🔥 Chessnut GO | Review | Good things come in small packages!

#chessnutgo #review 

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The Chessnut GO is the smallest modern electronic chess board that has ever been released. It has been marketed for people who want to carry an electronic chess board when travelling, for instance, on flights, camping, motorcycling, or boating. Is it any good?

TL;DR:

1. If you already own a Chessnut product, like it, and wanted a travel set, then it’s an easy recommendation. The Chessnut GO is excellent. 👍
2. For everybody else, the Chessnut GO might be the electronic chess board for you. It is indeed very good, but there are some compromises.

Note: I was sent this unit from Chessnut directly for review purposes. I have not been paid to undertake this review and am not sponsored by Chessnut. This review contains my genuine experiences and impressions, and Chessnut had no editorial control over its contents. Chessnut did not see this video and article before they were published publicly.

Electronic chess board?

Firstly, what is an electronic chess board? In essence, it's a chess board that knows where the pieces are positioned on the board and can communicate electronically – potentially with another device like a computer or a phone, or to the internet. It allows you to play chess against a computer, against another person over the internet, or play another person over-the-board and have that game recorded automatically.

Why would you want to do this when we can play chess using an app? Great question! If you prefer playing chess using a computer, phone, or tablet, then electronic chess boards aren't for you. However, there is something wonderful playing with real physical pieces over a real-life 3D board, and if that idea tickles your fancy, an electronic board is a great way of enhancing your chess experience.

Chessnut GO case: Excellent!

First impressions are important and the packaging and unboxing experience of Chessnut’s products are usually plain, and a little drab. I expected no different for the Chessnut GO. However, once the (plain brown) shipping box was opened, the contents of the Chessnut GO package were placed inside the superlative Chessnut GO case.

It seems almost an exaggeration, but the case is one of the best features of the board! It is surprisingly attractive, with a dark grey/heather fabric exterior, smart white Chessnut logo, and striking bright orange trim surrounding the zipper. The case has a semi-rigid construction, which offers ample protection to the contents inside. Once opened, the right-side compartment has an elasticated sleeve, which snuggly holds the board without any movement. On the left-side is a zippered compartment holding the pieces. The internal mesh seems to be made of a neoprene material, and the inside surface of the case was covered in a synthetic fleece.

It is obvious that that case is competent; it is clearly well designed and well considered. Although I’m sure that the unit production cost of the case is almost certainly quite low in the mass manufacturing centres of China, it does not feel cheap. Not at all. Indeed, the choice of materials – the tough fabric case surface, the soft neoprene mesh, and the soft and slightly fuzzy fleece – are rather delightful to the touch and oozes charm.

The Board and Pieces

When seeing the board for the first time, I was struck by how impossibly thin it seemed. The main board has a thickness of only 4 mm (a tad over ¼ inch) and I measured it to confirm the specs in the promotional material. And for its thinness, it was also rigid. The board does not bend or flex under its own weight when holding it close to an edge with one hand. Indeed, the board evokes vibes that is not dissimilar to holding a modern iPad Pro for the very first time. And this comparison is perhaps apt; the Chessnut GO is approximately the same size and weight as the 11-inch Apple iPad Pro.

There is one LED on each of the squares, which are lit to indicate where the opponent’s pieces have moved. The LEDs are green, and when not lit, cannot be seen on the surface. Nice. The LEDs are plenty bright and visible indoors but will be difficult to see outdoors on a bright day, certainly under the sun, but even on slightly cloudy days. However, they should be adequate when used outside in a shaded area.

The squares of the GO have 27.5 mm (about 1.1 inches) sides, which is half that of the 55 mm squares of a tournament board. This means that four squares of the Chessnut GO fits in one square of a tournament board. It can be a little difficult to grasp the massive size difference this represents in words, but once we move into the third dimension, it means that the Chessnut GO pieces are likely less than an eighth of the volume of a tournament piece. In the video, I demonstrate the differences in size between the board and pieces of the Chessnut PRO (tournament sized), Chessnut Air (analysis board sized), and the GO.

Nonetheless, the diminutive GO pieces are quite handsome and use a standard Staunton design. They are made from plastic, and it is a minor engineering marvel that Chessnut managed to fit the Chessnut sensors inside each piece. The pieces have a thin felt/velvet base and can slide well on the board surface. There is good contrast between the black and white pieces, and the dark and light squares on the board respectively.

One of the features of the GO is that the pieces and the board attract each other magnetically – handy to avoid pieces falling off the board with movements and knocks. This works competently, though I would describe the attraction as a “light” magnetism. The promotional material shows the board at various angles of aggressive tilt, and even upside down as a demonstration of the attraction. However, shaking the board and surface is probably the more important test. To this, my experience is that it works fine. The slight magnetic attraction almost felt like the pieces have increased weight, which was a pleasant experience when moving the pieces. Pieces never felt like they were sticking to the board, and an accidental glancing strike of a piece with a finger will still knock it over (though I didn’t experience a piece flying off the board).

Curiously, it isn’t the pieces which have the magnets, but rather, the board! It seems that below the top surface of the board is a flat sheet magnet, likely the same material used in the flat refrigerator magnets! Having previously installed Chessnut sensors into custom pieces, I know that the sensors have a central iron core, and this is how Chessnut are attracting the pieces to the board.

E-board functions

The Chessnut GO has the same buttons, status lights, and connects using the same software and apps as the existing Chessnut Air, Air+, and PRO boards. I didn’t expect any new problems, but I tested the main functions of the GO nonetheless. Happily, there were no unwelcome surprises.

As the Chessnut sensor system has individual piece detection (the board can differentiate the specific piece, e.g., black pawn, or white knight), and very rapid detection at that, it works smoothly and quickly. The standard/original Chessnut App connects over Bluetooth low energy (BT LE) and allows:

• Playing against a bot (Stockfish based) at varying strengths.
• Setting up a position on the board editor, and then playing against the engine from that position.
• Playing bots and random opponents on chess.com.
• Play bots and random opponents on Lichess.

This worked without issue.

The Chessnut GO can also be used to record an over-the-board game against a live opponent, and have the game saved into internal memory without it being connected to a companion device. These saved games can then be retrieved from the board and saved in PGN format using the Chessnut App on computer or can be accessed via BT LE through the Chess PGN Master App (Android). Again, this worked without issue.

Recently, my standard method for connecting my Chessnut PRO board to chess.com has been through Chessconnect, which is a Chrome browser extension. This didn’t initially work with the Chessnut GO, but after communicating with Jörn Gehring, the amazing developer, he created a test version where it worked flawlessly. The next version update of Chessconnect will include Chessnut GO support, and this will most likely be released prior to the GO going on sale.

Chessnut has also a testing version (consider it an alpha) of the next version of their app available. It isn’t stable for online play (chess.com and Lichess), but the app contains the Maia bot, which can be fun to play against as its AI is trained to play human-like moves.

Taking it on the GO

The Chessnut Air, which was Chessnut’s first electronic chess board has 35 mm squares, which is roughly 25% larger sides compared to the Chessnut GO. This was my usual travel board, and I’ve taken it on holidays, including on flights. Although this difference in size doesn’t sound like much, the GO is substantially more portable. It isn’t even close.

The GO easily fits inside a regular backpack, briefcase, or messenger bag, even with the usual items inside (e.g., tablet, laptop, your lunch, etc.) That is simply not possible with the size of the Chessnut Air. The GO and pieces weigh less than 600 g (1.3 pounds). The Air and pieces are two-and-a-half times heavier!

Bringing the Chessnut GO along on a trip is no more difficult than bringing an iPad – something that can be done easily and without much forethought. Although the Chessnut Air can be brought along on travel, it needs to be done deliberately and with planned intention. In situations where weight and bulk are problematic, for instance, camping, bicycling, motorcycling, and boating, the GO is practically in a separate category in terms of portability.

Overall impression

The Chessnut GO is an excellent electronic chess board. It is part of a mature product line, with the GO being the fourth product after the initial Air, PRO, and then Air+. Annoyances in the early products (e.g., unexpected behaviour of indicator lights with charging) no longer exist, and there are well-established third-party alternatives to some of the deficiencies in Chessnut’s first party app. Pleasingly, this is something that Chessnut has embraced rather than rejected.

If you’re a Chessnut board fan and you want a more portable set for travel, then I give a strong recommendation!

If you don’t already own an electronic chess board, there are a range issues, and other products to consider. The Chessnut GO could make an excellent first board, but if portability isn’t needed, choosing a board with larger squares and larger pieces might be a better option.

I came to a certain introspective insight in my testing and using of the Chessnut GO over the last few days, and especially over the weekend – the aforementioned ‘compromise’ at the beginning of the article. The Chessnut GO unquestionably has unrivalled portability compared to the electronic chess boards currently on the market. However, what is the purpose of portability in an electronic chess set?

The small size of the board and pieces of the Chessnut GO makes it largely suited as a solitary board. This is absolutely fine for playing against bots or playing against an online opponent. During the game, one’s attention becomes drawn to the 64 squares, and I found myself subconsciously being closer to the board. I found that the experience of using the Chessnut GO wasn’t especially different to using the Chessnut Air when I used the board by myself.

However, I usually bring along a chess set to play with a friend over-the-board. And quite simply, the size of the Chessnut GO might mean that the two players would notice some intrusion into each other’s personal space. I found myself reflecting in this situation whether I would prefer to eschew the convenience of having the board record the game electronically and play a completely offline and “analogue” game of chess. Simply, a portable set of a folding silicone board and near tournament sized pieces can fit in a carry case not much larger than the Chessnut GO case.

In short, the board is technically excellent but think about how you’re actually going to use it. 😉

Miscellaneous questions that I’ve been asked:

Updated 20 May 2024

Q: Does it record PGN during offline play?
A: It can record games to internal memory, which can be retrieved and saved in PGN format.

Q: Does it have a speaker?
A: Yes, though the only use of the onboard speaker are beeps to indicate prompts (e.g., Bluetooth connected)

Q: How big is the battery?
A: In response to my query, Chessnut stated that the battery has a capacity of 900 mAh, and the play time is 9 hours.

Q: Is the battery user replaceable?
A: No.

Q: Can you connect it to Chessbase
A: Yes, but through third party software – Graham’s Driver

Q: When will it be available and what will be the price?
A: According to Chessnut in response to my query, the Chessnut GO is scheduled to be available for purchase on the 29th May 2024. The RRP will be USD $200, but there will likely be a promotional discount at launch. Chessnut website: https://chessnutech.com/