Square Off - Chess Set

$606,000 Neo will come with a choice of surface now includes a 3rd stone surface, Cport and internal battery.  Great news

I wonder why Swap only comes with 1 colour option

Probably due to contrast, makes it easier to perceive pieces and lines in a black background?

I still prefer my grand kingdom over the swap but I am getting two Nero's for portability and my son

For a second, I thought they're producing a case for Neo bag too! (Got this image from their email update today). I wish they would.

Happy to hear they'll be looking into color variants for the SWAP

yeah the GKS and Neo are the perfect combo

Just received mine today. Is it normal for it to have a pungent chemically smell?

so, did they realize people aren't happy with the square off board and started another one orrr..

I'm very happy with my square off board and use it every day. I bought another one because i am so pleased with it even. Your logic is flawed. if people werent satisfied with it  they wouldn't buy another.

I read that they have improved the mechanics. But, it came from someone in a YT comment section, so take that for what it's worth.

..or are they like every other company in existence who develop new products as part of keeping in business?

Capitalism being what it is, I'm sure Square Off will eventually go down that road, but it's too early in the product's life.  Both new boards (based on video demos) are much quicker.  Of course you're right: how long before we have a bullet version?  

The Square Off Team is destroying the playing ability of its AI (allegedly Stockfish). The "adjust to your level AI" (currently in beta) is playing worse than the primitive computers of the 1970's (ie Boris, Chess Challenger, etc). 

Here is a typical example.

AI is white

1. h4 e5 2. e3 d5 3. Qh5 Nc6 4. Bb5 Bd6 5. Qg5 Nf6 (a simple trap) 6. Qg7 Rg8 (which it fell for) 7. Qh6 Rg6 8. Bc6+ bc6 9. Qg6 hg6 10. Nc3 Bf5 11. Kf1

Why???? It is simply making random moves as its next move will show. 

12... Bc2 13 . Ke1 ???

Ok...as you can see, this is beyond bad. I have played a lot of very similar games and it always plays like this and worse. ie, If you play an obvious capture of its Q, it will not take back. The list is endless. It is supposed to adapt to my level (around 2000) but it is not coming close.  

I want to be clear that this is the BETA version of the app but It is what will be in the upcoming Switch and Neo. The original AI that is in the Grand Kingdom set which I own had 20 levels, each level the AI took exactly one second to play. But at the top levels, it would not throw in random moves. At L20, it was using Stockfish at full strength, albeit with only 1 second thinking time (still a GM killer). There has been over a dozen updates to the beta app with zero improvement. If anything, it has got worse. 

Why would they take a god like AI like StockFish and make it play like a lobotomized child? Before this, the company always responded to my feedback and questions. Now since their seemingly intentional plan to destroy the playing ability, they have ignored me. The beta sign up says they welcome feed back...apparently not.  

I am in the Kickstarter for the Switch. I am very worried that they will send out units that are vastly under 1000 ELO that are essentially useless. I truly hope I am wrong but them ignoring feedback has be worried. 

I know that there are others reading this that are in the Kickstarter. Please let them know your concerns.

Thank you!

Here is last game. 1 e4 c5 2 d4 cd 3Nc3, simply hanging a piece

Unfortunately, Square Off has virtually no documentation. My Grand Kingdom only had one small card that explained how to unlock the robot arm that kept it from moving during transportation. Everything else I learned from exploring and other users YouTube videos. 

Yes, I believe the auto leveling is supposed to gradually increase its strength till it equals yours. But they claim it does this mid game as well. The problem with this is as you see from my last game it would be too late to adjust its strength as it was a piece down on move 3 (!). I have played dozens of games and it is definitely not playing any better. I had one of the first Chess Computers ever made called Boris. It played sub ELO 1000 level. Yet, it played much better than the Square Off auto adjust level. Boris did not simply leave pieces hanging. The AI is actually in your cell phone, not in the board itself. You can download the Square Off app from Google/Apple store. If you opt in to the beta, you will see just how horrible it is. The manual levels play better (at least at L18 which is close to my strength). If you do not get the beta, you will have what is used with their Grand Kingdom set. 20 levels, each level the machine moves in 1 second, but at L20, there is no random moves thrown in so you are playing Stockfish at full strenght (but 1 second per move). 

I can tell you that the clock is stopped while the board moves its pieces. This was not relevant in the Pre-Beta because their were no time levels. The AI took 1 second on all levels (L1-L20). It would throw in random moves at lower levels to weaken its play. 

There is nothing I have found in the app. Sadly, the play is far worse then even a beginner or any chess program in history. Since I am in the kickstarter, I am most concerned that they no longer reply to customer support questions. The two new computers will be out in June, I hope they can fix the problem before then.