OBSIDIAN CHESS ENGINE

Say Hello to OBSIDIAN!

Meet OBSIDIAN, your free chess-playing companion written in Python. It may not be the fanciest, but it's like having your very own chess expert in your computer. With OBSIDIAN, you get a reliable chess partner that plays at a strong level, around 2000 ELO. Let's dive into the world of chess together!

How to Get Started

1. Install Python: Get it from the official website.

2. Get OBSIDIAN Ready: Open your terminal and run pip install -r requirements.txt.

3. Bring OBSIDIAN In: Clone the repository or download the ZIP file and unzip it.

Play a Game with OBSIDIAN!

Challenge OBSIDIAN to a game using user-friendly interfaces like PyChess or Arena.

Features

Search Algorithms:

1. Minimax Algorithm

2. Alpha-Beta Pruning

3. Quiescence Search

Move Ordering:

1. History Heuristic

2. Killer Moves

3. Static Exchange Evaluation (SEE)

4. Piece-Square Tables (PSQT)

5. Promotion Bias

6. Square Control Penalty

7. Capture and Promotion Scoring

8. Hash Move Score

Evaluation Function:

1. Material Evaluation

2. Piece Square Tables

3. Endgame Phase Weight

4. Pawn Evaluation

5. King and Pawn Shield Evaluation

6. Mop-Up Evaluation

7. Distance to Center Squares

Openings with OBSIDIAN

OBSIDIAN uses the 'Titans.bin' Opening book, but feel free to swap it out with your own. Just update the code and 'make-exe.bat' accordingly.

Best Game Played by OBSIDIAN (94.7% Accurency - Estimated Elo 2650 on Chess.com)

[Event "60 Moves in 15 min"]
[Site "Engine Match"]
[Date "2023.10.03"]
[Round "1"]
[White "OBSIDIAN"]
[Black "Nero"]
[ECO "B84"]
[Result "1-0"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. Nc3 a6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Qc7 6. Be2 Nf6
7. O-O d6 8. f4 Be7 9. Be3 O-O 10. g4 Re8 11. g5 Nfd7
12. Bd3 e5 13. Nd5 Qc5 14. Nxe7+ Rxe7 15. Nf5 exf4 16. Nxe7+ Kf8
17. Bxc5 Kxe7 18. Bd4 Kf8 19. Rxf4 Nc6 20. Bc4 Nd8 21. Bc3 Kg8
22. Qxd6 b5 23. Bxf7+ Nxf7 24. Qd5 Kh8 25. Qxf7 Nf6 26. Qf8+ Ng8
27. Bxg7# 1-0

What OBSIDIAN Can't Do (Yet!)

• Occasionally behaves unpredictably with limited analysis time.

• Can be a bit slow sometimes.

What's Next for OBSIDIAN

1. Smarter moves with NNUE.

2. Adding an Endgame Table for strategic play.

3. Speeding things up or considering a transition to C++.

Join the Fun!

Explore the chessprogramming wiki for ways to make OBSIDIAN even better. Your contributions are more than welcome!