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♟️ Monolith Chess v2.0.0 : "The Awakening of the Wise King"

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@vafran vafran released this 22 Mar 21:22
· 560 commits to main since this release
v2.0.0
fc8de25

Overview:
What started as an accessible family project has transformed into a robust, pure JavaScript chess engine (Zero Dependencies). Version 2.0.0 marks a before and after: the AI is no longer just a rival capable of playing at a club level (~1700 ELO); it now features a complete ecosystem of reactive, pedagogical tools designed to teach you how to play better.

✨ Release Notes

🧠 The King's Brain (Improved AI Engine)

  • Asynchronous Multithreading: The engine now runs in an isolated Web Worker, allowing the AI to think up to Depth 10 (evaluating millions of positions) without freezing the browser interface.
  • Time Control & Anti-Zombies: A Soft Time Limit system guarantees fast moves without crashing, alongside an async promise garbage collector to prevent ghost moves if the user restarts the game while the AI is thinking.
  • Anti-Blindness Vision (Quiescence): The AI now evaluates checking sequences to the very end, eradicating the "Horizon Effect" so it no longer hangs pieces in long tactical exchanges.
  • Opening Variety: Integration of an opening book with an exploration factor (20% at the Master level) to ensure games are never identical.

🦉 The Coach 2.0 (Pedagogical Tool)

  • Opportunity Detection: The Coach no longer just warns you when you hang a piece; it can now "travel back in time" to tell you exactly what winning move or checkmate you missed while focusing on the wrong side of the board.
  • Spider Sense & Hawk Eye: Real-time visual feedback systems that make endangered squares glow and draw vector arrows on the board to reveal hidden captures and threats.
  • Human Explanations: Thanks to a strategic intent interpreter, cold machine calculations are translated into concepts beginners can easily understand (Pins, Forks, Skewers, Discovered Attacks).

🎙️ A Commentator with Personality

  • Broadcast Narrative: The commentator now speaks strictly in the third person (like a real sports broadcaster) and features different "humor" settings (Serious, Mixed, Funny).
  • Real-Time Evaluation: Automatically detects if a move was a severe mistake (Blunder) or a stroke of genius (Brilliant), calling out the exact piece captured using proper grammar.
  • Easter Eggs: Includes historical nods to famous games, clean family-friendly chess jokes, and musical references (like the Runaway Queen).

🛠️ UI & Quality of Life (QoL)

  • Complete "Undo Move" system (Undo Stack) that perfectly restores castling rights and en passant targets.
  • Improved Time Machine to seamlessly review past moves during the game.
  • Customizable visual themes and a dynamic, cartoon-style material advantage bar.
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