“Love this chess board! I recently picked up chess and this has really helped my understanding of the game. My wife and kids have also now picked up the game because of this board.
This board is exactly the size it should be, but I wish ChessUp also made a half-size version so I could keep another one on my desk to play during breaks in the day.”
“I love my ChessUp 2 Board. It's more fun than playing on a screen. When I play live with someone, I don't have to make the mental transition from screen to board. And, with the minor problem I had, the service group was very responsive and helpful.”
“I bought Cheessup 2 a few weeks ago and I couldn't be happier! Ever since it arrived I find my self playing everyday, which was the main reason for this purchase. The form factor is just so convenient that makes me want to carry it all around the house, It;s not too big and not too small, it's just perfect. Another plus is the small screen, as I don't have to use a phone or a laptop or a tablet to play a game. You can do anything via the screen and there's no need for more. Booting up takes seconds and playing with a bot or person online takes no more than half a minute.
If I had one suggestion for Bryght Labs would be to offer more pawn options and more board options, i.e styles, collours, etc.
The size is just fine as it is. A board like that shouldn't be competition size, or it would loose it's portability and fun factor. I have a DGT smart board, which is competition size, and it's not that easy to pick-up & play as the Chess-up.
Overall, I'd recommend this to anyone, regardless of ELO. And if you don't like the Disco tiles, there's an one-button option to use minimal lights, meaning light comes up when you lift a piece, and light comes up when you set it down or if the position is wrong.”
“I bought Cheessup 2 a few weeks ago and I couldn't be happier! Ever since it arrived I find my self playing everyday, which was the main reason for this purchase. The form factor is just so convenient that makes me want to carry it all around the house, It;s not too big and not too small, it's just perfect. Another plus is the small screen, as I don't have to use a phone or a laptop or a tablet to play a game. You can do anything via the screen and there's no need for more. Booting up takes seconds and playing with a bot or person online takes no more than half a minute.
If I had one suggestion for Bryght Labs would be to offer more pawn options and more board options, i.e styles, collours, etc.
The size is just fine as it is. A board like that shouldn't be competition size, or it would loose it's portability and fun factor. I have a DGT smart board, which is competition size, and it's not that easy to pick-up & play as the Chess-up.
Overall, I'd recommend this to anyone, regardless of ELO. And if you don't like the Disco tiles, there's an one-button option to use minimal lights, meaning light comes up when you lift a piece, and light comes up when you set it down or if the position is wrong.”
“Great company ships fast and the chess board is truly amazing the only problem i have is trying to update the board but other then that it is definitely 5 stars.”
“I am thoroughly enjoying this board. I'm relatively new to chess, so has been a great tool to help me improve on my journey. The YouTube reviews out there don't really show everything this board can do. Yes, it has the lights that can be set to only show you valid moves or indicate moves that are blunders, mistakes, good, best, etc. If you are playing face to face with someone else who is better than you, you can set the level of lights and hints individually for each person. It's like giving someone a handicap, if you want.
The built in lessons are amazing. The library of lessons is vast and the way the app interacts with the board is almost magical. I was showing the board off to my son. He's 27 now, but used to play when he was much younger. I've bought a second board for him so we can play online together. There is something much nicer about playing with an actual board and actual pieces, rather than on a screen. Although, I have also played plenty of chess.com games with other people using my board. I'm not sure if they have an eboard of some sort or are using the chess.com app to play. But that's the beauty of this board. You can play however you want.
My only gripe, which is minor and not worth taking off a star, is that to get the full features of different color lights to indicate different levels of "goodness" of moves, the board needs to be connected through wifi. This is a good thing, in that you can use the board without the companion app when you want. But I'm a teacher and bring the board to school every day. My students love it. But I can't get the board on wifi due to district restrictions. So, it is hard for my students to really get the most out of learning on this board. The board uses bluetooth to connect to a device and use the companion app. I wish there was a way the board could get whatever info it needs from the cloud from the companion app. Like I said, minor gripe, but I think they are missing out some great educational experiences for students.
My last thing - I also have another big name eboard that has the equivalent of a small Android tablet attached to it. It also gets great reviews. Personally, I was not nearly as impressed as I was the Chessup's board. It runs an older version of Android and uses Firefox to access the internet. I found it to be really slow when trying to integrate with chess.com. There is a dedicated app that runs directly on the built in tablet which is nice, and it has some cool tech. But the lights aren't nearly as nice or useful or easy to see outdoors as Chessup's, and due to the older version of Android and thngs that sometimes break in updates, it was frustrating to use at times. When it worked, it was cool (but slow when you want to access websites like chess.com), but I found it to be unreliable.
Personally, I would love to see Chessup make a premium board that uses a wooden board and wooden pieces. That, with a slightly bigger screen that runs the entire length of side of the board and a little wider, would be amazing!!!!”
“Worth the upgrade over the original model. Physically it’s a slimmer and to me the ends being more squared off looks nicer. Functionally the addition of the integrated chess.com is very cool.”
“I bought this for my 6-year-old son, who previously had a similar board from another company. Wow, what a difference this one is! It is well-designed and easy to use and has provided hours of challenging games for my son to play. But the company really went above and beyond with their customer service. The first board we received didn't work. They were responsive over email even over the weekend to try to troubleshoot with us. Ultimately they sent a new board, but I was blown away by the excellent customer service. Highly recommend!”
“I ordered the board and unfortunately it arrived damaged, likely due to shipping or a defect. If shipping is the issue, the packaging could definitely be improved with better protection like foam or bubble wrap.
That said, customer support was outstanding. I reached out and got a quick response, and they shipped a replacement the same day. The new board arrived in good condition and has been working well overall.
Performance is solid most of the time, but there are occasional issues. Every now and then, a game will abort because the board doesn’t register moves properly, even though the app shows the opponent did move. Very rarely, I’ve also had a piece (like a pawn) not register a move. These issues don’t happen often, but they’re noticeable when they do.
Overall, the board works great about 95% of the time and is still better than other brands I’ve tried. Despite the initial delay and minor glitches, I’d still recommend it—it’s definitely worth it.
Final rating: 3 stars, mainly due to the delayed replacement and occasional app-to-board connectivity issues.”
“I play at least a game a day on my ChessUp2, primarily online. It has been a very useful tool to keep myself accountable and motivated in a way that playing online via an app would not. I had a few glitches early on, and the Bryght Labs team was very responsive and helpful in providing diagnostics and troubleshooting steps.”
“ChessUp2 is really easy to use. The lights are simple, but effective. Easy to play games online or against bots. Students really enjoy the 2-player mode because it helps them visualize how the pieces move.”
“The Bryght Labs / ChessUp team of professionals offer an excellent product as well as outstanding customer service. When my board suddenly stopped working, Bryght Labs immediately and courteously addressed the issue, determined the problem and effected an easy and troublefree solution. They replaced it! They did so even though the warranty had expired. In a time when very few companies stand behind their products, and customer service is the exception rather than the rule, the people and leadership at Bryght Labs are an example of how all companies in America should be.
Thank you again everyone.”
“The board is amazing. It works reliably. My son loves it. It has brought us both closer to each other and Chess. I have also started real USCF tournaments. It is providing me the ability to get some kind of OTB experience through both Lichess and CC. I have 100s of thousands of online games over 30 years. But never on a board. It is definitely worth it. I evaluated several boards, this board, purchased through Brytelabs' Ebay store came a little cheaper than the main site. They say "refurbished" but it appeared brand new to me.
Perfect for regular use, perfect for the kiddo. Great fit for my son and I.
Nice work.
Its a great and affordable board.”
“Fantastic product and great customer service. I had some pieces that weren’t registering properly and they sent me replacement pieces quick! As someone who learns better physically moving pieces over the board this product has helped immensely. Only reason for the 4/5 stars is pieces. Having the option for more premium and better weighted would be a solid. A nice quality wood board still takes the cake for piece weight, quality and overall feel of play. With that being said I would recommend this board to all levels of players.”
“I have had this board for over a year now and have seen its capabilities improve consistently over that time. It has completely rejuvenated my love of the game and I use it daily. A great product well worth the investment”
“This is a great chess board and learning tool but could be better. The board does not have the connectivity with chess.com that I expected. You can access the chess.com bots to play against but you can't play against your chess.com coach or their lessons. The board is too dependent on the Chessup app. More features on the board and less on the app would make this a better product and better value for the $$$.”
