Personally, I found the default piece set on chess-com unpleasant and distracting so one of the first things I tried when I was watching a broadcast there was to switch to something else and also to a different square color (preferably similar to the lichess default). And the fact that this attempt kept failing with something like "failed to load settings" was one of the reasons I didn't even consider to create an account.
Just like a "bread" font for reading long texts, I want the piece set and the whole page style to be as "normal", boring and non-distracting as possible. I tried few (after rejecting most just by seeing the knight sample in the menu) and ended up with cburnett as it satisfies these requirements best for me. I guess I could also live with maestro (would have to change the square colors for it and bishops would take some time to get used to), merida or cardinal but that's about it.
Thankfully, I prefer longer time controls so that I can mostly use a physical board for my online games which makes me feel more comfortable than any of the screen sets. :-)
Just like a "bread" font for reading long texts, I want the piece set and the whole page style to be as "normal", boring and non-distracting as possible. I tried few (after rejecting most just by seeing the knight sample in the menu) and ended up with cburnett as it satisfies these requirements best for me. I guess I could also live with maestro (would have to change the square colors for it and bishops would take some time to get used to), merida or cardinal but that's about it.
Thankfully, I prefer longer time controls so that I can mostly use a physical board for my online games which makes me feel more comfortable than any of the screen sets. :-)
Very interesting. Chess sets on Lichess are open. So chess.com can easily make them available there. But I don't think that will happen.
> Personally, I found the default piece set on chess-com unpleasant and distracting
I'm okay with the piece set, but the site itself is very distracting for me. Just too many pop-ups for my liking.
> ...ended up with cburnett as it satisfies these requirements best for me
If I remember, "cburnett" used to be default in Lichess. It is a close cousin to "merida" with some details simplified. I think even the Knight from cburnett used to be the original logo of Lichess.
> I can mostly use a physical board for my online games
Have you come across smart chess boards (e.g. squareoffnow.com/)? I don't know if they're any good. May be for people who like to play Blitz online but on physical board.
> Personally, I found the default piece set on chess-com unpleasant and distracting
I'm okay with the piece set, but the site itself is very distracting for me. Just too many pop-ups for my liking.
> ...ended up with cburnett as it satisfies these requirements best for me
If I remember, "cburnett" used to be default in Lichess. It is a close cousin to "merida" with some details simplified. I think even the Knight from cburnett used to be the original logo of Lichess.
> I can mostly use a physical board for my online games
Have you come across smart chess boards (e.g. squareoffnow.com/)? I don't know if they're any good. May be for people who like to play Blitz online but on physical board.
Hey @kosu loved your blog!
Only one small request tho: you forgot to mention anarcandy.
Only one small request tho: you forgot to mention anarcandy.
@kosu said in #3:
> Have you come across smart chess boards (e.g. squareoffnow.com/)? I don't know if they're any good. May be for people who like to play Blitz online but on physical board.
Actually I started using a DGT e-board recently and for me, it's a great solution. I was worried that it doesn't make that much difference compared to a normal board because I still have to mirror my opponent's moves but it turned out that it's in fact much more convenient. The big advantage is that once the game starts, I don't have to touch my mouse or keyboard at all (except for a draw offer or resignation) so that I can focus on the board and can only check opponent's move on the screen. (Unfortunately the voice announcement via espeak backend isn't good enough for me to understand reliably.)
This is probably the biggest downside of full sized DGT boards for online games; other boards have LED indication of opponent moves so that one doesn't need anything else to interact with the computer. (It should be possible to show opponent's moves on a connected DGT3000 clock but this isn't implemented in the lichess connector yet.) Probably the best solution is what Chessnut Pro has: there are LED indicators but they are hidden under the surface layer so that there is no trace of them unless they are lit. I guess the reason why DGT boards do not have such indicators is that their primary use case is online broadcasting of tournament games; the only exception is Pegasus which was designed for online play.
Many people also prefer smaller boards as they are easier to handle and transport but I wanted a full sized board to make the experience as close to OTB games as possible.
> Have you come across smart chess boards (e.g. squareoffnow.com/)? I don't know if they're any good. May be for people who like to play Blitz online but on physical board.
Actually I started using a DGT e-board recently and for me, it's a great solution. I was worried that it doesn't make that much difference compared to a normal board because I still have to mirror my opponent's moves but it turned out that it's in fact much more convenient. The big advantage is that once the game starts, I don't have to touch my mouse or keyboard at all (except for a draw offer or resignation) so that I can focus on the board and can only check opponent's move on the screen. (Unfortunately the voice announcement via espeak backend isn't good enough for me to understand reliably.)
This is probably the biggest downside of full sized DGT boards for online games; other boards have LED indication of opponent moves so that one doesn't need anything else to interact with the computer. (It should be possible to show opponent's moves on a connected DGT3000 clock but this isn't implemented in the lichess connector yet.) Probably the best solution is what Chessnut Pro has: there are LED indicators but they are hidden under the surface layer so that there is no trace of them unless they are lit. I guess the reason why DGT boards do not have such indicators is that their primary use case is online broadcasting of tournament games; the only exception is Pegasus which was designed for online play.
Many people also prefer smaller boards as they are easier to handle and transport but I wanted a full sized board to make the experience as close to OTB games as possible.
I love the ALPHA pieces, the sharp edge make it classic and easy to recognize.
I often play it on green board, it feels classical and hard to miss pieces during time pressure.
maple board as well.
Staunty is good too. I used to love it. But I neglected a rook during time pressure one time. And I switched to Alpha and never change back
I often play it on green board, it feels classical and hard to miss pieces during time pressure.
maple board as well.
Staunty is good too. I used to love it. But I neglected a rook during time pressure one time. And I switched to Alpha and never change back
I like the Alpha set, but the strong contrast between black and white pieces are painful to watch on large screens during long play sessions. But that looks good on smaller screens like mobile devices where that levels of contrast is needed while playing in brightly lit environments.
chess-com has several colored versions of the Alpha piece set. Since the chess pieces used here on lichess are declared using CSS, you can use browser extensions like Stylus to override them with your own customization (called user styles). For example, I have created my own user style (userstyles.world/style/12713/lichess-org) using chess-com's colored Alpha piece set for my use on lichess. I am even using their green background and translucent chess board which blends nicely with any background. The pieces are detailed enough to look nice even on large monitors. I have even provided variables to control the brightness, saturation, contrast of the pieces in case your preference differs from mine.
I know this may sound like an advert or self promo, but I really wanted to showcase what one can achieve with simple tools like Stylus and the power of CSS and how one can use those to customize their experience on lichess. This is just an example.
chess-com has several colored versions of the Alpha piece set. Since the chess pieces used here on lichess are declared using CSS, you can use browser extensions like Stylus to override them with your own customization (called user styles). For example, I have created my own user style (userstyles.world/style/12713/lichess-org) using chess-com's colored Alpha piece set for my use on lichess. I am even using their green background and translucent chess board which blends nicely with any background. The pieces are detailed enough to look nice even on large monitors. I have even provided variables to control the brightness, saturation, contrast of the pieces in case your preference differs from mine.
I know this may sound like an advert or self promo, but I really wanted to showcase what one can achieve with simple tools like Stylus and the power of CSS and how one can use those to customize their experience on lichess. This is just an example.
@AyaanshGaur12
> you forgot to mention anarcandy
It looks cool! From your and other comments elsewhere, I'm pretty sure there is a good fan base for this chess set. Sorry for missing it out. Just that I don't get the pop-culture references this chess set seems to be based on.
> you forgot to mention anarcandy
It looks cool! From your and other comments elsewhere, I'm pretty sure there is a good fan base for this chess set. Sorry for missing it out. Just that I don't get the pop-culture references this chess set seems to be based on.
@MrinalKanti
> the strong contrast between black and white pieces are painful to watch on large screens during long play sessions. But that looks good on smaller screens like mobile devices where that levels of contrast is needed while playing in brightly lit environments
I use mobile for chess when I don't have access to my desktop. So my views are very much limited to this setup. I see what you're saying. Different considerations for different screens, and environments, for sure.
> browser extensions like Stylus to override them with your own customization
I need to give this a try! Thanks for sharing this.
> userstyles.world/style/12713/lichess-org
This looks fantastic! There is a medieval feel to this. The fight seems to be on a grazing field. Good work!
> this may sound like an advert or self promo
Not at all! I wish more people come to know about what you did. If you could share the details of how other developers can do this, we'll have more such creative and lovely chess sets. Lichess Blog is great for this!
> the strong contrast between black and white pieces are painful to watch on large screens during long play sessions. But that looks good on smaller screens like mobile devices where that levels of contrast is needed while playing in brightly lit environments
I use mobile for chess when I don't have access to my desktop. So my views are very much limited to this setup. I see what you're saying. Different considerations for different screens, and environments, for sure.
> browser extensions like Stylus to override them with your own customization
I need to give this a try! Thanks for sharing this.
> userstyles.world/style/12713/lichess-org
This looks fantastic! There is a medieval feel to this. The fight seems to be on a grazing field. Good work!
> this may sound like an advert or self promo
Not at all! I wish more people come to know about what you did. If you could share the details of how other developers can do this, we'll have more such creative and lovely chess sets. Lichess Blog is great for this!