ChessML Documentation

Welcome to the ChessML documentation! This comprehensive guide covers chess programming concepts, from fundamental board representation to advanced search techniques.

About ChessML

ChessML is a chess engine written in OCaml that demonstrates modern chess programming techniques. Whether you’re new to chess programming or looking to understand specific optimizations, these guides will help you build a strong chess engine.

Learning Path

🎯 Beginner - Build a Basic Engine

Start with the fundamentals:

  1. Bitboards - Represent the board efficiently
  2. Alpha-Beta Pruning - Basic search algorithm
  3. Evaluation Function - Material + piece-square tables

Result: ~1500-1800 Elo engine

🚀 Intermediate - Add Intelligence

Improve your engine’s strength:

  1. Zobrist Hashing - Position keys for caching
  2. Transposition Tables - Cache search results
  3. Move Ordering - Try best moves first 7. Quiescence Search - Tactical stability

Result: ~2000-2200 Elo engine

⚡ Advanced - Optimize Performance

Make your engine competitive:

  1. Magic Bitboards - Fast attack generation
  2. Null Move Pruning - Aggressive search reduction
  3. Late Move Reductions - Search deeper efficiently
  4. Static Exchange Evaluation - Better capture evaluation
  5. Opening Books - Opening knowledge

Result: ~2400+ Elo engine

Documentation Structure

Our documentation is organized into clear categories:

  • Core Concepts - Fundamental board representation and data structures
  • Search Techniques - Algorithms for finding the best move
  • Move Ordering - Optimizing search efficiency
  • Evaluation - Judging chess positions

Each guide includes:

  • Clear explanations of concepts
  • Implementation examples in OCaml
  • Elo impact estimates
  • Common pitfalls and solutions

Ready to build a chess engine? Start with the Chess Programming Guide!

Happy Chess Programming! ♟️