https://github.com/Strryke/betafish

A chess engine and AI move finder written in Javascript. Beats Stockfish level 6 on Lichess.
https://github.com/Strryke/betafish

chess chess-ai chess-engine javascript minimax

Last synced: 2 months ago
JSON representation

A chess engine and AI move finder written in Javascript. Beats Stockfish level 6 on Lichess.

• Host: GitHub
• URL: https://github.com/Strryke/betafish
• Owner: Strryke
• License: mit
• Created: 2022-08-01T09:45:06.000Z (over 2 years ago)
• Default Branch: main
• Last Pushed: 2023-06-08T06:04:25.000Z (over 1 year ago)
• Last Synced: 2024-07-25T23:01:19.076Z (5 months ago)
• Topics: chess, chess-ai, chess-engine, javascript, minimax
• Language: JavaScript
• Homepage: https://betafish.gavinong.com
• Size: 1.58 MB
• Stars: 94
• Watchers: 6
• Forks: 10
• Open Issues: 1
• Metadata Files:
  • Readme: README.md
  • License: LICENSE

Awesome Lists containing this project

README

        
# Betafish



Betafish - An amalgamation of AlphaZero and Stockfish.

Play it [here](https://betafish.gavinong.com).

[Read more about it on my blog.](https://gavinong.com/projects/betafish)

## Introduction

Betafish is a chess engine and AI move finder written in Javascript, based on the Negamax algorithm. It beats Stockfish Level 6 on Lichess, and I estimate its around 1800-2000 Elo, depending on the thinking time afforded.

## Features

- Negamax algorithm with alpha-beta pruning

- Move ordering using the MVV-LVA heuristic

- Principal variation search

- Quiescence search

- Iterative deepening

- Piece-square tables

- Tapered evaluation

This enables Betafish to search to a depth of 7-8 plies and around ~1mil possible nodes, given a thinking time of around 1-2 seconds.

## Possible Improvements

- Transposition tables

- Zobrist hashing

- Opening tables

Of course, re-writing this in a compiled language like C++ would be a huge improvement. I wrote it in Javacript as I wanted to deploy it as a web app, as what fun would a game be without letting your friends challenge it? However, I quickly realised the limitations, as JS is definitely not suited for these computing-intensive tasks.

## Changelogs

- 1.1 - Changed evaluation function from [Simplified Eval](https://www.chessprogramming.org/Simplified_Evaluation_Function) to [PeSTO's Eval Function](https://www.chessprogramming.org/PeSTO%27s_Evaluation_Function). Major improvements ~ 200 elo.

## Credits

- [Chess Engines: A Zero to One](https://www.chessengines.org/) - The article that jumpstarted my journey into chess programming.

- [WukongJS](https://github.com/maksimKorzh/wukongJS) - A JS chess engine, written by Maksim Korzh, who was patient enough to answer my questions, give me pointers and point me in the right direction in this journey.

- [Bluefever Software's YouTube series](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eA0bD3wV3Q&list=PLZ1QII7yudbe4gz2gh9BCI6VDA-xafLog) - A 63-part series on chess programming, which was an absolute gold mine and served as inspiration for the bulk of the chess engine.

- [Chess Programming Wiki](https://www.chessprogramming.org/Main_Page) - A great resource for chess programming.

- [CM Chessboard](https://github.com/shaack/cm-chessboard) - The library I used for the GUI.