♟️ MiniChess

MiniChess is a compact chess variant played on a 5×6 board (5 columns, 6 rows), designed for quick gameplay and experimenting with chess AI logic.

📏 Rules and Mechanics

• No Castling
• No Double Pawn Move (no en passant possible)
• Only Queen Promotion
• King Capture Ends the Game (no check/checkmate detection)

🕹️ Game Modes

• Player vs Player
• Player vs AI (Engine)

🧠 AI Engine Features

• Minimax with Alpha-Beta Pruning
• Transposition Table for board state caching
• Move Ordering:
  • Captures prioritized as using MVV-LVA
• Basic Evaluation Function
• Quiescence search for capture moves

Requirements

• Python 3.13 or higher
• Required packages will be automatically installed in the steps below.

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/Jihad011/Mini_Chess_AI_Lab.git
   

2. Navigate to the project directory:

   cd Mini_Chess_AI_Lab
   

3. Set up a virtual environment (this will create a venv/ folder in the project directory):

   python -m venv venv
   

4. Activate the virtual environment:

   • On Windows (Command Prompt):

     venv\Scripts\activate

   • On Windows (PowerShell):

     .\venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1

   • On macOS/Linux:

     source venv/bin/activate

5. Install the required dependencies:

   pip install -r requirements.txt
   

🎮 Running the Game

To launch the MiniChess application, run:

   python app.py