Received my Square Off board today
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- ChessHouse
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I was tracking with you and just having a little fun with emoticons. I don't do that much when interacting with others on Chess House...
I'm always happy to provide additional information for those interested and truly appreciate this forum for the wealth of information (and humor) it provides.
Emoticonically Deficient,
Paul
I'm always happy to provide additional information for those interested and truly appreciate this forum for the wealth of information (and humor) it provides.
Emoticonically Deficient,
Paul
- dedicate computers
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Square Off
The best program developed so far is called CEboard, by Alain. It's a shame that Alain has not proceeded with the development for Android and IOS. Square Off is child's play.I've added my concerns on the quality of the Android application with the Square Off team. They appear confident that the app will undergo massive changes in the next couple of months, so we can only hope that they deliver.
Again they said they would consider releasing the API. I did suggest that releasing the API would buy them time to polish their own app......
Regards
Oswaldo
- ChessHouse
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Hi Oswaldo,
Yes, the SquareOff app is currently very basic in terms of what you can do. They do accomplished something that no one else has managed to do yet though... connecting people to play a game of chess at any distance away with almost no complications beyond downloading the app to a smartphone.
Thanks,
Paul
Yes, the SquareOff app is currently very basic in terms of what you can do. They do accomplished something that no one else has managed to do yet though... connecting people to play a game of chess at any distance away with almost no complications beyond downloading the app to a smartphone.
Thanks,
Paul
Chess,com does this also.ChessHouse wrote:Hi Oswaldo,
Yes, the SquareOff app is currently very basic in terms of what you can do. They do accomplished something that no one else has managed to do yet though... connecting people to play a game of chess at any distance away with almost no complications beyond downloading the app to a smartphone.
Thanks,
Paul
What SquareOff people do not understand (and I can tell you that I exchanged a few emails with them) is that people spending this money on a chessboard want definitely more features.
A super-casual / kid player will not spend this amount of money on a chessboard, no matter how beautiful it is.
And having less features than a 1980's computer is not acceptable for the people willing to buy this kind of board.
What makes me so sad is that writing a decent application is not so hard.
And if they do not have the time or resources, they should just document the communication protocol with the board...
-Alain
Re: Square Off
Thank you Oswaldo !dedicate computers wrote:The best program developed so far is called CEboard, by Alain.I've added my concerns on the quality of the Android application with the Square Off team. They appear confident that the app will undergo massive changes in the next couple of months, so we can only hope that they deliver.
Again they said they would consider releasing the API. I did suggest that releasing the API would buy them time to polish their own app......
I loved developing CEBoard but it was a lot of work.It's a shame that Alain has not proceeded with the development for Android and IOS. Square Off is child's play.
Regards
Oswaldo
I have been really to busy with work lately to even play with my dedicated machines... Even if having a decent app for Square Off board could be an nice incentive, I am not sure that I could find the time.
Best regards,
Alain
I guess that you should take a few days off to make the board arrive ?blaubaer wrote:Hi,Al is on holiday and his Square Off arrived, Franz is on holiday and his Square Off arrived - I'm at home and I miss my Square Off...ferribaci wrote:today my board arrived. but i'm on holiday. next weekend i can unpack the package.
Sad Regards, Michael
- Steve B
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Alain wrote:I guess that you should take a few days off to make the board arrive ?blaubaer wrote:Hi,Al is on holiday and his Square Off arrived, Franz is on holiday and his Square Off arrived - I'm at home and I miss my Square Off...ferribaci wrote:today my board arrived. but i'm on holiday. next weekend i can unpack the package.
Sad Regards, Michael
to make matters even worse....
I didnt even order a Square Off and mine
Arrived Today Regards
Steve
I didnt even order a Square Off and mine
Arrived Today Regards
Steve
it's definitely not for you: with a phone, it already has less features than a CC1 except for level selection... and without a phone, just don't plug it at all and it's a really nice companion to boardless machines such as Mephisto I.
Paperweight regards,
Alain
Re: Square Off
Ah, yes! I remember having this on an HP iPaq back in the day. CEBoard with engines, Pocket SCID, ChessGenius, an SD-card with databases and PGNs. Everything I needed right in my pocket.dedicate computers wrote:The best program developed so far is called CEboard, by Alain. It's a shame that Alain has not proceeded with the development for Android and IOS. Square Off is child's play.
There's plenty of things I didn't like about the phone, such as needing regular reboots for basic functionality like voice over GSM, and I often joked that the phone lacked three crucial keys: Control, alt and delete. But for chess it was a real powerhouse at the time. I could do anything on it. Play games, analyze OTB games and store them in my database, train tactics and endgame positions from PGNs, look up what my next opponent in a tournament would normally play... I just loved it.
After getting my first Android phone (HTC Desire) I still kept the iPaq around because of the chess apps, since good Android chess apps at the time were close to none. Luckily that has changed.
Thank you for an interesting game.
- Steve B
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That's very true Michaelblaubaer wrote: Meanwhile most of the chess robots ever produced are down or, at least, no reliable chess partners...
there are numerous threads here about the historically high defect rates in almost all of the Chess Robots
however.. it will take some time to see how the Square Off robots stand up
Historically.."Armed" Robots tank well before "Sliding Piece" Robots
the Novag Robot Adversary will go belly up after 2-4 Hrs of play
while the Excalibur Phantoms Forces and Mirages will last about 2 years before tanking
I will make a predicition here and now in front of all of these people
on this ..Day Of Our Lord... May 8 2018
A large percentage(50-75%) of the Square Off Robots will start turning up defective within 2 years
good luck getting those repaired ...my guess is ..that small start-up company from India Stops replying to Emails when the first wave of Robots start crashing
of course ..we cant even begin the " defective count down clock" for the Square Off's until you...
Actually Receive One Regards
Steve
P.S. ...
- Scally
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Hi Michael and all,
My Square Off arrived on the 3rd of May, with a production date of Dec 2017 on it, so the shipping has taken ages.
My Misses has just had a Major Op, so all I’ve managed to do so far is unpack it and play a quick game against level 6 so I didn’t have to think too hard to ‘win’.
Like Paul, it’s a toy. The are no time controls, just 20 Levels of what I believe is Stockfish 7. As Alain said, the App is terrible. A while back I was able to contact them and asked for at least a chat window, but that isn’t there either.
Here’s a few pics whilst unpacking, the outer box was damaged and I have a slight dent and crease on the actual box. Thankfully the board and pieces are undamaged and are quite nice. The movement of the pieces is louder than I had hoped, but first impressions are good with the build quality.
Cheers,
Al.
My Square Off arrived on the 3rd of May, with a production date of Dec 2017 on it, so the shipping has taken ages.
My Misses has just had a Major Op, so all I’ve managed to do so far is unpack it and play a quick game against level 6 so I didn’t have to think too hard to ‘win’.
Like Paul, it’s a toy. The are no time controls, just 20 Levels of what I believe is Stockfish 7. As Alain said, the App is terrible. A while back I was able to contact them and asked for at least a chat window, but that isn’t there either.
Here’s a few pics whilst unpacking, the outer box was damaged and I have a slight dent and crease on the actual box. Thankfully the board and pieces are undamaged and are quite nice. The movement of the pieces is louder than I had hoped, but first impressions are good with the build quality.
Cheers,
Al.