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Quick Start Guide

Building

cd chesscpp2
mkdir build
cd build
cmake ..
make -j4

Running

GUI Mode (Default)

./chesscpp2

Controls:

  • Click squares to select and move pieces
  • Press A to make the AI move
  • Press R to reset the game
  • Close window to quit

Play Against AI

./chesscpp2 -c                  # AI at default depth 4
./chesscpp2 -c -d 6 --threads 4 # AI at depth 6

Console Mode

./chesscpp2 --nogui -c --threads 4

Commands:

  • Enter moves in UCI format: e2e4, e7e8q (promotion)
  • ai or a - Make AI move
  • board - Display current position
  • fen - Show FEN string
  • quit or q - Exit

Load a Position

./chesscpp2 -f "rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/4P3/8/PPPP1PPP/RNBQKBNR b KQkq e3 0 1"

Run Performance Test

./chesscpp2 --perft 5    # Test move generation to depth 5

AI Difficulty Levels

  • Depth 3: Easy (0.1s per move)
  • Depth 4: Medium (default) ← Recommended
  • Depth 5: Hard (10s per move)
  • Depth 8: Expert

Example Session

# Start game with the default AI depth (4)
$ ./chesscpp2 -c

# Or override it explicitly in console mode
$ ./chesscpp2 --nogui -c -d 6

Troubleshooting

SDL2 not found:

sudo apt-get install libsdl2-dev libsdl2-image-dev  # Ubuntu/Debian
brew install sdl2 sdl2_image                         # macOS

Compilation errors:

  • Make sure you have C++20 compiler (GCC 10+ or Clang 10+)
  • Run cmake --version (need 3.16+)

Slow AI:

  • Reduce search depth with -d 3
  • The first move is slower due to initialization

Performance Tips

  • Use -d 4 for balanced play (recommended)
  • The engine uses magic bitboards for speed (~37 million nodes/second)
  • Perft 5 completes in ~0.13 seconds
  • AI searches ~3000-7000 nodes per move at depth 4

Enjoy your chess games!