Square off Pro?

Ah, ok. You made a blanket statement so I was wondering if you had some other source for issues/problems. 

Your "issue" is not really an issue at all, it is a reality of playing online with an external board. I have played that way for years (minimum 30|30 games, usually 45|45 or longer) and the SOP solves the issue of having to look back at the screen to see the move, then come back to the board to make the move, think about your move, turn back to the screen to make it, repeat until the end of the game. It will be interesting to see how well it works for me, someone who is used to playing with the external board (used to playing that way, not very good playing that way or any way ).

For faster time controls that is unacceptable but I don't think they really have a way of ever fixing that - they can't hold the clock until the move is made because even a lowly patzer like me can visualize the board with one piece "moved" but not placed there. Plus I doubt the chess services like chess.com or the "site that must not be named on chess.com" would let them stop both clocks until the move is made. 

Maybe as we move forward and these boards gain in popularity they will need to start thinking of ways to implement it but I think that is years away, IMHO. Hopefully for players like you who need a better way of handling the clocks in faster time controls it will be sooner so you can enjoy the technology as well. 

Cheers! 

Probably not, smaller company, perhaps not used to the volume that hit them, wanting to fulfill vendor orders. I am getting one delivered today from Trueform (shoutout to @Nicke1Plate for the tip!) that I ordered on 8-Dec. 

Ordered one directly from SquareOff on 9-Dec and it shows "Shipped" as of 16-Dec but no tracking number provided which makes me wonder if the label has been printed yet - that automatically creates the tracking number so it should be available; other places that ship give you the tracking number as soon as the label is created. I know my company does and we ship 10's of thousands of packages a year.

I played another half dozen or so games against the AI last night and everything was flawless. Regarding the price complaints, these boards can be had for <$200 right now which considering build quality, packaging, portability and capabilities with the app I think is a really good value. I've also not had any issues with slow response times since I got the board. I DID have issues with slow response times in the app prior to having the board, not sure what that was all about.

I've also used the in app chat to send questions to support and so far have received timely responses. Unfortunately, I was told by support the Viktor chess coach feature which is clearly advertised on the box and their website for all of their boards is still a work in progress and not yet available. I feel they should at least mention this on their website.

Regarding the DGT Pegasus I took a close look at that also and it has its own set of issues out of the gate. I'm not knocking it but do your own research I've seen youtube vidz regarding connectivity issues with the app, issues with the finish on the pieces, app not being fully featured, and the app flat out not even being available on iOS where people have boards and they can't even use them. Maybe that's changed by now hopefully.

This is my first dealing with Square Off as a company. My only concern after reading some of the negative comments is will they support the board with future firmware updates and improvements, finish the promised Viktor coach feature in a reasonable time frame? Time will tell.

But the product in its current state works and works very well and IMHO is worth the price that you can get them for.

I appreciate NickelPlate the detailed info concerning your experience with Square Off Pro. Enjoy!

@SirSacrificesAlot - just got my "On its way" email, shows it is in Ontario, CA and a delivery estimate of Dec 23. 

Did you get your notice today?

Interesting that the package from Trueform is listed at 2.5 lbs but the one from SquareOff itself is listed at 8 lbs. 

@Rsava

That's good news. I'm really interested to hear your first impressions and thoughts. I wanted to mention also that the app stores all of your games (I have 19 so far). I was able to download the .pgn files for my lost games and load them into chess.com analysis and game review and it worked great. This will be a great feature for learning from my mistakes, of which I make many

Wow just checked Trueform's website and they still have these in stock and are now offering free 2nd day air shipping . I'm tempted to order a 2nd one now for my nephew so we can play together anytime instead of just at the occasional family gathering.

This like any other new tech will have problems, some of which should be able to be fixed by a firmware update for N/C. They told me they were working on the "one legal move" taking its time to move. Chess engines spit out a move so fast when there is only one.  There must be a hangup somewhere in the code?  Just guessing. 

I am looking forward to my unit. For under $200 I will have more enjoyment than. If I wait years for tech to be flawless I will be no longer on this earth.  I get mine on 12/22 UPS tells me.

I also saw it was 8# from SOP. 

While I wish their rep was still on the SOP threads they seem to answer questions fairly quickly.  After all, it is to their benefit for a rapid response to technical problems or questions. 

Please send me challenges for unrated games after the first of the year.

That will give me some time to get proficient although I have a tribe of Grandkids staying here for the duration of their holiday vacation. on loan from my Arizona family.  They all want to see snow!! I hope they are also willing to shovel said snow!.

I've been watching streams of the SOP that people have been using now for a while and have gotten tips on captures etc. so as not to have the computer "freak out". 

Good luck to all that bought one. I hope you and I both enjoy it!

House of Staunton keep making the deal sweeter and sweeter! Free Worldwide Shipping too!!! 

Hi, @Nicke1Plate   Maybe it will run faster using wi-fi?  I have no idea what the difference is in speed and drain. Maybe when I get it I will play vs. the AI at the same level for each game, kind of an experiment. If you do the same let us all know. I get mine on Wednesday, but will not be surprised if UPS ground will be running a day or two behind. 

Got my first one delivered about an hour ago. Definitely an 8lb shipment as SquareOff states, not 2.5 like Trueform had. 

Set up was a snap. Turned it on, opened the app on the my 2017 iPad Pro (12"). Connected in less than 2 seconds. 

Played a game against AI-1 (and took WAY TOO LONG to mate the AI). 

System worked VERY well. Like the loud "clunk" of pieces when a move is made, it is something I struggle with normally when using a board to play online, I do not have a speaker connected to the computer I play on so I am constantly looking over at the screen to see if a move had been made. 

Only had 2 move issues, one was on me because I moved the piece that the computer SHOULD have moved (but it being AI-1 it made a different move) and one was just a bad piece placement on my part. 

Overall, right now, I am impressed. Will be playing with it more tomorrow then will be out for 2 days so next week I expect to put it through it's paces and start challenging some of you. 

Cheers!

Just received my order shipping tracking# via UPS this afternoon - they have an arrival date of 24Dec but I'm skeptical 

I picked up the bundle - I'm gonna gift one to my dad I will update once I receive them~

@Rsava

Hey bud glad to hear you got yours today and initial impressions are good! I agree the sound effects are a nice touch I forgot to mention those. That satisfying "click" when a move is registered is a nice assurance everything is okay.  There are separate sounds too for capture, check and checkmate all of which are nice little touches that make the overall gameplay more enjoyable.

I'll look forward to hearing more from you later. I'll be playing mine ALOT this weekend. Also look forward to playing a game with you although I'll probably get creamed. I don't even have proper rating yet but I suspect it's somewhere between 900 and 1000 maybe? I dunno lol.

Still playing with, and loving, my SoP!  The battery still shows almost a full charge after MANY games.  Hope that is not a glitch and the next game it suddenly drops to zero! How is the battery life for everyone else?

I also did encounter one more "glitch" if you want to call it that.  I play using the app on my cell phone and today, for the first time, someone called while I was playing on the SoP.  Totally made the app glitch out which I suppose it to be expected.  I had to back up a move and then remake the current move twice before it started working again.  Lost a minute or so.  Which makes me think of another question for all of you-

Do you have a favorite time control you use?  Personally, I prefer to use the 15/10.

Hi @laserswift - I am not sure the battery life of the board yet, but after 4 games my old 2017 iPad Pro is still at 60% battery. Not sure of the others who said it chews up the battery on the iOS device. No sign of heating either. Another good thing about using an iPad is no interruptions by calls!

I have been using 1 or 2 minute per move so far, will move to 15|10 next and see how that plays. 

One thing I did notice that I am going to suggest to them is that there is no warning you are about to time out - I just finished a 2 minutes/move game and ran out of time because I forgot it was my move and the clock just ran down. I had 2 candidate moves and if I had an indication I was about to lose I would have made one of those moves. 

Overall though, thoroughly enjoying it, next week I go online with it. 

I just received mine today and I was very impressed with the quality of the packaging; it was much better than I expected.  There are two separate bags for the pieces, and each piece came individually wrapped for protection.  I have not had a chance to unpack or play with the board yet, but will probably find the time later tonight.

Who did you order it from? 

Did you contact whoever you bought it from?

Have they already charged your card? 

4 days with a full charge is impressive. I wish my iphone was able to hold a charge for 4 days lol.