{"id":84,"date":"2025-09-22T22:10:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-22T22:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.chessboardmagic.com\/?p=84"},"modified":"2025-09-28T22:11:43","modified_gmt":"2025-09-28T22:11:43","slug":"building-chess-solitaire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.chessboardmagic.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/22\/building-chess-solitaire\/","title":{"rendered":"Building Chess Solitaire"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Exploring the design, analysis, and results behind my latest chess application<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m always on the lookout for fresh chess application ideas. Over time, I\u2019ve built more than 50 different tools (51 and counting!) and I\u2019ve set myself a symbolic goal of reaching 64 \u2014 one for every square on the board. Recently, someone in the community (shoutout to mattchess<\/strong>) asked if I had ever thought about building a Chess Solitaire<\/strong> game. Honestly, I had no idea what that was at first, but the concept immediately caught my attention once it was explained.
At first, I planned to just add it to my ever-growing backlog of \u201csomeday projects.\u201d But then I found myself with a few free evenings and thought \u2014 why not give it a shot?
In this blog, I\u2019ll walk you through my thought process, from the initial design stage to getting a working version of the game up and running.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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If you just want to see the application: Try Now<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Note:<\/strong> This build is currently live on my test site<\/strong>, not yet on the main site. I like to experiment and gather feedback before rolling features out more broadly. So if you have any feedback, do let me know in the comments or on Discord<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>What is Chess Solitaire?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The idea behind Chess Solitaire<\/strong> is simple but surprisingly powerful. The goal is to replay a real game \u2014 usually from a strong master, a famous clash, or a historic encounter \u2014 and try to guess the moves as if you were the one sitting at the board.
Of course, you could just open up a PGN and click through the moves by yourself. That\u2019s why it\u2019s called \u201csolitaire\u201d \u2014 it\u2019s essentially a solo training exercise. But the twist is that after every move you play, the system gives you immediate feedback. If you chose the same move as the master, it\u2019s marked as a match, and if you went off track, you\u2019ll know right away.
The purpose of the exercise is two-fold. First, it gives you the chance to walk through and reflect on an instructive game, taking the time to understand each decision. Second, it challenges you to see how closely your thought process aligns with that of a grandmaster. In that sense, it becomes both a study tool and a fun test of your chess instincts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Application Design<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When I first sat down to think about how to build Chess Solitaire, my initial question was simple: what components would this actually need?<\/em> At the very least, it would require an interactive chessboard where moves could be played, a PGN card to display the notation, some form of analysis during the game, and finally, a review system once the game ended.
From there, the flow began to take shape. The idea was that you could either load a PGN directly or choose a random game from a built-in collection \u2014 I decided to leverage my archive of every World Championship game for this. Once a game is loaded, you can start playing through it on the board. As you make moves, the PGN card updates in real time, and beneath it, in-game analysis shows how your choices compare to the original moves.
I also wanted to give players some flexibility with the controls. You can set how many attempts you want per move, which changes the difficulty depending on how strict you want the experience to be. You can also choose which side you\u2019re playing \u2014 White, Black, or both \u2014 so the game can adapt to whatever training focus you have in mind.
You can keep going until you reach the end of the game naturally, or hit an \u201cEnd Game\u201d button to jump straight to the review phase. The review itself offers a fuller picture of your performance: which moves you matched, where you went wrong, and whether your alternatives were still reasonable. In some cases, your move might even be an improvement over the grandmaster\u2019s choice \u2014 was it a book move, a hidden resource, or simply stronger according to the engine?
In the end, the workflow I had in mind was deliberately simple. Load a game, play through it as best you can, and then see the outcome laid out clearly in the review. Simple to follow, but rich enough to make the experience both a learning tool and an enjoyable test of skill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Note:<\/strong> Whenever I start a new application, I never jump straight into code. Instead, I begin with pen and paper, sketching out the layout and flow I have in mind. I\u2019ll iterate a few times, refining the look and structure until I\u2019m happy with it. Only then do I translate that design into actual code. This step saves me a lot of rework later and helps me stay clear on what I\u2019m trying to build.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Tech Stack<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For those interested in the nuts and bolts, the Chess Solitaire application is built with a lightweight and straightforward stack:<\/p>\n\n\n\n