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My father likes to play chess but doesn't have any friends who would play with him. I suggested him playing it on tablet device but he doesn't like the touchscreen interface. He needs to touch the pieces.

Has anyone built a physical chess simulator (electricity powered, AI included) that will move the pieces on its own? I didn't find on googling.

EDIT. on further thinking I think it's hard to have such technology without using robots (one cannot just slide all the pieces - like Knights). May be if the board blinks lights below the piece it wants to move (with green light) and target location with another light (say red), then we can move opponents piece on the physical board.

Edit 2 Found this!: [Novag Obsidian] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sAvribpPvA that kinda solves the problem. If you know better alternatives please post in answers.

user13107
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  • I voted to close the question for "opinion based" because the question drifted from asking for a chess robot to personal recommendation for digital chess boards. – SmallChess Sep 19 '17 at 04:32

2 Answers2

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Do you mean?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qS5EPbsmCXs

enter image description here

I don't know how you'd get his robot, but it won't be affordable.

Have you seen this page?

https://chessprogramming.wikispaces.com/Robots

SmallChess
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  • Thanks, on further thinking I think it's hard to have such technology without using robots (one cannot just slide all the pieces - like horse). May be if the board blinks lights below the piece it wants to move (with green light) and target location with another light (say red), then we can move opponents piece on the physical board. – user13107 Sep 19 '17 at 02:12
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    @user13107 That's digital chess board. There're many. Google. All chess shops have it. – SmallChess Sep 19 '17 at 02:13
  • Can you link one please- cant see any here https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=digital+chess+board – user13107 Sep 19 '17 at 02:15
  • https://www.google.com/search?q=digital+chess+board&source=univ&tbm=shop&tbo=u&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiSq5X_lrDWAhWIi7wKHQuoBgIQsxgIKQ&biw=1108&bih=662 – SmallChess Sep 19 '17 at 02:16
  • it says Your search - digital chess board - did not match any shopping results. please give direct link to product. thanks. – user13107 Sep 19 '17 at 02:17
  • There're many digital boards on the market. I don't know which one is good for you, you'll need to decide. Search "digital chess board" on Google. – SmallChess Sep 19 '17 at 02:17
  • If someone finds direct link to a product please give it here. Somehow I'm unable to find it. Thanks. I found some hobby projects that try to build blinking lights chessboard. – user13107 Sep 19 '17 at 02:21
  • There used to be at least one model that would move the pieces for you. Check eBay. – Herb Sep 19 '17 at 02:26
  • I connected a $50 robot arm to a chess engine before. Took 1 afternoon to get the piece movements working. – Hack-R Sep 19 '17 at 09:11
  • @Hack-R ok please provide your answer and I will delete mine! – SmallChess Sep 19 '17 at 09:12
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    @SmallChess Oh, I think your answer is fine. I just wanted to mention that its possible to do cheaply, but the amount of skill required is far beyond what most people have. I just happen to be a roboticist :) – Hack-R Sep 19 '17 at 09:16
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First of all you need to decide whether you want a standalone/traditional chess computer which basically allows you to play only against the built-in AI or whether you want a more flexible solution which allows you to play against humans over the internet or to play against or analyze with chess engines or database software on a PC.

standalone/traditional chess computer

This includes the Novag Obsidian you linked or Saitek Kasparov or many others. As far as I am aware these type of computers have been largely deprecated in favour of PC/tablet/internet solutions. Still you should be able to find one new or second hand. With these types of computers the AI moves are usually indicated by LED, either on the side of the board (row/column) or by LEDs for each square. Apparently there is one (Phantom Force Electronic Chess by Excalibur) which even moves the pieces on its own, but does not have great reviews.

If you get one of these types of computers, make sure that the playing strength is sufficient for your purpose. Most of them can be beaten easily by somewhat experienced club players of say 2100 ELO or so.

flexible solution

The cheapest solution is to get a cheap board and pieces for around USD 20 and use a PC/laptop/tablet to run a chess program or to access an online chess site to play against computer or human players. Of course this would mean that you still have to transfer manually your and your opponent's moves between the physical board and the computer/tablet.

You can get rid of half the work, if you buy an electronic chess board ("eboard") which you can connect to a PC. "DGT" is a major manufacturer of these boards and they ain't cheap. With such a board your moves are automatically transferred to the computer and/or online web site. You still have to manually move your opponent's piecesthough. There are several systems for indicating opponent moves. In any case you could take them from the PC/laptop/tablet screen, but there also exist chess clocks (DGT Pi) which can display moves or chess boards with LED (Revelation II).

Playing strength is not an issue at all with any of these since modern chess engines that you run on a PC/tablet/... are stronger than the strongest humans.

user1583209
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