/ChessLib

C# chess library containing a complete data structure and move generation.

Primary LanguageC#MIT LicenseMIT

ChessLib

A C# chess data library with complete move generation and all needed custom types.

Build status

Requirements

ChessLib is using NET_STANDARD 2.0, which enables it to be used with the following

  • .NET Framework 4.6.1+
  • .NET Core 2.0+
  • Mono 5.4+
  • Xamarin.iOS 10.14+
  • Xamarin.Mac 3.8+
  • Xamarin.Android 7.5+

What is this for?

This library contains all the data, types and structures for which to create a piece of chess software. It does not contain any heuristics or search algorithms as these are ment to be implemented separatly.

But why?

This library was developed during a course "Advanced C# and object oriented programming E17" at DTU (Danish Technical University) as part of a chess user interface, which will be released at a later stage when it is ready. Since the UI needs to handle legality, mate check etc etc, all these features are contained within the library.

Can i use this as a starting point for my chess software?

Yes you can, it is designed with that in mind.

Features

  • Transposition Table
  • Complete move generation with legality check
  • Custom compact and very efficient types for Bitboard, Square, Piece, Move, Player, File, Rank and Direction with tons of operators and helper functionality
  • 100% Bitboard support with piece attacks for all types, including lots of helper functions
  • Lots of pre-calculated bitboard arrays to aid in the creation of an evaluation functionality
  • FEN handling with optional legality check
  • Magic bitboard implementation Copyright (C) 2007 Pradyumna Kannan. Converted to C#
  • FEN input and output supported
  • Chess960 support
  • Zobrist key support
  • Basic UCI structure
  • HiRes timer
  • Draw by repetition detection
  • Mate validation
  • Plenty of unit tests to see how it works
  • Notation generation for the following notation types: Fan, San, Lan, Ran, Uci
  • Basic perft project included, performs depth 6 (119060324 moves) on a AMD-FX 8350 in ~12.5 seconds (without TT)
  • Benchmark project for perft
  • Custom MoveList data structure

Is it fast?

Yes. As far as C# goes it should be able to hold its own.

Perft console test program approximate timings to depth 6

  • AMD-FX 8350 = ~12.5 seconds. (without TT)
  • Intel i7-8086k = ~6 seconds. (without TT)

What is not included?

  • Evaluation
  • Search
  • Communication using e.i. UCI (base parameter struct supplied though)

Planned

  • Better move generation with staged enumerator
  • Basic chess engine (search + evaluation) w. UCI support