Softwareschreiber Chess

This project consists of a basic chess engine (consumable as a library), a chess server and a web-based frontend. You can play against other users or against a bot, which uses a custom evaluation function under the hood that is around 1000 Elo.

Tech Stack

• Java 21 for the chess engine and server with user management, login system and multiplayer game management
• Nuxt 3 for the user-facing frontend
• Custom websocket- and JSON-based protocol for data interchange between frontend and backend
• Microsoft Azure for hosting. Other providers work too, it's just what our deployment guide targets.

Features

You can play chess against a bot around a 1000 Elo rating or choose to play against another user.

Chess Engine

• Utilizes the Minmax algorithm with alpha-beta pruning for move generation, the depth of the search is proportional to the count of pieces on the board.
• Custom evaluation function, that calculates the value of a position based on material, mobility and if there is a checkmate. Here is a simplified version:

  public int evaluate() {
  	return absoluteMaterialEvaluation()
  			+ mobilityEvaluation()
  			+ relativeMobilityEvaluation()
  			+ enemyInCheckMate();
  }

  This is a very basic approach to chess evaluation.
• Basic move generation and validation
• Game logic to handle turns, check/checkmate detection, and game state management

Chess Server

• User management with login and session handling functionality
• Game management handling creating, joining, and playing games
• Custom communication protocol

Frontend

• Login page
• Game lobby with active games and players
• Game creation, customization, and joining
• Interactive chessboard
• Game history
• Player information
• Responsive design for mobile and desktop

Planned Improvements

• Player chat functionality
• Themes for the chessboard