ChessEngine

A full chess engine implementation with a C++ backend for game logic and a C# frontend for board visualization and user interaction. The engine supports standard movement rules, turn handling, captures, checks, and checkmates, and communicates with the UI through a custom pipe protocol.

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Overview

The backend handles all game logic:

• Board representation
• Movement validation for all pieces
• Capture handling
• Turn-based gameplay
• Check and checkmate detection
• Move execution and board updates

The frontend (chessGraphics.exe) displays the board, highlights moves, and sends player actions to the backend.

Note: Pawn promotion, castling, and en passant are not implemented.

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Features

Implemented

• Full piece movement rules
• Turn management
• Legal/illegal move detection
• Capture logic
• Check & checkmate detection
• Console-hidden backend with pipe communication
• C# graphical board display
• Complete playable chess match

Not Implemented

• Castling
• Pawn promotion
• En passant
• Stalemate/draw detection

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Backend (C++)

The engine includes classes for every chess piece:

• King
• Queen
• Rook
• Bishop
• Knight
• Pawn

Along with:

• Board – manages the 8×8 board
• Pipe – handles communication between backend and frontend

The backend launches the UI automatically and waits for it to connect:

system("start ./chessGraphics.exe");
Pipe p;
p.connect();

Moves are received from the UI as 4-character strings (e.g., "e2e4"), processed, validated, and the engine responds with result codes.

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Frontend (C#)

The C# graphical application (chessGraphics.exe) displays:

• The board
• All pieces
• User-selected moves
• Move result feedback (illegal, check, etc.)

It sends moves to the backend via Pipe, receives updates, and redraws the board accordingly.

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Communication Protocol

The engine sends and receives messages using the Pipe class.

UI → Engine

• Move commands (e.g., "e2e4")
• "quit" to exit

Engine → UI

• Initial board layout string
• Move result codes:

Code	Meaning
0	Valid move
1	Valid move + CHECK
2	No piece at source square
3	Illegal move
6	This piece cannot move
8	Game over (king captured)

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How to Run

1. Build the backend

Compile the C++ source files using Visual Studio or another compiler:

g++ main.cpp -o ChessEngine.exe

Ensure all .cpp and .h files are included.

2. Place the frontend in the same folder

ChessEngine/
├── ChessEngine.exe
└── chessGraphics.exe

3. Run the backend

ChessEngine.exe

The frontend will open automatically and start the game.

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Future Improvements

• Implement castling
• Implement pawn promotion
• Implement en passant
• Add stalemate/draw detection
• Add AI (minimax + evaluation)
• Add move history and notation