Chessboard Magic: January 2025 Update

Hello Chess Lovers, As we inch closer to 2025, I’m more excited than ever about the future of Chessboard Magic. I’ve been working hard to bring you fresh content, and I’m thrilled to share some new ideas that will be coming your way soon.

I have committed to spending around 40 hours each month on programming, which will allow me to add even more exciting features to the site. But as always, your feedback will guide me on this journey. You’ve all been amazing with your suggestions, and I hope to keep delivering updates that enhance your chess experience.
I’m also excited to announce that I’ve created a Discord server for all of you to join! Whether you want to share game ideas, report bugs, or get early access to new features, or just chat, I would love to connect with you directly.
Join us here: Chessboard Magic Discord
Visit chessboardmagic.com

Updates

This past year has been full of exciting changes and improvements on Chessboard Magic. I’ve been hard at work creating new games, updating existing ones, and adding useful tools that make the platform more robust and fun for all chess lovers. In this update, you’ll find a mix of new features, game improvements, and behind-the-scenes optimizations that will make the site even more enjoyable.

• (New Game) Where Are My Pieces? This new game takes a position from a world championship match, but with a twist: the pieces are hidden! Your challenge is to guess where the pieces should be, testing your understanding of positions and piece placement. It’s a fun way to sharpen your skills and train your brain to visualize complex positions.
• (New Game) Chess Cryptogram Test your problem-solving skills and chess knowledge by cracking the code in this cryptographic chess puzzle game. Decrypt a variety of chess terms, famous engines, and legendary players. Perfect for those who enjoy both chess and cryptography.
• (New Game) Decrypt Chess Challenge yourself by solving the substitution cipher to reveal a hidden chess term and its description. This puzzle is perfect for chess lovers and puzzle enthusiasts who enjoy a good brain teaser!
• (New Game) Rotating Image Puzzle A variation of the Image Puzzle game, where an image is split into pieces, and instead of moving the pieces, you rotate them. Once solved, you’ll reveal a bio of a famous chess player. It’s a different type of challenge that offers something fun for those who enjoy puzzles.
• (New Tool) Hidden Chess Engage in a challenging match against a powerful chess engine, where you have the unique option to conceal some or all of the pieces on the board. This game mode is specifically designed to enhance your mental chessboard visualization skills and sharpen your ability to remember positions, improving both strategic thinking and cognitive abilities.
• (New Tool) Tablebase I’ve released a draft version of a Tablebase tool. For those unfamiliar, a Tablebase allows you to analyze endgames by placing up to 7 pieces on the board and see what the optimal outcome is based on perfect play. It’s a useful resource for anyone looking to improve their understanding of endgame strategies. This is still a work in progress, and I’d love your feedback on how it can be improved over time. This is powered by Lichess APIs. Thank you Lichess!!!
• (Update) Hand and Brain You can now start the Hand and Brain game from any specific board position. This gives you more flexibility and allows for more creative gameplay. This was a highly requested feature, and I’m happy to bring it to you! I have also fixed some bugs in the game play, so hopefully it will be more useful for your learning.
• (Update) Guess Who When you make a wrong guess, the buttons are disabled to improve usability and streamline gameplay. I have also added a difficulty level to make things more challenging.
• Additional Languages – I have incorporated three more languages into the platform: Hebrew, Japanese, and Korean.
• Performance Optimization – With the growing number of players (averaging around 200 users per day), I’ve worked on optimizing performance and upgrading the backend infrastructure to handle the increased traffic. This means a smoother, faster experience for everyone!
• Bug Fixes & Usability Improvements – Of course, no update would be complete without several bug fixes and improvements to make the site more enjoyable and user-friendly. Thank you to everyone who reported issues—I couldn’t have done it without your help!
• Dark Mode Default – I have set the default theme to Dark Mode. You can always flip back, but do let me know what you think?
• Auto Start – All games now begin automatically as soon as the page loads. You can jump right in without needing to click “Play”.

Programming Statistics

I have to admit, I hadn’t really thought about the sheer size of the Chessboard Magic codebase until I recently took a look—it was a bit of a shock! Currently, the project consists of a whopping 139,662 lines of code! Here’s how it breaks down:

• Prepared Data (games, positions, evaluations, glossary, quotes): 85,474 lines
• Language Data: 17,983 lines
• Application Code: 36,205 lines

On top of that, we are leveraging 81 different open-source packages—and I couldn’t have built this without them. I’m also storing 470 images, which amount to about 25MB of total space.
For fun, here are the Top 5 applications in terms of lines of code:

1. User Scout – 3,123 lines
2. Opponent Prep – 2,974 lines
3. Gif Generator – 1,021 lines
4. Where Are My Pieces? – 904 lines
5. Chess Slide – 811 lines

I know, right? I didn’t expect it to add up like this, but here we are!

Coming Soon

I’m working on more arcade-like games, including a Chess variant of Candy Crush, Flappy Birds, and a Endless Racer Game. These are by far the most ambitious projects yet—much harder to program, but what is life without a little challenge? (Also, I’m still learning the trade as I go—I’m not a full-time web developer!)
I’m excited to share that I’m currently working on enhancements to both User Scout and Opponent Prep. Soon, these tools will seamlessly connect to Chess.com, allowing you to easily access and analyze your opponents’ profiles for even deeper insights before your next match.
Lastly, I’m also exploring ways to enhance user profiles, potentially introducing experience points, achievements, and even leaderboards. These ideas are still in the early stages, and I’m experimenting to find the best approaches that make the platform more engaging, rewarding, and fun for everyone.
Feel free to discuss ideas with me on the Discord Server

Full Catalogue of Chessboard Magic

Here’s the latest lineup of everything available on Chessboard Magic—now boasting 34 unique items! That’s right, 34! My ultimate goal is to reach 64 (seems like the perfect number), so I’ll keep pushing forward to make it happen.
Games (16):

• (New) Chess Cryptogram Match symbols to letters and uncover hidden chess-related words—ranging from chess terms to engine names and famous players. Test your code-breaking skills in a puzzle that merges cryptography with chess culture.
• (New) Decrypt Chess Solve a substitution cipher to restore a hidden chess-related phrase and description—be it a key term, a legendary player’s name, or a famous engine’s identity.
• (New) Where Are My Pieces? Identify and recreate the exact placement of pieces from a classic chess game, honing your positional awareness and memory.
• (New) Rotating Image Puzzle Rotate scattered fragments until they form the likeness of a renowned chess player, honing your pattern recognition and focus.
• Chess Anagrams Rearrange scrambled letters to form chess-related words—players, openings, concepts—expanding your chess vocabulary with every solved puzzle.
• Chess Slide Slide tiles around to recreate a chess-themed image. This classic puzzle format merges visual recognition with logical thinking.
• Chess Crossword Fill in crossword clues all centered around chess terminology, events, and personalities, improving your grasp of the game’s language.
• Chess Hangman Guess letters to reveal the secret chess term before time runs out. It’s a light-hearted way to strengthen your chess lexicon.
• Chess Wordsearch Find hidden chess words scattered across a letter grid. Build your familiarity with the sport’s glossary as you hunt for terms.
• Guess the Elo Study a brief game snippet and try to estimate the players’ rating levels. Enhance your ability to recognize playing strength and style.
• Guess the Eval Predict the computer’s evaluation of a given position. Develop an intuition for material balance, positional elements, and tactical potential.
• Guess the Move Given a historical position, choose the best next move. Learn from the masters and improve your decision-making at the board.
• Guess the Opening Identify the name of an opening from its initial moves. Refine your opening repertoire and knowledge of classic setups.
• Guess Who Test your chess knowledge and trivia skills by identifying the player featured in a single image.
• Image Puzzle Rearrange scrambled fragments of a chess-themed image, piece by piece, until you form a complete picture—just like assembling a jigsaw puzzle.
• Play The Opening Given the name of a known chess opening, try to accurately play through its main line from memory, strengthening your opening knowledge and retention.

Analytics (2):

• User Scout Review any Lichess profile to analyze their game history, style, and key statistics, gaining valuable insights into their performance.
• Opponent Prep Compare two Lichess profiles side-by-side, pinpointing strengths, weaknesses, and patterns to inform your match preparation.

Learn (4):

• (New) Hidden Chess Face an engine opponent with your pieces concealed from view. Rely on memory, logic, and intuition to navigate the board.
• Hand and Brain Face an engine while being guided on which piece to move, but the ultimate decision is yours—improve strategic thinking as you blend machine hints with human intuition.
• Notation Trainer Play through a legendary game move by move, naming each move in standard chess notation to enhance your reading and recording skills.
• Resources Access a curated hub of educational materials—articles, lessons, and guides—to systematically improve all aspects of your game.

Library (7):

• Classic Games Explore legendary encounters that shaped chess history. Draw inspiration and lessons from the brilliance of the past.
• Miniature Games Examine brief, explosive games rich in tactics, perfect for understanding quick wins and common pitfalls.
• World Championships Relive epic matches that crowned champions, studying their strategies, critical moments, and evolving styles.
• Chess Glossary Look up definitions and explanations of key chess terms to solidify your understanding of the game’s language.
• Chess Quotes Enjoy insightful, motivational, and humorous quotes from great players and personalities, adding color to your chess experience.
• Basic Rules of Play A fast-track guide to the fundamental rules and piece movements—perfect for beginners wanting to learn quickly.
• Competitive Rules of Play Learn the formal regulations governing tournaments, time controls, and fair play standards, preparing for professional-level events.

Tools (5):

• (New) Tablebase Instantly find perfect moves in simplified endgame positions.
• Fischer Random Generator Generate fresh starting positions for Fischer Random Chess.
• Gif Generator Turn moves into animated chess GIFs for easy sharing.
• Opening Explorer Explore various Openings
• PGN Viewer Upload and review game files with a clean, interactive interface.

Thank You

I just want to take a moment to say thank you from the bottom of my heart. Since our launch on May 27, 2024, we’ve come so far together, and this is only our sixth release. I’m incredibly grateful for all of your support, suggestions, and feedback—it has truly helped shape Chessboard Magic into what it is today.
I also want to give a special thank you to my very first Patreon supporter, Alexander Riddick, every little helps, and to Sayed Hajaj for being a great sounding board for my random ideas, and NM Itay Sitbon for giving me a lot of feedback.
Every time you share the site with a friend or leave a comment, it means the world to me. I’m committed to making Chessboard Magic even better, and I’m excited about what’s to come. Stay tuned for more updates, and as always, happy chess playing!

Warm regards,
Toan Hoang (@HollowLeaf)
Creator of Chessboard Magic