Play. Watch. Learn. An interactive chess coach built with Python + Pygame, powered by Stockfish.
CheckMate is a teaching-first chess app: you can play the bot, watch self-play, or train with beginner-friendly overlays. It explains blunders plainly, shows best-move arrows, highlights center control & development, and warns when you’ve left pieces hanging.
- Stockfish-backed evaluations + principal variation (multi-move plan)
- Toggleable coaching overlays:
- Hints (H): Best-move arrows, blunder vs. better alternative
- Openings (O): Center control & early development tips
- Tactics (T): Undefended (“hanging”) piece warnings
- Human vs Bot, Self-play, or Bot vs Bot Duel
- Click-to-move with reselect support
- Sidebar with eval bar, commentary, scoreboard
- Full chessboard with PNG sprites (pieces-png/ folder included)
- Stockfish-backed evaluations + principal variation (next-move plan)
- Beginner overlays (Hints, Openings, Tactics) toggleable in-game
- Click-to-move with reselect support (change piece before committing)
- Scoreboard for wins, draws, losses
- Human vs Bot, Self-play, or Bot vs Bot Duel
- Sidebar shows evaluation, plan, and teaching commentary
git clone cd CheckMate
pip install pygame python-chess
Install Stockfish (recommended)
On macOS with Homebrew:
brew install stockfish
On Ubuntu/Debian:
sudo apt install stockfish
Check path:
which stockfish
Run with defaults (human as White):
python3 play_pygame_pro.py --mode human --side white
python3 src/play_pygame_pro.py --mode human --side white
python3 src/play_pygame_pro.py --mode self
python3 src/play_pygame_pro.py --mode duel
• --side white|black — color (human mode)
• --ms N — delay per bot move in ms (default 300)
• --engine PATH — Stockfish path (overrides auto-detect)
• --w N / --h N — optional window clamp if your monitor is small
• --mode human → Play against the bot
• --mode self → Watch AI self-play
• --mode duel → Bot vs Bot duel (slightly different styles)
• --side white|black → Choose your color (if human mode)
• --ms N → Milliseconds delay per bot move (default 300)
• --engine PATH → Explicit path to Stockfish (auto-detected if omitted)
All chess piece sprites are loaded from /pieces-png/. The loader automatically handles aliases like rook.png, rook4.png, bpawn.png, etc.
- Explains your moves vs. engine best: “That was a blunder. Knight f3 was stronger because it develops a piece and controls the center.”
- Highlights tactical oversights: undefended pieces flash red.
- Suggests opening principles: “Try playing e4/d4 to control the center. Develop knights and bishops first.”
- Shows a multi-move “Plan” (principal variation) for strategy context.
Stockfish engine is GPL and installed separately; this project does not redistribute it.
