Chess

A chess game project developed by Jake Edmonstone and Matthew Tchouikine. This implementation supports both text-based and graphical displays of the game board, with various features and player modes. This document provides an overview of how to build, run, and interact with the chess program.

Table of Contents

1. Building the Project
2. Running the Game
3. Command Interpreter
4. Features

Building the Project

To build the chess game, ensure you have a working environment that supports graphical applications (X11 for Unix-based systems or XMing for Windows). Then, compile the source files using the following command:

make

This will generate the executable file that you can use to start the game. Make sure you have all the necessary libraries installed to support graphics compilation.

Running the Game

Once built, you can run the game by executing the compiled binary:

./chess

The game starts in command-line mode, where you can input various commands to set up and play the game.

Command Interpreter

The chess game uses a command interpreter to interact with the system. Below are the commands supported:

1. Starting a New Game

• Command: game white-player black-player
• Description: Starts a new game. The white-player and black-player parameters can be either human or computer[1-4] to specify human players or computer players of different difficulty levels.

Example:

game human computer2

2. Resigning the Game

• Command: resign
• Description: Concedes the game to your opponent.

3. Moving Pieces

• Command: move start end
• Description: Moves a piece from the starting coordinates to the ending coordinates.

Example:

move e2 e4

• Special Moves:
  • Castling: Use the king's two-square move, e.g., move e1 g1 for white castling.
  • Pawn Promotion: If your pawn reaches the end of the board, you will be prompted to select which piece you would like to promote to.
• For Computer Player: Simply wait after making a move, and the computer will make a move.

4. Entering Setup Mode

• Command: setup
• Description: Enters setup mode to configure the initial board state. This mode can only be accessed when a game is not running. The following commands are supported within setup mode:
  • Place a Piece: + piece square
    • Places the specified piece on the specified square. Example: + K e1
  • Remove a Piece: - square
    • Removes a piece from the specified square. Example: - e1
  • Set Turn: = color
    • Sets the color to move next. Example: = white
  • Exit Setup Mode: done
    • Exits setup mode. The program verifies board validity before exiting.

5. Additional Features

• The board is redisplayed after every command, including text-based and graphical representations.
• If a command is misspelled, the program will handle it gracefully to prevent breakdowns.

Features

• Game Modes: Supports human vs. human, human vs. computer, and computer vs. computer games.
• Difficulty Levels: Computer players operate at multiple difficulty levels (1-4).
• Text and Graphical Display: Provides both a console-based and graphical display of the chessboard.
• Setup Mode: Allows customization of the initial board configuration.
• Scoring: Displays the final score when the game ends.