Enjoying chess is a misplaced artwork kind, at the very least I believe so. Even I haven’t performed a lot since I used to be a child. However the GoChess Wizard Lite Harry Potter chessboard is aiming to get individuals within the bodily sport of chess once more with a mixture of old-school mechanics and fashionable expertise. With the addition of Harry Potter aesthetics, this chessboard is interesting to a broader viewers and even piqued the curiosity of my children. The board combines LED lighting and app connectivity with bodily items and IRL interactivity.
Estimated studying time: 12 minutes
The GoChess Wizard Lite Harry Potter chessboard is an attention-grabbing gadget, but it surely does include a price ticket which may make some suppose twice. There are quite a few issues this chessboard does nice, but additionally some stuff you may be anticipating that simply aren’t there. Let’s get into this evaluate.
The Fast Take
There isn’t any doubt that the aesthetic look and branding of the GoChess Wizard Lite Harry Potter chessboard are interesting. The chess items actually do look good and are correct to what’s within the motion pictures. However these chess items are additionally not actual pewter, although they appear to be it. The worth level is what will give many pause. For much less cash, you will get the GoChess Mini and get largely the identical expertise. So your largest determination right here is, do you wish to spend the premium for the Harry Potter title?
Rating and Backside Line
GoChess Wizard Lite Harry Potter Version
USD 429.95
Nailed it
- Good design, sturdy and sturdy
- LED actual time teaching
- Can play international on-line video games
- Loads of ranges to play by means of
- App is decently good and new gamers can study loads
Wants work
- No piece recognition
- No auto motion
- Battery might not final lengthy for heavy customers
- Costly
The GoChess Wizard Lite Harry Potter chessboard brings loads of cool issues to the desk. The youngsters cherished taking part in it, and for those who’re into on-line play, it provides you nice choices for that. When you’re a fan of the Potter motion pictures and are prepared to pay a premium for the branding and aesthetic, then that is for you. When you simply wish to play chess with the sensible options, then the corporate makes one other board for much less cash. Listed below are my key takeaways, each good and dangerous.
- What’s nice in regards to the GoChess Wizard Lite Harry Potter chessboard?
- Design: The items are genuine recreations of the stone warriors from the primary movie, providing a satisfying weight and a pleasant really feel that makes the board a pleasant show piece when it’s not in use. Though they don’t seem to be pewter, I want they had been.
- Actual-Time Teaching: The board’s 64 LED warning lights act like a private coach. It highlights authorized strikes for newcomers and makes use of color-coded cues to flag errors or counsel one of the best transfer as you play.
- World Play: You possibly can soar into matches on Chess.com or Lichess whereas sitting at your bodily board. Your opponent’s strikes are indicated by the lights, making it simple to maintain observe of the sport.
- Problem Choices: 32 ranges of AI problem; it stays related whether or not you might be simply studying that the “horsey strikes in an L” otherwise you’re a seasoned participant on the lookout for a difficult ELO-based opponent.
- App is decently good: The companion app is surprisingly deep, permitting you to research previous video games, resolve every day puzzles, and observe your efficiency stats to see precisely the place you’re enhancing.
- What wants work or could also be a difficulty for some?
- No Piece Recognition: In contrast to some ultra-high-end boards, this model tracks transfer completion however doesn’t know which particular piece is on which sq..
- No Auto Motion: It’s a must to bodily decide up and place the items your self primarily based on the LED indicators. This isn’t just like the film; the items won’t transfer on their very own, and I believe some customers might initially suppose this board is just like the film.
- Battery: The battery life is mostly stable for a couple of days of informal play, however for those who use it loads, you may see sooner drops.
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In a few of our articles and particularly in our opinions, you’ll find Amazon or different affiliate hyperlinks. As Amazon Associates, we earn from qualifying purchases. Every other purchases you make by means of these hyperlinks usually end in a small quantity being earned for the positioning and/or our writers. Techaeris usually covers model press releases. Doing this doesn’t represent an endorsement of any services or products by Techaeris. We offer the press launch data for our viewers to learn and make their very own determination on a purchase order or not. Solely our opinions are an endorsement or lack thereof. For extra data, you’ll be able to learn our full disclaimer.
GoChess Wizard Lite Specs
- Actual-Time Mild Teaching: Cues for potential, finest, and unsuitable strikes.
- Play in 3 modes: face-to-face, on-line, & vs. board.
- Adjustable Problem: 32 customizable problem ranges to go well with you.
- World Connectivity: Seamless Chess.com & Lichess integration for worldwide on-line play.
- Companion App: Free cellular app with challenges and strategic insights.
- Professional Subscription Options Embrace:
- 1-Month Chess.com Diamond: Free premium entry.
- Observe with numerous chess bots to study and sharpen your sport.
- Limitless every day chess puzzles to sharpen your abilities.
- Progress monitoring with sport historical past and stats.
- Entry to all future options and updates.
- Ongoing {hardware} guarantee (conditioned on renewing the Professional Membership).
What’s In The Field?
- GoChess Wizard Lite Board
- 32 Chess Items
- 2 Pouches for Items
- Cellular/Pill Stand
- USB-C Charging Cable
- Documentation
Design
The design of the GoChess Wizard Lite Harry Potter chessboard is sweet; it’s not the nicest I’ve seen, but it surely’s not dangerous. The board itself is heavy plastic, and there are LEDs inside every sq.. So the board is heavier than most chessboards you’ll discover on the market. It’s constructed properly and doesn’t really feel like an inexpensive toy. GoChess did their finest to provide it that marble aesthetic, and it’s not dangerous.
I do want the outer field was a bit extra heavy-duty in order that you might retailer the board and items again in it with out feeling just like the field is finally going to collapse. It’s a pleasant field and packaging, simply not as sturdy because the one which got here with my Sport of Thrones chess set. It should get the job achieved, however I believe the field will finally put on sooner over time.
There are pouches included for the items, however I like the froth inserts they arrive in for storing them. Therefore the rationale I would like to simply put every little thing again in a sturdy field.
The items within the GoChess Wizard Lite Harry Potter chessboard are product of high-quality plastic. They’re heavy-duty with first rate weight, however they don’t seem to be pewter. They’re painted to appear to be it, and I believe they did a decently good job of giving them that pewter, weathered look. The information of the swords on the pawns are a bit flimsy.
General, the design is sweet. It’s premium feeling and searching, however I’d have appreciated a sturdier outer field for storing the set, and it could have been good to have pewter items. Although I can forgive that one at this worth. The field ought to be regarded as a storage piece, IMO.
Ease of Use/Options
The GoChess Wizard Lite Harry Potter chessboard is a implausible option to bridge the hole between basic board video games and fashionable tech. It principally acts as a bodily portal for on-line matches, letting you sit at an actual board whereas it syncs with Chess.com or Lichess by way of the companion app. That’s all pretty simple to arrange.
The LED lighting system underneath the squares is its finest characteristic; it acts like a information, glowing to indicate you the place your opponent moved or flashing to warn you for those who’re about to make a catastrophic blunder. It’s necessary to keep in mind that this model doesn’t transfer the items for you, however because it tracks your strikes in real-time, the stream of the sport appears to maneuver nicer than not utilizing the LEDs.
By way of precise use, the board is surprisingly approachable when you get it linked by way of Bluetooth. You’ve gotten 32 ranges of AI problem to play by means of, so there’s loads right here for noobs and seasoned gamers.
General, that is easy to determine, and it’s a ton of enjoyable for teenagers. The LED lighting and steering are nice to assist new gamers determine the sport and technique. When you’re into taking part in on-line, it might probably do this too. I’m not a fan of taking part in video games on-line with different customers, so I skipped all of that.
App/Software program
The primary vein of the GoChess Wizard Lite Harry Potter chessboard expertise actually lives within the app, which serves because the central hub for your entire board. It’s the place you’ll spend your time organising matches in opposition to the 32 ranges of AI or syncing your accounts with Chess.com and Lichess.
For probably the most half, it’s a clean bridge between the bodily and digital worlds—watching the board’s LEDs gentle as much as replicate your on-line opponent’s strikes is fairly cool, although I elected to not play on-line in opposition to others. You additionally get some nice post-game instruments, like transfer evaluation and efficiency monitoring, that are genuinely good additions for those who’re desperate to study.
That stated, it isn’t at all times good crusing, and also you’ll undoubtedly run into some typical pains. The Bluetooth pairing generally is a little finicky at first, generally requiring a fast restart if it doesn’t discover the board instantly, and the interface itself feels a bit extra utility-focused than high-end design.
General, when you’re truly in a sport, the software program fades into the background and lets the LED-guided play take over, which is plenty of enjoyable and useful.
Battery Life/Efficiency
The excellent news is, you don’t want a battery in any respect to make use of the GoChess Wizard Lite Harry Potter chessboard as a traditional chessboard. So for those who run out of battery and should not have the endurance to attend and play, you might play old-school with out the tech!
However battery life is first rate with informal play. When you’re not taking part in persistently and are available and go all through the week and even weeks, the battery ought to final pretty lengthy. However for those who’re taking part in persistently and for lengthy intervals, you may discover you should cost it up extra incessantly.
Battery life may be very subjective too. So the best way you utilize the GoChess Wizard Lite Harry Potter chessboard and the settings you could have it on will make an enormous distinction. General, the battery life was nice. I by no means felt it lacked or wanted enchancment. We ran out of battery as soon as and simply plugged it in and got here again later.
Photograph Gallery
Value/Worth
The unique MSRP of the GoChess Wizard Lite Harry Potter chessboard is 430 USD. However it’s on sale on the Particula web site for 379 USD and 349 USD on Amazon. That’s a hefty worth, even on sale. That is a kind of issues that’s tough to calculate worth. When you’re actually into Harry Potter and also you’re prepared to pay that premium, then the worth is right here. I believe for those who strictly need the sensible options and expertise of the app and software program, then GoChess makes a extra reasonably priced board with out the branding however with the options. I’d go together with that as an alternative.
Wrap-Up
The GoChess Wizard Lite Harry Potter chessboard brings loads of cool issues to the desk. The youngsters cherished taking part in it, and for those who’re into on-line play, it provides you nice choices for that. When you’re a fan of the Potter motion pictures and are prepared to pay a premium for the branding and aesthetic, then that is for you. When you simply wish to play chess with the sensible options, then the corporate makes one other board for much less cash. Listed below are my key takeaways, each good and dangerous.
- What’s nice in regards to the GoChess Wizard Lite Harry Potter chessboard?
- Design: The items are genuine recreations of the stone warriors from the primary movie, providing a satisfying weight and a pleasant really feel that makes the board a pleasant show piece when it’s not in use. Though they don’t seem to be pewter, I want they had been.
- Actual-Time Teaching: The board’s 64 LED warning lights act like a private coach. It highlights authorized strikes for newcomers and makes use of color-coded cues to flag errors or counsel one of the best transfer as you play.
- World Play: You possibly can soar into matches on Chess.com or Lichess whereas sitting at your bodily board. Your opponent’s strikes are indicated by the lights, making it simple to maintain observe of the sport.
- Problem Choices: 32 ranges of AI problem; it stays related whether or not you might be simply studying that the “horsey strikes in an L” otherwise you’re a seasoned participant on the lookout for a difficult ELO-based opponent.
- App is decently good: The companion app is surprisingly deep, permitting you to research previous video games, resolve every day puzzles, and observe your efficiency stats to see precisely the place you’re enhancing.
- What wants work or could also be a difficulty for some?
- No Piece Recognition: In contrast to some ultra-high-end boards, this model tracks transfer completion however doesn’t know which particular piece is on which sq..
- No Auto Motion: It’s a must to bodily decide up and place the items your self primarily based on the LED indicators. This isn’t just like the film; the items won’t transfer on their very own, and I believe some customers might initially suppose this board is just like the film.
- Battery: The battery life is mostly stable for a couple of days of informal play, however for those who use it loads, you may see sooner drops.
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