averagemoe
Level: Smiter

Rank Points: 487
Registered: 03-22-2012
IP: Logged

Sometimes I feel like DROD enthusiasts are generally the kind of people I can go to for a straight answer to any bizarre question I have where regular googling just has too much to sort through.

Anyway, some may remember a game called Battle Chess. I was just watching a video where a guy made the classic 80s version play against the sleek new 2015 model. And It gave me an epiphany.

What if you could play chess across the internet, but you and your opponent are using completely different programs? Like, maybe you have a program that renders all the pieces as samurai that do a little swordfight animation whenever they capture a piece, while your opponent might see a board where all the pieces are cute woodland critters. But all the moves are the same, and you don't even need to know what the other guy's board is themed as.

So I thought, is there a web server that runs chess games, and uses standard chess notation as strings of text to communicate moves with any program that interfaces with it?


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The internet is no place to act like a wild animal.

Lucky Luc
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 1215
Registered: 08-19-2012
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So I thought the question was interesting and I haven't looked super deep into it yet, but Lichess seems to have an API that would allow for this. It's somewhat limited apparently and so far, there don't seem to be a lot of client programs for it, but it's totally something you could do if you have some spare time on your hands.

Honestly, somewhat surprised this isn't more common, because as far as I know computer chess is pretty standardized. Possibly connected to cheat prevention.

Pinnacle
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1135
Registered: 06-10-2004
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I don't think cheat prevention is an issue. The server can easily verify whether or not a given move is valid by replaying the previous moves it received in the current game and checking legality against that game state. As long as that verification is done server-side, there's no way to cheat.

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Once (adv.): Enough.
Twice (adv.): Once too often.
~Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary

Lucky Luc
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 1215
Registered: 08-19-2012
IP: Logged

Ah, no, I meant cheating in the sense of "I'm gonna outsmart everyone and use an engine to find the best moves, hahaha, no one will ever know." Which, for some reason, appears to be a real problem on chess servers. I guess people just really like maximizing Fake Internet Points.

mrimer
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 5166
Registered: 02-04-2003
IP: Logged

I see what someone did there.

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Gandalf? Yes... That's what they used to call me.
Gandalf the Grey. That was my name.
I am Gandalf the White.
And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.

Lucky Luc
Level: Smitemaster
Rank Points: 1215
Registered: 08-19-2012
IP: Logged

Man, had I known that it was so easy to gain Fake Internet Points, I wouldn't have spent the last few months trying to cheat my way to the top of a chess server and focused on playing DROD instead.

ssmithterrry
Level: Roachling
Rank Points: 13
Registered: 12-16-2021
IP: Logged

I like to play chess and often just play on the computer. Sometimes I even make predictions at https://oddsdigger.com/ca/chess. It's a pity there aren't many chess tournaments going on right now.

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[Last edited by ssmithterrry at 01-26-2022 10:50 AM]