A new computer chess GUI

[caddell]

This message board seemed like the most appropriate place on the Internet to share an effort that I’ve been working on for many months… a new standalone chess computer, built on a Raspberry Pi using a touchscreen as an interface. It speaks the UCI protocol meaning many of your favorite engines are available for it.

I really wanted a computer chess device to exist that utilized modern engines, was standalone (so that I didn’t need to use a computer or a phone, and so wasn’t tempted at all to check email, etc while playing), and was easy (required?) to play on a physical board but not necessarily an e-board. I wanted this so I set about to built it. There may be another project that meets the same objectives but I wasn’t aware of one at the time I started.

This project is distributed as free open source so if you want to give it a try you’d be most welcome and encouraged. Keep in mind though that it currently scratches my particular itch, so a feature or a nuance of the GUI might not be what you were expecting (gladly accepting suggestions and pull requests though).

If you’re curious and/or interested, more information can be found at https://caddellchess.github.io/ including photos and links to download/install.

Thanks for reading, I hope I've contributed meaningfully

[Ras]

Cool project!

[Graham Banks]

Looks great!

Roughly how much does it cost to put together?

[caddell]

Cool project!

Thanks Ras.... I hadn't known of your project until I clicked the link in your sig, had I known of it previously I very likely would've stayed there... your CT800 seems to have hit all the checkboxes I was initially aiming for!

[caddell]

Looks great!

Roughly how much does it cost to put together?

Thanks Graham, I appreciate it.

Lessee...
in USD,

• a RPi3B+ is $30 at Adafruit and microcenter

• the display is ~$38 at Amazon (I only checked there right now)

• you'll need an sd card and power supply, <$10 at microcenter

so less than $80 not including any case (I need to focus on a case for the end-user)

[Graham Banks]

Looks great!

Roughly how much does it cost to put together?

Thanks Graham, I appreciate it.

Lessee...
in USD,

• a RPi3B+ is $30 at Adafruit and microcenter

• the display is ~$38 at Amazon (I only checked there right now)

• you'll need an sd card and power supply, <$10 at microcenter

so less than $80 not including any case (I need to focus on a case for the end-user)

Cheap enough for such a nice tool.

[towforce]

Roughly how much does it cost to put together?

On the basis of extensive research using the methodology called "quick web search" , it might be possible to run it on your PC.

Simulator - link.

VM - link.

Another possibility: it might be possible to run an instance of the OS ("Raspberry Pi OS") on a cloud server - not sure.

[Ras]

I hadn't known of your project until I clicked the link in your sig, had I known of it previously I very likely would've stayed there...

There's one big thing that your device can do that the CT800 cannot (because it has no operating system), and that is loading custom UCI engines - among them, funnily, the CT800 engine. A binary for Pi is part of the download, or it can be compiled from source on the Pi, and it runs already on the DGT Pi under Picochess.

[caddell]

Ras, you're absolutely right! It runs the CT800 engine with ease

[KLc]

Fantastic! I was thinking about such a project myself once.