Square off Pro?

Hey folks, can anyone please confirm from their square off app if indeed the AI plays at full strength and has no time management issues especially with the higher levels? I seem to be having issues with mine, it keeps losing on time... Secondly, what's the procedure for updating the app?

I am beginning to think maybe I should cancel my order. The SOP rep hasn't been on here to answer the first questions and now people who own it can't play a 5 min game vs the computer because of the computer losses on time. 

That goes back to my question that was never answered which does relate to the time the computer takes. When there is only 1 legal move the computer takes what seems to be way too much time.  That to me means the program it is using is flawed, but I have no idea really.  If it is one of the modern chess engines it should answer in a split second with only one legal move. The Fritz I have answers instantly if left with one legal move. 

Please come on and answer some of these questions or at least make an attempt to. 

As I understand it without downloading it (was watching someone on Twitch who has played literally well over 100 games with it) is it uses your smartphone's CPU which makes sense, so yes it is chewing through power. He keeps his plugged in while playing.

Also, he ran into the same problem playing 5 minutes chess, the computer flags. SO it really can't play 5-minute chess since it is way too slow.  What they need to do in my opinion is make it downloadable to your computer so it has super processing power. I downloaded many apps for my laptop. Do that and many problems will go away. 

The problem is I never see the rep from SOP co. in here anymore. So I wonder if they are not reading this.  My guess and this is only conjectured on my part,  is the average customer is clueless and will not care about the topics we are bringing up since we play chess on a regular basis.  I could be wrong and I hope they prove me wrong. 

I myself do not have a lot of computing power in my smartphone and it is 3 years old to boot so I guess it will burn through the power and compute slowly to where I can not play a 5-minute game without the SOP defaulting on time. 

Would sure be nice if someone answers the questions. I emailed the tough questions and get no response especially on the one "what does it take a long time to respond when there is 1 legal move"?

No, in this case it really doesn't make sense to use 100% CPU when sitting idle at the main menu. There are no games being played or moves being calculated.

Hey guys, I'm looking to purchase this board as well and all of the posts in this forum have been really helpful. I was wondering if anyone has purchased through ChessHouse.com? I am finding the price there with the code ROLLUP to be $219.00 USD with free shipping by 12/17/2021 (Today is 12/11/2021) to the West coast of the USA. Does anyone recommend purchasing through this dealer rather than from the main website? Are there other codes/ways to lower the price further?

Thanks!

I bought mine through USCF Sales but Chess House is 100% legitimate. You'll likely get your board much faster through them as opposed to the Square Off website as well.

Bought through Chess House as well and they shipped quickly to Iceland.   

nj2gh : I bought mine from USCF shop and with free delivery by Fedex to France, very satisfied. Tax then to be paid 18 € to Fedex for customs fees. Vous le trouverez bientôt "Au Pion Passé" magasin très sérieux à Nice https://www.lepionpasse.com/  Vous pouvez téléphoner à Alain pour avoir les dates et détails de livraison

You will get it much faster through a chess vendor because SOP CO. is supplying their retailers first. `Also some vendors have 20% off right now ie: HOS/USCF/WHOLESALE CHESS/CHESSCOM SHOP....which is all the same vendor.  Shop around.  I only bought mine from SOP CO. because they were giving a "free" carrying bag they say is worth $70 some time to be delivered by the end of January. The board should ship soon if they hold up to the 12/23 deadline as most deliveries are getting backed up to a week.  I also got a very competitive price with a coupon they sent me a while back for $50 off, but that isn't the lowest price. 

I am looking forward to it but my concerns are not answered from post #26. 

Very concerning that, it can play 5 min. chess but just about anyone can win game after game since the SOP will lose on time since its response time is slow. I saw it for my own eyes on Twitch.  They can at least say hypothetically "we are working on it and as soon as we have a firmware fix we will let you know to download". I sometimes wonder why these fairly new companies, and sometimes established companies do not have better customer communication. Hire someone who can answer questions from their home, it's not hard to do and you can do it inexpensively. 

When someone gets an answer to anything please post it here. The company rep seems to have left the building. 

Was at their site less than a minute ago. They have buy the first unit for $209.00 get the second unit for $125.00. If you have a friend, what a deal to split the cost. Also, they are still promising delivery by 12/23. I hope they know all delivery systems are clogged and some are taking 1-3 days more than promised or normal. If the units do not go out by this Thursday they have a good chance of getting delivered after 12/23. I ship out myself each and every day (not chess stuff) and even USPS PRIORITY recently took 7 days to get to a customer in Oregon. 

But that second unto for $125 is a buy the way it is priced right now. That also tells me they have lots of units to sell so why the delay of shipping out units when someone buys directly from you? 

Thanks for everyone's input. Glad I held off getting one. I'm still waiting for SquareOff to release their last Kickstarter boards.

@Nicke1Plate - I also ordered from Trueform based on your suggestion and they say it has shipped, UPS is saying "Estimated Delivery" Dec 16 but the shipment progress still shows it in Redmond, WA (since 12/11). 

Does yours show the same, still in Redmond? 

Also, anyone know why this topic missing might be missing for me (I had to go into my history to find the thread)? 

And, now it is back. 

Yes as I stated a couple of times I know I could have ordered for a few bucks less and got it in about 3-4 days. I don't mind waiting till 12/23 as long as I get it by 12/23. I paid exactly 199 and that is to include a carrying case they claim had a value of $70. To me, it looked very similar to a carrying case for a roll-up board and chess pieces. So I value it sight unseen, just by the pictures, of about $30-35. And I also figured I would get the latest update if I waited 4 extra weeks. 

I could have bought it for about $194.36 with their 20% off and 10% off collectors club discount and bought it off of a company that I know ships fast, packs well, and has great communication, either by phone, email, or online chat. 

That price I feel with all the other variables in customer service was the best deal out there.  Of course, Chess House with the 30% off if you caught the Black Friday deal right away was also just as good. 

I like to order my chess equipment from someone who deals in just that and is very reputable in case a problem comes up.  Ordering direct from them is just what I did for the carrying case and hopefully the latest version of the firmware. 

Actually, no one can beat the price they have (SOP) of 209 + 125 for the second unit if you know someone who also wants one. That is $167 each delivered. 

I ordered two SOP's from Square Off on 25th November, and are due to be delivered in the USA... I'm just trying to understand, how is it that others who've been ordering much later are able to get theirs within 3 - 4 days and we have to wait for a full month? What really constitutes a delay of that length of time once an order is placed?

@Nicke1Plate - did your status change from "On the Way in Redmond, WA" to "out for delivery? Mine still shows "estimated delivery" of Dec 16 but it still shows "On the way" in Redmond. 

And is this the one you ordered from Trueform? 

Will love to see your opinions. I have been playing with the app on a six year old  iPad Air 2 and am not getting any of the heat issues or battery usage issues with the app. I charged it to 100%, played 2 games on it (one with a 45 sec time, one with a 2 min time), then charged it back to 100% and played 2 games with Shredder (5 min games) - similar battery usage, no excess heat issue with either. 

Square Off Pro works with Chess.com through iOS.  Probably because it talks to the normal Chess.com API.