(Unfinished) Chess Game with Flexible Rule Declaration

This project implements a chess game with a unique, flexible rule declaration system. It allows for easy creation of chess variants by modifying JSON-based rule definitions. The game features a custom board representation and multiple board and piece styles sourced from Lichess. However, this is mostly a proof of concept, not all chess rules are implemented yet and I (probably) won't continue it.

How It Works

Rule Definition

• Rules are defined in JSON format (e.g., in js/Game/Rules/standard.js)
• Each piece type has "move" and "capture" properties
• These properties contain arrays of movement patterns

Movement Patterns

• Patterns are strings like "x+0;y+1c" or "x++8;y++8"
• 'x' and 'y' represent horizontal and vertical movement
• '+' or '-' indicate direction
• Numbers represent distance
• 'c' means the move is color-dependent (inverted for black pieces)
• '++' or '--' allow for sliding moves (e.g., for bishops or rooks)

Decoding

• The decode function in MoveGeneration interprets these patterns
• It calculates actual board positions based on the piece's current position
• Special cases like pawn double moves are handled in specialMoves

Move Generation

• getPossibleMoves uses these rules to generate all legal moves
• It checks for basic move legality and piece capture rules

Flexibility

• New chess variants can be created by modifying the rule definitions
• No need to change the core game logic

How to Use

1. Clone the repository
2. Open index.html in a web browser
3. To change settings, modify the settings.js file:

   var settings = {
     board_style: "brown", // Options: "brown", "blue", "green"
     piece_style: "Skribble" // Options: "Skribble", "Maestro", "Neo", "Standard"
   };

4. To create a new chess variant:
   • Define new movement rules in JSON format in a new file under js/Game/Rules/
   • Update the game initialization in js/Game/main.js to use the new rules

Current Limitations

• Check detection is not fully implemented
• Some advanced chess rules (e.g., en passant, castling) are not yet available
• This project is currently unfinished and serves primarily as a proof of concept

Possible Future Development

• Implement complete check and checkmate detection
• Add support for more advanced chess rules
• Develop an AI opponent
• Expand the variety of chess variants available

Contributing

As this is a proof of concept, contributions are welcome. Please feel free to fork the repository and submit pull requests with improvements or new features.

Credits

• Board styles and piece designs are sourced from Lichess, an open-source chess server
• jQuery is used for DOM manipulation