Chess

About

This is a demo of an API-only Rails app enabling users to play a game of chess via API with a computer or player. With the server hosted on Render, Github Pages serves the assets for the front end client. The app connects to a Flask microservice serving Stockfish for Python to calculate computer moves and game evaluation.

To play locally in the browser, enter your name next to White or Black and click 'New Local Game'. This will initiate a game with the computer and a choice of difficulty - Easy, Medium, Hard, and Insane corresponding to Stockfish levels 1, 4, 10, and 20. Alternatively, enter a name in both fields to play as both teams. The game will persist until refresh.

To play someone using matchmaking, follow these steps:

1. First, click 'New Live Game' and enter a name under a chosen team
2. Send the code to a friend for them to search using 'Enter Code' and 'Find Game'
3. Wait for the friend to enter their name and submit and the game will begin

When a game is completed, it will be saved in the Game History where you can replay moves. To generate a move-by-move game evaluation of white vs. black, click 'Load Eval' on the game replay screen.