“My grandson wanted ChessUp for his 10th birthday badly enough to put $100 of saved-up allowance toward it. He is thrilled with it (rates it 5 stars) and showed it to his coach and the other kids at chess night this week. He says it will help prepare him better for monthly rated tournaments, which he has been playing in for about a year. His dad rarely has time to play him and his school's chess club is too expensive.
I haven't had a chance yet to find out whether it will help me play against him more competitively. (I haven't been able to beat him since he was about 7, so I hope so.)”
“5 stars for the board, excellent product, I couldn't find a flaw except maybe for the built-in engine: even at max level it is way too weak. 2 star for the app: on the overall it serves to the scope, especially when it comes to facing stronger AI, and that would be enough. However, it is suffering of several flaws and the italian translation is disconcerting (you just can't translate "board" with "consiglio di amministrazione", for example).
All in all, I'm happy with the purchase: if it wasn't for the app, I would have given 5 stars. Thumbs up!”
“Chess has always been easier for me when I can see the pieces in real life, but getting people to sit down to a board is difficult. This system lets me play against others, anywhere online, and still see and feel the pieces. I know the assistance mode will help me improve my game and at my level, the AI opponent gets formidable quickly. Setup was very easy and the board responds instantly when you touch a piece. I’m really looking forward to many, many games on this high-tech board.”
“The chess computer is very impressive to look at, however it is somewhat difficult to get the bluetooth to consistently connect. In additon, the connection to chess.com has locked up on a couple of occassions. Lastly, there is no way to connect it to a chess GUI on a PC. Therefore, the board is limited to only working through the phone app. The bottom line is that it is adequate, but as a former owner of the Chessnut, I think it is less versatile. However, if you really value the instructional aspect of this board, then you will be satisfied. And finally, the customer support is very good. I always got a response in one day or sooner. In that aspect, they are superior to Chessnut.”
“I use this board with an elementary chess club. The kids love the light up board and the AI assistance really helps students learn the moves and what works and doesn’t work. Good for learners!”
“I haven't played chess for decades and wanted to relearn the game. ChessUp has ben perfect for that....and I am still challenged by the lower levels of play offered by the board. I have lots of room for improvement and hopefully can progress to using the online advanced levels. I love it...and so do my grandchildren whom I am teaching the game using ChessUp. They particularly like the lighted squares to help them make moves. We have tried other chess games online but they especially prefer the physical properties of moving the pieces and the lighted responses. Super product !!”
“The ChessUP board was purchased by me and a Chess Club friend/philanthropist to support the efforts of my Auburn Chess Club. As the board is haptic and "LED-reponsive" in showing all moves a touched piece can play to, it is very useful for beginners and serves as a pleasant distraction for those more adept at our royal game (note the attached picture of a mother with her 3-year-old playing chess at our Chess Club! :). I have tested the board online by playing a game while logged into Lichess.org and the board used LEDs to show where my opponent has played ... very pleasant when you would rather see pieces/pawns moving on an IRL board rather than on a computerized screen. Before initially updating the board I had tested the levels up to 12 (allowed without the ChessUP App) and found I could easily beat the AI-driven computer, but after downloading and updating the ChessUp program for 30 Levels I found that I could not beat the computer at Level 23 and even lower levels, as it should be, as I am a Life Master currently rated 2243 USCF. I want ChessUp to give more examples "online" of what the ChessUp board "can" do and what it "cannot" do, and provide a more detailed (online?) manual for operation of different modes of play. For example, you cannot "go backwards" through more than one move; if a few pieces/pawns have moved to the wrong square ChessUP firmware/software "cannot" fall back to the last know legal position even if the pieces/pawns are reset; you "cannot" use ChessUp for storing/replaying your opening repertoire for advanced players, and you cannot use ChessUp to setup a position and play through the moves for students of the game. If any of this is not true then please let me know. "If ChessUp professionals wish to only use 'part' of what I have stated here for advertisement issues then this is Okay with me." :)”
