I chose the Certabo mainly because I could choose the pieces I would use. I haven't seen the Exclusive but the pieces were underwhelming. I can every close to buying the exclusive, but now have no regrets going the Certabo route. Being able to play on chess websites is fantastic, which is why I bought it. I rarely play engines these days.
Which chess computers can sense the identity of the pieces?
Sort:
Stock Exclusive set:
How to change the Exclusive pieces with your choice of set
https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-equipment/my-final-upgrades-to-my-millennium-chessgenius-exclusive
Millennium Exclusive set From chesshouse.com:
SPECIFICATION
- King Height: 3.0'' inch / 7.62 cm
- King Weight: 5 oz (unweighted)
- King Base Diameter: 1.0'' inch / 2.54 cm
- Set weight: 11.3 oz
- 34 Chess Pieces, including extra queens
- Paper Felted bottoms
I contacted Millennium to see if they would sell me the ID tags by themselves, but they weren’t interested.
chessroboto wrote:
The DaVinci chess computer that is sold on Certabo is a custom software that runs on Raspberry Pi. You can download the latest version from their website and run it off your own Pi hardware, or you can purchase their own build which comes with a touchscreen and a custom case.
I am unsure about the development team behind the Certabo. You can send an email or post a chat message on certabo.com, and you can expect a response from the developer for the Certabo himself, Pietro Mandurino.
Thank you again for your helpful advice and knowledge chessroboto. I am confused, I thought I just needed my tablet or iphone or laptop + a certabo board + pieces with the chips stuck on. What is Pi hardware? Is my iphone Pi hardware?
I've just tried the live chat function on certabo because I'm getting close to deciding to get a Certabo due to the ability to play on chess.com, blue LEDs which you say make it easier to tell when a move has been made and the engine it comes with having a very high Elo - something I'd like to help me study strategical ideas when analysing my games. Unfortunately my questions had to be emailed as the person on live chat couldn't speak english. I asked whether you can select the size of the electronic chips that come with the board - no option to do this appears if you go down the checkout route . The set I want to use has a variety of base diameters: King/queen 36mm, Knight/bishop 33mm, Rook 30mm and Pawns 26mm.
jjupiter6 wrote:
I chose the Certabo mainly because I could choose the pieces I would use. I haven't seen the Exclusive but the pieces were underwhelming. I can every close to buying the exclusive, but now have no regrets going the Certabo route. Being able to play on chess websites is fantastic, which is why I bought it. I rarely play engines these days.
Thank you Jjupiter, I'm very close to getting a Certabo as long as I don't have to buy any special Pi hardware - not that I know what that is lol.
chessroboto wrote:
When I want to train on a dedicated chess computer, my go-to is the Millennium. I consider the Certabo to be the primary competition to the DGT electronic boards for connecting to Chessbase or Chess Assistant and do analysis using any chess engine available in the market for chess study.
Thank you Chessroboto. Maybe one day I might end up with both too!
The Pi is a computer that you can buy for the Certabo, but you don’t have to. You can see them on the Certabo website (look for Da Vinci), etc.
You can buy your own Raspberry Pi mirocomputer and follow the steps to create a microSD card with the latest build from Certabo.com. You can connect to a TV via HDMI and plug a keyboard and mouse via USB, or you can buy a 3" touchscreen LCD screen made for the Pi. The basic setup with the touchscreen and a case would look like this:
You will need to build one of these builds to boot off a microSD card on your do-it-yourself Raspberry Pi kit.
You should know that Raspberry has recently released their new Raspberry Pi 400. It has an integrated keyboard and comes with a USB mouse. You will still need to connect it to a monitor though.
Certabo sells fancier and faster Raspberry Pi modules and they look like this:
Here is a video demo of how it looks to use a Certabo with a DaVinci:
In the end, you will only need this IF you want to make your Certabo a stand-alone chess computer. You always have the option to plug the Certabo to a computer, phone or tablet and use the appropriate connection for your system.
https://www.certabo.com/download/
Video on how you use Certabo with a computer running Windows:
chessroboto wrote:
You can buy your own Raspberry Pi mirocomputer and follow the steps to create a microSD card with the latest build from Certabo.com. You can connect to a TV via HDMI and plug a keyboard and mouse via USB, or you can buy a 3" touchscreen LCD screen made for the Pi. The basic setup with the touchscreen and a case would look like this:
You will need to build one of these builds to boot off a microSD card on your do-it-yourself Raspberry Pi kit.
You should know that Raspberry has recently released their new Raspberry Pi 400. It has an integrated keyboard and comes with a USB mouse. You will still need to connect it to a monitor though.
Certabo sells fancier and faster Raspberry Pi modules and they look like this:
Here is a video demo of how it looks to use a Certabo with a DaVinci:
In the end, you will only need this IF you want to make your Certabo a stand-alone chess computer. You always have the option to plug the Certabo to a computer, phone or tablet and use the appropriate connection for your system.
https://www.certabo.com/download/
Video on how you use Certabo with a computer running Windows:
Thank you chessroboto. Are there any disadvantages to just using my iphone or tablet instead of the above set up or does an iphone only allow a connection to online chess.
If there is no engine (Stockfish) somewhere then I am confused by this statement on the site. Is Stockfish on the Cetabo app that you download onto your phone, tablet or laptop...
Unpack your Certabo chessboard and play straight out of the box against Stockfish one of the most powerful chess engine or any other of your desired UCI one installing Certabo software on PC or on raspberry PI3 using your smartphone display.
Because the DaVinci can run all kinds of engines, including many that can’t be run on a phone, among other things, I believe. It looks like the difference between buying a DGT board and using one’s phone vs the DGT board + the DGT Pi (though the latter unit is built into a clock instead of with a touchscreen).
Unless you buy both an Android and an IPhone, the Pi runs many more engines, and probably more than both of them together, since practically every engine compiles on the Pi. Just Google it. And you don't have to use or have your phone, since, in both cases, the Pi is essentially docked with your board. If you are a techie, it is obviously much easier to program for the Pi, so there are and will be many more utilities available.
I'm not saying either the Certabo or the DGT aren't fine without their accompanying Pi computers, I'm simply saying it is an option that adds flexibility. I'm not sure why you are being combative or intent on defending the honor of smartphones. I have no interest in the former or am not opposite you on the latter!
Hello! I am very interested in certabo, to play online in chess.com against people. You don't have to look at any screen while playing but... What about the clock? I suppose you must look at the screen while playing, or not?? (sorry my poor english
)
Yes you must look at the screen to see the clock. Same as you look at the screen of a digital chess clock.
sound67 wrote:
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And what are the other engines you couldn't run on a smartphone?? There's tons of engines available under Android, Windows et al.
My experience in using the Certabo phone software is that it isn't very good. It often drops the connection mid game is next to impossible to reconnect and the user interface is clunky and not at all user friendly. It could be my phone, but I have no interest in finding out as my laptop never drops connection.
As an aside, nearly all the questions being asked here and others threads are answered on the website.
Thank you, jjupiter6!
Another cuestion about playing in chess.com against people with certabo: Do I need anything else apart from the certabo board (with the pieces) and the smartphone, or is it enough with those two?
When I sent Certabo a few questions I included my telephone number. They sent me an email response but better still a gentleman called Pietro opened up a Whatsapp discussion and took the time to patiently answer all my questions. I shall try to summarise some of them for the benefit of others.
He told me I wouldn't be able to use my iPhone as the Certabo software (CertabOdroid) only works on Android, tablet, PC (including my laptop), Mac or Raspberry Pi . He said Apple don't allow connection via usb and they need to use Bluetooth which they are doing (I presume that means they're developing it).
The board is connected to one of the above with a USB cable and he sent me a link for the cable I would need to attach my tablet which apparently has a USB-C connector (I sent him a photo).
The Stockfish engine is built into the software but you can add others.
If I want to set up positions and study from there I have to use my laptop or PC as you can't do this on the phone version of the software.
The standard size of the chips that come with the board are 20mm but they can substitute these for a mixed set (18*30mm and 16*25mm) which would be better for the set I would like to use). All I have to do is to add a note when purchasing and say I'd discussed it with him.
The pieces are sensed by the board using RFID communication. The tags on the pieces according to Wikipedia just reflect the radio waves back to the transmitter (in the board). I asked about safety given the two studies mentioned on the RFID Wikipedia page linking animal tumours with RFID. Apparently there are two forms of RFID, 125 khz and 13.56 Mhz. They use the 125 khz which is lower frequency = lower energy and less absorbed by air molecules or anything else. Because they are low frequency (right at the lower end of the spectrum) they ought to travel further in air (not being absorbed by air molecules so well) as far as I can tell but he said RFID are very short range devices.. I guess that means more reaches the user but it is of a lower energy and less absorbed. In comparison Bluetooth uses 2.45 GHz and Wifi uses 2.45 or 5 GHz which are 20,000 higher in frequency and so much higher in power. The boards are CE and FCC compliant radio devices and had to undergo loads of tests the results of which can be viewed. I was left feeling reassured about the safety of RFID.
Thank you, Garfield 9! I would like to use it with my android smartphone, but jjupiter 6 told that it wasn´t working very well.
caballaco wrote:
Thank you, Garfield 9! I would like to use it with my android smartphone, but jjupiter 6 told that it wasn´t working very well.
Hi Caballaco, I sent him a photo of the USB lead I use to charge my tablet, that I would have used to connect to chess board. Apparently I needed a usb c to usb 3.1 adaptor. They seem very approachable so I bet they would try to work on any problems you might have.
When I want to train on a dedicated chess computer, my go-to is the Millennium. I consider the Certabo to be the primary competition to the DGT electronic boards for connecting to Chessbase or Chess Assistant and do analysis using any chess engine available in the market for chess study.