Ecosyste.ms: Awesome

An open API service indexing awesome lists of open source software.

Awesome Lists | Featured Topics | Projects

https://github.com/tom-weatherhead/pdchess3

A rudimentary chess engine and command-line interface.
https://github.com/tom-weatherhead/pdchess3

alpha-beta-pruning chess chess-engine chess-game games heuristics minimax-algorithm

Last synced: about 8 hours ago
JSON representation

A rudimentary chess engine and command-line interface.

Awesome Lists containing this project

README 

        


	




# pdchess3



pdchess3 : Portable Didactic Chess, incarnation number 3.



A rudimentary chess engine and command-line interface.

Written in TypeScript for Node.js and npm.



Obligatory BadgeFest:



[![codeclimate][codeclimate-badge-image]][codeclimate-url]

[![git][git-badge-image]][git-url]

[![github][github-badge-image]][github-url]

[![npm][npm-badge-image]][npm-url]

[![terminal][terminal-badge-image]][terminal-url]

[![travis][travis-badge-image]][travis-url]

[![typescript][typescript-badge-image]][typescript-url]



[![status][status-badge-image]][status-url]

[![build status][build-status-badge-image]][build-status-url]

[![npm version][npm-version-badge-image]][npm-version-url]

[![latest tag][latest-tag-badge-image]][latest-tag-url]

[![npm total downloads][npm-total-downloads-badge-image]][npm-total-downloads-url]

[![watchers][watchers-badge-image]][watchers-url]

[![stars][stars-badge-image]][stars-url]

[![issues][issues-badge-image]][issues-url]

[![forks][forks-badge-image]][forks-url]

[![contributors][contributors-badge-image]][contributors-url]

[![branches][branches-badge-image]][branches-url]

[![releases][releases-badge-image]][releases-url]

[![commits][commits-badge-image]][commits-url]

[![last commit][last-commit-badge-image]][last-commit-url]

[![types][types-badge-image]][types-url]

[![install size][install-size-badge-image]][install-size-url]

[![known vulnerabilities][known-vulnerabilities-badge-image]][known-vulnerabilities-url]

[![lines of code][lines-of-code-badge-image]][lines-of-code-url]

[![technical debt][technical-debt-badge-image]][technical-debt-url]

[![maintainability][maintainability-badge-image]][maintainability-url]

[![test coverage][test-coverage-badge-image]][test-coverage-url]

[![tested with jest][jest-badge-image]][jest-url]

[![code style: prettier][prettier-badge-image]][prettier-url]

[![license][license-badge-image]][license-url]

[![FOSSA Status][fossa-badge-image]][fossa-badge-url]



## Building `pdchess3`



To build `pdchess3` and install the command-line interface, do this:



```console

npm run all

npm link

```



## Launching `pdchess3`



After `npm link` has been run, `pdchess3` can be invoked from the command line using this syntax:



```console

pdchess3 [White player configuration] [Black player configuration]

```



... where each player's configuration is in one of two forms:



- h: Human. The player's moves will be entered via the standard input.

- c [max ply]: Computer. The player's moves will be calculated by `pdchess`'s game engine, using 'max ply' as the initial basic maximum lookahead depth.



For example, if you want to play White while the computer plays Black, you could do this:



```console

pdchess3 h c 5

```



If you want the computer to play a slow game against itself, you could do this:



```console

pdchess3 c 6 c 6

```



You can use `nice` to launch the `pdchess3` process with a lower priority; e.g.:



```console

nice -n 20 pdchess3 c 5 c 5

```



## Playing `pdchess3`



A fairly standard command syntax is used to specify moves; e.g.:



- e2-e4 : An initial pawn move by White

- Ng8-f6 : An initial knight move by Black

- Qa1xd8 : A capturing move by a queen

- O-O : Castle on the kingside

- O-O-O : Castle on the queenside



Type 'exit' at the move prompt to end the game and exit the app.



## Example



```

$ pdchess3 h c 5



8 rnbqkbnr

7 pppppppp

6  + + + +

5 + + + + 

4  + + + +

3 + + + + 

2 PPPPPPPP

1 RNBQKBNR



  abcdefgh



Move 1: White

> e2-e4



Matched the manual move 'e2-e4' in the opening book.

Elapsed time for this move: 2 milliseconds

White's move: e2-e4



8 rnbqkbnr

7 pppppppp

6  + + + +

5 + + + + 

4  + +P+ +

3 + + + + 

2 PPPP PPP

1 RNBQKBNR



  abcdefgh



Move 1: Black

Opening: Nimzovich Defence

Black: Automated: Using this move from the opening book: b8-c6

Elapsed time for this move: 1 millisecond

Black's move: b8-c6



8 r+bqkbnr

7 pppppppp

6  +n+ + +

5 + + + + 

4  + +P+ +

3 + + + + 

2 PPPP PPP

1 RNBQKBNR



  abcdefgh



Move 2: White

> exit

Exiting...



$

```



## History



- I witnessed the University of Waterloo host a tournament of Othello (Reversi)-playing programs in 1992; these programs played each other by sending game data over the Internet.

- After creating [my own rudimentary Othello-playing program in C](https://github.com/tom-weatherhead/othello-1992), I chose chess as the next problem domain to tackle. The result was [incarnation number 1](https://github.com/tom-weatherhead/pdchess1) of pdchess, which was written in C in 1993. I began the project during my university exams in April. This version had a console interface. I started developing it on the univerity's Unix computers, then e-mailed the source code to my e-mail address at Digital Equipment of Canada in Ottawa, where I worked during the summer of 1993. At Digital, I ported the code to compile and run on the VAX/VMS operating system, and I continued development. In August 1993, I e-mailed the source code back to Waterloo. Just before finishing my final term in April 1994, I copied the source code to a 3.5-inch floppy and took it with me.

- During the summer of 1994, I modified the code to work on my brand-new computer (an Intel 80486SX PC clone running Windows 3.1, with 640 KB + 3072 KB of RAM and a 360 MB hard drive, plus 3.5-inch and 5.25-inch floppy drives) via Borland Turbo C++ 3.1. I created [a GUI for pdchess](https://github.com/tom-weatherhead/pd-chess-gui-1994) using Turbo C++'s OWL (Object Windows Library) framework. (OWL was analogous to Microsoft's MFC.)

- [Incarnation number 2](https://github.com/tom-weatherhead/pdchess2) of pdchess was written in C++ in 2002, after I had read Bjarne Stroustrup's book on the language.

- Incarnation number 3 of pdchess was written in Typescript in Beijing, China in February and March 2020, during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

- pdchess is also known to some as 'partly done chess'. :-)



## TODO



- Jest will set `process.env.NODE_ENV` to `'test'` if it's not set to something else. You can use that in your configuration to conditionally setup only the compilation needed for Jest, e.g.



```javascript

// babel.config.js

module.exports = api => {

  const isTest = api.env('test');

  // You can use isTest to determine what presets and plugins to use.

  // If isTest then target es2015; else target es6 (to support Angular 10).



  return {

    // ...

  };

};

```



- ? Use Webpack, then use Jest to test the Webpacked version of pdchess3?



## License

[MIT](https://choosealicense.com/licenses/mit/)



[codeclimate-badge-image]: https://badgen.net/badge/icon/codeclimate?icon=codeclimate&label

[codeclimate-url]: https://codeclimate.com

[git-badge-image]: https://badgen.net/badge/icon/git?icon=git&label

[git-url]: https://git-scm.com

[github-badge-image]: https://badgen.net/badge/icon/github?icon=github&label

[github-url]: https://github.com

[npm-badge-image]: https://badgen.net/badge/icon/npm?icon=npm&label

[npm-url]: https://npmjs.com

[terminal-badge-image]: https://badgen.net/badge/icon/terminal?icon=terminal&label

[terminal-url]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Unix

[travis-badge-image]: https://badgen.net/badge/icon/travis?icon=travis&label

[travis-url]: https://travis-ci.com

[typescript-badge-image]: https://badgen.net/badge/icon/typescript?icon=typescript&label

[typescript-url]: https://www.typescriptlang.org



[status-badge-image]: https://badgen.net/github/status/tom-weatherhead/pdchess3

[status-url]: https://badgen.net/github/status/tom-weatherhead/pdchess3

[build-status-badge-image]: https://secure.travis-ci.org/tom-weatherhead/pdchess3.svg

[build-status-url]: https://travis-ci.org/tom-weatherhead/pdchess3

[npm-version-badge-image]: https://img.shields.io/npm/v/pdchess3.svg

[npm-version-url]: https://www.npmjs.com/package/pdchess3

[latest-tag-badge-image]: https://badgen.net/github/tag/tom-weatherhead/pdchess3

[latest-tag-url]: https://github.com/tom-weatherhead/pdchess3/tags

[npm-total-downloads-badge-image]: https://img.shields.io/npm/dt/pdchess3.svg

[npm-total-downloads-url]: https://www.npmjs.com/package/pdchess3

[watchers-badge-image]: https://badgen.net/github/watchers/tom-weatherhead/pdchess3

[watchers-url]: https://github.com/tom-weatherhead/pdchess3/watchers

[stars-badge-image]: https://badgen.net/github/stars/tom-weatherhead/pdchess3

[stars-url]: https://github.com/tom-weatherhead/pdchess3/stargazers

[issues-badge-image]: https://badgen.net/github/issues/tom-weatherhead/pdchess3

[issues-url]: https://github.com/tom-weatherhead/pdchess3/issues

[forks-badge-image]: https://badgen.net/github/forks/tom-weatherhead/pdchess3

[forks-url]: https://github.com/tom-weatherhead/pdchess3/network/members

[contributors-badge-image]: https://badgen.net/github/contributors/tom-weatherhead/pdchess3

[contributors-url]: https://github.com/tom-weatherhead/pdchess3/graphs/contributors

[branches-badge-image]: https://badgen.net/github/branches/tom-weatherhead/pdchess3

[branches-url]: https://github.com/tom-weatherhead/pdchess3/branches

[releases-badge-image]: https://badgen.net/github/releases/tom-weatherhead/pdchess3

[releases-url]: https://github.com/tom-weatherhead/pdchess3/releases

[commits-badge-image]: https://badgen.net/github/commits/tom-weatherhead/pdchess3

[commits-url]: https://github.com/tom-weatherhead/pdchess3/commits/master

[last-commit-badge-image]: https://badgen.net/github/last-commit/tom-weatherhead/pdchess3

[last-commit-url]: https://github.com/tom-weatherhead/pdchess3

[types-badge-image]: https://badgen.net/npm/types/pdchess3

[types-url]: https://badgen.net/npm/types/pdchess3

[install-size-badge-image]: https://badgen.net/packagephobia/install/pdchess3

[install-size-url]: https://badgen.net/packagephobia/install/pdchess3

[known-vulnerabilities-badge-image]: https://snyk.io/test/github/tom-weatherhead/pdchess3/badge.svg?targetFile=package.json&package-lock.json

[known-vulnerabilities-url]: https://snyk.io/test/github/tom-weatherhead/pdchess3?targetFile=package.json&package-lock.json

[lines-of-code-badge-image]: https://badgen.net/codeclimate/loc/tom-weatherhead/pdchess3

[lines-of-code-url]: https://badgen.net/codeclimate/loc/tom-weatherhead/pdchess3

[technical-debt-badge-image]: https://badgen.net/codeclimate/tech-debt/tom-weatherhead/pdchess3

[technical-debt-url]: https://badgen.net/codeclimate/tech-debt/tom-weatherhead/pdchess3

[maintainability-badge-image]: https://api.codeclimate.com/v1/badges/2f473e151898df4d9f1f/maintainability

[maintainability-url]: https://codeclimate.com/github/tom-weatherhead/pdchess3/maintainability

[test-coverage-badge-image]: https://api.codeclimate.com/v1/badges/2f473e151898df4d9f1f/test_coverage

[test-coverage-url]: https://codeclimate.com/github/tom-weatherhead/pdchess3/test_coverage

[jest-badge-image]: https://img.shields.io/badge/tested_with-jest-99424f.svg

[jest-url]: https://github.com/facebook/jest

[prettier-badge-image]: https://img.shields.io/badge/code_style-prettier-ff69b4.svg?style=flat-square

[prettier-url]: https://github.com/prettier/prettier

[license-badge-image]: https://img.shields.io/github/license/mashape/apistatus.svg

[license-url]: https://github.com/tom-weatherhead/pdchess3/blob/master/LICENSE

[fossa-badge-image]: https://app.fossa.io/api/projects/git%2Bhttps%3A%2F%2Fgithub.com%2Ftom%2Dweatherhead%2Fpdchess3.svg?type=shield

[fossa-badge-url]: https://app.fossa.io/projects/git%2Bhttps%3A%2F%2Fgithub.com%2Ftom%2Dweatherhead%2Fpdchess3?ref=badge_shield