Robert Rutherford
Unicode Chess
This is a Python chess game run using Flask that allows two people to play a game across the internet on their own respective browsers. It is called “Unicode Chess” because the pieces are unicode chess characters. Unicode characters replaced the ASCII characters of earlier versions of the game that were called “ASCII Chess.”
Go to https://spiffindustries.com/chess/ to play a game!
Table of Contents
Security
Other than the built-in security features offered by Flask, the communications over spiffindustries.com are secured through an SSL certificate from Let’s Encrypt.
Background
This game originated as a simple Python program. Communication capabilities were added to it. Then, in an effort to demonstrate the game, it became necessary to play it through a web browser. Thereafter, the program was re-written using Flask to make that possible.
Install
If you wish to provide this product on your own server, you must clone it:
git clone https://github.com/rbrutherford3/Unicode-Chess.git /path/to/site/root
To install Flask, follow the instructions found here. Then go to your directory and run the app:
cd /path/to/site/root
export FLASK_ENV=development
flask run
You should see a message such as:
* Environment: development
* Debug mode: on
* Running on http://127.0.0.1:5000/ (Press CTRL+C to quit)
* Restarting with stat
* Debugger is active!
* Debugger PIN: 115-958-952
You may then go to http://127.0.0.1:5000/ (or http://localhost:5000/) on your browser to view the app.
To run this app in a production environment, you will need to use gunicorn and set up a systemd service. Click here for a good tutorial on how to do so.
Usage
For the rules of chess, here is an article for beginners: https://www.chess.com/learn-how-to-play-chess
To play, you must find someone to play with and each player must be reading from the same server (i.e.: https://chess.spiffindustries.com/). Each will visit the site and one will commence the game. A player code and a game code are provided to each player. As the names suggest, the player code is unique to the player and the game code is unique to the game. The person who starts the game will somehow have to give the other play the game code. Once the other player enters the game code, the game begins.
The players commence by typing in location codes in “algebraic notation” (a1 or e7, for example). One location code for the starting position and one for the destination. The page will accept input until a move is submitted, at which point the other person will be allowed to make a move. The game is saved on the server until one of the players wins or a stalemate occurs. Games can be bookmarked for later play.
Contributing
Contributions are welcome, including any feedback.
License