Square Off - Chess Set

Any idea if the Neo or Swap will work with Chess.com play with bots option?

I sure hope so

So, delayed indefinitely until we get a new message. O_o.  

Probably not! Most likely they will use the Square off app, which has their own implementation of an AI bot with 20 skill levels. Since Chess.com hasn't implemented playing against their bots even for directly Connected Boards (such as DGT boards) , I doubt it will work on the Neo or Swap, unless they will come with additional software which allows for "capturing positions from screen " and then "emulate mouse clicks", which would be very fault prone.

Agreed, I doubt it'll work with the bot system. There used to be challengeable bots in the normal player list an it would work with those, but I think they have bene retired in favour of the new method.

The newest Square Off ads no longer list the Neo.  Oh, and here is their latest shipping estimate for a new order...

Check availability at

According to the kickstarter, this was an oversight when they redesigned the website.  

That said,  they are still trying to produce the first 10 "good" units before starting production.  They are having "issues", but haven't updated the kickstarter on what those issues are.   I think July 2022 is probably too early...They already have 8k backorders.  

8k backorders on just the swap/neo or does that include the square off pro?  Because I have read of people complaining they still haven't gotten their square off pros (those who ordered from square off themselves).  I had mentioned in another thread how last time i checked the delivery date was in may and now it's july.  Frankly at this point i think it's safer to just buy it full price when it's out.  It's been dalayed too many times.

Tbh, i am still waiting on my SO Pro to arrive.  While i can understand and accept delays. 
I have now arrived to the point, in which others have been as well, that they are being dishonest.

Ordered in 11th of Dec, estimated to arrive the 31st of Jan. When not hearing anything, i asked kindly for a status update on the 2nd of Feb. They indicated that my order was given priority and it would ship 20-25 Feb and i would get a tracking Id by the 22nd of Feb. So contacted them , as I have not received anything from them the 23rd.

The site indicated that the order was shipped the 19th of Feb. In the email they just send, they confirmed that it shipped the 19th, however they will give me the tracking details of the shipment the 5th of march. And then it will take 7 business days to arrive. So in other words they lied about it being shipped. 

Right now i feel very conflicted about their dishonesty. Not so much the order itself, but also about the long term support of the board, or the app for that matter. And if they are lying to their customers, the company will not survive long.

Sorry you are having issues. 

When I ordered mine (the one from SquareOff themselves) in early Dec (10-Dec) I got it less than 3 weeks (definitely because I got it before I caught Covid, which was 27-Dec) - which was exactly the time frame they quoted me. 

Not sure that they are lying maliciously, as too many people have received their boards on time. 

Have you asked if you can cancel and get a refund? 

For now i decided to wait out , and wait till the 5th of march. I don't know why they did or feel the need to. Maybe of the pressure other customers are giving. Honestly I don't mind waiting for it. But dishonesty is something i am less forgiving about.

Don't think there are bad intentions. Just struggling to fulfill the current demand while still taking in new orders. That while they have their hands full on the issues with the NEO and SWAP prototypes and the app.  On top of that i heard that they recently moved the production facility from China back to India. So i can understand possible delays.

However if they keep giving BS then i will cancel.

8k just on the Swap / Neo.  

The Pro / Grand Kingdom is produced in China, while the Swap / Neo will be produced in India.  They're different manufacturing facilities. 

If I were buying one today, I'd probably wait until they are available on Amazon or HoS.

Sounds like and interesting piece of kit.

I can't imaging it would handle time scrambles well though.

No, it's really for longer games 

squareoffnow.com is definitely a scam!! I paid for chess 20 days ago and they still have not shipped it. They don't respond any of my emails at all. DON'T BUY ANYTHING FROM SQUAREOFFNOW.COM - IT IS A SCAM, FRAUD! BE AWARE!!

A scam indeed. Maybe it is not intentional, however it is.  False promises on products that are not viable yet (NEO and SWAP), and taking in more orders  then they can handle.

Would have thought they learned by now. Now a fair amount of their shipped products are still full of defects ( GKS mechanism stops working,  bleeding LEDs , battery drainage SO app, and glitches in registering games or ending games prematurely) and support to existing customers seems lacking.

The order of mine, made 4 months ago, has been delayed twice already. Now marked as `shipped` on the site , but somehow they could only provide the tracking details 2 weeks later, and then the order would arrive a week later. Three weeks later, still no tracking details.  Now i don't even get a reply to my emails anymore, requesting the tracking details.

Now i am taking it up with my creditcard company, to get my money back

Having just purchased a dedicated chess computer, I felt the decision was between the DGT Centaur, the Square Off of one kind or another, and the Millennium The King Performance.  I went for the Millennium because as a beginner, it had the features most helpful to me.  Reading this thread, I am sure glad I did.  The entire purchase and shipping process was painless and the product functions as it should.

It sounds as if you folks are having to share the pain of new product development as well as new company startup.  I sure hope the company gets its act together and is able to fulfill all orders as well as address the issues being reported here.