Welcome to the ChessUp Community!

We call it a community because ChessUp is more than just the chess board. Lessons, puzzles, online play, Ai opponents, game analysis – an entire library of chess education tools will be at your fingertips in the app. With ChessUp’s assisted play features – it is also the first chess board that can connect any two people through a game of chess. Any skill, any location on earth. ChessUp is first and foremost about welcoming everyone into chess.

As you are among the very first customers, we want you to know that you are joining this platform first! There are many software features still in the works. Every week there will be new features in the software (both on the board and in the app). We invite you to have a voice in the development of platform. Let us know what features you want to see next. If you have an idea – let us hear it! We will be building this platform for months and years into the future. And we are invested in supporting you as a customer forever. If there is anything about ChessUp that does not meet your expectation – please let us know and give us the chance to take action.

Here are some resources to make sure you get the most out of this product:

(913) 358-6779

ChessUp Community Forum

info@bryghtlabs.com

Download the ChessUp App

(coming soon)

ChessUp Start Guide

Device Calibration

Important Note:

ChessUp calibration can shift during shipment. For the best performance, be sure to follow these steps upon receiving your device.

  1. Turn the power on
  2. Make sure the charge cable is unplugged
  3. Make sure there are no pieces on the board
  4. Press and hold both settings buttons for 4 seconds
  5. The winged knight icon will turn green
  6. Remove your fingers from the buttons
  7. The winged knight will turn blue, and you will see a light sequence signifying the calibration process has started
  8. Do not touch the board during calibration (it takes about 5 seconds)
  9. Once you see the start-up lights, calibration is complete, and you are ready to play chess!

In the Box

In the box you should have the following items:

  • ChessUp board
  • 34 pieces
  • USB-C Cable

Turning on/off the ChessUp Board

  • Use the power switch on the side to turn on your ChessUp board. You will know that the board is on when the first and second rows light up in blue and the seventh and eighth rows light up in green. Use the same switch to turn off the board.

Charging the ChessUp Board

  • To charge your ChessUp board, connect your board to a power outlet with the USB-C cable (included) and a power adapter (not included). The charge indicator light located next to the USB-C port will blink to indicate the board is being charged and will turn solid red when it is fully charged. The total charge time is 2 hours for 8 hours of battery life.

ChessUp Progress/Waiting Indicator

  • The ChessUp winged knight icon will blink during your remote or AI opponent’s turn. The blinking will stop once a move is played.

Bluetooth connection status indicator

  • The Bluetooth icon will blink red and then disappear if a bluetooth connection is not initially detected.
  • When a bluetooth connection is established, the icon will blink blue and then disappear.
  • If an established bluetooth connection is lost, a red bluetooth icon will appear and remain on.

Low Battery Indicator

The red battery icon indicates that the board needs to be charged.

Pawn promotion Indicators

  • When a pawn reaches the other side of the board, the square will turn blue if you are white and green if you are black. Lift the pawn off the board and the square will turn purple. Place a queen on the square and it will blink green or blue to confirm the promotion.
  • If you wish to underpromote your pawn, after removing your pawn (while the square is purple), press the settings button to cycle through icons of the other pieces. Once you select an icon, place the same piece on the square - it will blink blue or green to confirm.
  • Also note: There is a timer for the promotion selector. After several moments, the selected piece will be chosen. If no action is taken, a queen will be chosen after the timeout period.

Setting up the board correctly

  • First,make sure that the board is oriented correctly. When facing the board, the left corner has to be a dark square. If you are going to play with the white pieces, place the board in a way so that the letters a through h are in front of you and the numbers 1 through 8 are on the sides.
  • If you are going to play with the black pieces, the letters h through a should be on the bottom of the board and the numbers 8 through 1 on the sides.

Setting up the pieces

  • Each ChessUp board includes 34 pieces - a full set of pieces and an extra queen for each side.
  • Rows 1 and 2 are for white pieces and rows 8 and 7 are for the black pieces.
  • Place the white pawns on the second row, one on each square.
  • Place the rooks on the edges of the board on the first row.
  • Place the knights next to the rooks.
  • Place the bishops next to the knights.
  • Place the white queen on the white middle square on the 1st row.
  • Place the white king on the dark middle square on the 1st row.

     

  • Place the black pawns on the 7th row, one on each square.

  • Place the black rooks on the edges of the board on the 8th row.

  • Place the knights next to the rooks.

  • Place the bishops next to the knights.

  • Place the queen on the middle dark square on the 8th row.

  • Place the black king on the white middle square on the 8th row.

  • Please note: the queen matches her color, so the White queen starts on the white square and the black queen starts on the black square.

End of the game

  • There are 3 results in chess: white wins, black wins and a draw (tie). We have different light sequences to indicate each result.

Check

  • When the king is under attack, it is called a check. The game cannot continue while a king remains in check. If your king is in check and you touch a piece that won’t get you out of check, the piece that’s checking the king and the king in check will blink.
  • If moving a piece will place your king in check, the piece that would put the king in check and the king will blink.

Checkmate

  • A checkmate is when a king is in check and there is no way to get out of it.
  • When a checkmate is delivered, you will see a light sequence indicating the end of the game.

Illegal move

  • If a player places a piece on a square the piece cannot move to, the square that the piece was originally on will stay lit up in purple indicating that a piece is missing. Return the piece to that square and try again.

Stalemate

  • Stalemate is when the side whose turn it is does not have any legal moves but their king is not in check. In case of a stalemate you will see a light sequence that will indicate that the game has ended in a draw.

Draw by repetition

  • If the same position occurs three times in a game, the game will automatically end in a draw by the rule of threefold repetition.

50 move rule

  • When the players make 50 consecutive moves (50 moves by each side) without moving a pawn or capturing a piece, the game will automatically end in a draw.

Insufficient mating material

  • The game ends in a draw when a checkmate cannot be achieved with the pieces remaining on the board. An example of this is king vs king, or king and bishop vs king. A light sequence will indicate the end of the game.

Timed games

  • In a timed game, if a player runs out of time, they lose the game. However, if a player runs out of time, but their opponent does not have sufficient mating material, then the game ends in a draw.

En passant

  • En passant is a special capturing move in chess that only occurs between pawns. When a pawn moves two squares, the opponent’s pawn on an adjacent file next to it can capture it diagonally.

  • To capture en passant, move your pawn diagonally and remove the capture pawn off the board.

How to queen a pawn

  • To promote a pawn, first place it on the back rank. You will be prompted to select the piece you want to promote the pawn to (queen, rook, bishop, or knight). Use the settings button to make your selection and place that piece in the place of the pawn. If you are connected to the app, you can also make the selection on the app.

How to castle

  • To castle, move the king two squares. After you complete the king move, the square the rook is on and the square it should move to will stay highlighted in cyan. Move the rook to the highlighted square to complete the move.

Starting a game in standalone mode

  • Turn on the ChessUp board
  • Choose your side (white or black)
  • Set up the pieces
  • Use the settings button to choose your desired level of assistance
  • Use the settings button to choose the level of AI opponent
  • If you are playing white, make a move to start the game

Playing against a person

  • Turn on the ChessUp board
  • Choose respective sides
  • Set up the pieces
  • Use the respective settings button to choose the level of assistance for each side
  • White makes a move to start the game

Ai vs Ai

  • You can have the AI’s battle it out on the ChessUp board! Use the settings button to choose the level of the AI for both sides.

Choosing level of assistance

  • Use the settings button to select the desired level of assistance.

Switching from human opponent to AI

  • Use the settings button to switch your opponent to AI. Hold the settings button until you reach your preferred level of the AI.
  • Levels 1-6 of the Ai strength are green
  • Levels 7-12 of the Ai strength are blue

Switching from AI to human opponent

  • Use the settings button to switch your AI opponent to a human button. Hold the button until you see the human icon and choose the assistance level for your opponent.

Taking back a move

  • In case you play an unintended move, you can take it back by placing the piece back to where it was before the move.

Changing assistance level during the game

  • Simply press the settings button to cycle through the different levels
  • Currently, there are 3 different levels of assistance in standalone mode

Recording a result on the board

  • To indicate an end of a game, first clear out the central squares (e4, d4, d5, e5. For a white win, place the kings on the e5 and d4 squares, for a black win, place the kings on the d4 and e5 squares, for a draw, place the kings on the d4 and e4 or d5 and e5 squares.
  • If one of the kings is already in one of those squares, place the other king on the corresponding square and touch the king that was in its initial square.