PHANTOM: The Automated Chessboard

I advise against buying this. I did and am now regretting the decision. Still isn't out in September, with very few product updates, and the guy who started this forum and created the product has been removed from the team.

I'm sorry to hear you got involved in this.

I published a warning for chess related crowd funding projects as well.

Well 15 days ago they posted an update about the project saying they are now in the beta phase and that they delivered the first 50 boards. If someone who received the board sees this, please write it so everyone else knows it isn't fake

Their update says they were still changing the design of the electromagnets, but at the same time making 50 boards to send out to testers? This doesn't seem to mesh for me.

Well they said on 20. of September that they were doing this, but they also said they wanted to send the first 15 to their first 'costumers' two weeks after the last update they posted.

Any news since?

No.

How surprising

So is there a board that intergrades with chess.com so when a player moves it moves automatically? I'd like to get better at over the board chess. If this is a bust is there a better version

Look into the Dgt Pegasus board. Not self moving but that's a gimmick really

Why a gimmick ? I’ve seen em

in person

I've also seen them. I used to have a Square Off board. They work, but they slow things down too much. More often you are waiting for the piece movement to finish and its a distraction.

The Pegasus is better as the squares light up and you just move the pieces yourself. It also means there are no moving parts to wear or break, and the board itself is considerably thinner.

I think self-moving pieces are likely to be a gimmick too. Meaning, you may like it for one or two games... but after the hassle may not be worth it.

Chessnut and DGT are other popular smart boards (but not self-moving pieces).

You guys convinced me I’m going to buy one. Can you tell me the best classical one like you are describing

I can't speak to the DGT boards, but for me the Chessnut Air worked right away and seems solidly built. It connects with Chess.com and Lichess. Plus there are interesting third party apps that people have developed.

I think all the boards can come with problems. In a way, that was the nice thing about the old, simpler magnetic boards, which avoid sensor issues. The more complex the board and pieces, the more potential problems.

This looks awesome, hope the project goes on well !

Note : You should move this to the "Chess Books and Equipment" forum category.

Looks like a few beta tester backers have received the first productions of this Kickstarter project

I've published a warning regarding chess related crowd funding projects here. I've also researched a different chess related project (Go Chess) and highlighted various red flags about whether the product existed or if it would ever be delivered to backers on-time or meet their expectations.

I feel this project may have started with the best of intentions, however, some red flags remain.

• "Andrew H" YouTube profile was created January 2013, however, the only videos posted are for the Phantom chess board.
• The YouTube video shows Lichess user Maverick365. This account was created March 2024.
• The project's Twitter account was created May 2021, however, there are no tweets.
• The project's last Instagram update is July 2023.
• The project's last hackaday update is July 2021
• The project's last hackaday backer comment is December 2022
• The project's Kickstarter page shows one update per month. [I wonder if there are Kickstarter requirements to provide updates at atleast monthly to remain active]
• The Kickstarter backer comments are fairly active. About 3 or 4 users claiming to have received beta delivery. Other users are asking when they can expect theirs. Prior to discussions about delivery, all comments were expressing concerns about no updates and not receiving anything. "Andrew" is the only user to have posted a review and their online presence is also a mystery.

IMO, it still seems weird that only one user is posting reviews. I expect delivery of any product version would be a major milestone that the project would want to celebrate and share directly with users but the project's updates remain minimal.

This could be the project's attempt to show grassroots support and interest with the hope of attracting new backers that might think delivery is imminent.

Thanks for looking into this, @chesslover0003

According to the Kickstarter comments section there should be 27 "beta" boards in the hands of early buyers/reviewers. That is what the creator posted 7 days ago.

Where are all the "unboxing/reviews" for the board that is supposed to do final shipping in mid-May?

From Kickstarter comments section just now:

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The YT video I shared two posts ago is the first unboxing I saw as the owner literally just received it when he posted it.

I look forward to see more with usage on the sites that support the board.

I just found this on YT playing on LiChess