRoi.

(Or if you do not own one but know the device really well... Please kindly refain from tell me pencil and paper is cheaper, I know that but it is for my kids so they can take note faster and more accuately for their coach to review the games - and for me to observe them live in the hotel room via the net so I do not have to wait 6 hours in a national tournament in the waiting area...)

May I ask a few questions:

1.  How is your expereince with it?

2.  Can someone view your game live during the tournament? How?

3.  If you can reconsider the purchase, will you still buy it (for yourself or your kids)?

4.  Does the device actually assist somewhat, improving your (or your kids)'s chess skill in any way during the games?  such as: easier notations, faster notation and like the above post mentioned, see the game in a 2D board as an advantage?

Thanks so much.

Nene

In terms of assisting your kids, there's one point I can make : As a TD for USCF, I do know that you have to make your move FIRST and then make it on the Monroi ... this loses the advantage of being able to "write" down a move ... pause and reconsider if you change your mind or if you see a terrifying blunder possibility.

What is the impact of this? Most scholastic coaches like to see their students "slow" down and normally having to write something down serves as a deterrent for a clock-slamming munchkin whose hands move faster than his mind :)

I am pretty sure writing down your move then making it has been illegal for a few years, since 2007 I believe, regardless of whether using a Monroi device or the standard game notebook.

You  may want to read this. 

An excerpt from it reads:

1. 15A : Variation I : Paper scoresheet variation: The player using a paper scoresheet may first make the move, and then write it on the scoresheet, or vice versa. This variation does not need to be advertised in advance."
   
   They definitely use the word "MAY" meaning it is up to the TD, but I've not seen a TD (let alone a scholastic one) in 7+ years try to enforce the FIDE scoresheet rules (mimicked by 15A as per document)  to a bunch of kids in a USCF tournament....Nor would I.

1:  It's point and point again.

2:  Generally, no. http://monroi.com/chess-events.html

4:  I've never seen a chess player study a position off their monroi when the board is right in front of them. 

I surmise it's a reasonable buy in some cases, e.g. handwriting like an EKG, phobia for pencils, love of gimmicky gadgets, and, true, more reasonable than some of my investments.  I recall Dean of Chess Academy in NJ was selling Monrois at 40% off around the time of last Christmas although I do not know if they would do that this year.  There are more inexpensive options than Monroi for electronic scorekeeping - provided that you get TD and perhaps opponent permission to use said device, basically the app in question should serve simply as a scoresheet without chess engine functionality.  Most TDs and opponents are reasonable and are OK with this, particularly in non-big money tournaments.

for further info re: electronic score see here:

http://www.chess.com/groups/home/apple-iphone--ipod-touch--ipad-owners

and thread monroi type iphone app:

btw, NJ is a great state for chess and scholastic chess!  I know many chess players there!

Best wishes, and have a good day,

Matt

I'm not sure the experience level of your kids, but I would recommend not purchasing a monroi for one main reason. Learning to take notation, in my opinion, is not just to learning to write down the moves. Learning notation allows you to communicate with others about positions without a board and it helps to visualize. I would think that until a certain level, it would be detrimental to use a monroi.

But then again, visualization exercises can be substituted and a more accurate method of notation sounds good to me :D

Also, I do not own a monroi but have used it when on the higher boards in tournaments (Doesn't happen too often :D) as the TDs like to relay these games on monitors, to the internet, etc...

Why don't they just use DGT boards for that?

MonRoi is (a) more accurate and (b) less expensive and (c) less prone to technical problems.

How is a direct representation of the board more accurate than a player's potentially incorrect input of the board?  Also, the prices seemed pretty comparable to me.  No idea about the technical problems.

DGT boards are notorious for bad transmission of positions. The sensors don't always read the pieces correctly. 

DGT boards run around $1500, MonRoi's are around $400. 

Its neat and current to have MonRoi's. They let other things into play as well. Digital Clocks are still fighting to get them set right. I like the Digital age but they are more problems than they are worth to me. People always fight change. MonRoi is way to high priced but all things new are. Supply and demand. I think TD's should pay attention and explain the rules to the people what the users can and cannot do with them. Its only when big prize funds when you will have problems.

You can get DGT boards for way less than that.  Half that or less.

I personally think these electronic notation devices should not be allowed.  There is really no reason to allow them and they can be used for cheating (you can't tell me it isn't possible to hack one of these things to put a chess engine on them--you could open it up and alter it however you see fit once you have one at home--even installing your own operating system on whatever hardware you insert, etc.).

I think they are a huge ripoff.  I know several people who own them and from what I can tell all they do is record the moves... thats it and for $400???  maybe at $50 but considering what you get thanks, but no thanks.  It would take quite a bit of effort to add an engine into one of these things.  Probably not impossible for those who have the skills. 

The biggest problem I can see is that you can use it as a 'second board' to analyze moves.  Also many players find it easier to analyze on an electronic 'board' as if they were playing online (which has become far more popular that OTB games).