Crowdfunding review – Maybe you have watched “The Queen’s Beginning”, maybe you have always liked it, or your child dragged you in like me. Chess is a great game, and the more you play, the more it seems to attract you. If you haven’t used the clock while playing, I think you will get a kind of enjoyment. It adds a tactile, satisfying final element to your actions, and if necessary, relieves some serious anxiety by limiting the time you must complete the action, using punishment or reward time. Tempest’s new Chess Clock has just been launched on Kickstarter, and it performs very well.
What is it?
Tempest Chess Clock is a weighted base designed to use a smart phone as a clock/display and a precise tilt/rocker mechanism to let the phone/app know that the game has been confirmed.
What’s in the box?
- Tempest Chess Clock
- Requirements: a smart phone
Hardware specifications
- Dimensions: 8.25 x 3.5 x 2 inches | 1 pound, 5 ounces
- Quadruple Foundation
- Leather pad for player interaction and mobile phone protection
- No battery needed
- Advanced rocking technology
- Non-slip silicone pad
- Smartphone app included with purchase
- Digital and analog clock options
- Multiple timer preset options
- Fully customizable timer
- Fischer-Random Chess960
Design and features
Tempest Chess Clock immediately shows that you are serious (or plan to) take your chess seriously.
The sturdy base and rocker inserts have subtle textures on the side walls and polished top surface. The backrest of the smartphone is polished and equipped with a black leather pad to protect your phone. The main touch surface is an embedded leather pad, which increases the grade and will show evidence of your battle over time.
The bottom is almost completely covered with a silicone liner, which, combined with the added ballast, can hold the docking station in place. In the middle is the URL where you can download the application, and a code to unlock it. Sorry, you must have your own base to get the code;).
The smartphone slides into the slot, leans against the backrest, and is held in place by gravity and the pressure of the leather extension. You can see below the slot covering about half of it.
The swing function is the protagonist of the show here. Each push is accompanied by a satisfying “pop” sound, if necessary, you can slam it as hard as possible within the range allowed by the table. This is all the assemblies that make this work.
The app supports classic analog dials as well as more modern digital methods, with a wealth of presets and options to meet how you want to time your game. The image is shifted to the top because the bottom edge of the phone is close to the bottom.
set up
All you need to do to get started is to download the smartphone app. After launching, you need to enter an alphanumeric code from the bottom of the dock to access it. My son and I were able to use the same code to activate the app on each of our phones, so at least it seems that Tempest accounts for a certain amount of sharing.
When you put the phone in the base, you will see that the leather has an elongated flip that covers part of the phone slot. Push this extension down into the slot and push your phone to the back stop. Depending on the thickness of your phone and whether you are carrying a protective cover, the fit can be perfect to a very good fit. If you can’t fit it in, you may need to remove the thick casing.
tip: To remove your phone from the base, tilt it from the backrest before pulling it up. This prevents your phone case from conflicting with the cut edges of the leather.
This is Tempest’s screen guide for all UI elements, I will show more screenshots later.
Performance
There are two things I will put on your “need to know” radar.
- If you have an over-protected enclosure, enclosure compatibility may be an issue. My son and I both use Nomad’s durable leather MagSafe cover, which measures approximately 10.85 mm. After the first few insertions, as long as we roll it forward before lifting it up, it fits the Tempest Clock very well. It comes out easily. I want to say that any protective case over 11 mm will not work, you need to remove them first. To be honest, the iPhone without obstacles looks very good on this base. It fits iPhone 12 Pro Max perfectly without a protective cover. Any product larger than the Android series or future iPhone (if larger) is not suitable.
- Call notification. If you receive push alerts for every app notification, it will quickly become annoying. For real Zen games, please put your phone in airplane mode or set a shortcut to do this for you when you start Tempest.
As for gameplay, it’s great! Even if you are a novice player, adding a clock makes sense. It is very easy to set any time parameters you want in the application. It can be a fun way to ensure that you complete the game within the specified time, or allow you to learn to play the game faster. This is the mechanic at work, showing my son to end his round.
Here are some screenshots of some adjustments you can make in the app…
This is the game screen ready to start. Click the play (>) button to start the game. The reload button at the top resets the clock, the + button on the corresponding side adds 15 seconds each time you press it, and the bottom setting button lets you enter the weed.
After clicking on settings, you can scroll up or down to add minutes (up to 2 hours) on the left and seconds for increment or delay on the right. This is the center button to switch between + and •••. The
