DGT Pi Computer for DGT EBoards

...so much fun OTB with such a varied sparring partner! :)

I purchased a DGT Smart Board and DGT PI together in August of this year. You can access the many features of the computer through the button driven menu system on the front of the DGT PI such as setting the clock and the engine you wish to play against and its strength. No special technical knowledge is needed to use these options, and as I said, there are many options.

DGT PI is built from a DGT 3000 clock, and two "open" components: a Raspberry PI computer and a software package called picochess. As a result, it is highly customizable for the technically inclined. For example to connect the DGT PI to your wireless network and email the games.pgn file to you after each game, or do an automatic update of the software on boot up, you will need to modify a file in the DGT PI named picochess.ini. However, this technical tinkering is not needed to enjoy using the DGT PI.

In my case I have a background in Computer Science and was able to set up these additional customizations. I had to do some research on the Web to figure it all out, and if you have the background you can get it to work as well. But to be clear, you don't need a technical background to enjoy the vast majority of the DGT PIs features.

I currently am using the menus to set the Engine to Rodent III and am experimenting with it's many personalities (i.e. playing strengths and styles). I'm loosing a lot of these games so I'm going to adjust the clock to give me more time. There are YouTube videos on the web that demonstrate how to use the DGT Smart Board and PI to analyze a game or for training purposes. I'm also experimenting with those uses and having great fun. For me the selling point is to have all these options for playing chess "over the board" vs a computer screen. The physical act of moving the pieces I find helpful in learning and improving my chess.

In short I am very happy with this product and very pleased with the service I received from ChessHouse. Highly recommended.

Chess House provided the most amazing, efficient service of any company I have used in a very long time. I live in Melbourne, Australia, which is on the other side of the globe form Chess House, and although they said it would take at least ten days to arrive, I actually had the digital board and DGT Pi Computer in my hands within 7 days of payment! Furthermore, the excellent tracking meant I knew when and where the packages would arrive.

I absolutely love this computer! You connect it to the digital board using the USB cord that came with the Digital Board. I am still exploring all of the options, but continue to have my mind blown by all of the amazing options. I have been training on my own, and it is so much more like real life playing on the wonderful digital board. Perfect preparation for playing over the board games.

Chess House is absolutely amazing and they will always be the first place I go to for all things Chess! Thank you CHESSS HOUSE!

Very pleased with my purchase and the DGT Pi operates as expected following research conducted before purchase.

It is nice to see DGT combined the Raspberry pi 2.0 B Linux computer and DGT-3000 digital timer to come out a “DGT chess computer”. The operating system and the chess software (picochess 3.0) are burned on a 8 ~ 16GB micro-SD card (picochess 3.0 is equipped with the StockFish and other 20+ chess programs, the most recent version is 3.0. And, there are two versions for Raspberry Pi computer: lite version and the desktop version. You will need a 8G micro-SD to hold the Picochess 3.0 lite version (without graphical interface), and 16G micro-SD card for the desktop version if you want to use iPad as a display. These days, some people even use the most recent Raspberry Pi 4 B version for running the Picochess 3.0 with great success with the DGT-3000 or DGT-3000 Limited Edition. At this time, I swapped the DGT-3000 clock with a 3000 limited edition (with wood-like looking). Oh, btw, it is equipped with Bluetooth connection to your Blutooth e-board, you do not need to use the wire connection (because of Raspberry Pi computer has Blutooth, HDMI and 1/4” speaker outputs. I have not tested the HDMI port yet, but if you turn-on the raspberry Pi webserver, you can use any browser to see your game or broadcast your game.

I am sure it has all the bells and whistles and all the brain power but the U/X and the product design are really dated.
It looks pretty cheap next to the beautiful chess Board.
as I said, functionally excellent

Great device with an amazing chess clock, but like most people I bought it for the chess computer.

I’ve had a lot of issues with the unit, starting with the price, $200 or $249 from Amazon (depending on seller) or $300 from Chess House. I wanted to buy from Chess House due to their great service so managed to get a decent discount code. The unit itself is overly complex and - initially, I had to give up on some games as the device seemed to pack in and act erratically, but its been working better lately. I’m getting more used to it, but there’s a couple of things I think are lacking - on/off or reset button on the front, easier menu system among others.

It is well built and of course allows a single player to play with a proper chess board against a computer - but there is room for improvement.

Ordering and delivery from Chess House was great and it did arrive early, so overall I’m pleased enough to keep it and hopefully any firmware updates will make the playing experience more enjoyable.

About the french bulldog we say « it is a big volume in a small space »... I am tempted to use the same expression to describe the dgt pi chess. Wonderful tool !

At the moment I'm in the process of obtaining a windows based computer to run the DGT e-board although I can play chess matches against the computer I would like to have a full set up so that I may challenge live human opponents on the internet and have a whole experience to round out my setup. The clock works beautifully, I've yet to play a game one on one but I'm pretty sure with most of what I've read of this clock a world of new and exciting learning will take place in chess knowledge for me thus improving my game. Again thank you Chesshouse for the benefit of providing good sound equipment to enjoy for years to come.

I think it's quite amazing. Allowed me to play stockfish without being "attached" to my PC. That's the whole point of the DGT board! (you could play the software using fritz/chessbase but then you're still 'connected ' to your PC).

I own this chess computer.
It is a really good chess computer/clock. To customize it further than the stock settings, you do need to know
Linux/command line prompt, and you can easily update versions and get it to continue to announce moves even under one minute time controls.
For those who want a simple, non-technical computer, the Centaur Chess computer offers powerful play with ease of operation.
I would have that one if I didn't have the DGT Electronic board and DGT PI. who knows, I may still get a Centaur Chess computer.
But the DGT PI has outperformed my expectations, in play and features. I did have to put my tech hat on to get at all the "extras' under the hood.Which meant modifying files and things like that. I don't recommend for the un-initiated.
You can power it with the AC adapter it comes with, or with a power bank. Attach a speak to hear it call out the moves.
It can be adjusted to update, announce down to the second, retrieve saved games, email you your games, do Ethernet connections,
it can do wifi with a wifi dongle, you can set customized time controls, and other things. Granted you do need to know some programming to get at some of this extra stuff. I even install endgame tables on it.

Even so, I do recommend this machine, especially if you like to tinker.
For most people, the stock settings will suffice.

I really I can play with a tournament size board and pieces, when paired with a DGT electronic board!! THAT was one of the biggest selling points for me.

There is a learning curve with the DGT Pi. I am certain once I learn how to navigate the different menus, this chess engine will be better than playing chess on an ipad or laptop. At the moment, I am still learning how to use it. The DGT with the Royal chess pieces are great looking and feel classy. The DGT e-board with the DGT Pi and Royal Chess pieces were less than $1,000, which was an excellent price. I recommend this product for those who enjoy playing chess.

THE ANSWER HERE IS EASY! THESE DGT Pi CHESS CLOCKS ARE LOADED WITH NUMEROUS, STRONG CHESS ENGINES; MANY ENGINES CAN BE SET TO LOWER LEVELS TO EVEN OUT THE PLAYING FIELD! I HAVE HAD TROUBLE CONNECTING LAPTOP PROGRAMS TO SEVERAL E-BOARDS; THE PROBLEM WAS ALWAYS THE SAME - EVENTUALLY DURING A GAME, THE LAPTOP SCREEN WOULD MALFUNCTION. THESE CLOCKS ELIMINATE THAT PROBLEM. THERE ARE A NUMBER OF USEFUL FUNCTIONS; YOU CAN SET AT LEAST 20 DIFFERENT TIME CONTROLS, FROM LONG GAMES WITH "FISCHER" INCREMENTS, BLITZ GAMES, OR G15, 30, 60, OR 90, ETC; THE POSSIBILITIES ARE SUITABLE FOR ANY TIME CONTROL. YOU CAN CHOOSE FROM A VARIETY OF OPENING BOOKS THAT DESCRIBE THE STYLE OF PLAY, FROM OPEN GAMES TO SEMI-OPEN GAMES, TO CLOSED GAMES AND ANYTHING IN BETWEEN. THIS FEATURE IS GREAT FOR PRACTICING SPECIFIC OPENINGS, WHICH IS MY PRIMARY USE. AND IT HAS A DOUBLE USE AS A REGULAR TOURNAMENT CLOCK THAT IS EASY TO SET FOR TIME FUNCTIONS. IF YOU WANT AN ALL PURPOSE CLOCK, LOOK NO FURTHER - THIS IS YOUR ANSWER. JUST CONNECT THE CABLES AND USE IT ANY WAY YOU WANT WITH AN E-BOARD, WITH OR WITHOUT BLUETOOTH. A GREAT VALUE FOR THE PRICE, WITH A CHESS HOUSE, USA-BASED STAFF THAT PROVIDES AN ANSWER FOR ANY QUESTION YOU HAVE. NO RESERVATIONS ON THIS ONE. I BOUGHT TWO! LEN

Very interesting way to play. Extremely easy to change configurations using extra queens. But,
Lag was disappointing esp during blitz. Voice announcement never works for faster time controls.(starts with voice then automatically stops later )..and in almost all cases computer lost on time, esp in 5-5 or 3-2 which is classical blitz controls...I had tried stockfish higher levels ...but even with good position it always lost on time...but for classical.time controls ..it's great..another negative is the update option
Updating dgt pi is very complex and I am surprised ,on that prize why can't they give wifi with auto update? Given the cost factor, there are lot of scope for improvement.

I first learned to play chess in 1972 at age 10. I am now starting to “learn” to play chess. The Pi and DGT board allow me to have a real game at anytime on a real board. While I am yet to win even a single game . I am studying and can see small improvements. I will recommend this system . From a beginners standpoint it is a lot of fun.

I just hope this one lasts a long time. The first one last about 6 months before it stopped working. So far so good for the new one.

So i know there are many other chess computer options out there, but this one also is a full featured DGT3000. Which is still considered a great clock by many! I have the vtek 300 as well but i see this clock in so many tournaments. Another cool thing is, if you are a causal home player, you can put this in observation mode and the clock will be triggered by moving pieces. So if you and your buddy wants a clock but not having to press... then this will do it! It will also give hints so if you are coaching someone, you can use the hints as a teaching aid. Combine this with the new DGT smartboard and you are in business! So instead of buying some “gadget” with blinking lights and small size, you can have a full tournament size board and clock that can be used as computer or a no powered board and still look fancy... Just get over the looks of DGT plastic pieces and realize that someone would love to have even your $14 club set...

Recommended seller. Very responsive customer service. Josh of ChessHouse quickly responded to a question about the product.

I've had the DGT Pi chess computer for a month now, and it is excellent. The best part is having 8 engines to choose from, giving a wide variety of chess-playing styles. The lower ELO settings some of the engines have are a must for most of us humans! An observation about the strength of the strongest engine included, Stockfish 7: The user's guide says it's rated about 2570 on its highest level, but it's clearly higher than that. I've played it 6 games against Deep HIARCS 14 on my laptop, and the result is 5 draws and a win for Stockfish 7. The menu operation is quite intuitive and easy to learn. I didn't think I'd make much use of the alternate method of making menu choices using the 2 extra queens, but that turned out to be more intuitive and easy than I thought, and I usually use that method now. Apparently there will be occasional firmware updates from the Picochess project, so the product will evolve over time. Chess House was a pleasure to deal with too, shipping the order and checking with me along the way to make sure all was well with the order.