Electronic checker boards (over bluetooth)

[AartBik]

Not much feedback (yet?), but I am continuing with this idea regardless. Below you see the concept, a regular piece and a king (dividing the 32 identifying chips of Certabo into 24 regular pieces and 10 kings, to avoid having to stack the regular pieces). Courtesy my brother-in-law for the 3D printed checkers pieces.

[AartBik]

I got my new set of identifying chips from Certabo. Together with custom-made checker pieces (courtesy Gerard Harbers) , Checkers for Android is ready to play!

[Rein Halbersma]

It looks really awesome, but why isn't stacking the pieces a viable solution? Or do you need a weight sensor for that?

[AartBik]

It looks really awesome, but why isn't stacking the pieces a viable solution?

Yes, Checkers for Android could easily identify the chip of the piece that promotes as a king and play from there. The human players probably want to mark that piece also somehow for their own recognition (and stacking would work, since the "bottom" chip is identified by the board). This would have been my solution if you had to pay for each Certabo identifying chip individually. But since they ship in sets of 34, I thought this would be the most fun solution.

[Krzysztof Grzelak]

Hi AartBik.

I have a question because I'm very interested in it. Is using a board " Electronic checker boards (over bluetooth) " to run a Russian draugths tournament in flying draughts. I would like to buy this board, but I must know that it will meet my expectations.

Krzysztof Grzelak.

[AartBik]

I have a question because I'm very interested in it. Is using a board " Electronic checker boards (over bluetooth) " to run a Russian draugths tournament in flying draughts. I would like to buy this board, but I must know that it will meet my expectations.

Hi Krzysztof,
I would really like to see an actual audience for this idea. A few things to consider though.

• The board connects over USB, not bluetooth (if that matters to you)
• The board does not come with checkers pieces but with identifying chips
  (so you can simply attach the chips to a set you own, or 3D print your set)
• Checkers for Android is, afaik, the only one supporting this board for checkers
  (so make sure this app meets all your needs, you can download it now and try)

[Krzysztof Grzelak]

Hi Krzysztof,
I would really like to see an actual audience for this idea. A few things to consider though.

• The board connects over USB, not bluetooth (if that matters to you)
• The board does not come with checkers pieces but with identifying chips
  (so you can simply attach the chips to a set you own, or 3D print your set)
• Checkers for Android is, afaik, the only one supporting this board for checkers
  (so make sure this app meets all your needs, you can download it now and try)

Thank you for your response AartBik.

- the board connects over USB, not bluetooth (if that matters to you) - even for me it's better that by USB.
- the board does not come with checkers pieces but with identifying chips (so you can simply attach the chips to a set you own, or 3D print your set) - it's very good that someone does something like that

I would like to test, but unfortunately I can not. I do not have Android. Please, do it on Windows 10 64 bit.

[AartBik]

Please, do it on Windows 10 64 bit.

Ai, I am terribly sorry, but this is really an Android only project for me. You may want to ask on the Certabo Forum if there are any plans to support checkers with a Windows application.

[Krzysztof Grzelak]

Thank you very much for the information.

[AartBik]

I just posted a brief instructional video on navigating the menus of Checkers for Android and connecting the application with the Certabo electronic chessboard. I even found a way to enter "ambiguous" moves through the electronic board.

[Rein Halbersma]

Great stuff! As an owner of an Android-auto enabled car, I can't wait until your checkers for Android will work on my car's dashboard display, voice activated of course. And ideally a 10x10 version. Are those eature requests you are willing to entertain?

BTW, keep tuned on this forum for some exciting TensorFlow developments that I've been working on. Updates coming soon!

[AartBik]

BTW, keep tuned on this forum for some exciting TensorFlow developments that I've been working on. Updates coming soon!

Thanks Rein. That is a fascinating read. It is really amazing how ML keeps changing the rules of the game, quite literally!

[Krzysztof Grzelak]

Maybe I'll ask some important questions for me.

1. Is it possible to play Russian draughts in "flying draughts".
2. Is there an application under Window to install so that people can watch the tournament live on the internet.
3. What about time - can a chess clock be connected
4. If the chess clock cannot be connected, how was the time problem solved during the game.

[AartBik]

1. Is it possible to play Russian draughts in "flying draughts".
2. Is there an application under Window to install so that people can watch the tournament live on the internet.
3. What about time - can a chess clock be connected
4. If the chess clock cannot be connected, how was the time problem solved during the game.

Thanks Krzysztof!

1. The app is 8x8 American checkers only, which allowed me to focus very specifically on the engine strength. I have pondered about adding other variants, but there are sooo many other checker apps added to Google Play already that I no longer thought there would be much interested in such an addition. Likewise, I thought about adding "UCI" support for external checkers engines (just as I did for my chess app in 2010 already), but I don't think there are more than 5 people interested in a such a feature....

2. Sorry, no, I develop for Android, not really for Windows.

3. Yes, it can, have a look at this blog posting (for chess for now, but with DGT checkers pieces, that would extend to checkers eventually too).

4. It can, but even without an external clock, you can see the time on the phone or tablet.

[Krzysztof Grzelak]

Thanks Krzysztof!

1. The app is 8x8 American checkers only, which allowed me to focus very specifically on the engine strength. I have pondered about adding other variants, but there are sooo many other checker apps added to Google Play already that I no longer thought there would be much interested in such an addition. Likewise, I thought about adding "UCI" support for external checkers engines (just as I did for my chess app in 2010 already), but I don't think there are more than 5 people interested in a such a feature....

2. Sorry, no, I develop for Android, not really for Windows.

3. Yes, it can, have a look at this blog posting (for chess for now, but with DGT checkers pieces, that would extend to checkers eventually too).

4. It can, but even without an external clock, you can see the time on the phone or tablet.

I will write honestly.

Well, the whole problem is that you write for android and there is little interest. This is not the direction you should have taken. If you started playing with Windows, many people would be very interested.If someone made an application and 8x8 "flying" checkers in Russian and Brazilian checkers, the board would probably sell well. Today, not such boards for Russian and Brazilian checkers on the ground.Of course I'm writing about "flying draughts".I think a lot of people would be interested in such a board. As you know, there are chess boards and 10x10 draughts.