I have a question. How are the DGT electronic boards and sets in use?
Are they useful for tournament play only?
Are there any obvious flaws or problems with the things?
How practical are they for the individual to own for personal use in say tournaments, club play, etc.? 
The ones I’ve seen require you plug in a small power transformer and have a computer close enough that you can run a serial cable from the board to the computer to transmit the moves.
I’ve also heard they have a relatively high failure rate and I think someone pointed out in another thread that they don’t always record moves properly if players slide pieces across the board.
As a result, I think they currently work better in situations in which the organizer provides them for top boards (and has one or two spares in case they fail.)
If the power and cabling issues can be resolved and reliability improved a bit, it seems to me like the DGT is only one or two product generations away from being something it would be reasonable for players to bring to tournaments. I don’t know if they’re being actively developed further, though.
If they could be combined with a digital clock, the resulting product might be very useful.
I have used them with no problems being noted. At the Queen City Classic held at Paul Brown Stadium, we run a cable from the PC to the video console and display the games on large video monitors. We also attach a clock to the board so that the clock times can be displayed.
I have noticed that while GM Ashley and GM Kaidanov have a hard time doing analysis during a time scramble the board has no trouble keeping up with the play.
Mike,
The new DGT boards are powered by the USB cable. I have four and I connect them to a 4-1 USB hub and run them from one laptop. The new software drivers eliminate the sliding piece problem. I believe that the products are currently reliable.
I agree that it is currently best for tournament organizers to use them at the top boards. That is what I prefer. They are quite easy to set up with only the one small cable and they do not get in the way. All the DGT boards can accept via a 1/8" jack the DGT clock data. That clock data can also be displayed with the chess moves. I only own 2 of those DGT clocks currently, so I haven’t tried them in a tournament, but it worked flawlessly at home.
I have used these 4 boards in 2 tournaments within the last month with kids and there were no errors.
As a bonus, the boards each store up to 500 moves and allow me to download the games in .pgn format so that I can email them to the player’s parents as they request.
So far, everyone that has seen these chess board displays has commented favorably. I will be using them next at the Indiana State Class Championships in Indianapolis on June 3rd.
By then I should also own DGT’s multi-player TOMA Chess Broadcasting Software, too and wirelessly transmitting the laptop display to a projector for the spectators.
Terry
I understand the pieces each have their own sensor so that the board can identify each piece individually. Because of this the pieces cannot be weighted. Are the pieces stable on the board?
Also, what happens when a pawn is promoted? How can you have more than one Queen on the board of the same color?
If I got one of these for my own use would it be practical to bring to a tournament to have the game recorded for future use? I guess there is the power consideration and the question of if the board must be connected to a computer to work.
The pieces are made of wood and have a nice weight to them already, certainly heavier than tournament-quality plastic non-weighted pieces.
Each DGT pieces set comes with an extra Queen for pawn promotion.
You can even borrow other pieces from other DGT sets if you wish.
Your last paragraph opens a potential problem and I am sure would require approval of the tournament TD. I don’t wish to go into the potential rule problems, they have been gone over ad naseum this last week on adjacent forum threads. If, however, it is just for club play and not a tournament, probably you would be fine.
There are plans detailing how you can power the boards without a computer connection. I have made one, but someone I know could not get his to work without overheating the battery !(?)
In short, I really enjoy mine, but I do not use them on a day to day basis, or even during club play. I really like them for tournaments.
Terry
I haven’t seen the USB model yet or the interface to their digital clock, and I’m glad to hear the boards are still being developed (and apparently being improved.)
The USB cable eliminates some but not all of the problems with having them throughout the playing hall as opposed to just on designated (top) boards.
If they could be battery operated without the need to be connected to a computer during use, then for personal use the 500 move memory might be sufficient, or perhaps they could incorporate a memory stick.
For tournament organizer use I think MonRoi has the right idea with wireless transmission of moves to a central console. (I’d have to see what happens in a large tournament with multiple playing halls and possibly the need for multiple tournament director consoles, though.)
I could easily see DGT developing a memory stick or card and definitely developing a wireless transmitter with a 9 volt battery supply. At least, I hope.
Good info guys!
So would you then say the current best use for these boards would be for personal use with a computer and the various programs and internet venues? And also for tournament usage by TD’s and organizers?
It would be nice if someone would make a less expensive version that would be battery powered so that a person could bring it to different things like tournaments, club, etc. with the memory of the games. 500 moves is a good storage amount.
The Shahcom board is apparently $320. http://www.ruschess.com/Shahcom/Shahcom.html This was the board used in the infomercial/chess match last year. It appears to me that this system also needs to be attached to a PC in order to work.
At $359 a piece, wouldn’t it be cheaper, more interesting, easier, less intrusive, etc. to just point a video camera at the board? With descent webcams under $100, and wireless USB just around the corner, it’s definatley something to consider.
Terry,
I look forward for you to bring these up here in a few months. Perhaps after a success at the Indiana Class Champs, we can implement these more often and pick up a few either personally or at a club level.
Yeah, it should be great. Be sure and introduce yourself to me, so I can meet the ever-present-on-the-forums thunderchicken.
I just picked up 2 more DGT XL clocks and the TOMA tournament broadcasting software. That means that not only will the board pieces will be on display, but the game time, notation and last move as well. I don’t know if we want to go there, but we can even synch the boards with an FTP server and broadcast the games live over the internet. We’ll see…
Terry
Webcams would not give a record of the game, just the current position.
Has anyone ever tried setting up a tournament webcam?
Wouldn’t webcams use about a million times the bandwidth of a DGT board? Maybe that wouldn’t matter with just a few boards and high speed networking, but if you try to do several games and the building has slower networking (802.11b with a marginal signal strength, for example), you’d have lots of problems.
Wow, I cannot believe what just happened this weekend!
I just received a DGT board and pieces for free, basically. My brother-in-law went to an auction of a chess player and got it. I gave him one of my House of Staunton sets for it.
Unfortunately no one there knew what was happening and there is only to board and pieces that came. I spoke with Sean at the House of Staunton and he says I simply need the cable and adaptor.
So, I have a question or two for you chaps that already have one of these sets.
Firstly, is there a way that I can get the board to keep the game scores without connecting it to a computer and if so, how?
I am going to download the latest drivers at the DGT web site. Is there anything else I should do to get the most of this thing?
Go here:
dgtprojects.com/Mirrors/DGTBattery/index.htm
I made one and it works fine. The EEPROM will hold 500 moves, download the Queen program from DGT’s site. That program has a way to download the moves from memory and save them as .pgn files.
Good luck
Terry
Thanks Terry.
The board I have has a serial port.
I called the House of Staunton and they are looking to get me the cable and adaptor. I guess I’ll try to figure a way to rig that system up for the serial system when I have everything in my hands.
Of course if anyone knows how, I could sure use the info. I am an optometrist not an electronic dude.
Wireless USB doesn’t use 802.11*, I’m not sure what the bandwidth limitations on it are. There’s certainly differences in the two approaches, and it depends on what your goals are.
If you just want to show a certain number of games on “the big screen” I’d say a webcam is way better than the handheld devices. If you want a record of every game in the hall, it’s probably a lot more cost effective to grab a copy of all of the scoresheets and send them to a data entry center. Or even send off the video of each game and have it transcribed.
I’m assuming that wireless USB lets a peripheral communicate to a computer just like regular USB. If you want to share that information with other computers (on the web or just to a computer at the other end of the playing hall for display on a monitor) you’d normally be using something like 802.11b or 802.11g. I guess if you’re going to invest that much in webcams and computers, then you might as well set up your own high speed wireless networking. I still think you’ll be pretty limited in bandwidth.
I think you could equip every person at a SuperNationals with a DGT board or a notation device for less bandwidth than a single webcam.
As for expense, I think you’re dreaming if you think video recording and then transcribing is going to be cost effective for an entire tournament. And I don’t see how you could make more than a very few games available on the internet (bandwidth again).