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Earlier in the month, I announced that the good people at Bryght Labs were interested in a collaboration for me to review their current ChessUp 2 Smart Chess Board and to potentially make some further content depending on whether I enjoyed using it. One of the headline features of the Chess Up 2 is its deep integration with Chess.com.

I’ve started reviewing the ChessUp 2, and this isn’t the in-depth review video and article which is still to come. However, as a “first look”, I decided for the initial “stress test” to connect the Chess Up 2 to Chess.com through the side-screen interface, and play the time format recommended by the UI, which is ⚡ 5 | 5 blitz! This is kind of a bold move for ChessUp, as any problems or quirks that occur during the game tend to be magnified in the time pressure of online blitz.

So, how did the ChessUp 2 hold up? Extremely well! In fact, this might be the best electronic chess board I’ve used thus far to play online blitz! The game in the video demonstrates this well. There are three key features that makes this board absolutely brilliant for blitz, two of which are relatively exclusive to ChessUp:

1. The board is very sensitive and quick; there is minimal delay after making a move and for the move to be registered on Chess.com.
2. The “touch sense” feature, unique to the ChessUp boards, is simply fantastic 🥳. A problem with very sensitive and quick boards is that they can be too quick. For instance, with the Chessnut boards (which I subjectively feel might have a slight edge in terms of quickness), if you slide a piece, or hesitate and hover a piece over another legal square, there is a risk that the board will prematurely register an unintended move. The ChessUp 2 eliminates this problem so the pieces can be handled completely naturally. There is no need to avoid sliding or having to be mindful of hesitating after picking up a piece.
3. The coloured lights on the board, with the subtle animation, gives a quick alert when the opponent has made a move, and makes the source and destination squares extremely clear. It is undoubtedly the best implementation of underboard lighting and indicators of any of the electronic chess boards. I had a concern before using the ChessUp 2 that I might find the board lighting garish, but in practice, it was superb.

Other features that I appreciate for blitz chess on Chess.com:

• The built-in touchscreen and UI worked well, and not having to use a companion device is nice. It reduces the “friction” of turning on the device and playing a game.
• Having the clocks on the screen during the game is great.
• The checkmate light show at the end is a lovely flourish!

Some possible cons, though I acknowledge that some of these are preference sensitive so YMMV:

• The pieces are on the large side compared to the size of the board squares, and it makes the board a little cluttered. With the pieces also rather light, without much weight in the bases, I’ve found myself knocking over pieces more frequently than what I would normally do.
• I would prefer for the board to not light up and display the legal moves of my piece when I touch it on my turn. I find this a little distracting. (Note: I discovered that there is a “minimal light mode” in the board settings; I’ll need to explore this further).

The game itself? I played the Vienna Game (1. e4 e5 2. Nc3) and my opponent responded with a waiting move (2… a6). Generally, these don’t work against the Vienna and the game transposed into a worse version of the Max Lange defense. I didn’t play the game especially accurately; I was distracted with cameras and the recording, but I managed to wrangle a nice advantage by forcing a queen trade in the middlegame, being a pawn up, and parking a rook on the seventh rank. Unfortunately for Black, a few unwise choices resulted in their five pawns being distributed over four pawn islands!

On turn 21, Black made an understandable mistake with (21… Nc4?), trying to push forward with an attack. However, that allowed (22. Rdd7), giving me a lovely rook battery on Black’s seventh rank; very dangerous for them! Indeed, checkmate came two turns later, good game, GG!

* * *

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[Event "Live Chess"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2025.10.27"]
[Round "-"]
[White "vitualis"]
[Black "GameLoft8"]
[Result "1-0"]
[CurrentPosition "4rk2/5RRp/p1p1rp2/2p5/2n1P3/2N5/PPP3PP/6K1 b - - 12 24"]
[Timezone "UTC"]
[ECO "C25"]
[ECOUrl "https://www.chess.com/openings/Vienna-Game"]
[UTCDate "2025.10.27"]
[UTCTime "05:17:16"]
[WhiteElo "1021"]
[BlackElo "990"]
[TimeControl "300+5"]
[Termination "vitualis won by checkmate"]
[StartTime "05:17:16"]
[EndDate "2025.10.27"]
[EndTime "05:26:03"]
[Link "https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/pgn/iQYee4oBk/analysis"]
[WhiteUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/3711094.b9866645.50x50o.b3ba794d99f9.webp"]
[WhiteCountry "17"]
[WhiteTitle ""]
[BlackUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/56675622.000ff974.50x50o.75b2742d12c1.jpeg"]
[BlackCountry "125"]
[BlackTitle ""]

1. e4 {[%clk 0:05:02.9]} 1... e5 {[%clk 0:05:03.3]} 2. Nc3 {[%clk 0:04:56.3]
Vienna Game, let's go $1} 2... a6 {[%clk 0:04:53.7] Black playing a waiting move.
The thing with the Vienna Game is that these moves are relative mistakes as
Black can ill afford the loss in tempo.} 3. f4 {[%clk 0:04:49.5] Vienna
Gambit-ish $1} 3... Nc6 {[%clk 0:04:45.2] And effectively, Black has played a
worse version of the Max Lange defense} 4. Nf3 {[%clk 0:04:43.5]} 4... f6 $6
{[%clk 0:04:43.4][%c_effect
f6;square;f6;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
d7d6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;from;d7;to;d6;persistent;false][%c_highlight
d6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d6;persistent;false]} 5. Bc4 {[%clk
0:04:28.8]} 5... Bc5 $6 {[%clk 0:04:46.2][%c_effect
c5;square;c5;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
d7d6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;from;d7;to;d6;persistent;false][%c_highlight
d6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d6;persistent;false]} 6. fxe5 {[%clk
0:04:23.5]} 6... Nxe5 $2 {[%clk 0:04:48.7][%c_effect
e5;square;e5;type;Mistake;persistent;true]} 7. d4 $6  {[%clk 0:04:24.2][%c_effect
d4;square;d4;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
f3e5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;from;f3;to;e5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e5;persistent;false] I should have just
played simply $1} 7... Nxc4 {[%clk 0:04:49.3]} 8. dxc5 {[%clk 0:04:22.2]} 8... d6
{[%clk 0:04:51.6]} 9. O-O $2 {[%clk 0:04:14.2][%c_effect
g1;square;g1;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
d1e2;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;from;d1;to;e2;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e2;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e2;persistent;false] Distracted by the
cameras, I don't play this well $1} 9... Bg4 $6 {[%clk 0:04:50.1][%c_effect
g4;square;g4;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true]} 10. Qd5 {[%clk 0:04:06.5]} 10...
Bxf3 $6 {[%clk 0:04:44.4][%c_effect
f3;square;f3;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true]} 11. Rxf3 $6 {[%clk
0:04:00.6][%c_effect f3;square;f3;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
d5c4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;from;d5;to;c4;persistent;false][%c_highlight
c4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c4;persistent;false]} 11... Ne5 {[%clk
0:04:43.4]} 12. Rg3 {[%clk 0:03:35.6]} 12... c6 $6 {[%clk 0:04:45.1][%c_effect
c6;square;c6;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true]} 13. Qe6+ {[%clk 0:03:15.5]} 13...
Qe7 {[%clk 0:04:44.5]} 14. Qxe7+ $1 {[%clk 0:03:03.2][%c_effect
e7;square;e7;type;GreatFind;persistent;true][%c_highlight
e7;keyPressed;alt;opacity;0.8;square;e7;persistent;false]} 14... Nxe7 {[%clk
0:04:48]} 15. Rxg7 {[%clk 0:03:03.9] First rook on the seventh rank $1} 15... dxc5
{[%clk 0:04:50.5]} 16. Bf4 {[%clk 0:02:55.8]} 16... N7g6 {[%clk 0:04:52.6]} 17.
Bxe5 {[%clk 0:02:39.2]} 17... Nxe5 {[%clk 0:04:56]} 18. Rxb7 {[%clk 0:02:39.2]}
18... O-O {[%clk 0:04:55.3]} 19. Rd1 {[%clk 0:02:16.8]} 19... Rfe8 {[%clk
0:04:18.4]} 20. Rf1 {[%clk 0:01:55.2]} 20... Re6 $6 {[%clk 0:04:19.6][%c_effect
e6;square;e6;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
e8b8;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;from;e8;to;b8;persistent;false,a8b8;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;from;a8;to;b8;persistent;false][%c_highlight
b8;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;b8;persistent;false] Stockfish thinks that
trading away my powerful rook on the seventh is best} 21. Rd1 $6 {[%clk
0:01:28.7][%c_effect d1;square;d1;type;Inaccuracy;persistent;true][%c_arrow
c3e2;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;from;c3;to;e2;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e2;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e2;persistent;false]} 21... Nc4 $2 {[%clk
0:03:57.9][%c_effect c4;square;c4;type;Mistake;persistent;true][%c_arrow
e6e8;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;from;e6;to;e8;persistent;false][%c_highlight
e8;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e8;persistent;false] From the perspective
of the flow, it makes sense, but this is a mistake. Stockfish thinks that Black
should put the e6-rook back onto the back rank, so to trade away my rook on the
seventh. By moving their knight, my second rook now forms a battery on the
seventh, a very powerful, and as we'll see, fatal combination $1} 22. Rdd7 {[%clk
0:01:27][%c_highlight
b7;keyPressed;alt;opacity;0.8;square;b7;persistent;false,d7;keyPressed;alt;opacity;0.8;square;d7;persistent;false][%c_arrow
d7h7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;from;d7;to;h7;persistent;false,b7a7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;from;b7;to;a7;persistent;false,b7d7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;from;b7;to;d7;persistent;false,d7b7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;from;d7;to;b7;persistent;false]}
22... Rae8 {[%clk 0:03:49]} 23. Rg7+ {[%clk 0:01:25]} 23... Kf8 $4 {[%clk
0:03:51.4][%c_effect f8;square;f8;type;Blunder;persistent;true][%c_highlight
f8;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f8;persistent;false,h8;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;h8;persistent;false][%c_arrow
g8h8;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;from;g8;to;h8;persistent;false] Black might not
have been aware of this mating pattern...} 24. Rbf7# {[%clk 0:01:26.3][%c_effect
g1;square;g1;type;Winner;animated;true,f8;square;f8;type;CheckmateBlack;animated;true][%c_arrow
f7f8;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;from;f7;to;f8;persistent;false,g7g8;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;from;g7;to;g8;persistent;false,g7f7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;from;g7;to;f7;persistent;false,f7g7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;from;f7;to;g7;persistent;false,f7e7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;from;f7;to;e7;persistent;false][%c_highlight
f8;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f8;persistent;false,g8;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;g8;persistent;false,f7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f7;persistent;false,g7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;g7;persistent;false,e7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e7;persistent;false]
Good game, GG $1} 1-0