BillyGateChess

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is BillyGate?

BillyGate is a little bluetooth-low-energy (BLE) gadget that connects chess e-boards to chess apps. It originated to rescue my Square Off Pro rollable e-board after Square Off went bust (sorry, was acquired by Miko) and ceased to support sites like chess.com and lichess.org. BillyGate enables SquareOff Pro owners to again enjoy over-the-board (OTB)/online chess on these excellent e-boards, and I intend to extend BillyGate to other e-boards and chess apps in future releases.

Q: How much does BillyGate cost (and how do I buy it)?

There are two components to BillyGate:

A little electronics board called the Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W, which we do not supply. It is available globally for around $10 USD. Purchase a Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W from a local online vendor. Make sure you buy a PICO 2 W as there are other Picos with similar names, but BillyGate only works on a Pico 2 W.
We supply the firmware (software) that runs on the Pico2W. Pricing is determined by your home currency:
- USD: $40 via Wise.com (domestic ACH transfer), or $45 via PayPal
- EUR: €40 via Wise.com (domestic bank transfer), or €45 via PayPal
- GBP: £40 via Wise.com (domestic bank transfer), or £45 via PayPal
IMPORTANT: Wise.com payments must be made by domestic bank transfer, which Wise.com customer support says does not require you to open a Wise.com account. Non-domestic or international bank transfers, e.g. Swift or 'wire' transfers, are by prior request only and will require additional payments to cover fees. Before paying via Wise.com please check that BillyGate will receive the full price as listed above.
PayPal is simpler, but more expensive because of its fees.
This pricing includes firmware updates (of the purchased product).

The buying process (see the BillyGate user manual for more detail) is as follows:

Check your e-board has up-to-date firmware.
Buy a Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W.
Email billygatechess@gmail.com (please include your country) and one of our sales goats will send you a bank transfer request.
Upon receipt of payment (please include a reference so we can identity the payment) we will send you a download link for the BillyGate firmware.
Follow the BillyGate set-up instructions. This requires one more interaction with BillyGate before you can start playing chess on your e-board. You need to send us a board ID (that identifies the Pico2W you bought) and we return you a token that authenticates your firmware for use on that board.

Q: How do I update my SquareOff e-board firmware?

BillyGate requires your Square Off e-board to be running up-to-date Square Off firmware.

Square Off Pro - version 3.0.5
Square Off Neo - version 3.0.7

If your Square Off e-board is running older firmware (check using the Square Off or Miko app), here's how to update it. For reasons known only to Miko (the new owner of Square Off), there is no automatic way to update it from the Square Off or Miko apps. You have to contact Miko support.

Open an issue on the Miko.ai help desk and ask for your e-board to be updated to version 3.0.5 firmware.
Include in your issue two screenshots from the Square Off or Miko Chess app:
- The Board Center page, which shows your current firmware version.
- Your Profile page, which shows your Square Off username/email address.
After Miko reply that your update is available connect your Square Off or Miko Chess app to your Square Off e-board and return to the Board Center. You should see a firmware update is now available. If not, click on the current firmware version.
Follow the app instructions to perform the update.
This update can take a while (10 minutes) but be careful not to interrupt it and to let it run to completion.
Problems? Sorry, you need to circle back to Miko tech support.

Q: Why do I need to authenticate BillyGate firmware?

BillyGate is a commercial project with considerable ongoing development and support costs. I am endeavouring to provide a high-quality, low-cost solution for integrating e-boards with chess client apps, while making some beer money on the side. Firmware authentication enables users to source their own BLE boards at cost and easily download/install the firmware and updates, but limits free redistribution of the firmware, which would destroy any commercial viability.

Q: Why can't I open the BillyGate web user interface in my browser?

On some home WiFi networks, after enabling BillyGate's WiFi user interface (see the BillyGate user manual for details), you may find that your web browser cannot open http://ble-gate. Try the following:

Try http://ble-gate.home or http://ble-gate.local. If either of these web addresses work, bookmark it. This can be because your WiFi router expects the BillyGate web address to end with a Top Level Domain like .com (and adds .home or .local if not found).
Try using the ping ble-gate command from a PC terminal. This sometimes triggers your PC to recognise the ble-gate hostname. You can also try ping ble-gate.home and ping ble-gate.local.
If you know how to log into your WiFi router you can find the IP address assigned to BillyGate and browse to it via http://<IP address>, for example http://192.168.1.100. Ideally, you should configure your router to make this a static IP address, which means your router will always issue the same IP address to BillyGate.

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