Dedicated computers vs PC, PICOCHESS, GAVON

Post by **Steve B** » Fri May 15, 2015 5:25 pm

JeffB wrote:
The Gavon appears to be a nicely designed unit. To dismiss it for the "reasons" given just seems ridiculous and unfair to the engineer who put this together.

Well it might seem ridiculous to you but this is a matter of personal preference

I prefer the less wires and cables the better..my preference
you don't see me suggesting that others should not be interested in it or mocking those that are do you?

we post our thoughts and opinions here..thats what we do
if you prefer 2 door cars over 4 doors and you give your reason I wouldnt call them ridiculous

I think you comment is off base

Nuff Said Regards
Steve

JeffB · Post by **JeffB** » Fri May 15, 2015 5:31 pm

I didn't call you ridiculous, just the statement that three wires constitutes a rats nest that requires a PhD to put together. Of course you're entitled to your preferences and opinions.

Post by **Steve B** » Fri May 15, 2015 5:44 pm

JeffB wrote:I didn't call you ridiculous, just the statement that three wires constitutes a rats nest that requires a PhD to put together. Of course you're entitled to your preferences and opinions.

I didnt say you called me redicilous
I was taking about your comment about my opinion
my comments were also intentionally a bit tounge n cheek and not meant to be taken literally

Loosen Up Regards
Steve

JeffB · Post by **JeffB** » Fri May 15, 2015 5:47 pm

The tongue-in-cheek wasn't obvious. Loosening up now...

spacious_mind · Post by **spacious_mind** » Fri May 15, 2015 5:54 pm

Jeff,

I think you misread Steve's post a little. Steve is not ashamed of his dedicated computer stand. I was actually almost very surprised and nearly spilled my coffee this morning when I read Steve's post. Steve warming up to a Gavon. Thats a huge step forward !!!! Woo Hoo !!! Cheering !!!

Steve's complaint is that he would like to see it all in one unit where you can just switch on the unit, set your preference and play!! The LCD display is already a massive step forward in that direction and another big step towards one day becoming a dedicated computer.

With progress like this who knows maybe in the next year or so we have a new dedicated computer that we can all appreciate.

Best regards

Post by **Steve B** » Fri May 15, 2015 5:55 pm

JeffB wrote:The tongue-in-cheek wasn't obvious. Loosening up now...

I guess I should not assume that everyone is familiar with my sense of humor..

well anyway...
I did say I would be interested in the Gavon if someone comes along and packages it nicely ..such as the idea with the XL clock

Luddite Regards
Steve

Post by **Steve B** » Fri May 15, 2015 5:58 pm

spacious_mind wrote:Jeff,
I was actually almost very surprised and nearly spilled my coffee this morning when I read Steve's post. Steve warming up to a Gavon. Thats a huge step forward !!!! Woo Hoo !!! Cheering !!!

slowly but surely you are having an influence in my thinking on these matters
who knows.. perhaps one day I might even throw all caution to the wind and take a look at the ..

PC Chess Card Next Regards
Steve

JeffB · Post by **JeffB** » Fri May 15, 2015 6:01 pm

Luddite regards

That's hilarious!

Well, yes, packaging could improve, for starters using an onboard speaker would lose one cable, and onboard battery, another. I think we're seeing a product in its embryonic stages, that's why the skin is still translucent.

The Gavon probably has more features than the DGT clock will have but ... hey, wait a minute! The clock will need a cable to connect to the board and ...

JeffB · Post by **JeffB** » Fri May 15, 2015 6:06 pm

@spacious_mind: Yeah, I get that now. I sit corrected.

I believe the market is right for a mid-priced dedicated chess computer or modern version of the Novag computer-A/S board combination. I'm not sure DGT's the right company to make this happen (I have several of their products and I'm not all that thrilled with some aspects of each of them, but I won't bore people with the details).

Post by **Steve B** » Fri May 15, 2015 6:37 pm

JeffB wrote: I'm not sure DGT's the right company to make this happen (I have several of their products and I'm not all that thrilled with some aspects of each of them, but I won't bore people with the details).

well feel free to post your thoughts about any of the DGT products
I am sure there are members here who would be interested in the subject

personally I own an old DGT board(Serial interface) and XL clock..given to me as a gift by a well intentioned although misguided family member
I also own the Revelation II board which is in part at least a DGT product

We Have A Large Tent Here Regards
Steve

JeffB · Post by **JeffB** » Fri May 15, 2015 8:43 pm

My complaints about DGT aren't major, more like quibbles, but here goes...

960 Chess Clock: No secondary or tertiary time controls, so it's fine if you play all g/60 type time controls but not for, say 40/120 SD/60. Also, the buttons have to be pressed very precisely or they may not register. In the heat of a game, that's a terrible problem, totally unacceptable in a competition clock.

XL Chess Clock: When used with a USB board, there is an unacceptable delay between the computer's move and the move appearing on the clock display. Also, the clock construction feels more like a fragile cheap toy than a sturdy unit. The fragility may be more perception than reality, but it makes me use my Chronos or even my buggy Saitek (except when I play against a computer using the DGT board, of course, but even then I've started omitting the clock, which means that I have to monitor the computer screen).**

Chess Sets: I don't like the design of any of the DGT chess sets, though a few are better than others. For the price I expect nicer designs. This is totally subjective, of course. If DGT would sell the sensors as a kit, I could adapt one of my nicer sets. But they refuse. If the prices keep dropping, I may buy another set and gut the pieces for the sensors.

So, there it is. Not much, really, but enough to make me think twice before investing in any more DGT products.

** In line with earlier banter, using the DGT means having cables in the way. (I don't have the BT version.)

Post by **Steve B** » Fri May 15, 2015 10:28 pm

JeffB wrote:
Chess Sets: I don't like the design of any of the DGT chess sets, though a few are better than others. For the price I expect nicer designs. This is totally subjective, of course. If DGT would sell the sensors as a kit, I could adapt one of my nicer sets. But they refuse. If the prices keep dropping, I may buy another set and gut the pieces for the sensors.

i own 5 different DGT sets
the Ebony set is drop dead gorgeous
but that's my opinion(and hopefully you will not ridicule it)

you know there are other sets available for the DGT board,sold by a company not related to DGT
the sets are quite stunning although a bit pricey
i have the BCE Stage 1 Eastern Black DGT serial No. 24 with Markings(King's Rook and Kings Knight)

here is their web -site
http://www.bestchessmenever.com/

Regards From Slovenia
Steve

JeffB · Post by **JeffB** » Fri May 15, 2015 10:37 pm

I dare not ridicule your opinion! (Especially considering that I may agree with it and would thereby ridicule myself. Wouldn't be the first time for that, though.)

I did mention that some of the DGT sets looked nice, but I've only seen them in pictures, not in person. (The Ebony, Classic and Royal all look much nicer than the Timeless.)

Thanks for the tip - I'll check out that company's website. [UPDATE: They're not quite my taste. I'm more in line with Lardy Staunton designs, aka "French Knight".]

Buying a set may be cheaper in the long run than winding all my own coils, testing each on the DGT board, then drilling into the weights in the pieces and hoping the metal of the weights doesn't skew the resonance frequency so that my King suddenly gets an electromagnetic sex change operation into a Queen or find religion as a Bishop...

spacious_mind · Post by **spacious_mind** » Mon May 25, 2015 5:15 pm

21 Gavon engines tested so far. Below is how they rank.

Best regards

spacious_mind · Post by **spacious_mind** » Tue Jun 23, 2015 12:16 am

Here are some pictures of Gavon.

Gavon

Size = 3.3/4" wide x 2.3/4" tall x 2" thick.

Gavon runs on a Raspberry PI REV2 with 700MHZ and 500MB RAM. As you can see from the photo, all you need to play it is the small black box and attach the battery which you can get in black or white. You can even remove the speaker which is that round thing if you wish. The speaker allows you to listen to voice moves or beeps, depending how you want to set it up.

I just completed testing Stockfish 6 on it and it scored ELO 2947! Which I imagine makes it the strongest program that is available for it.

Gavon 2

Size = 4" long x 2.1/2" wide x 1.7/16" thick.

Gavon 2 is a little smaller than Gavon and the mini SD card that stores the operating system and chess program is nicely hidden away so unless you look for it you wouldn't even know that it exists.

The LCD touch chess screen is 2.3/4" tall x 2" wide and as you can see from the photo it is very clear with very sharp chess images. To give you perspective, the stylus that I am using on Gavon 2 is 4" long and the rechargeable battery is 3.1/2" long.

Also you can see from the photo that I have not bothered to attach the speaker. Which of course you can if you want the beeps or speech.

Gavon 2 is a Raspberry Pi 2 Model B which has:

•A 900MHz quad-core ARM Cortex-A7 CPU
•1GB RAM

and the following in addition:

•4 USB ports
•40 GPIO pins
•Full HDMI port
•Ethernet port
•Combined 3.5mm audio jack and composite video
•Camera interface (CSI)
•Display interface (DSI)
•Micro SD card slot
•VideoCore IV 3D graphics core

With a full HDMI Port, you can probably connect Gavon 2 to a large HDTV if you wanted, as well as connecting it to external chess boards. You could probably even do both at the same time if you want to show off to an audience while you play this beast.

Stockfish 6 on Gavon 2 scored a massive ELO 3051! Which is over 100 ELO improvement over Gavon, which definitely makes it the strongest portable chess computer in existence, if not the strongest dedicated chess computer in existence period!

Stockfish 6 Results

Amazing technology and effort by the creators.

And, all this for the price of taking your loved one to watch a Sunday afternoon movie followed by a good steak dinner in a good restaurant!

Wow.. and best regards