it's so annoying ... i'm trying to buy one off their website but both this and the neo are 'coming soon' now and can't be ordered or pre-ordered. i wonder what's going on... does anyone have any additional information on ordering a 'swap' to canada?
I really hope to own a self moving board one day, but one thing it needs to do is center the pieces. It will annoy me if pieces not getting centered or hitting each other.
This company is a scam. 4 years we've been paying and waiting for the chessboard. No reply to our emails for 6 months. There are hundreds of us in this situation.
I bought the second model version of Square Off Kingdom a few years ago, (the one without the grinding issues and without the colour tips on the pieces etc). It always moves the captured pieces to their proper section on the side of the board. It's a very nice chess computer overall, and I still play with my Excalibur Mirage (the most unreliable self moving computer of the lot), Excalibur Phantom Force (autonomous computer and still works fine) Square Off Grand Kingdom (autonomous computer working fine so far, and looks very nice too) and various other non-autonomous chess computers. Excalibur Grandmaster (does not move by itself but the pieces and board are tournament size and it looks great), Tandy Computerised Chess (old computer from around 1980 peg sensory), Star Wars Episode I Electronic Galactic Chess (nice star wars style board and pieces), Millennium Talking Chess School (Anatoly Karpov teaches chess computer), Novag Opal (nice travel size chess computer I bought in store around 1994), and Saitek Virtuoso (bought in store 1996). There's still something about playing against a computer over a physical board.
I have the Excalibur Grandmaster too (love it), but I cannot leave it out since it is a cat magnet. I have owned 3 of the Rat Shack Sensory Chess 1650 peg computers with the smoky lid (and still have one I use). Plus, I owned one the the RS clam-shell lid peg computers. Why so many, I kept losing the darn pegs. Currently, I utilize a Chessnut Go - can finally have the games recorded without the need to write them down and enter the data.
I bet this only happens during blitz games since it needs to move faster. seems to be choosing the quickest route for each piece to get it out of the way.
Regarding the USB-C, when it first came to Kickstarter/Indiegogo it was advertised to have that. During manufactory they changed it up since the component supply problems meant that to get usb-c port with specs they wanted (or needed?) they'd have had to wait half year or so. Instead of further delaying the manufactory they decided to swap it up since it was used for charging only anyways.
Yup and in the meantime they released another "Pro board" with USB-C which people got way before the backers. My board took 3 years to arrive, they also charged me for postage, when it was supposed to be free. Also the "metal finish" never happened either.😊
Great review as always! Just one thing I’d like to mention to you as chess enthusiast: if I hear you correctly 23:42, you are pronouncing Elo “E L O”, as if it was a abbreviation, when in fact it is the inventors surname, and it doesn’t really make sense to single out each letter… ;) Thanks for the great content and check ya later! :)
This Square Off company had a fantastic idea without any comparable competition for years but unfortunately, they were unable to fulfill their customer's expectations. Finally, companies like Chessnut Pro Evo and GoChess are taking over.
I pre-ordered one of these, 2 1/2 years later it still hadn’t arrived. I got a refund eventually and a chess-up instead which i really love. The pieces on this move way too slowly.
You're moving captured pieces off the board, that's why it doesn't put captured pieces at their respective slots on the side (if you don't care, why should it?). You're supposed to put captured piece in it's slot at the side, filling external slots first then internal. Then the AI will follow.
Yeah 😔 Looks glitchy to me 😢 This is clearly not a finished product and the piece's don't get moved to the center of each square. To be fair I think the host needs to slow down when moving his pieces 😉 Too bad because the board and pieces look great 👍
I agree it looks disappointing he constantly had to adjust his pieces and recapture. That would drive me nuts I returned the dgt Pegasus for the same problems and ended up with the chestnut air which in my opinion is the best e board out there.
@@cooloutac yeah, these companies are charging so much for product's that don't work as advertised ✅ I'm really tempted to buy the chessnut EVO but as usual... They are pricey 😭
It would be responsible to read through the hundreds of comments from disappointed customers on Kickstarter before promoting such a product. Some customers have been waiting for your product for years and still haven't received it.
I feel that the uncompleted moves are occurring because you decided to place the pieces you capture on your table and not on the right part of the board.
The point is for people who want to play online but want a physical board for whatever reason. I play competitive OTB and prefer to play serious games with a physical board. Playing online classical chess doesn't have the same feel for me and I lose interest quickly.
It does help to feel more like you playing a real person (especially if you play online). You got the physical board what is the most important part of 90% of us as we prefer the physical board over online chess and you don’t need to move for your opponent what is nice as well. BUT the board is so slow I would get annoyed of it.
@@timneji Yes, I got my SWAP in the meantime. It blunders too obviously on level 1 and then suddenly starts playing much better at level 2. With adaptive difficulty it plays good then does something unbelievably stupid then plays good again.
Seems clunky and unrefined on moving the pieces. My self moving chess computers did a better job from the 1980's in moving the pieces . I will take a hard pass!
I received this board. 1. The moving pieces are not a novelty and do not wear off. 2. The blitz aspect works and all movement works great on chess and lichess. 3. The board is really nice, however, mine came with a "scratch" on the top piece and its just not eye pleasing. I also like their app. Its not bad. The pieces moving OFF the board are great and not novelty. The pieces moving back into place is nice, but....much slower than if you were to do it. Its not a novelty, but close. I use that time to grab a drink. Squareoff is killing the moving pieces, the prices, when a deal is on, is ok. NEVER MSRP (Same thing for chessnut though). The pro rolling board is nice for what it is and does and the ease of moving around. The grand kingdom, that one is nice, but it is BIG, especially for the size of the board, but I do love the wood. The Swap moves quicker and MUCH more quite than the grand kingdom. For a moving board that connects, squareoff is winning but there are other options coming out. If you're not in it for the moving, chessnut wins for me. Both of the boards I have are SUPER NICE, good looks and quality. I use chessnut more simply because the size and looks, they sit out easily on the main floor and rooms (office and living room) so ease of accessibility has created more use for them. The Grand Kingdom is so big, its upstairs in the game room that doesn't really get used a lot. Shame, cause its nice, but not convenient. The swap board is a nice size on the width, but the height makes it stand out, and the plastic looks are ehh. My dream board: A normalized sized wood board with moving pieces. PS: My Chessup comes in today!!! Lets see what this gochess does (aka, moving board, small form factor)
Square off seems to be fake. I ordered the board long ago and they passed the delivery date. But there is no response irrespective of multiple reminders. Beware of this company and promotions.
it's so annoying ... i'm trying to buy one off their website but both this and the neo are 'coming soon' now and can't be ordered or pre-ordered. i wonder what's going on... does anyone have any additional information on ordering a 'swap' to canada?
I really hope to own a self moving board one day, but one thing it needs to do is center the pieces. It will annoy me if pieces not getting centered or hitting each other.
Same. Maybe wait a year or two for v2?
I received my board , it is not working at all, horrible customer services,trying to get my money back but I think I already lost my money ..
This company is a scam. 4 years we've been paying and waiting for the chessboard. No reply to our emails for 6 months. There are hundreds of us in this situation.
Got mine this week. Ordered May ‘23. Square Off Swap
Have you still not received it?
Hi, What's about the Square OFF Neo ? and do you have heard The GoChess from Particula-Tech ?
I bought the second model version of Square Off Kingdom a few years ago, (the one without the grinding issues and without the colour tips on the pieces etc). It always moves the captured pieces to their proper section on the side of the board. It's a very nice chess computer overall, and I still play with my Excalibur Mirage (the most unreliable self moving computer of the lot), Excalibur Phantom Force (autonomous computer and still works fine) Square Off Grand Kingdom (autonomous computer working fine so far, and looks very nice too) and various other non-autonomous chess computers. Excalibur Grandmaster (does not move by itself but the pieces and board are tournament size and it looks great), Tandy Computerised Chess (old computer from around 1980 peg sensory), Star Wars Episode I Electronic Galactic Chess (nice star wars style board and pieces), Millennium Talking Chess School (Anatoly Karpov teaches chess computer), Novag Opal (nice travel size chess computer I bought in store around 1994), and Saitek Virtuoso (bought in store 1996). There's still something about playing against a computer over a physical board.
I have the Excalibur Grandmaster too (love it), but I cannot leave it out since it is a cat magnet. I have owned 3 of the Rat Shack Sensory Chess 1650 peg computers with the smoky lid (and still have one I use). Plus, I owned one the the RS clam-shell lid peg computers. Why so many, I kept losing the darn pegs. Currently, I utilize a Chessnut Go - can finally have the games recorded without the need to write them down and enter the data.
interested if the pieces are moving off appropriately per SquareOff it if it is something they need to address in an update.
I bet this only happens during blitz games since it needs to move faster. seems to be choosing the quickest route for each piece to get it out of the way.
You set the board up as a Neo, rather than as a Swap, that's why it's not placing the pieces all the way over.
Regarding the USB-C, when it first came to Kickstarter/Indiegogo it was advertised to have that. During manufactory they changed it up since the component supply problems meant that to get usb-c port with specs they wanted (or needed?) they'd have had to wait half year or so. Instead of further delaying the manufactory they decided to swap it up since it was used for charging only anyways.
Yup and in the meantime they released another "Pro board" with USB-C which people got way before the backers. My board took 3 years to arrive, they also charged me for postage, when it was supposed to be free. Also the "metal finish" never happened either.😊
@@UTAlexSBe happy that you got the board at all... Coming back here 3 months later and now we're being offered toys instead of chessboard 😂😭
Anyone know why this chess set isn’t available anymore?
In blitz mode it doesn’t park the pieces they need to be taken off the board manually
On the blitz game Im guessing it's just dumping the piece in the shortest path possible to save time. it's doesn't pause the clock for movements?
Would that not defeat the purpose of a blitz game?
Great review as always! Just one thing I’d like to mention to you as chess enthusiast: if I hear you correctly 23:42, you are pronouncing Elo “E L O”, as if it was a abbreviation, when in fact it is the inventors surname, and it doesn’t really make sense to single out each letter… ;) Thanks for the great content and check ya later! :)
This Square Off company had a fantastic idea without any comparable competition for years but unfortunately, they were unable to fulfill their customer's expectations. Finally, companies like Chessnut Pro Evo and GoChess are taking over.
I pre-ordered one of these, 2 1/2 years later it still hadn’t arrived. I got a refund eventually and a chess-up instead which i really love. The pieces on this move way too slowly.
Thank you
You're moving captured pieces off the board, that's why it doesn't put captured pieces at their respective slots on the side (if you don't care, why should it?). You're supposed to put captured piece in it's slot at the side, filling external slots first then internal. Then the AI will follow.
And after the game is finished you can reset the board automatically. This is impossible with the pieces off the board (on the table).
Fun board.
How is a new board in 2023 worse at moving pieces than boards from a decade before I was born? lol
Looks like the A.I has a habit of going mental
Yeah 😔 Looks glitchy to me 😢 This is clearly not a finished product and the piece's don't get moved to the center of each square. To be fair I think the host needs to slow down when moving his pieces 😉
Too bad because the board and pieces look great 👍
I agree. Technology not quite there yet.
I agree it looks disappointing he constantly had to adjust his pieces and recapture. That would drive me nuts I returned the dgt Pegasus for the same problems and ended up with the chestnut air which in my opinion is the best e board out there.
@@cooloutac The Pegasus looks like a really nice set.
Sorry to hear that it doesn't perform well 😞
@your_average_joe5781 and to top it off it was like $150 more than the chestnut air at the time lmao. Double the price.
@@cooloutac yeah, these companies are charging so much for product's that don't work as advertised ✅
I'm really tempted to buy the chessnut EVO but as usual... They are pricey 😭
It would be responsible to read through the hundreds of comments from disappointed customers on Kickstarter before promoting such a product. Some customers have been waiting for your product for years and still haven't received it.
Looks like the technology needs to be refined a lot. Too early to dream miniaturization. Definitely not worth my money yet.
Yo tbien llevo 4 años de espera y lo último q me dijeron es q llegaba de enero a marzo
the shape looks like a upside down millennium chess computer, and this board looks aesthetic pleasing.
I feel that the uncompleted moves are occurring because you decided to place the pieces you capture on your table and not on the right part of the board.
👍😊
You need to remove the piece you are capturing FIRST!! Then you move your piece to that square ✅
I paid for this in Feb and am still waiting. They are not responding to update queries nor are they giving the money back. Buyer beware.
The self-moving pieces are a nice touch, but I think the novelty would wear off for me after a day or so.
Its the main reason people buy it otherwise they just use a laptop screen.
The point is for people who want to play online but want a physical board for whatever reason. I play competitive OTB and prefer to play serious games with a physical board. Playing online classical chess doesn't have the same feel for me and I lose interest quickly.
You must not wish to use the board to play live players and eliminate your having to remove the taken pieces off the board?
It does help to feel more like you playing a real person (especially if you play online).
You got the physical board what is the most important part of 90% of us as we prefer the physical board over online chess and you don’t need to move for your opponent what is nice as well.
BUT the board is so slow I would get annoyed of it.
Does AI blunder on lower levels?
As you can see in the video itself,
It does. But it does it in a terrible obvious way
@@timneji Yes, I got my SWAP in the meantime. It blunders too obviously on level 1 and then suddenly starts playing much better at level 2. With adaptive difficulty it plays good then does something unbelievably stupid then plays good again.
Seems clunky and unrefined on moving the pieces. My self moving chess computers did a better job from the 1980's in moving the pieces . I will take a hard pass!
Crazy how far behind chess technology is today. I still have Excalibur 2100 that is decades old.
How many people do you think you convinced to waste their money on this shitty product? Hope the affiliate money was worth it
3 year ago
This is too bad how can they release this? 😂
I received this board. 1. The moving pieces are not a novelty and do not wear off. 2. The blitz aspect works and all movement works great on chess and lichess. 3. The board is really nice, however, mine came with a "scratch" on the top piece and its just not eye pleasing. I also like their app. Its not bad. The pieces moving OFF the board are great and not novelty. The pieces moving back into place is nice, but....much slower than if you were to do it. Its not a novelty, but close. I use that time to grab a drink.
Squareoff is killing the moving pieces, the prices, when a deal is on, is ok. NEVER MSRP (Same thing for chessnut though). The pro rolling board is nice for what it is and does and the ease of moving around. The grand kingdom, that one is nice, but it is BIG, especially for the size of the board, but I do love the wood. The Swap moves quicker and MUCH more quite than the grand kingdom.
For a moving board that connects, squareoff is winning but there are other options coming out. If you're not in it for the moving, chessnut wins for me. Both of the boards I have are SUPER NICE, good looks and quality. I use chessnut more simply because the size and looks, they sit out easily on the main floor and rooms (office and living room) so ease of accessibility has created more use for them. The Grand Kingdom is so big, its upstairs in the game room that doesn't really get used a lot. Shame, cause its nice, but not convenient. The swap board is a nice size on the width, but the height makes it stand out, and the plastic looks are ehh.
My dream board: A normalized sized wood board with moving pieces. PS: My Chessup comes in today!!! Lets see what this gochess does (aka, moving board, small form factor)
Square off seems to be fake. I ordered the board long ago and they passed the delivery date. But there is no response irrespective of multiple reminders. Beware of this company and promotions.
Mine came yesterday.
It is a no for me. Do not see the use for this product. Bulky
Audio sucks