DCS Chess · Windows 10 / 11

A chess world that grows with you.

CZUBATRONIC 2400 turns your Windows notebook, tablet or handheld into a dedicated place to play chess. Choose from historical ChessGate personalities, included engines and your own UCI opponents. Play at a level that suits you, analyse your games, set up positions, run engine matches or connect an electronic chess board. Beginners, experienced players, friends and families find different ways to enjoy the same game in one focused console.

€29.99one-time · incl. VAT · EUR
Buy CZUBATRONIC 2400
Choose an edition Personality engines
The CZUBATRONIC 2400 console on a Windows screen
Variety

Something different every time you sit down

Some days you want a relaxed game. On others you want an opponent who makes you work. Choose Tal for active, complicated chess. Play Karpov when you want to deal with sustained positional pressure. Pick a classic engine, load a UCI favourite of your own, or lower the strength for somebody who is just learning.

The opponent changes, the environment stays familiar: the same board, the same clock, the same controls, the same saved games.

Any Windows device

A chess console you can put anywhere.

CZUBATRONIC is not tied to a form factor. The console sizes itself to its content and stays readable at any display scaling; it is driven by touch or by mouse and keyboard; it runs from the installer or from a portable folder on a USB stick. On a tablet it sits beside the board or becomes the board itself.

CZUBATRONIC 2400 on a Windows notebook, Graphite scheme
Notebook

The console on a notebook

The Graphite scheme with a red LED clock. On the display the ChessGate Lasker personality stands ready. Play with the touchpad, a mouse or the keyboard.

CZUBATRONIC 2400 on a Windows handheld, Blue scheme
Handheld

Chess on a handheld

The Blue scheme on a Windows handheld: the whole console in two hands, played by touch. The console adapts to any screen size.

CZUBATRONIC 2400 on a Windows tablet, the coach flags a weak move
Tablet · Coach

The coach speaks up

The Walnut scheme. After a weak move the coach shows on the display what the move costs and names a better one. Green dots trace its path on the board.

An adult and a child playing CZUBATRONIC 2400 on a notebook
Notebook · Family

Together at the notebook

The child points at the move it wants to play while the adult thinks along. The opponent can be a personality like Lasker or an easy Pioneer level.

A mother and daughter playing CZUBATRONIC 2400 on a notebook
Notebook · Family

Look first, then move

The daughter studies the position while her mother works the touchpad. On the display ChessGate Lasker stands ready.

An adult and a child playing CZUBATRONIC 2400 on a handheld
Handheld · Family

Two on the sofa

In Human vs Human mode parent and child play each other on the same device, or they team up against the computer.

A mother and daughter playing CZUBATRONIC 2400 on a handheld
Handheld · Family

A quiet evening

The mother holds the handheld, the daughter taps her move on the screen. No internet, no ads, just the game.

An adult and a child at a Windows tablet, the coach shows a better move
Tablet · Coach · Family

Learning with the coach

The coach has spotted a weak move and shows a better one. YES takes the move back, and the child tries again.

A mother and daughter at a Windows tablet, the coach shows a better move
Tablet · Coach · Family

Finding the better move

The coach has flagged a weak move and names a better one on the display. Green dots trace its path, and the daughter follows it on the board.

Notebook

The console on a laptop screen, with the clock, the LED board and the computer-status readout in view. Installer or portable edition.

Tablet and touch

Touch control for moves, menus and the setup palette. The window scales with the display.

Handheld and small screens

The layout keeps its proportions at small sizes; the board view can be maximised when the board is all you need.

Offline, no account

Everything is in the download: program, engines, artwork and fonts. Nothing else is installed, and nothing phones home.

Karpov squeezes. Tal sacrifices. Capablanca simplifies.

Reconstructed from their own games – your chess partners, on your machine.

The personalities
ChessGate Personality Engines

A grandmaster's style, at your own level.

The ChessGate personalities turn historical players into long-term playing partners. Tal looks for activity and initiative. Karpov applies pressure and restricts your position. Capablanca simplifies with remarkable clarity. Morphy punishes slow development. Each personality is rebuilt from the player's own games: thousands of positions in which the move actually chosen is known. Play them repeatedly and their differences become familiar; you begin to recognise the positions they seek, the plans they prefer and the decisions they make. Choose a strength that gives you a real game, and build a collection of opponents from across chess history.

Strong engines exist in every chess program. A player whose character survives when you turn the strength down to yours is what we have not seen anywhere else.

At your own level

In the browser the levels from club player to grandmaster are calibrated by measurement, and the personality keeps its character at every one of them. In CZUBATRONIC 2400 and any UCI program you set the engine's depth or thinking time: the game becomes more accessible, and the opponent's character remains.

Built from the player's own games

Thousands of positions from the player's career are analysed for recurring choices: structures, plans, exchanges, initiative and risk. During play the personality chooses, among the engine's sound moves, the one that fits those habits. Style may cost a little, by a measured amount; it never costs the game.

Opponents you get to know

A single game shows part of the personality. Over repeated games you recognise the structures it seeks and the plans it returns to, you discover which opponents suit your chess and which ones keep exposing the same weaknesses.

49 very different players

Even attack has many faces: Morphy opens lines at speed, Tal sacrifices for the initiative, Alekhine lets complications build for twenty moves. The more personalities you play, the clearer their differences become; that is what makes the packs and the collection worthwhile.

How the personalities work

The Personality Engine: built for your chess interface
  • the complete personality model: the player's full plan library, opening repertoire and style profile
  • a deeper search that weighs ten candidate lines every move, with the time and processor your own machine gives it
  • loads into CZUBATRONIC 2400 and into any UCI chess interface; runs locally, offline, no account
  • the choices are explained move by move in the engine output
ChessGate in the browser: a different experience
  • the same players on a shared server, tuned for instant replies and no installation
  • free to play at playchessgate.com, with calibrated levels and the Mystery GM
  • a lighter personality model than the engine you install

Flagship personalities

Mikhail Tal
Soviet Era · 1936–1992

Mikhail Tal

The Magician from Riga. Brilliant attacker who sacrificed pieces with abandon. World Champion 1960–1961.

AttackingTacticalWorld Champion
Personality →
Bobby Fischer
Modern · 1943–2008

Bobby Fischer

The Greatest. American prodigy who dominated the chess world. World Champion 1972–1975.

AttackingTacticalWorld Champion
Personality →
Anatoly Karpov
Modern · 1951–

Anatoly Karpov

The Boa Constrictor. Positional genius who slowly suffocated opponents. World Champion 1975–1985.

PositionalEndgameWorld Champion
Personality →
José Raúl Capablanca
Classical · 1888–1942

José Raúl Capablanca

The Chess Machine. Cuban genius known for effortless play. World Champion 1921–1927.

PositionalEndgameWorld Champion
Personality →
Paul Morphy
Romantic · 1837–1884

Paul Morphy

The Pride and Sorrow of Chess. The first unofficial world champion. Dominated all opponents in the 1850s.

AttackingTactical
Personality →
Mikhail Botvinnik
Soviet Era · 1911–1995

Mikhail Botvinnik

The Iron Man. Three-time World Champion and father of Soviet chess school. Trained Karpov, Kasparov, and Kramnik.

PositionalClassicalWorld Champion
Personality →
Adolf Anderssen
Romantic · 1818–1879

Adolf Anderssen

The King of Combinations. Strongest player of the 1850s-60s. Played the Immortal Game and the Evergreen Game.

AttackingTactical
Personality →
Alexander Alekhine
Classical · 1892–1946

Alexander Alekhine

The Conqueror. World Champion 1927–1935, 1937–1946. One of the greatest attackers in chess history.

AttackingTacticalWorld Champion
Personality →
Leonid Stein
Soviet Era · 1934–1973

Leonid Stein

The Comet. Three-time Soviet Champion who burned bright and died young at 38. Fischer considered him one of the most dangerous opponents in the world.

AttackingTactical
Personality →
Siegbert Tarrasch
Classical · 1862–1934

Siegbert Tarrasch

The Teacher. Great chess theorist and one of the strongest players of his era.

PositionalClassicalBeginner-friendly
Personality →
Emanuel Lasker
Classical · 1868–1941

Emanuel Lasker

The Fighter. World Champion for 27 years (1894–1921), the longest reign in history. A philosopher and mathematician who played the opponent as much as the board.

DefensiveWorld Champion
Personality →
All personalities (49) Complete collection

Packs

Pack · 5 personalities · €89.99

Attacking Legends

Sacrifice, initiative and the attack on the king: five players who made the board burn.

Tal, Morphy, Anderssen, Alekhine, Stein
Pack · 5 personalities · €89.99

Strategic Masters

Prophylaxis, structure and the long squeeze: five players who won without fireworks.

Karpov, Capablanca, Botvinnik, Petrosian, Smyslov
Pack · 5 personalities · €89.99

Soviet School

The school that dominated the second half of the twentieth century.

Botvinnik, Tal, Petrosian, Smyslov, Stein
Pack · 12 personalities · €169

World Champions

Every world champion in the catalogue, from Steinitz to Karpov: the title holders as opponents.

Steinitz, Lasker, Capablanca, Alekhine, Euwe, Botvinnik, Smyslov, Petrosian, Tal, Spassky, Fischer, Karpov

Complete collection
Progress

Play. Look again. Learn something from the game.

A useful chess game does not end when somebody resigns. Return to the position where the game changed. Take moves back. Try another continuation. Set up a position you want to understand. ANALYZE fetches the engine's verdict when you want a deeper look, and the Coach speaks up when you want help spotting an important mistake.

The opponents themselves do some of the work too: tactical pressure, positional restriction, unusual openings and technical endings ask different questions of your chess.

Shared use

One system, very different players

CZUBATRONIC does not have to belong to one person. An experienced player picks a demanding personality or adds a favourite UCI engine. A beginner plays at a gentler level. Friends replay positions, compare engines or simply sit down for a game.

For your own games

Find regular opponents and build a personal roster.

For improving

Revisit positions, analyse games and work on recurring mistakes.

For children and beginners

Choose a manageable strength, let the Coach help, and keep the experience centred on actually playing.

For friends

Set up positions, replay games or compare two very different opponents.

For the table

With a supported electronic board, the same installation becomes a shared chess computer with real pieces.

For families: safe, offline, with a coachWhich boards work?
Board connection

Put the computer aside and play on a real board

Connect a supported electronic board, keep the pieces in front of you, and CZUBATRONIC quietly runs the opponent, the clock and the game. For family games, long evenings and players who prefer physical pieces, the Windows device becomes the hidden computer behind a traditional chess board. The Board Edition's connection recognises the board you plug in and picks the matching adapter: one program, six board families, about twenty models.

FamilyBoardsConnectionLightsStatus
Millennium ChessLinkeONE directly; Exclusive, King Performance, King Competition, Supreme Tournament 55 and Phoenix through the ChessLink moduleSerial (cable) and BluetoothYesTested on a board
DGT classicEvery classic DGT e-Board over USB, and the Bluetooth e-Board after PIN pairingSerial (cable)No, the boards have noneTested on a board
DGT PegasusPegasusBluetoothYesBuilt, not yet tested
CertaboCertabo boards, TabuTronic Cerno, TabuTronic SentioSerial (cable)YesPartly tested
ChessnutAir, Air+, Pro, Go, Move; also boards that present themselves as Chessnut, such as Square Off behind BillyGate or a Certabo behind cer2nutBluetooth and USBYesBuilt, not yet tested
GoChessGoChess and GoChess XRBluetoothYes, full colourBuilt, not yet tested

Checked on real boards

BoardResultDate
DGT over USBA full game3 October 2026
Millennium ChessLink over BluetoothA full game4 and 5 October 2026
TabuTronic Cerno over USBFound, read and lit; a full game follows with the next preview build6 October 2026

All other adapters are built from published protocol information, every constant with its source, and have not yet been checked on a real board.

For the long term

Built to stay interesting

CZUBATRONIC is not tied to one opponent. Start with the included engines. Add historical personalities. Install other UCI engines. Connect a board later. Run engine matches when curiosity takes over. Return to saved games, or set up positions from books and tournaments.

The environment stays familiar while the chess inside it keeps changing.

Main features

Play, study, compare engines, choose the look.

Sit down at the console

Choose a side, a clock and the engine control, and play. The computer-status display names the opening from an ECO database, shows the engine’s depth, nodes, speed and evaluation, and tells you whether the move came from the book.

Capa does not answer in a quarter of a second. In a game against you it takes a human-feeling thinking time: fast for book moves, forced moves and recaptures, longer in a complicated middlegame, now and then a long think, always within its clock. Press MOVE NOW if you are in a hurry.

The computer-status display naming the opening while Capa plays

Different engines, different reasons to play

Capa is the standard engine: an opponent with recognisable character and human-feeling thinking time, begun by Thorsten Czub in the 1980s and brought back to life in 2026 as a modern UCI engine. Pioneer brings a calibrated ladder from Novice to Grandmaster when you want the right playing strength. Tacticon is the third opponent in the house, and Zukertort 85 gives a first taste of the historical personalities.

Any other UCI engine can be added and remembered as your standard: very different opponents in the same familiar environment. And when you would rather watch, put two of them across the board from each other and follow what happens when two ideas of chess meet.

Engine match on the console with both engines' output side by side

Back to the position where it got interesting

Open an old game and continue from the move where it became interesting. Games are standard PGN; four keys and the arrow keys step through the move list, PLAY FROM HERE picks any position back up, and ANALYZE asks the engine for its verdict without touching the game.

With the setup palette you put any position from a book, a tournament or your own game on the board, choose the side, the clock and the engine control, then START PLAYING THIS POSITION, and play it out.

The setup palette: pieces, side to move, engine control and clock

Four schemes, four piece sets

Walnut is the original: the warm finish of a dedicated machine. Blue, Green and Graphite turn the same console into an electronic instrument, a hardware-green panel or dark ABS plastic with amber displays. Pieces come as the current CZUBATRONIC set, the original 2D production set, and two wooden Staunton sets. The window sizes itself to its content and stays readable at any display scaling. OPTIONS holds the scheme, the pieces, the move indicator and the brightness of the board LEDs, the mode, the beep, the notation and the board view.

OPTIONS: scheme, pieces, move indicator, LED brightness, notation and board view
The console, screen by screen

What you can do with it

8 screens, in the order you meet them: sit down, play, let two engines fight it out, set up a position, and make the console your own. Click a screen to see it full size.

Sit down at the console
The display names the opening
Let the engines fight
Set up any position
Four schemes, four piece sets
Green, with the original 2D set
The console's look and manners, in one place
A life in computer chess
1 / 8

Sit down at the console

A Breyer Ruy Lopez against Capa, the clock running, the engine's eleventh move just played and lit on the board. Walnut fascia, chess clock, engine display, move history: the dedicated machine, on your screen.

2 / 8

The display names the opening

The status display has just named the opening: C95 Ruy Lopez, Breyer Defence. While the machine thinks it shows depth, nodes, speed and evaluation, and tells you whether the move came from the book.

3 / 8

Let the engines fight

Capa versus Pioneer at fixed depth 4, both engines' search output side by side in the match panel, the final checkmate on the board. Pick two engines, one condition, and watch.

4 / 8

Set up any position

The setup palette: pieces, side to move, which side you play, the engine control and the clock, then START PLAYING THIS POSITION. Positions are validated, and the engine moves at once if the first move is its own.

5 / 8

Four schemes, four piece sets

Blue, with the wooden Staunton set. Walnut is the original; Blue, Green and Graphite turn the same console into an electronic instrument, a hardware-green panel or dark ABS plastic with amber displays.

6 / 8

Green, with the original 2D set

The pieces come as the current CZUBATRONIC set, the original 2D production set, and two wooden Staunton sets. The window sizes itself to its content and stays readable at any display scaling.

7 / 8

The console's look and manners, in one place

OPTIONS: scheme, pieces, move indicator, the brightness of the board LEDs, mode, beep, notation and board view.

8 / 8

A life in computer chess

The interview reader inside the console: Thorsten Czub, from a black-and-red machine that could not spot an illegal move to Cologne 1986 and a program of his own. The engine you play against was written by someone who was in the room.

Arrow keys move, click the screen for full size
Heritage

The chess-computer world is still part of it

CZUBATRONIC began with a love of dedicated chess computers and the distinctive experience of sitting down with one machine and one opponent. The machines of the 1980s and 1990s had character: a Mephisto felt different from a Fidelity, a Novag from a Saitek, and their owners argued about playing style, tactics, endgames and whether the thing really understood chess.

That heritage remains part of the product. The fascia, displays and controls are those of a professional chess computer, built in 2026, and the console gives every opponent inside it the same familiar frame: the included engines, the historical personalities and your own.

It is also a tribute to Thorsten Czub, to his engine Capa, and to the manufacturers and programmers who gave computer chess its golden age.

Product options

One console. Choose how you want it.

Option 1

CZUBATRONIC 2400

For users who want the complete CZUBATRONIC software environment on a Windows device.

  • core application
  • bundled engines: Capa, Pioneer, Tacticon, Zukertort 85
  • external UCI engine support
  • offline use, no account
  • signed installer, version 2026.1
  • updates according to the licence policy
€29.99one-time · incl. VAT · EUR
Buy CZUBATRONIC 2400
Option 2

CZUBATRONIC 2400 Board Edition

Everything in CZUBATRONIC 2400 plus play on a physical electronic board.

  • Board Connectivity
  • supported electronic chess boards
  • USB and Bluetooth connection
  • physical-board play

Already own CZUBATRONIC? Purchase the Board Connectivity Upgrade.

Which boards work? →

€49.99one-time · incl. VAT · EUR
Buy the Board Edition
Questions

Frequently asked questions

What does CZUBATRONIC 2400 cost?

CZUBATRONIC 2400 costs 29.99 EUR, paid once, incl. VAT. The Board Edition with board connectivity costs 49.99 EUR. Buy once, keep for good: no account, no subscription, no advertising, and every update of the version you bought is included. Payment by card, PayPal, Apple Pay or Google Pay; delivery is immediate by download link.

Which Windows versions does CZUBATRONIC 2400 run on?

Windows 10 and Windows 11, 64-bit. The download contains everything: the program, the Capa, Pioneer, Tacticon and Zukertort 85 engines, the artwork and fonts. Nothing else needs to be installed.

Do I need administrator rights to install it?

No. The installer puts the program into your own user profile. The portable edition needs no installation at all: unpack the ZIP into any folder or onto a USB stick and start CZUBATRONIC.exe ; its settings stay in a config folder beside the program.

Which chess engines are included, and can I use my own?

Four engines are bundled: Capa, Thorsten Czub’s own program, as the standard engine; Pioneer with a calibrated ladder from Novice to Grandmaster; Tacticon; and Zukertort, one of playchessgate.com’s historical personality engines. Any other UCI engine can be added with ENGINE → BROWSE UCI ENGINE , validated with a UCI handshake, and remembered as your standard engine. The 49 ChessGate personalities join them as engines of their own, individually, in packs or as the complete collection.

What is Capa?

Capa is the chess program Thorsten Czub began in the 1980s on a Sinclair ZX Spectrum and carried through the Amstrad CPC, the Atari ST and the PC. Named after Capablanca, it was his laboratory rather than a contender for the strongest engine, and it had twelve levels, permanent brain and its own commentary. In 2026 development resumed: Capa became a modern UCI engine with hash tables, an opening book and modern search techniques while keeping its original features. New builds are published on this page.

How strong is CZUBATRONIC 2400?

It is deliberately not a modern top engine. Pioneer’s calibrated levels range from Novice (about 1170 Elo) to Grandmaster (about 2450 Elo). Capa and Tacticon are driven by explicit controls: fixed depth, seconds per move or the game clock. The engines and the ChessGate personalities supply the character; the right level supplies a real game.

Does CZUBATRONIC 2400 work offline?

Yes, completely. Nothing is sent anywhere. Games are saved as PGN files wherever you choose; settings and a diagnostic log live in %LOCALAPPDATA%\CZUBATRONIC for the installed edition or in the config folder beside the program for the portable edition.

Windows SmartScreen shows a notice. Is the download safe?

The installer is code-signed; the dialog names "Arne Bailliere" as the publisher. Because the certificate is new, SmartScreen may show a one-time notice at the very first start until the signature has built up reputation. In that case choose More info and then Run anyway, and check that "Arne Bailliere" is named as the publisher.

How is CZUBATRONIC 2400 related to PlayChessGate and Pioneer 2 Chess?

All three come from DCS Analytics. PlayChessGate lets you play the chess legends online, Pioneer 2 Chess is the talking Soviet chess computer, and CZUBATRONIC 2400 is the dedicated chess computer for your Windows desktop, with the Pioneer engine shared between them.

Manuals

Manuals and release notes

After purchase you receive the signed installer immediately by download link. It puts the console into your user profile, no administrator rights needed, and includes the engines Capa, Pioneer, Tacticon and Zukertort 85. The manuals are here to read in advance.

Windows 10 / 11, 64-bit · Version 2026.1

CZUBATRONIC 2400 is available

Buy once, keep for good: CZUBATRONIC 2400 for 29.99 EUR, the Board Edition with board connectivity for 49.99 EUR, both incl. VAT, with a signed installer and instant download. The ChessGate personalities grow alongside as opponents.

Choose an edition To the DCS Chess shop →