I've been using my new Chess Genius Exclusive for about a week now. Let me start off with everything I love about it:
1. The ease of which you move the pieces and how quickly the board recognizes the pieces. You move the pieces almost exactly as you would on a non-electronic board. I say almost because when you're playing online and you castle, you have to lift the king otherwise the board thinks you didn't castle and just moved it one square over. But that's minor and doesn't affect the experience once you learn of it.
2. The chess set is classy and looks great. It's something you won't mind leaving out on display. There aren't too many wooden computer chess sets, but this beats the plastic options out there. I can't say enough how much I love the fact that the board and pieces are made of wood.
3. Chess House delivered my product with the most up to date firmware which saves me the time in having to connect to a computer to upgrade. Such a time saver and I was pretty up and playing 10 minutes after I received everything.
4. The LED lights on the board and the sound from the chess computer are adjustable and as a result don't need to remain a distraction.
5. Playing online on Lichess using the board was very easy to set up. You do have to purchase the additional Chesslink modem and you do have to download the app, but once you have those two things, everything else is easy to set up. I did have to watch the YouTube video, but there were no hiccups in setting it up and the video was easy to follow.
Things I would change if I could give feedback to the manufacturers:
1. I really dislike the shape of the Chess Computer (the Exclusive). It's in the shape of an open Nintendo DS and I can't fold it down. I bought this bag from Chess House that's really nice, a bit on the pricey side at $70 Cdn. It fits everything from the board to the adapters and modem (of course not the pieces). But It won't fit the actual computer. It's very awkwardly shaped. I'm not talking about the way it works, it works well and does what it's supposed to. I'm talking about the physical shape of it. It's big and clunky and not great to travel with.
2. I wish there was a bit more heft in the pieces. They're quite light weight. This has probably something to do with the RFID in them. They probably can't put metal weights and have them close to the RFID is my guess. But it would have been nice to add a few grams on each of the pieces.
3. I do wish I didn't have to purchase a separate Chesslink Modem to play online. I wish the manufacturer just had it built in the actual board. It's not a deal breaker and obviously it works as a separate item, but this would have been a nice quality of life design had they done it.
4. I also would have liked the instructions that came in the packaging to explain a little more on how to set things up on the computer. For example, if I want to play against the computer but starting from a specific position, how would I do that? I know it definitely can be done, but not sure how. Millennium needs to at least make quick instructional videos on this on their YouTube channel, or at least have a more detailed manual in the packaging.
Overall I would recommend this product to anyone who loves playing chess on a real board as opposed to playing on a computer screen. Not having to press down on each square with the pieces when moving them is the best experience I've ever had on a chess computer. Chess House delivered everything in excellent condition as well which made for a good experience when I made my order, I just wish they had an option for free shipping for Canada.