Finest Good Chess Boards (2026): Chessnut, Millennium
Taking part in chess can be difficult, enjoyable, and at occasions irritating. Garry Kasparov referred to as the sport “psychological torture.” With just about limitless prospects, chess gives unparalleled depth, and you might simply fill a library with books on the best way to play it. The web has opened up a wealth of potential rivals, and good chess boards allow you to play anybody on-line or off, to not point out dabble in quite a lot of chess applications.
I’ve been testing good chess boards for the previous month or so, with the assistance of my chess-mad eldest, and these are my high picks.
The Good Chess Boards I Advocate Most
For my opening gambit, I’m recommending the Chessnut Professional. With a traditional wood design, the Chessnut Professional appears like a daily board, however there are smarts hidden inside. The beechwood items are fantastically weighted, an essential however typically underestimated function. They really feel nice in hand, and the set features a pair of additional Queens. It is a full tournament-size board (55 cm or 21.7 inches), so that you’ll want house for it.
The board could be very properly made, with delicate purple LEDs hidden within the nook of every sq. that mild as much as present strikes. I really like that it seems to be like a daily board if you’re not enjoying on-line. There are discreet controls on one aspect with a USB-C port and Bluetooth connectivity to hook it as much as your pc, laptop computer, or smartphone. There’s no have to press down with every transfer, as each piece has a sensor chip inside that’s robotically detected.
We used the Chessconnect Chrome browser extension to play matches on Chess.com and Lichess.org, and it was fast and straightforward to rise up and working. The official Chessnut app options AI opponents, however they’re slightly weak and lack selection. It isn’t nice, however you don’t have to make use of it, and you’ll hyperlink as much as completely different on-line providers with a little bit of tinkering (try Graham’s Applications for some higher choices). On-line play was sometimes slightly glitchy. Generally there’s a slight lag, and we needed to click on to reconnect for each sport. Battery life is kind of good (we obtained seven to eight hours), although it takes some time to recharge (greatest to depart it in a single day).
If you happen to understandably don’t wish to spend that a lot, the Chessnut Air ($250) is a much more reasonably priced choice. It’s additionally wood however a lot smaller (33 cm or 13 inches), with lighter items and visual LEDs. The Air+ ($400) is similar measurement however with superior weighted wood items and delicate LEDs on the board. Functionally, each offer you a lot the identical expertise because the Professional.
