This is an example DIY project for building a smart chess board with the OpenChessBoard hardware for playing on lichess.org. The board consists only of 4 components:

  1. OpenChessBoard-PCB 
  2. Arduino control unit 
  3. Acrylic glass with wood veneer chess board
  4. Wood frame

The board directly connects to your account on Lichess.org and finds ongoing games. You can start a game by using the standard Lichess App or start a game from your browser. Besides starting the game, the board is a standalone device and sends all detected moves directly to the Lichess server. Moves played by your opponent are indicted by highlighting the start and end square. 

The wood frame is made from 1.5 cm x 2 cm beech slats screwed together. A hole drilled in one side allows to connect the micro-USB cable.

The playing surface is a 5 mm thick clear acrylic glass providing a 32 cm x 32 cm playing field. On top of the acrylic glass, a chess board pattern is formed from two different kinds of real wood veneer 4 cm x 4 cm tiles glued to the glass with transparent (white) wood glue.

2 thoughts on “DIY wood veneer SMART chess board”

  1. Very cool.

    Do you have a page with the full specs of the components. Interested what hall effect sensors you using.

    Jacques

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