How I bought a DGT board, and then sold it off, and why you should NOT buy one yet

I wanted to buy an electronic chess board with three very simple requirements:

1. It should be light and portable (I don't mind a power supply)
2. It should have good connectivity with apps and software
3. It should be possible for it to connect to third party servers like lichess and chess(dot)com

Based on these three simple requirements I bought a DGT USB Plastic Tournament Chess board. I opened it up with a lot of excitement and after connecting it with the computer found out that when playing on lichess or chess(dot)com:

1. I need to install the DGT software and keep it running
2. I need to open TWO browser windows where both need to be running to play
3. If you pick up a piece and then try to correct the error it is not straightforward at all - best of luck resetting the whole game and starting again.

Given that there is a LOT OF OPEN FREE SOURCE CODE on GITHUB, all this functionality could be inbuilt into the board - but DGT choose NOT to do it. Why? Read on.

DGT is a company that has a full monopoly in the electronic chess market. They don't want to sell a board that does everything, otherwise who will buy the remaining half baked technology that they keep dishing out year on year? The DGT Centaur is a single play board with NO online connectivity. The upcoming DGT Pegasus is one with online connectivity. The DGT USB tournament board has connectivity for PC and Android but not iOS. The DGT Bluetooth board has connectivity to the iOS App. 

There have been independent and excellent attempts to connect the DGT board to a mobile phone - the WHITEPAWN app, however on continued discussion with the developer even he can't write code for the missing hardware connectivity if it doesn't exist in the board.

Hell, there is one person who has even hacked the DGT Centaur and upgraded it to faster versions of Stockfish.

The truth is that all electronic chess boards by DGT are half baked versions that do one thing or another but not three simple things that are essential for a good game of chess.

Their competitor Millennium is no better either. Consider the recent Tournament 55 board that they have come up with. Not only do you need the board to play, you need a power brick with it, a computer module that connects to it and if you want to connect to online services you need an ADDITIONAL hardware module for WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity.

Could they build the WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity in the board itself - YES! But then how would they charge another $250 for it? Could they build a better battery pack in the board? YES! But then how would they charge another $100 for it? Could they give the option of upgrading the Stockfish Engine from version 8 to version 13? YES! But then how would they sell future "better" boards with upgraded Stockfish?

This is the bitter truth. Despite the fact that an electronic chess board needs just three basic principles for a great game, these companies will never (even when the open source code is available for free), include these small things in a board. They WANT you to buy one thing after another creating the perception that one board is for one market and another for a different market. Chess is Chess. It is universal. So should the boards be.

These are just corporations making money - they are not passionate about Chess. 

I am back to a cardboard chess set and absolutely love it.

lets not forget the horrible quality of the dgt centaur for the price. The buttons have a horrible cheap click, the stickers on the bases of the pieces come loose and crunch when moved. The bottom of the board has no cover. Unfortunately it's obvious the Pegasus will be exactly the same. For the cost it's a rip-off. 

That seemingly random support for different OSs in different releases is usually a hint that the IT organisation building the software is too small and too dependent on the skills and inclinations of individual developers.   It appears that DGT only has about 30 employees and a turnover of maybe USD5m, that suggests only a handful of software developers, meaning  a correspondingly small skill base.  The description of running the software (run a process, keep some browser windows open, live with poor usability) similarly suggests a lack of resources that really ought to be applied to making it work more nicely.  Writing software is hard, testing it is hard, testing a commercial product on multiple platforms is hard, and hard means expensive, particularly when there doesn't appear to be a way of upgrading the embedded software (which will explain a reluctance to embed much software in the board).  

The presence of open source software in Github for this does not mean that its actually usable in a commercial product and lawyers get terribly antsy about that kind of thing.  Questions get asked about whether the software is actually licensable, whether its genuinely unencumbered in any way (the presence of a license is not enough to completely insulate you from claims) and about who the author is.  Something like Stockfish, already used in lots of products is much much easier for them to accept because its already been through that rather sceptical process.  In addition to that, developers are often reluctant to use software from other people without some degree of rewriting.  These two factors can mutually reinforce each other making open source software difficult to make use of in a closed source commercial context.  

Now its clear that DGT make a fair bit of money from their products and also that people buy them, so there may not be a lot of incentive to provide a cheaper more polished solution, but its not really possible to distinguish predatory pricing from expensive, disorganised design, without knowing more about the business.  

Lack of native Apple MacOS support is so 1990s. 

Sorry I don't agree. Just search for DIY electronic chess board and ypu will get a million projects that are better than DGT anyday. It is customary in our society in 2021 to put any amouny of hyperbole to any comment without meaning which is what you have done. Peraonally, I have seen individuals doing DIY Chess projects as their PhDs which have better connectivity than DGT.

Short story. Given the money that DGT have, if they want to make a stellar product, they can. They just choose not to.

@meetarnav Very detailed post and I hope DGT sees this and takes it to heart, however, I think some of the points may not be fair or you are misunderstanding what the purpose of their existing products are.  You have also made some very fair criticism on some points as well.

1. Your "three simple requirements" for a chess computer are based on your needs and may not meet the needs of all users (or even fit one of DGTs target use cases).  For example, I think DGT products are best grouped as home use (i.e. Pegasus, Centaur, Revelation, smart board, DGTPi) vs tournament use (i.e. USB/Bluetooth board) or online opponent (Pegasus) vs computer opponent (Revelation, Centaur, DGTPi) vs human opponent (USB/Bluetooth board and smart board).

2. It's not clear what you mean by good connectivity with apps and software.  I think this is a VERY BIG issue with DGT (and I will share more thoughts below), however, can you elaborate?  What applications?  What are your expectations here?  Do you just want to view the board/game on a screen or do you want to broadcast a game or do you want a computer opponent or do you want to play an online opponent or do you want to download a PGN from a previously played game?

3. You obviously understand that development costs money.  Why think of it as "how can DGT charge more for it"... think of it as "will customers pay for it?"  Regardless, DGT is a business (not a charity)... it's not bad or wrong to charge customers for a product that they want.

4. "Given the money they have"... can you please elaborate?  What is their revenue, expenses, liabilities and profits?  What are they spending in advertising vs R&D?  I'm not aware of DGT being a publicly traded company and hence not aware of any financial reporting they have made.  Are you a private investor and have this information?  Can you share?  MY POINT is... I don't think you have any insight into what the company is financially capable of or what their business objectives or strategies are.  You can't make a conclusion based on something you don't know.  I would agree with the generic statement that DGT is unable or unwilling to make a product that meets your requirements (for the record, they haven't met my requirements entirely either).  Just as you "assumed" a conclusion... I'll assume DGT is profitable with their existing products because they have met the needs of many people (otherwise they wouldn't be in business).

I have a DGT smart board (plastic, USB-C interface).  I have many third-party chess pieces with embedded DGT sensors.  This technology is fantastic.  It's very reliable and accurate.  I expect this is why DGT is so ubiquitous for tournament play and probably what drives their revenue (but I have nothing to back up this claim).  Tournament play isn't about connecting with online services (though this could be a new trend) or chess engines so I can understand why this is a weak spot.  I use macOS, iPhone and iPad.  DGT has pathetic support for these platforms, however, they never claimed to have it so I don't feel cheated or mislead.  The products work as described.

I still wish DGT would offer better solutions for my smart board to connect with a chess GUI and engine on my iPhone, iPad or Mac.  I also wish DGT could do more community and developer outreach to help others develop the solutions others desperately need (like you and I)

Disclosure: I have done some work with PicoChess and even do some designing on a PicoChess Next Generation (NG) user interface with primary consideration for my DGT smart board.

you might need to get some of those PhDs to explain hyperbole to you, particularly the bits where you say "a million projects that are better than DGT anyday" and "individuals doing DIY Chess projects as their PhDs" because I can't find where I was hyperbolic.  There is a difference between a very small software development operation and someone doing a PhD (even allowing for the quality of PhDs in the US, a subject that a friend of mine, a fellow of Magdalen College, used to complain about at length). 

Now, can DGT afford to make a stellar product?  Maybe, and I never said that they couldn't.  What I did say was that we cannot tell the difference between charging a lot for their products and their being disorganised.

Certabo is pretty much a one man operation and he has multiple platforms covered very well.

Well I have sold off my board and I was just quoting @greghunt who seems to know that DGT's annual revenue is $5M. And tell me that a company can't do what a single hobbyist can in a week and I'll show you a company who don't care about their products. Foldable Electronic Chess Board - an overview - YouTube

@jjupiter6 - exactly my point. DGT is just plain lazy.

@meetarmav your original post made reference to “all the money” DGT was making… you never clarified or explained what this was and what DGTs capabilities are.  How is your Certabo board?

As I’ve said, DGT is unable or unwilling to make a product that meets all your needs.  Part of me believes they don’t make that product because your needs do not meet the needs of their target market.  I also think you may have bought the wrong DGT product.

@BrianErdelyi - thanks for asking about my Certabo board. I will let you know how it is if I ever plan to buy one. ROFL

Power to open source. Open source boards are the future. I just wish I had these skills to make one! So many desings on the rise. Don't spend your hard earned money on half baked DGT boards! If you have the skills, build one! https://chesscc.com/revista/taller/441-transformar-un-mephisto-modular-a-tablero-usb-casero

This guy used a webcam to train its vision and the code is available FREE to use on ANY chessboard. https://youtu.be/LX-4czb3xi0

Sure, happy to help.

I was interest in the pegasus board, but I do have many doubts about it.

What about the square off boards? I saw the neo (yet to be released) seems interesting

The "proper" size of a chess square is between 2 and 2.5 inches (USCF and FIDE). Neo is 1.5 inches. Too small for me personally. Looks like a toy to be honest. And a heavy one at that!

Here's Bobby Fischer with a travel chess set.

You seem to have a counter to every comment I make. I did use the word "personally" in my comment regarding size.

personally
/ˈpəːs(ə)n(ə)li/
adverb
1. with the personal presence or action of the individual specified; in person.
"she stayed to thank O'Brien personally"
2. from one's personal standpoint; subjectively rather than objectively.
"he had spoken personally and emotionally"
 

Ok, but apart from the size, does anyone have a squareoff board? Works well? Worth the money?