Hi Richard, we're sorry that ChessUp has not lived to your expectations.
We're working non-stop on fixing some issues on the app that you are probably experiencing and hope to have all that resolved soon.
Thanks for your patience!
“I'm fairly new to chess. In the short time I've been using Chess Up it's improved my game. It's interesting to observe the moves that the AI makes. Excellent way to learn.”
“The board is great when it works well, and it was pretty intuitive for me to set up the board to play at a level about equal to my own. The Android app is a bit of a mess, and the board can go haywire sometimes, but once they get these issues resolved I think they really have something here.”
Hi Nick,
thanks for your review! We are aware of issues with the Android app and are working non-stop to get them fixed.
Thanks for your understanding!
“Overall, ChessUp is great to have in my hands after so long. The board is well-made and the concept of touch-sensitive pieces interacting with a light-enabled board is genius. There is a lot of potential still untapped - and that is why I deducted one star. It's nice the hardware is delivered, but so much of the opportunity lies in the software. Integration with online chess platforms, much more lessons and educational resources that leverage the unique board functionality, etc. Hoping to see that sooner rather than later. Also shipping was a bit of a challenge since I was told the board had shipped and kept asking why UPS showed no progress, only to be told that it takes time for UPS to update. In the end, it turned out my board was not shipped at all - this would've been resolved faster if the company had listened to me more seriously at the start.”
“Didnt know id have to buy a whole new phone to use the app for my chessboard. Please make the app compatible with software that was present when the pre orders were up. Doesnt make sense to make the app only work with the newest software.”
“Partnering with Bryght Labs has been an invaluable experience overall. Their launch of the ChessUp this year has been an incredibly smooth rollout and has allowed us to further grow our product assortment with a truly beautiful Chess Computer. The ChessUp is one of the most feature-rich Chess Computers on the market today and we are proud to add it to our product catalog!”
“Really loving the board, fantastic design and I've been using it a lot. The only problem I can find comes in connecting to lichess to play online. Even when I choose all random, I am always assigned to the black pieces. 100 percent of the time. Also wish that I could play my regular 10 minute games instead of 15x10 or 5x5. I don't see the option for 10 minutes.”
“Great product to improve your chess and also when playing with someone weaker! The Android software still has a few bugs but the team is working on them. I totally recommend this product!”
“While the board, the pieces, and the carry bag are all very nice, the Android version of the app is unreliable at best, and to be honest, when I ordered this 2 years ago I was playing a lot of chess and thought this would help improve my otb game. Now I don't play much anymore and I don't think this board will change that.”
Hi Daniel,
thanks for your review! We are aware of issues with the Android app and are working non-stop to get them fixed.
Thanks for your understanding!
“I will have to admit that this ChessUp board is a bit too complicated for me. I lent it to my daughter to figure it out. I very much appreciated all the extras such as the carry case.”
“The board arrived in perfect condition and played well. The team kept up with updates regularly throughout the process, and I am completely satisfied with the project. Good luck in the future.”
“My review will be in two separate parts, the board and the app.
The board (5/5):
It is amazing. The board alone would be more than 5/5 stars. It has re-ignited my love for chess and I'm having an absolute blast playing with it. The touch detection is top tier and it feels extremely satisfying to touch a piece and have the squares light up. The onboard AI is also generally pretty fast and it just feels really good. Again, I absolutely love this chess board and I show it to everyone who comes over whether they want to see it or not.
The App (1/5):
Bluntly, the app is hot garbage. It's clear that they didn't have time to put much work into it yet (which I don't blame them for). The battery indicator just picks a random percentage every time you start the app to show. There is a game I started from app the day I got the board that I am unable to end or forfeit so it just stays there. Sometimes when I start a game on the app the AI doesn't do their move and the game never really starts. The only feature available currently in the app is setting up and starting a game, but that only works about 50% of the time for me so I just do it directly on the board instead.
I really wish I could give this 5 stars, and I'm extremely hopeful they will fix the issues with the app, but for now I am very conflicted between loving the board and feeling frustrated that I can't use all of the settings because the app doesn't work.”
“The board itself works and is nice, but the promised software falls completely flat. The main draw of this purchase to me was the prospect of playing online via Lichess. I honestly cannot recommend this board unless you are only going to play OTB.”
“I still don't understand what colour I must use from a low to a high rating on your chess computer
Is a low rating: green and a high rating: blue?
P. Jansen - the Netherlands
E mail: eurosys@telfort.nl”
Hi there! When you start a game using the app and adjust the assistance level, the meaning of each color is displayed.
You can also take a look at this help article that goes over all colors at all assistance levels: https://bryghtlabs.helpscoutdocs.com/article/66-ai-assistance
If you need any further assistance please contact us info@bryghtlabs.com
Thanks!