From this photo, the table looks to be 30" (maybe 32"). The board looks like a fairly standard dgt eBoard. I’ve emailed the St. Louis Club to ask for a tale of the tape.
This is unquestionably a standard equipment combination. Anyone who suggests otherwise is simply looking to complain about something.
It looks standard to me, not specially downsized for the little people. Whether or not the chessmen being used are to ones liking/preference is a personal opinion worth, IMO, discussing. I don’t think anyone is “complaining” about anything. If Cassia decided to gift me with one of the chessmen sets being used now in St. Louis, I’d be most grateful whether I were to use them or not.
Browsing House of Staunton, it doesn’t appear that the electronics in the pieces causes the bases to be any larger than a non DGT set.
Here are some photos and a diagram of the sensors.
Hey!! This gives me an idea for a new chess variant! Let’s call it DGT-Sensor Chess 960 Fischer Random.
Each player starts with 8 pawns on the second rank and 8 checkers on the first rank. The checkers all look identical, but each has a DGT sensor in it to identify the piece.
Actually, this would probably have to be played on a computer, so that the initial randomization can take place properly.
The computer determines, randomly, a legal Chess 960 initial position. For those not in the know, this means:
- The eight initial pieces for each player consist of 1 king, 1 queen, 2 bishops, 2 knights, and 2 rooks, to be placed on the player’s first rank.
- The two players have the same (i.e. mirror-image) starting positions. For example, if there is a white knight on c1, there is a black knight on c8.
- Each player’s 2 bishops must be placed on opposite-colored squares.
- Each player’s king must be placed on a square somewhere between the two rooks.
The initial position is then shown on the screen to both players, but the pieces on each player’s first rank all look the same (e.g. all white checkers for white, all black checkers for black). Thus the players will not know, initially, which pieces are which.
The computer will at all times show the same position, both players’ pieces, to both players (unlike Kriegspiel).
With each move, if a player’s attempted move is illegal, due to the player’s not knowing what the piece is, the computer will reject it and ask for another move. Both players will see each player’s attempted move and the “illegal” flag from the computer, and thus will gain some information about the piece.
For example, if white attempts Xc1-f4, and the computer says it’s legal, both players will now know that the piece is either a queen or a bishop.
An attempted move reported as “illegal” in this manner may be replaced by any legal move, with the same or a different piece.
If almost anything a player tries is reported “illegal”, there is a good chance the player is in check, but doesn’t know which piece is his king. Again, both players will gain some information as a result.
If a player wishes to try to castle, he should press the “castle K-side” or “castle Q-side” button on his computer, rather than just moving his king. If the castling attempt is legal, the computer will move both the king and the rook to their appropriate squares. If the attempt is illegal, of course the computer will flag it and call for a different move.
If a player attempts to move a piece that turns out to be his king, and the attempted move is illegal as just a king move, but legal as part of a castling move, the computer will accept it as a castling move, and move both the king and the rook to their appropriate squares.
Is anybody game?
Bill Smythe
No doubt it could be fun, but I think I’ll pass. 