PHANTOM: The Automated Chessboard

I had an idea for this once! Maybe you should make it so you can switch between engines? Or does this put a live game on the board?

One very important question, for me at least: would I be able to play games on any of the major chess portals using this hardware board? I suppose it's up to them, but, what are the chances for Lichess, Chess24, or Chess.com to support the board? 

^^ Lichess already supports a board.

Regium offered the option of classic Staunton or modern chess sets which makes a lot of sense.

I thought that their modern chess set was very elegant but I have to admit that I dislike the 'Phantom' set.

I don't  know whether it would be feasible to just offer the sensor bases to which you could attach your own set of choice. I am not sure that I would spend a lot of money on an automated board if I disliked the pieces.

I’m excited about this Phantom board in part because I can’t play chess with my husband. He’s too good, I simply fumble, but I don’t really care enough to try to get good at chess. The chances of holding my own are slim. 

But what if I could sit and hang out and some AI or even a third party would play chess and we could chat and drink whiskey?

A physical autonomous board also has so much potential to make chess more social in contexts where it otherwise would not be. It would be rude to sit on your phone playing chess at a party, and sad to sit at a board by yourself, but what if you were demonstrating an AI game? That’s a great party trick to get people into chess.

I was irked Phantom is not wireless by default; it’s an extra $100 “add on” for a battery, bringing it over $500 for a classic set you can take anywhere (which really seems essential, in my opinion, not just for parties and parks but also in case husband starts teaching chess again, which he often did outdoors). 

I hope this turns out to be the real deal or my Christmas will be sad. 

Good morning! Have anybody played in chess.com using automated chessboard. I mean if it is possible to connect such board to chess.com and play e.g. 10+2 games against other chess.com members? Is everything fluent or there are some bugs, incorrect moves, big latency etc. ? Please share your experiences ☺️ Thank you

very cool

I will only believe this project if chess.com already checked and verified. I remember Regium told many nice things; and it it turned out to be a hoax.

Their "what is the current state of the project" FAQ hasn't been updated for 4 months. I think that pretty much sums it up.

na, that's not much of an indicator for anything but suboptimal communication at all.

I'm looking forward to playing on mine.

@berlincount, the project was announced like a year ago, and the product is still essentially in an idea phase. Backers were told it was going to be shipped by late December, and then around that time they posted an update , where it's clear as day that there is zero progress. I would recommend you to grab a book "Waiting for Godot" by Samuel Beckett, while you're waiting for your Phantom chessboard.

I've had multiple Kickstarter and Indiegogo projects "take a notable while longer", and with "certain global health issues" I'm willing to cut even more slack than usual.

so: no bitterness on my end.

Hi everyone! I am new to this community ;-)

Does someone have some news about this project?

They are not a Chess.com partner, have no official status, nor is there any official support from the site.
However, this project can use our API, just like any other third-party project.

If they have requested how is their request going?

Hello @carlos_pendas

I have been waiting for the automated chessboard since long now. The kickstarter campaign was started way back.

Do you have a definitive timeline for delivery as the date keeps on extending for the product delivery.

Also can you give a brief info about the origin of chess pieces. What woods are they being made of ? Referring to the Classical set. I know it refers to a birch wood set but which is the other wood being used?

You do have them now. Square off does three version Grand Kingdom, Swap and Neo:

World's Smartest Chessboard | Square Off (squareoffnow.com)

intriguing, no? in kickstarter update 14, phantom recommends you buy from the creator's brother, Santiago Pendas, for this The Do More Knife.

on the page. last update was december 2021, to be released in march 2022 but no update since. many people complaining now. intriguing, no??