DGT Bluetooth e-Board Walnut Review + Timeless & FIDE DGT Pieces

@coccochess88 thanks for sharing your experience. Is the USB connector mini-USB or USB-C? I am considering buying this board. But its spec on DGTShop says that it uses a mini-USB connector, which makes me a bit hesitant. I cannot find any close-up shot to confirm as well.

This is one of the most frustrating aspects about purchasing a DGT board. The various resellers seem to make it almost impossible to know *which* board they're selling (mini-usb, usb-c, bluetooth) and you can't even guess based on price because there's such wild price variation between the various resellers. I can only suggest you contact the seller, make it clear that you'll return it if it's not the correct connector, and then pray. It looks like Schach Niggemann is including connector info in the mini descriptions these days, which is very promising:

https://www.niggemann.com/en/dgt.html

Either way, good luck!

Hi folks, I'm joining the party here.

Be advised that DGT sells a so-called USB-C upgrade kit, that brings serial or USB-B e-boards to the latest USB-C configuration. I just purchased one at the cost of approx 100 euros, excluding shipment. According to the upgrade kit manual, the operation takes a few minutes. It can be done at home, or in-house by them.

That's interesting, @agatti1970, I haven't seen that. Do you have to get it direct from DGT? Also, I *thought* that the newer boards had higher resolution piece sensors so that might be something to think about, too.

I discovered about it incidentally, by writing to the DGT support. You need to communicate your model of board (USB or serial), your serial number and send a couple pictures, showing your board connection metal plate, and the bottom lid. This way, they tell you if your board can be upgraded.

The kit consists of two pieces. One is the new external metal plate, which has the USB-c connector and the clock mini jack on it, plus screws. The second is the real interface between the external connectors and the board "sensors". So it control things like the increased polling speed, the resonators aplification, the speed of response of the board to external requests, etc.

Interestingly, they also send you a new sticker, with a new serial number. In fact, your board completely changes "model", if you like. If you connect it to the Rabbit plug in for example, you will see that it has a completely new set of hardware version, software version, firmware version and serial number.

Thank you @lotsoblots and @agatti1970 for the information. So it sounds like other models can be upgraded to USB-C connector. I believe the current USB e-board is already with USB-C. And it seems Bluetooth e-board is stuck with mini-USB. This is 2023. DGT needs to update their technology.

Just as additional note, yesterday evening we upgraded a rather old serial DGT e-board to USB-C, and it works flawlessy. So the it is confirmed that the upgrade Kit is capable of upgrading both serial and USB-B boards to the newest USB-C connection.

Thanks coccochess88 - helpful review!

So on Lichess with the DGT e-board you don't get the moves by audio like on chess.com - you have to look at the screen for every opponent move? Might there be some third party app that could add audio moves to the Lichess + DGT e-board setup? Would adding the DGT Pi to the e-board give you audio for Lichess (though expensively)?

Not sure if my setup would fullfil your needs, but the only way I play on lichess wth my DGT e-board, is via the Android app "Acid Ape Chess GM Edition". I've installed it on my (rather old) android device, I connect the device to the DGT's USB port, and I'm all set.
Acid Ape's connection to lichess is absolutely perfect, takes a couple seconds, the app's clock is fully in sync with lichess' one, and moves and spoken by the Android device in english language, so you could even play without looking at the screen (eventhough I do it anyway from time to time, just to double check).
If you also connect your DGT3000 to the board, then the DGT3000 displays lichess' clocks, and you feel like you were playing a real OTB game.
Hope this helps.

Thanks agatti, that's very helpful. Do you know if that configuration would work with all the DGT USB & Bluetooth e-boards and Smart Boards? Would the DGT Pi work the same for displaying the times as the DGT 3000? And does Acid Ape also connect with chess.com?

Hi, yes AAC support both USB and BT DGT boards according to their info. I have personally tried it with my (previous) Smartboard and my current USB one, and both work well.

As for Chess.com, no it is not supported. The supported serves are ICC, FICS and Lichess, both in anonymous and registered (rated/unrated games) modes.

The biggest drawback that exists, for which Acid Ape is criticized, is that the full version (called GM Edition) is not free, but has to be paid. On top of that, if you want to connect the GM Edition to an electronic board, you need to pay additional $$. The cost of such "feature" is high, I don't remember precisely, but I think today is in the range of 40 € or higher.

Personally, I decided to go off and buy the GM Edition + electronic board feature. It gets continuously updated, and as soon as servers like Lichess change their connection APIs, the app gets updated the day after, to connect to it. In my situation, therefore, since I use it almost daily, I decided to spend such money and then sleep well forever. This is what I use since 2020.

Hi everyone, I'm considering buying a second-hand DGT e-board together with DGT Pi and timeless pieces. I was told they were bought in 2019 but look very good. I have a few concerns, though. Firstly, board is connected via USB mini, which I don't have in my computer (only USB 3.0 and USB-c). Could this be fixed with a standard USB hub (converter)? Secondly, since it's cable connected to the computer, is it necessary to disconnect and connect again whenever you play different colors or can you just arrange pieces accordingly (the board is without indices). Lastly, how does DGT Pi perform in analysis vs regular Stockfish, i.e., what depth and how fast does it reach? Thanks in advance.

Hi Mat, if you're planning to use your DGT USB-B (mini) to your PC, you simply need to use a USB-A (computer side) to USB-B mini (DGT side) and you're all set. Please note that such cable is originally sold with the board, so if you're purchasing a second-hand board, you may want to ask to the original buyer, if he/she still has the cable. Like you, I bought a second-hand (Rosewood) board which came without cable, so I bought separately a 3,0 meters cable.
On your second question, no need to unplug and reconnect the board. You even don't need to rotate the board. Most apps and softwares today have a feature to recognize the side on which you put the white and black pieces. You need to experiment with the app you will use and see. Anyway, no need to disconnect/reconnect.
Regarding the DGT Pi, I can't answer that question as I don't own one. I know that the Stockfish on the Pi is quite older than the most recent version. It may be as old as SF12 or 13. There are some SW updates for the Pi on the internet, but I can't elaborate more on that.
Enjoy your new DGT and welcome to the family!

That's correct. I purchased such kit and upgraded my USB-B mini to USB-C, see some posts above this one where I describe it.

Thanks for clarification! I'm still hesitating. The offer seems a real bargain. On the other hand, it is investing in a bit old technology. I also wanted to go for royal pieces and he's selling the timeless ones . I'll read more about SF updates for DGT Pi and make a final decision soon.

You're welcome. Sounds good; I have the Timeless pieces as well, they're the only thing I would change, as mine are "unweighted" and I would have liked them "weighted" instead, or the Royal pieces.

The DGT Pi uses a Raspeberry Pi 3 computer featuring a 1.2 GHz 64-bit quad-core ARMv8 CPU. The software version provided by DGT comes with several chess engines, including Stockfish 7. The DGT Pi owner’s manual on page 9 estimates the ELO rating of the Stockfish 7 engine as follows: Level 0 about 1100 ELO; Level 10 about 1750 ELO and level 20 about 2570 ELO.
DGT has not updated the software for several years, but fortunately there are many dedicated user forums with frequently updated software, including versions running the latest version of Stockfish. However, there is a considerable learning curve on performing the updates, and there is no really good single source of information on how to do it. I update mine infrequently, and it’s painful to have to relearn the process whenever I do an update.

https://groups.google.com/g/picochess

https://www.chessprogramming.org/DGT_Pi