Millennium Chess Computer - Chess Genius Exclusive

The Millenium at $499 is the best value in a nice autosensory pressed wood chess board. The chess it plays is o.k. the the genius program is not the great programs that Richard Lange programed in the late 80's and early 90's. When I played games between the Tasc R30 the out come the Tasc R30 was slightly better, but playing at an 11;1 speed disadvantage. When I play the Millennium Genius against the Genius 68030 the Genius 68030 holds its own despite a 15:1 speed disadvantage. Clearly the New Genius program is not as strong as the original. I would imagine if the original Genius program was used this would be slightly stronger then the King Millennium. maybe 2550-2575 Elo rating. Just to be clear I can not beat the new Genius in any level above10 seconds a move. If you are rated below 2100 this wil be plenty strong at reasonable time per move levels. That being said the price for what you get is extraordinary at $499.00 from chess house. They are the best Chess retailor by far with customer service better than anyone I have ever dealt with.

I've been using my new Chess Genius Exclusive for about a week now. Let me start off with everything I love about it:

1. The ease of which you move the pieces and how quickly the board recognizes the pieces. You move the pieces almost exactly as you would on a non-electronic board. I say almost because when you're playing online and you castle, you have to lift the king otherwise the board thinks you didn't castle and just moved it one square over. But that's minor and doesn't affect the experience once you learn of it.

2. The chess set is classy and looks great. It's something you won't mind leaving out on display. There aren't too many wooden computer chess sets, but this beats the plastic options out there. I can't say enough how much I love the fact that the board and pieces are made of wood.

3. Chess House delivered my product with the most up to date firmware which saves me the time in having to connect to a computer to upgrade. Such a time saver and I was pretty up and playing 10 minutes after I received everything.

4. The LED lights on the board and the sound from the chess computer are adjustable and as a result don't need to remain a distraction.

5. Playing online on Lichess using the board was very easy to set up. You do have to purchase the additional Chesslink modem and you do have to download the app, but once you have those two things, everything else is easy to set up. I did have to watch the YouTube video, but there were no hiccups in setting it up and the video was easy to follow.

Things I would change if I could give feedback to the manufacturers:

1. I really dislike the shape of the Chess Computer (the Exclusive). It's in the shape of an open Nintendo DS and I can't fold it down. I bought this bag from Chess House that's really nice, a bit on the pricey side at $70 Cdn. It fits everything from the board to the adapters and modem (of course not the pieces). But It won't fit the actual computer. It's very awkwardly shaped. I'm not talking about the way it works, it works well and does what it's supposed to. I'm talking about the physical shape of it. It's big and clunky and not great to travel with.

2. I wish there was a bit more heft in the pieces. They're quite light weight. This has probably something to do with the RFID in them. They probably can't put metal weights and have them close to the RFID is my guess. But it would have been nice to add a few grams on each of the pieces.

3. I do wish I didn't have to purchase a separate Chesslink Modem to play online. I wish the manufacturer just had it built in the actual board. It's not a deal breaker and obviously it works as a separate item, but this would have been a nice quality of life design had they done it.

4. I also would have liked the instructions that came in the packaging to explain a little more on how to set things up on the computer. For example, if I want to play against the computer but starting from a specific position, how would I do that? I know it definitely can be done, but not sure how. Millennium needs to at least make quick instructional videos on this on their YouTube channel, or at least have a more detailed manual in the packaging.

Overall I would recommend this product to anyone who loves playing chess on a real board as opposed to playing on a computer screen. Not having to press down on each square with the pieces when moving them is the best experience I've ever had on a chess computer. Chess House delivered everything in excellent condition as well which made for a good experience when I made my order, I just wish they had an option for free shipping for Canada.

This is a well made machine. I was originally unsure due to the price but was very pleasantly surprised when I received my Chess Genius Exclusive. The board and pieces are solid and durable. The different options are easy to set up and I am very happy with the purchase. Hopefully my chess skills will improve. Chesshouse.com was great too.

I have had my system for most of the year now so I think I can give an honest review. First of all, the quality is quite remarkable and first class. It looks amazing and seems to be a good size to play on. The auto detection of each piece is just plain magical. The board won’t let you make a mistake on placement or moving of a piece. The LED lights on the board are subtle and help to let you know the opponents move to make plus helping you keep your move honest in case you make a mistake. What I really like about this game is that I can set the game mode such that I can win once in awhile, but not without giving you your run for the money. You really have to pay attention or the game will pounce on a bad move. The game will give you the option to take out a bad move, but don’t let that be intimidating. I have found that sometimes I ignore the option to take back a bad move only to find out that my move was a great move for me. The user interface takes a little getting use to with a little learning curve time to get everything setup. Once I found the level that gives me a human like game where I win sometimes, I haven’t had to change anything for awhile. To change from white to black is as simple as moving the pieces from one side to another. I did buy an extra set of pieces just in case something happened to one of the pieces that came with the game like getting lost or chews up by the dog. I also bought the battery pack and the base to set the board on. It provides a place to store everything safely, and looks great as well. This game is superbly leaps an bounds better than my 1980’s Fidelity Chess Champion. I never could beat that game yet I loved playing it. This chess game is about as close to playing a real person as you can get. I was lucky and bought this game at a significant discount, but I will admit that it would of been worth the full cost. The service from Chesshouse was first class so 10 stars for them.

Pros…..everything, quality, looks, operation
Cons…..nothing yet

I set it up for the first time last night. It's is easy to use, and I was up and running in 10 minutes. The unit is solid, and the pieces are solid as well. I've heard grumbling about the quality of the pieces. They are fine, imho.

I started out using the DGT Centaur. While that is also a fun unit to use, I came to realize its limits. Unlike this unit on the Centaur cannot save games, and it is not extensible. With the Millennium you can extend its versatility with various various modular add-ons such as Chess Link.

The only real negative that I might mention is the primitive display and having to push through a lot of button pushing to get to the various set ups.