Advice on an electronic board or chess software

I haven't seriously played chess since my high school years. I'm not a beginner, but in those days, I won the high school contest, travelled to other schools, did well, and once played one of those series where many of us played a ranked player, and I won. However, I haven't played much at all since those days. I watched "The Queen's Gambit," and it's reignited my interest. 

I want something that will help me relearn and improve my skill level. I'm finding with the apps on my phone, I either win every time, or on higher levels, it wins(same with computer versions). Either way, it does nothing to improve my game, and that's what I'd like to do versus just passing the time.

I prefer an electronic board versus staring at a computer screen, and I looked at the DGT Centaur(read a post here about it), but I'm not familiar with other offerings or companies for that matter.

Any recommendations? 

A search on this forum for threads on either the Certabo board, or Millennium sets will be useful to you. You might also look into Square Off. You can Google any of these and get the manufacturer’s gouge, but looking at the threads here will get you some excellent end user assessments.

Ok, great. Playing on a computer is nice, but I think one of the electronic boards would be nice. I'll do some searching.

Do people read past the first sentence before replying? He said he didn't want to stare at a screen and then gets told to use chess.com and apps. OP - the Certabo and Millennium is a pretty big outlay of cash. How often can you honestly see yourself using it? There is a cheaper millennium that doesn't get talked about here, and the Centaur is a good option too.

I recommend the Centaur. It's simplicity appeals to me, (no deep menus, no complicated level settings etc.) it's blinking of squares announcing moves is clear (no tiny LEDs), adapts to player's level. Also, it has a feature missing on all (or should I say, I don't know of any) more expensive machines (DGT's Revelation II included):

When computer moves and you don't like that particular move, you simply make a different one for the machine and the engine will accept it. This way you can force it to play a particular opening as deep into the game as you want. Perfect for studying openings!

-Izmet

 

 

Just thinking outside the "board"... perhaps getting better isn't about playing games against a computer.  Perhaps it's playing them against higher skilled players?  Perhaps joining in tournaments (sadly virtual now).

Another idea could be using a computer for analysis (particularly of games you may have lost). Perhaps playing a particular opening and variations.

How about tactical training?  Chess.com has excellent puzzles.  After you do enough you'll also see a breakdown of categories of puzzles you are weaker in.

B

I also recommend the DGT Centaur. It has a large playing area, the lit squares make it possible to focus on the game instead of the tiny electronic paper screen, it works off an AC adapter or the rechargeable built-in battery, the manufacturer claims that the computer uses machine learning to adapt to the human player, and finally, the stock plastic pieces can easily be replaced with whatever chess set the owner prefers by simply attaching foil under the pieces.

I’m going to suggest DGT Smart Board or King Performance or Square Off as these three options come ready out of the box and allow computer play and also playing against other people in a similar way you did back in the day.

The King Performance shows a variation on one screen which makes it easy to follow and if you want to see other variations you just use the “Next Beast Variation” option. It also shows you the opening you are using and shows book moves open to you. If it is a learning resource you are after then I think as a stand-alone unit, it is the best option over DGT and SquareOff.

Playing against others is a great idea because I've seen a lot of times a given chess engine plays the same way in a given situation, which is too predictable. However, I am very busy with work so I'd end up aggravating human players because I might not finish the game and have to come back to it at oddball times, or even the next day.

I wouldn’t worry about that. You can set up daily or three day games and then rematch those players who happily reply a series of moves consecutively.

Not everyone sees daily or three day games as exclusively one move per day or three day, they choose that format exactly for the reason you specify - dipping in for a series of moves when the opportunity arises.

What's helped me improve most is:

1. Tactical training/puzzles
2. Analyzing my games with a computer

 

Daily Chess sounds like it might fit your needs. The Vintage Patzers (adult improvers ) club is just finishing a small daily tournament that was 1 day per move but the games finished much faster. I hope to organize another one soon if you’re interested...and the club is good people: https://www.chess.com/club/the-vintage-patzers-adult-chess-improvers

Ok, thanks, I'll have a look. I like the Centaur, but I'm not crazy about a black and white chessboard. Kind of a dumb reason not to pick it, but I find visual appearance has a strong effect on my declining ability to see things. The Millenium Kings Performance has a nicer look with traditional wood that I like better.

Unfortunately DGT has not come out yet with a wooden version of their Centaur auto-sensory dedicated chess computer. The best that you can do right now is change the pieces to any wooden chess set.

I can also recommend the Centaur. The plastic pieces are awful in my opinion. I purchased a cheap set of wooden pieces for £35 and applied the metal stickers after following online advice. Works great and looks good :)

I thought I would post back here with my choice. I ended up with the Millenium Kings Performance. Both it and the DGT looked good, but I liked the Millenium's look and that it can be used online to play others, get updates and access different engines. I played my first game with it last night, and as expected, I resigned. There's not much wiggle room for bad moves. I played reasonably well, I thought, but I was a bit careless in losing pawns, and it's surprising that only being down a pawn is enough to cost you a game.

What difficulty level did you have the computer set to, out of interest?

I am embarrassed to say level 4 I believe. But I'll get better(I hope). I quite like the look and finish of it. Now, if I can just get time to myself to play uninterrupted, I'll be all set. lol

I will have to figure out how to slow down the response time as it's ready to move a long time before I am for the next move.

Nothing embarrassing about that. I for one am really enjoying playing against a range of my computers, then analysing my games, and I am seeing real improvement from this.

A number of people feel that we shouldn’t play computers as they don’t play like humans, and I agree to a certain extent, however, there are a number of engines that play much more human like and either way, for me, it’s fun playing when and where I like without any judgment, at least for now.

I am sure you will improve. There is nothing like the feeling of suddenly being able to set a trap or see the results of a plan come together on a level that was crushing you :)

Just my opinion.

I am playing through the “Easy Levels” that are between the “Fun Levels” and the main levels.

I like that the KP makes the game easier by not taking advantage on some occasions when they arise but also does not randomly sacrifice pieces for nothing like the DGT centaur does.

I think that Millennium did a good job in regards how they made the easy levels play.