Questions from a newb

Hi there,

I am very interested in using a DGT baord to play online but have a few questions if you will indulge me.

1. What equipment is needed at a minimum? Just the board and pieces? Do I need one of the DGT clocks also?

2. What happens if I make the wrong opponent move, for example I move the wrong pawn or something. Is there any alert or similar?

3. Do I need any additional software ( I run Windows 10)

4. I understand there is a Chrome extention to announce the opponent moves. Is that the only option? Were I to get a DGT Pi does that display the opponent move?

1. What equipment is needed at a minimum? Just the board and pieces? YES Do I need one of the DGT clocks also? NO

2. What happens if I make the wrong opponent move, for example I move the wrong pawn or something. Is there any alert or similar? NO

3. Do I need any additional software ( I run Windows 10) YES (check on DGT support, firmware and update for board and "DGT live").

4. I understand there is a Chrome extention to announce the opponent moves. Is that the only option? YES  Were I to get a DGT Pi does that display the opponent move? ? (dont think so)

In my opinion (based on personal experience), the best way to play online OTB with DGT is currently on Fritz/playchess (>=10min games) and ICC-BlizIn (even <10min!) , for reason that the DGT-rabbit plugin is supported, so you can use a correct voice announce and/or clock. Very stable and precise connection/detection, no move delay (!).

Maybe chesscom might implicate that one day, but at the moment too much bugs, ghost moves, bad announce, long delay etc. so that it's very unpleasant to use, just a "toy gadget" style...

Thanks for taking the time to answer, I appreciate it.

Going back to point 2, if I make the wrong opponent move does my clock jsut keep ticking if I try to reply to that wrong move?

YES, nothing happens, the game continues as you had done it correctly. So you must take attention  (or look at the screen)

I use BT 

It would not only be nice to implicate a clock, but also to have a correct and precise move announce and NOT to be obliged to have a PC screen to use beside (or even plugged a USB cable) . The sense of OTB play is to concentrate on the board, OFF screen. The permanent switch of views and verifying stuff is very disturbing. 

I agree with Nisse_FR, I use BT on iMac, it works by and it is slow. You cannot use DGT for blitz for the moment on the site.

You must think also about 2 other things:

- the whole site must be in English version, otherwise the name of the places won't be told of will be wrong (for instance: "R" is king in French, will be announced as a rook, the other pieces won't be announced.

- castling must be done with the king first and wait otherwise you can have a catastrophic move: the king moving and the rook not.

The problem is, that there is no piece announced at all, only the field coordinates. And this is not useful, as you have to verify each time, what piece goes to the announced field. 
Castling does not work properly, even when moving the king first. 
 My impression is, that LiveChess does not apply the same performance then the rabbit plugin. Therefore the Mac in general creates much more issue , even when connected with USB. 
The DGT support should fix that, hope it won’t take years again. 

Just for info, the ICC server allows blitz games on DGT boards, it works only with PC and the BlitzIn app, but it works great. 

just changed the settings in english, now the pieces are announced. Thank you carnegie65 !