
Gaming · Chess Boards
Chessnut
Smart chess boards with full piece recognition and human-style AI.
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Chessnut makes electronic chess boards. Real wooden boards with embedded LED indicators and full piece recognition — every piece identified by type and colour on every square, no button-press required. The boards connect to Chess.com, Lichess, and ChessKid, with opponent moves lighting up the squares in real time, and run two engines locally: Stockfish for analysis and Maia for human-style play. The lineup covers six boards: three portable travel boards (Air, Air+, Go), a tournament-size wooden flagship (Pro), a standalone Android chess computer (Evo), and a self-moving robotic board where each piece carries its own motor (Move).
The detail worth naming is the AI choice. Stockfish gives you the strongest engine at any difficulty — the chess equivalent of a benchmark. Maia is a research engine developed by Cornell, the University of Toronto, and Microsoft Research, designed to play like a specific human at a specific skill level rather than to play optimally. The move it suggests at 1500 ELO is the move a 1500-rated human would actually make, not the move a hobbled supercomputer would. Chessnut also lets you upload someone's game history and generate a personalised engine that mimics their style. For a smart chess board, those are unusual choices. The product is built around the idea that a useful opponent is one you can learn from, not one you can't beat.
What they make
- Smart Chess Boards
- Six models (Air, Air+, Go, Pro, Evo, Move) with full piece recognition and embedded LEDs
- AI Engines
- Stockfish for analysis, Maia for human-style play, custom engines generated from any player's game history
- Online Integration
- Chess.com, Lichess, ChessKid; opponent moves light up the physical board in real time
- Open Platform
- Easylink SDK and Chessnut Vision available to third-party app and engine developers
Featured Products

Chessnut Air
Compact entry-level smart board with full piece recognition.

Chessnut Air+
All-wood portable board with hidden LEDs and the Air's smart tech.

Chessnut Go
The most portable Chessnut, with magnetic pieces that stay put on the move.

Chessnut Pro
Full tournament-size wooden board, hidden LEDs, the same chip-based recognition.

Chessnut Evo
Standalone Android chess computer with the Maia engine that plays like a human.

Chessnut Move
Self-moving robotic chessboard where each piece carries its own motor.



Smart chess boards with full piece recognition and human-style AI.
Affiliate link.