Electronic chessboards have come a long way. There are already many of them that combine with your phone to let you play on Lichess and Chess.com. ChessUp 2 (coupon “Gadgetify”) and Chessnut EVO are special as they have their own Android computer built-in, so they let you play against a strong version of Stockfish even without a smartphone. The ChessUp 2 is a great educational set. It uses different light colors to give you feedback on the quality of your moves. You can pair it to your phone to play online but after the initial setup, you can play offline against a strong engine.
The Chessnut EVO is the most advanced chess board with a 12.3″ Android tablet on the side. It has Stockfish 17, Maia, and Leela Chess Zero for you to play against. It is the only board we have seen that lets you train your own chess engine with your own games. It also has a career mode. It can give you feedback on move quality with lights but ChessUp 2 has a big advantage here.
The EVO doesn’t need an app connection to work. ChessUp 2 gives you the option to use your phone. While both have smart piece recognition, only ChessUp 2 has a checkers set, so you can play another game with it. As far as setting up a custom position, it is a piece of cake on both of these. Just play your pieces on the board, and they will be automatically recognized.
The EVO works like a regular Android tablet. You can access apps like Firefox on it. Both boards are compatible with popular online platforms such as EVO and Chess.com. Both have an evaluation bar that give you feedback on any given position. The Chessnut EVO fully supports Chess960 but you can set up crazy positions on both these boards.
