Chessconnect

Now available as an app for Android and iOS !

What is Chessconnect?

Chessconnect is a Chrome web extension, Android™, and iOS™ app that allows owners of smart chessboards to connect to various chess sites. It’s main features are:

  • completely free!
  • uses the official APIs of lichess.org* and chess.com
  • is acknowledged by both sites and absolutely legal*
  • works on Windows™, Mac™, Linux, Android™, iOS™, and Chrome OS™
  • currentl integrates seamlessly into
    • chess.com
    • lichess.org
    • noctie.ai
    • chessiverse.com
    • chessdojo.club
  • supports almost all electronic chess boards
  • both USB and Bluetooth connections (on iOS only Bluetooth LE)
  • games against bots, human opponents, live tournaments, puzzles, studies,…anything goes
  • optional delay to reduce risk of mouse/board slips
  • optional sound or even speech output
Quick start tutorial
Best ways to move the pieces
Chessconnect in the media
Troubleshooting

*on Lichess the official API is available for „Time controls: Rapid, Classical and Correspondence only. For direct challenges, games vs AI, and bulk pairing, Blitz is also possible.“

If you have problems or good ideas for Chessconnect, tell me about it on the

Chessconnect Server

What chess boards can I use?

We support a large variety of smart chess boards from the following manufacturers:

  • Certabo™
  • Chessnut™
  • ChessUp™
  • DGT™
  • House of Staunton™
  • iChessOne™
  • Millennium™
  • Square Off Pro™ (requires BillyGate adapter)
  • TabuTronic™
  • Wuxing™
Things to know about boards

What chess sites does it work on?

Once installed in your browser, you will have Chessconnect available on these web sites.

Click the button below, to find out more on what features of these sites Chessconnect will make available for use with your smart chess board.

Things to know about chess sites

What operating systems does it work with?

Being a browser extension, Chessconnect runs on a large variety of platforms. It was successfully tested with the following platforms. But there might be more platforms that we just have not tested yet. If you find one that’s working, too: let us know and we add it to the list.

  • macOS™
  • Windows™
  • Linux
  • Chrome OS™
  • Android™
  • iOS™

Click the button below, to learn more specific details on how to use Chessconnect on any of the operating systems above.

Things to know about operating systems

Compatibility chart

Windows™macOS™LinuxAndroid™iOS™Chrome OS
Certabo™
Chessnut™
ChessUp™–
DGT™ eBoards *
DGT™ Pegasus–
House of Staunton™
iChessOne™
Millennium™
Square Off Pro™ (requires BillyGate adapter)
TabuTronic™ (including Tactum™ and Spectrum™)
Wuxing™
= Bluetooth LE except for DGT eBoards which use Bluetooth Classic, =USB, Everything to the best of my knowledge and without any guarantees!
* = DGT boards with iPhone/iPad require the Chessconnect adapter for DGT and iOS

Chessconnect Adapter for DGT/iOS

With exception of the Pegasus™, DGT’s™ electronic chessboards are not compatible with iOS devices. This can be overcome with the Chessconnect adapter for DGT and iOS. It is small and cheap device that makes your DGT eBoard compatible with the Chessconnect app for iOS. All you need to do is buy a cheap electronics board and a suitable cable. Both can be easily obtained from various sources. Then flash the Chessconnect firmware onto the board an you are ready to play.

How to build a Chessconnect adapter

Chessconnect TapNset Adapter

DGT eBoards can be equipped with a DGT3000 chess clock to further enhance the experience of over the board play. The same is true for the House of Staunton Sensory Board which can be equipped with a Zmartfun TapNset pro clock.

For any other board, there is no such option. Or was…because Zmartfun could be persuaded to develop a small and cheap adapter that together with Chessconnect enables their clock to be used with any other board! You will need to buy the adapter and a TapNset pro clock but in my humble opinion, it is well worth the money.

You can get the adapter directly from Zmartfun. I am not affiliated with Zmartfun. I simply think that this is a great product!

The adapter works with the Chrome extension and the Android app.

Buy an adapter online
Download 3D Files
TapNset Adapter in my own 3D-printed casing.
Contact me, if you like to get the print file.

DGT3000 BLE Gateway

System engineer, software developer, and chess enthusiast Tortue developed a gateway that enables use of the DGT3000 chess clock with any chess board supported by Chessconnect. And he is giving the result of his work to the chess world free of charge.

So, if you own a DGT3000 or consider buying one: checking out the DGT3000 BLE Gateway is an absolute must.

The Gateway works with all variants of Chessconnect. I.e. the Chrome extension, the iOS app, and the Android app.

Visit the DGT3000 BLE Gateway web site
Image courtesy of Tortue.

BillyGate adapter for Square Off Pro

So far, I have been unable to initiate a cooperation with Square Off. Consequently, Chessconnect does not directly support the Square Off Pro board. However, Martin Lambert made the impossible possible and designed a small and cheap adapter that basically turns a Square Off Pro into a Chessnut compatible board. Which means that it can then be used with Chessconnect.

You can find more information about the BillyGate adapter here. And there is a nice video about BillyGate and Chessconnect here.