Certabo is our brand name but in latin word and it is is first-person future active indicative of verb “Certare”. It means “will Compete“ and it reflects our passion for the chess: an ancient game which has never lost its charm over centuries. Certabo was born from the desire of the founder to realize a unique fascinating electronic chessboard with automatic pieces recognition and at the same time to create a sophisticated piece of art and technology with unique and customizable new game experience. The synthesis is the Certabo Chess platform, a very flexible and expandable system.

Certabo is an electronic chessboard with automatic pieces recognition which allows playing against strong chess engines but on stylish traditional wood board. Certabo is anyhow more than that, the sophisticated hardware platform allows fast piece recognition and makes that information available on an open communication protocol for a simple interface to your preferred chess engine and computational hardware.

Unpack your Certabo chessboard and play straight out of the box against Stockfish  one of the most powerful chess engine or any other of your desired UCI one installing Certabo software on PC or on raspberry PI3 using your smartphone display. You can also play in Random Fischer chess 960 mode or even broadcast your games, many features are available.  If you are brave enough and competent try to reprogram the interface according to your desire integrating your openings or training sessions, internet interface etc. The communication protocol is open and source Python codes are available and open source, the limit is your imagination and open community is there to let the platform grow for you.

Each chessboard is provided by default with 34 electronic self-adhesive chips. You can transform a standard chess set into an electronic one just by sticking the chips to your preferred chess set, whichever it is wood or plastic. You can even print yourself a Staunton chess set expressly designed for Certabo chips, just go to the download area and download for free the files ready for 3D printing. There is no need to buy expensive electronic chess piece set but if you prefer you can select one of our handmade chess set made of boxwood and acacia wood to make your kit even more exclusive.

Still, have a question? Browse our FAQ section and find your answer.

We look forward to hearing from you!