Chess

Chess is a recreational and competitive game played between two players. Originating in Southern Europe during the 15th century, it evolved from older Indian and Persian games. Today, chess is widely popular, enjoyed by millions worldwide in various settings like homes, clubs, online platforms, and tournaments.

This classic board game is played on an 8×8 board with 12 pieces on each side, including the king, queen, rook, knight, bishop, and pawn. The primary objective is to capture the opponent’s king or force a situation where the opponent’s king has no legal moves without being in check.

AB Level and H Level

AB Level refers to Alpha-Beta pruning level, indicating the depth of the pruning technique applied. H Level stands for heuristic search level, offering a more focused but less exhaustive search. Finding the optimal combination suitable for your system is crucial. For example, AB=3, H=0 might be a suitable choice.

Teach Initiative

The Teach Initiative feature allows chess enthusiasts to contribute to teaching the AI opening moves. Click on the Teaching Tips link in the Teach tab to learn more and participate in enhancing the AI’s chess knowledge.

PGN and Snapshot Viewer

The PGN Viewer in the PGN tab provides a graphical representation of Portable Game Notation, a standard chess notation system. Additionally, the Snapshot feature enables users to capture specific board positions for sharing on blogs or websites, particularly useful for chess bloggers.

Chess Rules

1. White makes the first move.
2. The king moves one square horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, with the option of castling once per game.
3. The queen can move freely diagonally, horizontally, or vertically.
4. The rook moves vertically or horizontally without constraints.
5. The knight moves in an L-shape pattern, two squares in one direction and then one square perpendicular to that.
6. The bishop moves diagonally across the board.
7. A pawn moves forward one square, with the option of advancing two squares on its initial move. Pawns capture diagonally.
8. Special moves include castling, en passant, and pawn promotion.

Castling:

Castling involves moving the king two squares towards a rook and placing the rook on the other side of the king. Specific conditions must be met for castling to be permissible, ensuring the safety of both pieces involved.

En Passant:

In certain situations, a pawn can capture an opponent’s pawn by moving diagonally as if the opposing pawn had moved only one square. This move must be executed immediately following the opponent’s pawn advancement.

Promotion:

If a pawn reaches the eighth rank, it can be promoted to any other piece except the king, enhancing its strategic value on the board.

Check and Checkmate:

A player is in check when their king is threatened with capture. If a player’s king has no legal moves to escape check, it leads to checkmate, resulting in the end of the game and victory for the opposing player.

Draw Conditions:

The game may end in a draw due to various conditions, such as stalemate, insufficient material for checkmate, or repetitive moves without progress. Players can also agree to a draw at any point during the game.

Our Rules

1. The game can start with either white or black.
2. All pawns are automatically promoted to queens upon reaching the promotion rank.
3. There is no requirement to check the opponent’s king for capturing; the opponent loses upon capturing the king.
4. Draws are only permitted in specific scenarios, such as in matches against the computer based on move count without captures.

FAQ

1. What is the most important prerequisite?
   Read the introductory information, rules, tabs descriptions, and Teaching Tips to enhance your gameplay experience.
2. Why does the system freeze?
   Select an appropriate Alpha-Beta pruning level and heuristic search level based on your system’s capabilities to prevent freezing. Adjust settings if necessary.
3. How do I play over the internet?
   Utilize the I-PLAY tab to engage in online matches by entering a shared key agreed upon by both players. This allows for gameplay and communication over the internet.