Chessnut Air Review

Could you instead post a link to where we can see your pieces?

Hello Wreckless
I currently do not have any website as I am trying to gain customers.
My current business is offline but I can show you pictures of the pieces here or you can also give me your email so I can show you all my work.
Here is the 1950's Dubrovnik chess pieces which are compatible for the DGT boards.

Please see the above reply.

@wrecklass please be aware, the sample photo provided by @tsm_proto is not their work. It appears they have taken a photo provided by another chess.com user of a NOJ set.

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-equipment/review-of-noj-dubrovnik-1950

@pawnerai thank you for spotting this potential scam.

Hmm, that's why I had asked for a website. Email is often just a phishing expedition.

Even worse that they tried to pass off someone else's work as their own. Your spider senses were tingling for a reason.

Just put the chips in . Still waiting for the tungsten not yet posted by amazon , a bit pissed with them over this now 5 days ? I mean a chess set came form India in less time !

Apart from that looks really nice , You know that great DIY feeling you get when it's done by your own hands .

Just to add got my Collectors Series set for around 87 euros from Chessbazzer on Esty a really nice set for the price , So cheaper than than buying a predrilled set .

I will post photos when I have finished & have the felts on .

https://www.etsy.com/listing/190663463/the-collector-series-wooden-staunton?click_key=ac35107722facbe2548a04bc061b425228fc3b3a%3A190663463&click_sum=26fab4b1&ref=hp_rv-1&pro=1&frs=1&sts=1

I'm having trouble with the PC app trying to get into Lichess. When trying to play online Lichess option has the message "Loading Authorize Information" but it gets stuck and doesn't connect. I've downloaded the latest version from the chessnut website. This worked in the past so I'm not sure what has changed.

I can get into Lichess versus Whitepawn but I find that to be very restrictive.

Can anyone give some advice please?

What are you trying to do on the Lichess website?

If it is just play games, I might suggest you try the excellent ChessConnect extension (works on most Chromium based browsers, Chrome and Edge work great) and is very simple to use, works great.

If you are trying to do something else then I am not sure as I stopped using the Chessnut apps for the standalone boards a while ago.

@lighthouse - that set looks very nice.

Three questions -

1. How do the pieces fit compared to the stock Air pieces (can you share a pic of the pieces on the board)?

2. How hard was it to get the weights out? You mention "no easy task". What tools did you need and how long did it take?

3. You mentioned needing to drill more for the sensors. Where the weights were pulled out was not enough room?

(Oh, and sorry about the tungsten, I ordered 4 cans of it and the last 2 I ordered were the last available ... . Apologies .... )

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m working on a custom set for the Chessnut Air. I’m still waiting on my Air+ to be shipped, hopefully later this month. I purchased the files for @conorokane ‘s beautiful 3d printed Dubrovnik set, since my favorite full-size set is my Ebonized HOS Dubrovnik set (I know, but I just really like black sets for the contrast).

The most economical way for me to print these is to use my public library. There were no options from them for any sort of cream or brown colored filament, nor will they let me supply my own, so I went with just plain white and black. They’ll only print a couple of pieces at a time, but it’s on my way home from work, so no biggie. I’ve got some of each piece type printed now, and I think they look great. Total printing cost will end up being $8.

I thought I’d go ahead and show what they look like so far, and share some specs. I printed out on paper a board with 35mm squares for reference. The total weight of the plastic for the set will be about 120g, and the sensors will add another 34g or so. The set provided with the Air+ weighs 230g, so I’m hoping the Bluetac I’ll use to affix the sensors will make up that weight difference. We’ll see. I got adhesive felt, the exact kind recommended by @vitualis.

Size comparison (base x height in mm):

Dubrovnik: K 27 x 63, Q 27 x 53, B 26 x 50, N 26 x 45, R 24 x 38, P 22 x 32

Chessnut Air+ set: K 26 x 67, Q 26 x 60, B 24 x 52, N 24 x 45, R 24 x 38, P 20 x 33

Looks great. And it fits well on the squares. I might go that route as well for an extra set.

Not sure how much weight the Bluetac will add. I added quite a bit and it was fairly light.

I used this - https://www.amazon.com/Loctite-Fun-Tak-Mounting-2-Ounce-1087306/dp/B001F57ZPW?th=1

and a full stick is only 11.8 grams. I used a lot less than the full stick before I switched it to the tungsten.

and the sensors will add another 34g or so.

By the way, I have a spare set of sensors and the 17 sensors (extra Q) only weight 22 grams, not 34 grams.

Where did you find the felt that @vitualis used, I looked quite a bit and could not find any near me.

I was quoting weights based off the entire set, white and black, so hopefully the 34 sensors give me even more than the 34g?

I’m also hoping the Gorilla Mounting Putty I plan to use is a little more dense than what you used - each package weighs 56g. I don’t know how much you used, in terms of volume - the openings in the bottom of these pieces are reasonably big, and I’ll be able to fit some in around the sensors, not just above them. This might be way over optimistic but I’m hoping I can use a whole package or more, which would get me in striking distance of the weight of the Air+ set. But again, we’ll see. I plan to make several sets, and the putty makes it so I can undo steps if I want, so I expect it to be an iterative process. 

Did you use the tungsten only with your set for the Pegasus, or have you set up the pieces for the Zagreb Chessnut set as well? I’d be interested to hear how much weight you were able to add, and if the tungsten ended up giving you any piece detection problems.

Here’s the exact felt that @vitualis recommended - his link was to the Aussie amazon, but I was able to find the exact same product on the US store.

Jtnohx Self Adhesive Felt Sheets,... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09J2HD1GV?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Yes, the entire set of sensors (because I have a full set of black & white sensors ... ) weigh in at about 44 grams (I am taking a bit off for the bags, don't want to open them just yet).

Thanks for the link for the felt.

Love this community for the helpfulness of most of the posters.

BTW, the Chessconnect extension that started as just for Chessnut boards has a new version now in beta that includes a lot more boards, I just played a successful game with the DGT Pegasus and my slightly modified pieces. It was flawless.

Everyone with one of these boards should check it out. It is a great piece of software and completely changes the online chess experience.

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-equipment/chessconnect-a-chrome-extension-for-chessnut-air-and-chessnut-pro-smartboards

Richard here' s a grab shot of the macbook Air , See how nice the knight is !

Many thanks.

Yes, the Knight does look very nice.

Rsava, many thanks. I wasn't aware of chess connect working in Lichess. I'll give that a go.

Don't forget the API key you need to connect to your account.

If you need any help, let me know. I am also beta testing new versions for Jörn so I am pretty familiar with the setup.

Really please with the outcome , You can not beat playing with a wooded chess set

It looks very good, @lighthouse.

And you are correct, you cannot beat playing with wood.

Unfortunately, I do not have the steady hand to do that work and I would likely break more than a few of the pieces.