DGT electronic chess boards

DGT , the Dutch company specializing in chess, revolutionized the world of chess with the introduction of electronic chess boards .

With the DGT chess boards, the development of chess tournament games can be broadcast live on the Internet. This has helped a lot in the dissemination of chess events and championships, played by both Grandmasters and strong fans, thus contributing to the popularization of the sport of science.

But an electronic chess board can also be very useful for playing at home! You can analyze positions with your board connected to a game engine, or play games with friends, taking care of your save board and then downloading them to your game database in PGN format.

DGT basically markets 3 types of electronic chess board models , depending on the type of connection to the computer they have:

DGT boards that use the serial port of the PC. They are the only ones approved for use in tournaments.
DGT boards with USB connection .
DGT boards with wireless connection via Bluetooth .
Traditional electronic chess boards are not a product for all budgets: their price ranges between 700 and 1,000 euros. The reason is the high quality of its materials: noble woods such as Walnut, Wengé or Rosewood, and the novelty of electronic technology for the detection of parts and their position.

DGT-Bluetooth-nussbaum-schachbrett with Figures "timeless"

The latest novelty of DGT in its range of electronic boards tries to alleviate this problem, through its DGT Smart Board model , which with a much cheaper price (300 euros) offer the same functionality and quality, only using cheaper manufacturing products (hard plastic instead of wood).

Electronic chess boards for tournaments and competitions of DGT Projects: serial port.

DGT electronic tournament boards are used in the main chess tournaments in the world: Chess Olympics, World Chess Championships, Wijk and Zee, Sinquefield Cup, etc.

The DGT tournament chess game allows you to broadcast live games online, as they happen. Broadcasting the live games of a championship attracts more visitors to the tournament website and facilitates the search for sponsors.

The free DGT LiveChess software is used to manage e-Boards and organize live streaming of games in real time through the Internet or on the screens of the game site.

The difference between these e-Boards, and those that use USB or Bluetooth connection technologies that we will see later, is that they allow several boards to be connected in series to the serial port of a PC, up to a maximum of 12, while the others are for individual use.

An alternative to using connection cables to the serial port (or to the USB port in case the computer does not have this type of ports, after using a serial-usb adapter), is to use the wireless system DGT Caïssa. Unlike the USB and Bluetooth models, the DGT series board is not designed for individual use.

Serial e-Boards are available in walnut, rosewood or wenge. All sets of electronic DGT chess pieces are compatible. Walnut e-Boards do not have letters and numbers (indexes) along the edge of the board. Only the Rosewood and Wengé e-Boards have these indexes.

DGT e-Board USB chess boards.

As I have already mentioned in other reviews of our website, when talking about the advantages of using electronic chess games , the main drawback of studying chess with a computer is that you are not playing the same game conditions that you will then have in a tournament

A diagram on a screen of an electronic device is not the same as a board with its plastic or wood parts!

DGT's wooden digital e-Board digital boards simply connect to the USB port of the PC bringing you the best of two worlds: the classic chess game on a traditional wooden board fused with 21st-century computer and Internet technology.

Electronic chess board DGT USB e-Board of wood type "rosewood" or rosewood (Rosewood).

The Rosewood DGT USB electronic chess board is a sensory chess board, which connects to the computer via the USB port.

TEST: DGT-BLUETOOTH-SCHACHBRETT + FIGURES + DGT-PI

DGT BLUETOOTH Rosewood eBoard with Timeless pieces + DGT PI computer + BAG

SUPER-ANGEBOT: DGT-BLUETOOTH-SCHACHBRETT + FIGUREN + DGT-PI

It receives its name from the type of wood with which it is made , the rosewood or "rosewood" (rosewood in English). Rosewood is a highly prized wood for the manufacture of furniture and wooden decorative items, due to its beautiful colors and its great resistance to moisture or rot.

It allows to work with the 5 most extended models of parts for DGT boards (Timeless, Classic, FIDE, Royal, Ebony) and for the model of parts made of plastic.

Electronic chess board DGT USB e-Board made of Wengé wood.

The DGT USB boards made of wenge wood are characterized in that they have row and column indexes for algebraic notation on their edge.

The wood produced by a tropical tree of the Millettia species is called wenge. The wenge is very dense, very hard and resistant, which ensures the highest quality and durability of DGT e-Boards.

Walnut electronic e-Board DGT USB chess boards.

The DGT Projects Electronic Chess Board (eBoard) - USB Walnut - with Timeless Ch

Walnut wood is a noble wood, which has a somewhat higher price due to its excellent properties of hardness, strength and visual appeal, and its greater shortage due to the longer time it takes for walnut to grow.

The DGT USB chessboard model in walnut , compared to the other two Wengé and Rosewood models, does not have the indexes of rows and columns of algebraic notation.

Electronic DGT chess boards with Bluetooth.

The DGT Projects Electronic Chess Board (eBoard) - Bluetooth Rosewood - with Cla

The wireless version of the e-Boards DGT chess boards was launched in 2009 and uses Bluetooth to connect to the computer.

The DGT e-board bluetooth wireless board is available in rosewood (rosewood) and Walnut woods. Therefore, there is no Wengé wood version as if it happens in the case of the DGT USB chess board.

As with the rest of DGT electronic chess boards, it can be used in combination with any of the DGT chess pieces games: Timeless, Ebony, Royal, Classic or the official FIDE game.

The main technical specifications of the DGT wireless chess board are:

Range of more than 10 meters of wireless Bluetooth communication and with the computer, having given satisfactory results over distances of more than 40 meters, in rooms with little interference and obstacles.
It also supports USB cable communication (3.5-meter mini-USB cable included).
The board has a Li-Ion battery, rechargeable through a USB cable to the PC or through a power cable that offers 24-hour autonomies.
Three-color LED status indicator.
The firmware update function facilitates the installation of future software improvements and new functions.
DGT3000 and DGT XL clock functions (optional) as a screen for chess board instructions.
eye! The DGT Bluetooth electronic board is not recommended for tournament use. For the normal configuration of a tournament, e-Boards must be used for serial port tournaments, which allow a large number of boards to be connected via cables or the Caïssa wireless system of the DGT.

The DGT Bluetooth Wireless board box includes:

USB Cable
Two extra Dams
Clock Cable
CD of the strong game program Fritz
DGT e-Board software drivers
AC / USB adapter with USA, UK and universal plug.

DGT Smart Board: the latest in electronic chess boards from DGT.

The Smart Board is the latest novelty from DGT in its range of e-Board electronic chess boards. It was specifically developed to be cheaper, and therefore more affordable for all audiences, than DGT wooden boards.

The objective of DGT is that the lower price of the DGT Smart Board, about 300 euros, allows the number of chess tournaments and championships to be broadcast live on the Internet, bringing chess to a wider audience.

It is made of high quality plastic and offers the same functionality and user experience as existing electronic wooden boards.

The DGT Smart Board has a new and innovative design. Its smaller thickness makes it appear that the board is floating on the table.

The wood imitation finish on the top of the board is visually very attractive and looks the same as real wood. The table is light, thin and ergonomic, which facilitates its storage and transport. The new plate scans faster and at the same time has greatly improved energy efficiency.

The board is available with indexes or without indexes and is compatible with all electronic chess games of the DGT, both wood and plastic. The size of the top of the board is 52 x 52 cm and the size of the square is the tournament official, 55 x 55 mm.

Smart Boards have a USB-C connection instead of the Serial connections and USB connections found in traditional wooden e-Boards.

Connection materials for Smart Boards must be ordered separately depending on how you want to use the card:

If you want to use a single Smart Board on your own, then the DGT USB cable package is sufficient.
If you want to use the Smart Boards in a tournament configuration that connects several Smart Boards to each other, you will need the tournament connection games.

What is an electronic chess board for in addition to broadcasting games on the Internet? Can DGT e-board chess boards be useful at home?

As we have already mentioned, the commercialization of DGT electronic boards was an authentic revolution in the world of chess, by allowing live broadcasting via Internet of the development of the main tournament games.

In the last world championships, this live broadcast, together with the possibility of commenting the games with great experts through Twitter, was a great boost for its popularization.

However, can a simple chess fan take advantage of a DGT electronic board? Is it useful for anything more than to broadcast live online games?

At home chess fans use the boards to play online, play against chess programs or for training purposes. Playing chess on a real DGT board with real pieces is a much better experience than watching a screen.

DGT electronic chess boards are precise and fast chess movements input devices for your computer. They are like a mouse or a keyboard!

They are beautiful wooden boards, whose squares or escapes have the official dimensions of a FIDE tournament (55 x 55 mm). The boards are only 18 mm thick, just like a normal chess board.

Its innovative patented sensor technology uniquely records both the identity (type and color) and the location of each piece. In addition, they have an internal emoria to record chess games, capable of storing up to 500 plays. These games can be downloaded later to the computer in PGN format.

The DGT3000 chess clock, and its predecessor the DGT XL, connect to the boards. When you play against an internet opponent or a chess program, the opponent's moves are shown on the clock screen.

The recognition of individual pieces makes the establishment of chess positions for analysis simply a matter of placing the pieces on the board. The computer will instantly recognize each individual piece and its positions. There are no problems to enter a position in the computer and it is very easy to use.

Electronic parts for DGT chess boards.

So far we have reviewed the main models of electronic chess boards marketed by DGT, mainly based on the mode of connection of the board with the computer to register and, eventually, retransmit online the movements of the games: serial port, USB port and wireless connection via Bluetooth.

However, the other "puzzle piece" to automatically record the games played on a physical board are the chess pieces. These must necessarily communicate to the board the movements made, according to the protocol that identifies the type of piece and its side (white or black).

Once covered its main functionality, communicate the movements made to the electronic chess board, the choice of design is a matter of taste.

For this reason, DGT offers several different types of handmade wooden electronic chess pieces that can be used on all existing DGT and Revelation II electronic boards. A game model of electronic plastic chess pieces is also available.

All DGT chess pieces are supplied with four Checkers, two for each color.

Then we review the different designs of pieces available to play chess with the chess boards of DGT.

Parts for DGT electronic chess board: FIDE model

Timeless (timeless) pieces of the DGT e-Board are the classic Staunton model in its most common form. Timeless parts are used very often in combination with the DGT walnut board.

Many world chess championships and almost all major chess tournaments use this combinatio

DGT electronic chess pieces: Royal model.

This DGT electronic chess board model is made of "rosewood" wood (rosewood), and is characterized in its design by the peculiar cut of the horse, very detailed and elaborate.

DGT electronic chess pieces: Ebony model (Ebony).

DGT ebony pieces are the most exclusive and luxurious chess pieces for DGT electronic boards, made of real ebony.

Plastic electronic chess pieces.

Electronic Plastic Chess Pieces are designed to be more affordable, lowering costs by not being made of wood. Made of high quality and robust plastic.

The pieces are weighed to create an extra feeling of robustness to improve the player experience. The set is tournament size, with king height 95mm / 3.75 ″. This set was released in December 2017.

Videos about DGT electronic chess

About DGT, the Dutch company specializing in electronic products for chess and other games.

DGT stands for Digital Games Technologies, that is, Digital Technologies for Games.

DGT designs, develops, manufactures and distributes a wide range of products related to table games, such as chess clocks and digital timers , electronic chess and checkerboards , chess computers, and other game products and accessories.

DGT also supplies starter products for the little ones such as chess starter boxes and plastic chess pieces.

DGT was founded in 1992 under the name of DGT Projects by Ben Bulsink (research and development), which had prototyped the first digital clock in 1985, and Albert Vasse (sales and marketing). The company officially registered the following year. In 2007 the name of the company was changed to Digital Game Technology.

In 2015, Bulsink and Vasse sold the company and Hans Pees assumed the position of new CEO. Ben Spenkelink became the head of development of the DGT.

DGT revolutionized the world of chess by introducing digital clocks when only analog clocks were used. They have been manufacturing the chess clock for 25 years, backed by the International Chess Federation (FIDE).

Since their first digital clock, they have been incorporating a good number of innovations, including the concept of increased time per play, one of Fischer's great contributions to the innovation of the game.