Visitors to last month’s Gen Con got a chance to see a chessboard that moves its own pieces, as Miko showcased its AI-enabled chess set.
The Miko Chess – Grand is a physical, tournament-sized board with a rosewood finish where the chess pieces reposition themselves automatically. This robotic feature works whether a player is challenging the board’s built-in adaptive AI or a human opponent from anywhere in the world via online integration.
A key feature highlighted by the company is the board’s ability to act as a physical viewer for high-level chess. Owners can watch livestreams of their favourite grandmasters, with the pieces on the Miko Chess – Grand moving in real-time to mirror the professional match as it unfolds. The board can also replay famous historical games in the same fashion.
For those playing themselves, the board is designed to be a comprehensive chess partner. It features more than 20 difficulty levels in its adaptive AI, which adjusts to a player’s skill to provide a consistent challenge. The system also offers personalised game analysis, highlights tactical opportunities, and can recommend moves. At the end of any match, a one-touch auto-reset command sends all the pieces back to their starting squares.
The arrival of sophisticated AI in physical board games provides a fascinating contrast to the world of pure software chess. Earlier this year, Geek Native reported on a 50-year-old Atari computer beating the advanced language model ChatGPT at the game. While Miko’s hardware is a modern marvel of robotics, the Atari story is a charming reminder that the raw logic of chess can be mastered by comparatively simple technology.
The smart chessboard connects to a global community of over 100 million players through integrated platforms and is available from retailers such as Menkind.
