
Visualize move, protection and threat status in chess - _ology
https://github.com/ology/Chess-Inspector
======
marcusbrown
Cool!

I've been thinking to make the exact same thing in Javascript using Chess.js
and Chessboard.js

[https://github.com/jhlywa/chess.js/blob/master/README.md](https://github.com/jhlywa/chess.js/blob/master/README.md)
[http://chessboardjs.com/](http://chessboardjs.com/)

I got a half-working version and will opensource the code once it's ready.

I think it could be a nice tool to help people starting with the game, but
also as an analysis tool for more advanced players.

[Edit] I just uploaded what I did so far on a server, just in case you want to
take a look

[http://www.hotpixel.mx/chess/index.html](http://www.hotpixel.mx/chess/index.html)

my idea is to use little icons (now really terrible looking) with numbers and
playing with opacity to give an idea of the strength for each square of the
board. I still have some problems in some cases displaying incorrect numbers,
but I hope to fix that as soon as I have some spare time :)

~~~
amrrs
Nice. Hope it'd be good if you visualize how opponent's move could affect for
the player in the other end.

------
fjarlq
Cool, good idea!

I have a couple bits of cosmetic feedback for you:

I would like the chess pieces to appear much larger within each of their
squares, ala
[http://www.365chess.com/opening.php](http://www.365chess.com/opening.php)

Also, the green border around protected cells is difficult for me to discern.
(Might be due to my colorblindness.)

~~~
_ology
Thank you for your feedback!

I can definitely make the pieces larger. I will experiment...

The the tiny green border is definitely difficult to discern. I will think
about how to display protection status more effectively. :)

------
blevinstein
This is neat!

I was working on something similar recently:
[https://github.com/blevinstein/chess_assistant/blob/master/s...](https://github.com/blevinstein/chess_assistant/blob/master/screenshot-2015-02-04.png)

I had been thinking about ways to analyze the graph of "threats", so I focused
on which pieces were threatening which. I wanted to eventually extend this to
also include which pieces were threatening which squares, but never got that
far.

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MrQuincle
Would be nice if there was also an "advanced" mode. Only highlight pieces that
have less defenders than attackers. And highlight pins.

And I assume even more advanced modes highlight perhaps central squares that
might be obtained and which open lines. See
[https://en.m.wikibooks.org/wiki/Chess_Strategy/Open_lines](https://en.m.wikibooks.org/wiki/Chess_Strategy/Open_lines)
for a nice example.

~~~
_ology
Hm. If I were an advanced player I might be up to creating an advanced mode!
;-)

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hemapani
Very cool idea? Do you have a demo or write up about how it works? also would
like to know how one can use it.

~~~
_ology
It's not a very detailed explanation but the write-up is here:
[http://techn.ology.net/visualize-move-protection-and-
threat-...](http://techn.ology.net/visualize-move-protection-and-threat-
status-in-chess/)

It's written as a server program in Perl, but it's relatively easy to install
and run on your own computer:

> git clone [https://github.com/ology/Chess-
> Inspector.git](https://github.com/ology/Chess-Inspector.git)

> cd Chess-Inspector

> perl Makefile.PL

> make

> sudo make install

> perl bin/app.pl

Then open [http://localhost:3000](http://localhost:3000) in your web browser.
Voila!

~~~
_ology
These instructions are incorrect. Please check out the repo README. (Basically
relace all the "make stuff" with `sudo cpan .`)

