As you know, I made an initial purchase of two PCMs for the Scholastic Chess Club. I showed my sons how to use them and had them try the PCMs at the K-12 Championship in Orlando. Here is what I found:
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The kids like technology and are very interested in electronic devices. They are eager to notate their games with MonRoi PCMs. Max, who is 8 years old, sometimes does not want to notate his games, but he eagerly recorded all his games at the K-12 Championship.
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The devices are easy to learn and use and the kids were up and running on them within 20 minutes. In fact, Jesse (11 years old) quickly found features that I did not realize the PCM had.
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MonRoi's PCM completely eliminated errors in notation. The kids did not make even a single error while notating their games! We were able to analyze their complete games -- the first time I've been able to do that since the time they started playing five years ago. Usually, the kids make just enough mistakes that it becomes difficult to analyze endgames -- an area that they need to work on. With the games recorded on MonRoi's PCM's we were able to analyze endgames of all of their games, which was greatly beneficial.
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Analyzing games on the PCMs is very easy because no board is necessary. It was very convenient to go over the games even in places like restaurants and airplanes. The analysis mode is very handy and well-designed.
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The overall functionality of the PCM is excellent. The interface is simple and efficient. The operation is intuitive and well thought-out without a myriad of bells and whistles to clutter and complicate the operation of the PCM. It is quite apparent that a lot of thought went into the design of the user interface, making the PCMs excel in what they were designed to do -- make it easy to record and analyze chess games.
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The time-recording feature for each move is just great! Some players have a problem with playing too fast and making mistakes as a result.With the time stamp for each move I can see how long a player takes for each move and help them understand the correlation between how long they think about each move and their performance.
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Battery performance was also excellent. I was initially worried that there may not be enough time between the rounds to recharge the batteries, but to my pleasant surprise, we did not even have to recharge the batteries between the rounds. A single charge lasted the entire day.
I look forward to using MonRoi's products in the future.
- Eugene Sigal, Scholastic Chess Coach, Plymouth
Samuel Baker (Dallas, Texas) increased his rating by 775 points in one year! Watch this video to learn how:
My name is Sam Baker, my son is Samuel Baker. A year ago we were at the National Action in Atlanta and we found out about the MonRoi, we tested one out, we had a sample one and my son immediately showed that he really started to do well with that… We immediately purchased the MonRoi and we have been very dependent on it. My son uses it for all of his tournaments and we take all his games immediately after he plays, and we put them on the SD card, upload them, email them to his teacher; and he has gone from 700 last year to his highest 1475 and we just have been very impressed and we are very dependent on having the MonRoi.
Here is why I like the MonRoi device: 1. You can store all of your games in one device without having scoresheets scattered around, which makes it very convenient. 2. It will automatically keep track of how much time you use. 3. It may be faster to just input the moves into MonRoi than writing them down on a scoresheet. 4. It is good to use if you want family members to see your game!
- GM Ray Robson, Florida
You have created a WONDERFUL device! It is really fun to record my games in this fashion, as opposed to writing the moves down on paper. I love the connectivity options (wireless and SD memory card) you've built into the PCM. I think if more people experience the PCM, its use would be more widespread! This is definitely the way of the future for recording chess games! I am deeply, deeply touched and impressed with the generosity and goodness of your people and your company.
- David Trestor, California
I took my Monroi to the Vernon chess tournament. For the first time I have been able to come back from a tournament with records I can work with. I showed it to a dozen chess players and they were very impressed. Frankly, after using your machine, I would never want to go back to recording on paper by hand.
– Stewart Paulson, Victoria
We are actually at a tournament, and my son is using his Monroi for the first time (in a tournament). He is LOVING it - and, all his teammates are wanting one now! :-) His coach loves you, too - it's so much easier to go back over his games (he's 9 and his handwriting is sometimes pretty messy - especially if the game is getting tense!). Thanks for getting back to me on a weekend!
– Juliet Thomas
My MonRoi PCM is the greatest thing since sliced bread. It is wonderful and I have been promoting it everywhere. It has made me a stronger player and I am going to achieve my master title soon in no small part due to the PCM. I really appreciate what you have done for me and your company and all of its products (as well as the service of streaming live games on your website) are an outstanding contribution to tournament chess.
- Geoffrey Gale, Washington
I love using the MonRoi, it’s a great tool, it helps me write down my moves. I don’t have the best handwriting, so it makes the game neat; there's no possible errors, and it is just a nice thing. My parents can see my games (live) and it’s just a special tool.
-David Adelberg (Arizona's most improved scholastic player in 2007)
