Sign-In
Cart
How to Write a Bitboard Chess Engine: How Chess Programs Work
Paperback
Publisher: Independently Published
Published: Jun 22 2020
Pages: 138
Weight: 0.43
Height: 0.32 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
Learn how to build your own fast, modern chess engine using bitboards and clear, easy-to-follow C++ code.
How to Write a Bitboard Chess EngineThere are many reasons why you might be interested in learning how a chess program is written:
- You're learning programming and want to try something different.
- You're a programmer looking to expand your skills and explore a fascinating project.
- You're a chess enthusiast who wants to understand how chess engines think and evaluate.
- You'd like to create your own chess program to play against.
- You're interested in developing an engine to compete in chess tournaments.
You don't need to be an expert programmer to understand this book. The code is written as clearly and simply as possible-designed to be accessible even for intermediate or novice programmers.
If you're not a programmer but love chess, this book will still fascinate you. It offers an inside look at how computers analyse positions and choose moves, deepening your appreciation of the game.
The book includes a fully annotated version of the source code for a complete chess engine. The code is available on GitHub and can be compiled with a freely downloadable compiler. You can study the source, modify it, and see if you can make it stronger. Alternatively, you can simply download the exe file and play against it-the engine is strong enough to beat most social players.
Why Bitboards?Bitboards make a chess engine faster, simpler, and often shorter. Many calculations that normally require loops can be performed in a single statement. Bitboards can be used for move generation, evaluation, and position updating, all with remarkable efficiency.
Topics Covered Include:- How bitboards store piece positions.
- Move and capture generation.
- Detecting blocked lines, passed pawns, and isolated pawns.
- Managing castling permissions and pawn hash tables.
- Using bitwise operations: AND, OR, XOR, NOT, left shift, and right shift.
- Can load and play from any position.
- Compatible with popular chess GUIs such as Arena.
- Extremely fast search speed.
- Displays the best line of play for both sides.
- Detects checkmate, stalemate, 50-move rule, and draw by repetition.
The engine evaluates multiple elements of a position, including:
- Material balance.
- Piece placement and mobility.
- King safety.
- Pawn structure and passed pawns.
Its alpha-beta minimax search incorporates:
- Move ordering and cut-offs.
- History heuristics and hash tables.
- Extensions and reductions.
- Capture and quiescence searches.
And much more...
Related Titles by the Same Author:- The Joy of Chess Programming
- Think Like a Computer
- How to Write a Chess Program
- How to Write a JavaScript Chess Engine
- Advanced Chess Programming
- How to Write a Complex Chess Engine
- How to Write a Simple Chess Neural Network
The author is a FIDE Chess Master and national senior chess champion, as well as an experienced IT trainer who taught programming languages such as C++ for over a decade. His passion for both chess and programming shines through every page.
Also in
Programming
Interactive Theorem Proving and Program Development: Coq'art: The Calculus of Inductive Constructions
Castéran, Pierre
Bertot, Yves
Hardcover
The Legend of Zelda(tm) Tears of the Kingdom - The Complete Official Guide: Collector's Edition
Piggyback
Hardcover
Python Crash Course, 3rd Edition: A Hands-On, Project-Based Introduction to Programming
Matthes, Eric
Paperback
Crisis Engineering: Time-Tested Tools for Turning Chaos Into Clarity
Weaver, Matthew
Dickerson, Mikey
Nitze, Marina
Paperback
Accelerate: The Science of Lean Software and DevOps: Building and Scaling High Performing Technology Organizations
Forsgren Phd, Nicole
Humble, Jez
Kim, Gene
Paperback
Vibe Coding: Building Production-Grade Software with Genai, Chat, Agents, and Beyond
Yegge, Steve
Kim, Gene
Paperback
Embedded Systems with ARM Cortex-M Microcontrollers in Assembly Language and C: Fourth Edition
Zhu, Yifeng
Paperback
The Legend of Zelda(tm) Tears of the Kingdom - The Complete Official Guide: Standard Edition
Piggyback
Paperback
Fundamentals of Software Architecture: A Modern Engineering Approach
Ford, Neal
Richards, Mark
Paperback
I Have an App Idea: The Essential Guide to Building an App Without Tech Skills
Spann, Amanda
Paperback
AI Projects with Raspberry Pi: High-Performance Artificial Intelligence for Robotics, Security, Home Automation, and Vision
Hattersley, Lucy
Jepson, Brian
Paperback
Make: Electronics: Learning by Discovery: A Hands-On Primer for the New Electronics Enthusiast
Platt, Charles
Paperback
The Manager's Path: A Guide for Tech Leaders Navigating Growth and Change
Fournier, Camille
Paperback
The Devops Handbook, 2nd Edition: How to Create World-Class Agility, Reliability, & Security in Technology Organizations
Kim, Gene
Humble, Jez
Debois, Patrick
Paperback
Building Applications with AI Agents: Designing and Implementing Multiagent Systems
Albada, Michael
Paperback
The Developer's Guide to AI: A Field Guide for the Working Developer
Reghunadh, Jerry M.
Thompson, Danny
Orshalick, Jacob
Paperback
Learning Web Design: A Beginner's Guide to Html, Css, Javascript, and Web Images
Robbins, Jennifer
Paperback
The Staff Engineer's Path: A Guide for Individual Contributors Navigating Growth and Change
Reilly, Tanya
Paperback
Cracking the Coding Interview: 189 Programming Questions and Solutions
McDowell, Gayle Laakmann
Paperback
The New AI Cold War: Liberty vs. Tyranny in the Age of Machine Empires
Maginnis, Ltc Robert L.
Paperback
Software Architecture: The Hard Parts: Modern Trade-Off Analyses for Distributed Architectures
Ford, Neal
Richards, Mark
Sadalage, Pramod
Paperback
The Return on AI: From Promise to Profit in the Age of Intelligent Business
Sawhney, Mohanbir
Mittal, Ashwin
Paperback
SQL QuickStart Guide: The Simplified Beginner's Guide to Managing, Analyzing, and Manipulating Data With SQL
Shields, Walter
Hardcover
Observability Engineering: Achieving Production Excellence
Majors, Charity
Fong-Jones, Liz
Miranda, George
Paperback
The Pragmatic Programmer: Your Journey to Mastery, 20th Anniversary Edition
Hunt, Andrew
Thomas, David
Hardcover
Linux Basics for Hackers, 2nd Edition: Getting Started with Networking, Scripting, and Security in Kali
Occupytheweb
Paperback
The Official Raspberry Pi Handbook 2026: Astounding Projects with Raspberry Pi Computers
Makers of Raspberry Pi Official Magazine, The
Paperback
Generative AI Design Patterns: Solutions to Common Challenges When Building Genai Agents and Applications
Lakshmanan, Valliappa
Hapke, Hannes
Paperback
Forecasting: Principles and Practice, the Pythonic Way
Hyndman, Rob J.
Athanasopoulos, George
Paperback
Head First Design Patterns: Building Extensible and Maintainable Object-Oriented Software
Robson, Elisabeth
Freeman, Eric
Paperback
Frictionless: 7 Steps to Remove Barriers, Unlock Value, and Outpace Your Competition in the AI Era
Forsgren, Nicole
Noda, Abi
Paperback
Arduino Programming for Beginners: A Comprehensive Beginner's Guide to Learn the Realms of Arduino Programming from A-Z
Protosmith, Ada
Paperback
Concrete Mathematics: A Foundation for Computer Science
Knuth, Donald
Graham, Ronald
Patashnik, Oren
Hardcover
Building AI-Powered Products: The Essential Guide to AI and Genai Product Management
Nika, Marily
Paperback
Grokking Algorithms, Second Edition: An Illustrated Guide for Programmers and Other Curious People
Bhargava, Aditya Y.
Paperback
Debugging: The 9 Indispensable Rules for Finding Even the Most Elusive Software and Hardware Problems
Agans, David J.
Paperback
Learning Generative AI Tools for Excel: Speed Up Your Everyday Tasks with Microsoft Excel, Copilot, Chatgpt, and Beyond
Duca, Angelica Lo
Paperback
Learning Domain-Driven Design: Aligning Software Architecture and Business Strategy
Khononov, Vlad
Paperback
Site Reliability Engineering: How Google Runs Production Systems
Jones, Chris
Beyer, Betsy
Murphy, Niall Richard
Paperback
The Software Architect Elevator: Redefining the Architect's Role in the Digital Enterprise
Hohpe, Gregor
Paperback
Computer Science from Scratch: Building Interpreters, Art, Emulators and ML in Python
Kopec, David
Paperback
Python Programming for Young Coders: A Hands-On, Project-Based Introduction to Coding for Beginners, Kids, and Teens
Pandey, Anand
Paperback
Learning Php, MySQL & JavaScript: A Step-By-Step Guide to Creating Dynamic Websites
Nixon, Robin
Paperback
Software Engineering at Google: Lessons Learned from Programming Over Time
Wright, Hyrum
Winters, Titus
Manshreck, Tom
Paperback
Prompt Engineering for Llms: The Art and Science of Building Large Language Model-Based Applications
Berryman, John
Ziegler, Albert
Paperback
Articulating Design Decisions: Communicate with Stakeholders, Keep Your Sanity, and Deliver the Best User Experience
Greever, Tom
Paperback
Living a Jewish Life, Revised and Updated: Jewish Traditions, Customs, and Values for Today's Families
Diamant, Anita
Cooper, Howard
Paperback
Pro C# 10 with .Net 6: Foundational Principles and Practices in Programming
Troelsen, Andrew
Japikse, Phil
Paperback
Adobe Photoshop, 2nd Edition: A Complete Course and Compendium of Features
Laskevitch, Stephen
Paperback
Kubernetes in Action, Second Edition: Deploying and Managing Containers and Cloud-Native Applications
Luksa, Marko
Conner, Kevin
Paperback
Spies, Lies, and Algorithms: The History and Future of American Intelligence
Zegart, Amy B.
Paperback
Electronic Music and Sound Design - Theory and Practice with Max 9 - Volume 1 (Fifth Edition)
Maurizio, Giri
Cipriani, Alessandro
Paperback
Ruined by Design: How Designers Destroyed the World, and What We Can Do to Fix It
Monteiro, Mike
Paperback