Image courtesy of Chessnut
Smart Chess Computer · Standalone · Maia AI
Chessnut Evo
Standalone Android chess computer with the Maia engine that plays like a human.
The Evo is a chess computer with a board on top of it. Most smart boards need a phone or laptop to play; the Evo runs Android directly, with Lichess and Chess.com installed on the board itself. The 12.3-inch touchscreen handles game setup, analysis, and online play without a second device. Two AI engines run locally: Stockfish for benchmark difficulty, and Maia — a research engine from Cornell, Toronto, and Microsoft Research — that plays like a specific human at a specific skill level rather than playing optimally. Chessnut Vision can read positions from video on the screen and replicate them on the board.
Position in the lineup
The Evo is the only Chessnut that's a complete chess workstation. Air, Air+, Go, and Pro all need a phone or computer to play online or against AI; the Evo doesn't. The trade is size and portability — Evo is medium tabletop, heavier than the Air series, designed to sit on a desk rather than fold into a bag. The full RGB LED framing per square is unique to this board.
Specifications
- Form factor
- Standalone tabletop chess computer with built-in 12.3-inch colour touchscreen
- Operating system
- Open Android — Lichess, Chess.com, training apps install directly on the board
- AI engines
- Stockfish for analysis; Maia for human-style play; user-trained engines from imported game histories
- Recognition
- Full piece recognition (chip-based)
- LEDs
- Full RGB framing per square (only Chessnut board with this)
- Vision feature
- Chessnut Vision — board reads positions from on-screen video and translates to physical squares
- Connectivity
- Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, USB-C; standalone (no phone or laptop required)
Standalone Android chess computer with the Maia engine that plays like a human.
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