♟️ Python Chess AI Game

A fully functional chess game built with Python and Pygame, featuring three game modes and a custom-built AI engine. Developed as a bachelor's degree final project by Alireza Ramyad.

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🎮 Game Modes

Mode	Description
Player vs Player	Two humans play on the same computer
Player vs AI	You challenge the chess AI engine
AI vs AI	Watch two AI engines play each other (tutorial/demo mode)

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⬇️ Download & Run (No Python Required)

You do not need Python or any other software installed on your computer.

1. Download Chess.zip from the Releases page
2. Extract it anywhere on your computer
3. Navigate to: Chess → Chess → dist → ChessGame
4. Double-click ChessGame.exe to play!

✅ No Python interpreter needed. No pip install. Just download and play.

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🧠 About the AI Engine

The AI was built from scratch using only fundamental algorithms — no machine learning, no neural networks, no genetic algorithms. The goal was to prove that a smart and challenging AI can be built with simple, well-understood techniques:

• Negamax — a clean variant of the Minimax algorithm, where each player tries to maximize their own score
• Alpha-Beta Pruning — cuts off branches that can't possibly affect the final decision, making the search significantly faster
• Piece-Square Tables — positional scoring tables for each piece type (knights prefer the center, rooks prefer open files, pawns are rewarded for advancing, etc.)
• Search Depth: 3 — tested and chosen as the best balance between speed and intelligence. The AI thinks fast and plays well

How strong is it?

Tested with real chess players:

• For beginners → it feels hard
• For intermediate players → it feels like a solid intermediate opponent
• It won't beat a grandmaster, but it will punish your mistakes

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🕹️ Controls

Action	Control
Select & move a piece	Mouse click
Undo last move	Z key
Reset the game	R key

• Selected pieces are highlighted in blue
• Possible moves are highlighted in yellow

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⚠️ Known Limitations

• AI vs AI mode: The AI is continuously computing moves, so closing the game mid-game may cause the program to crash or freeze for a few seconds before closing. This is expected behavior — wait for the current move to finish computing, then close the window.

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✨ Features

• Clean, animated piece movement
• Full chess rules: castling, en passant, pawn promotion
• Move log panel displayed during the game
• Stopwatch tracking time for each player
• Checkmate and stalemate detection
• Works as a standalone .exe — no installation needed

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🚀 Future Improvements

• Online Multiplayer — allow two players to play against each other over the network
• Adjustable AI Difficulty — let the player choose between Easy, Medium, and Hard before the game starts
• Opening Book — preload common chess openings so the AI plays more naturally in the early game
• Better AI Evaluation — add king safety, pawn structure analysis, and endgame tables for stronger play
• Move Timer / Time Control — add a chess clock with time limits per player (e.g. 5 min blitz)
• Save & Load Game — save a game in progress and resume it later
• Move Hints — optional hint button that suggests the best move for beginners
• Sound Effects — add sounds for moves, captures, and checkmate

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🖼️ Screenshots & Demo

Main Menu

Player vs Player

Game Board

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🎬 Gameplay Demos

Player vs AI (close-up)

Player vs Player (close-up)

Player vs AI — with terminal output

The terminal shows the AI evaluating and scoring every possible move in real time.

AI vs AI — with terminal output

Both AIs continuously calculate move scores. This demo shows the engine thinking out loud after each move.

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🛠️ Run from Source (For Developers)

If you want to run or modify the code:

Requirements:

• Python 3.x
• Pygame

pip install pygame

Then run:

python Chess/Button.py

To tweak AI speed vs intelligence, open Chess/ChessAI.py and change:

DEPTH = 2  # smoother and faster, but slightly less intelligent
DEPTH = 3  # default — smart and fast enough for smooth gameplay
DEPTH = 4  # smarter but noticeably slower

Higher depth = smarter AI but exponentially longer thinking time.

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📁 Project Structure

Chess/
├── images/          # Piece images (PNG)
├── ChessEngine.py   # Game logic, move validation, all chess rules
├── ChessAI.py       # AI engine (Negamax + Alpha-Beta Pruning)
├── ChessMain.py     # Player vs AI game loop
├── ChessMain2.py    # Player vs Player game loop
├── ChessMain3.py    # AI vs AI game loop
├── Button.py        # Entry point / main menu
├── predisplay.py    # Pre-game display screen (Player vs AI)
├── predisplay2.py   # Pre-game display screen (Player vs Player)
└── __init__.py

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👨‍💻 Author

Alireza Ramyad
Bachelor's Degree Final Project
MSc Student in Communication Systems and Networks — Tampere University

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📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License — see the LICENSE file for details.

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If you enjoyed this project, please consider giving it a ⭐ — it means a lot!