Puzzles and the opening trainer ·
Wood, steel and a cartoon: three more boards, and the Tumblers get a new base
A lacquered walnut tray, a machined steel plate and a cel-shaded cartoon board, each with its own set of chunky classic pieces you can name from across the room. The Walnut tray is free for everyone. The Tumblers now wobble on a big silver or birch base with a band of colour round it.
The short version
- The Walnut tray, free for everyone: glossy maple and walnut pieces on a walnut tray with a raised lip
- The Steel plate: chrome and gunmetal pieces on a machined plate, screws and all
- The Cartoon board: flat colour, bold ink outlines, and a violet slab
- The Tumblers now wobble on a big half-ball of silver (White) or birch (Black), with a blue or canary band
- Every new piece made to be named at a glance from a phone: cross, coronet, battlements, mitre, horse
Six boards was enough to argue about, but not enough to argue about properly, so here are three more: something wooden, something metal and something simple and drawn. They came with one condition: you should still be able to tell a bishop from a pawn on a phone. That condition turned out to be the whole job.
One set of pieces, three ways
All three new looks use the same new pieces: chunky, classic and a little toy-like, with big heads, because from the 3D board’s camera you mostly see the tops. The king has a thick cross that reads as a plus from above, the queen a crown of eight points with a dark centre, the rook four wide battlements, the bishop a tall mitre with a notch etched into the side facing you, and the knight is an actual horse, ears and all.
The Walnut tray, free for everyone
Glossy maple and walnut pieces with the grain running round them, on a walnut tray with a raised, rounded lip and inlaid squares. It’s the board that lives on someone’s coffee table and never gets put away. It’s free: pick it once and it’s yours on every device you sign in on.
The Steel plate
Chrome and gunmetal pieces on a machined steel plate: brushed and blasted squares, engraved lines, a bevelled edge and four screws holding it together. Nobody is knocking this one off the table.
The Cartoon board
Flat colour in two or three bands, bold ink round every piece and hard little shadows, on a thick violet slab. Simple, but never vague: the pieces are the same classic shapes, so you name them as quickly as on any other board.
The Tumblers, on silver and birch
The Tumblers now stand on a big half-ball, the biggest thing on the piece: polished silver under White, pale birch with the grain showing under Black, and a band of colour round the middle (our ballpoint blue on White, canary on Black), so you can see it from your seat. Set one down and it wobbles properly now, two or three swings before it settles. The rook got shorter and squarer, and the knight looks more like a horse and less like a balloon.
The Steel plate, the Cartoon board and the Tumblers are Supporter looks, and Supporter isn’t open yet, so for now they’re for trying on: open puzzles and choose Settings in the menu, or the settings button in the opening trainer, pick 3D, and tap a board or a set. Your board turns into it until you close the panel. Any set plays on any board, and the 2D board gets the new boards’ colours too.