Chessnut Air Review

Well looks like I’m shipping back my second Air + and getting a refund. Bummed. I really wanted this to work. Such a cool concept. I guess I’ll just be sticking with my DGT board for now. Thanks everyone for your troubleshooting ideas.

Yeah, a shame. 😔
Maybe with the next gen of Chessnut boards...

Does anyone know how to turn off the evaluation bar on the Chessnut mobile app? I am using my Chessnut Air board perfectly fine, and I am quite happy about it. However, I am yet to figure out how to turn off the evaluation in the app.

They haven't shipped mine either. And Chessnut has run out of sensors in the EU so I have to wait anyway...

Just got word, my pieces (2 sets) just shipped.

I have all the parts needed to assemble them and start using, now to wait.

Anyone know how long it takes to get the pieces from them to the US?

That's great to hear! I've not heard anything yet. I'm guessing that the package would be handed off from a local carrier to one that ships to the USA. For example, FEDEX states that it's 2–5 business days with FedEx International Economy^{®. With that I would guess a little less than 2 weeks, what with customs and such.}

Now it's time that I order the sensors!

What sized base for most of the pieces for the 2.6 zagreb? I want to make sure I buy sufficiently sized felt circles.

I narrowed the interference issues down to a TV box with Alexa on the wifi network (with the board between the box and the router, closer to the box). When it's off the leds are fine.

My zagreb pieces for sensors was also shipped with no tracking for the moment.

NOOOOOOO!!!!!

I just got notified my pieces are scheduled for delivery on 13-Feb. I will be a thousand miles away for work. I won't be here to open them like a little kid at Christmas ...

BTW, that is some fast shipping, left yesterday, arrives at my house on Tuesday, a week in transit? Very nice. Will update on quality when I get them .. or rather when I get home and can get my grubby little hands on them.

I just got my notice also that they shipped. Also 13 Feb. It might actually beat the supplies that I purchased for the installation.

Wow interesting. Hmm, you have inspired me a bit. I still haven’t shipped back my Air + yet for refund. Maybe I’ll start shutting off devices in my house to see if I can narrow down the interference. I have Google WiFi and a ton of devices all over my house though LOL

The chess pieces arrived! They look real nice so far. I'm still going through them.

@Stockfishdot1 - Mine came in as well. The Zagreb set fits nicely, a little large for the board but not bad. The set it self looks very nice.

The Collectors Series, on the other hand is too large for the board. The pawns might be ok, but the bases on all the other pieces are much too large. Again, the pieces are very well done and I like the set. I will likely just fill them with weight and use them as a library set, while I try to find another set of small pieces to use my extra set of sensors on.

This Guy put some chips in his Collectors Series ! set from chessbazzer .

Looks about the same, the pieces I got have bases that look to be just s touch wider. But as I set them up on the board, they are not unplayable if you do not mind crowded boards - I do not mind them, but these are just a little bit too big. I will play with them and see.

The Zagreb set may also be too big for some but to me they are a very nice addition.

The pieces are also a bit light but not sure about using tungsten ... wonder if that person is here on chessdotcom. Would love to hear how it works before diving in with the tungsten.

Hi Rsava,

Could you, when you have time, post some pictures of the pieces on the chessnut air board? I'm curious to see what it looks like.

Yes, I will, just need to find the time to take them. Hopefully by tomorrow afternoon.

Here you go, @zephyrusid - a few shots of the pieces on the Chessnut Air board. A bit crowded but for me, totally playable.

The Zagreb set. While I do not necessarily care for the "tiger stripe" most of the time, on this smaller set it looks fine.

And The Collector Series, a little bit wider bases make it a bit more crowded. Not sure how I feel yet on these.

Hope this helps. Will do a more in depth review a bit later, life is a little hectic right now.

@Rsava I’d be super grateful if you could give a measurement with calipers on the height and base widths of these pieces. I’d love to compare that with the pieces that come with the Air+ and the ones I’m in the process of 3D printing. 

Those are great looking sets - I’d definitely be interested in a Zagreb in black.

I’ll definitely share all my photos and measurements - just waiting on my board so I can give it some visual context.

I’m also curious about the tungsten. I plan on using Bluetac (the Gorilla brand, to be specific) but I do worry the pieces will be too light. The advantage with the Bluetac is it’s reversible - I’m assuming it will come out of the pieces and off of the sensors easily.

Yes, but it will be just a bit as the battery is dead in my caliper and I need to get a new one.

The bluetac easily comes out, I had to do it a few times on a couple pieces. that did not sit flush in the piece. The tungsten is questionable.

Questionable regarding removal?