Chess

A Java-based chess game featuring a networked client–server architecture. This project supports standard chess rules—including castling and en passant—and comes with a Swing–based GUI that highlights legal moves and shows whose turn it is.

Overview

This project is a modular chess game implemented in Java. It includes:

• Board and Piece Logic: Object-oriented design with separate classes for each chess piece (Pawn, Rook, Knight, Bishop, Queen, King) and a Board class that validates moves, handles special moves (castling, en passant, and pawn promotion), and tracks game state.
• Graphical User Interface (GUI): A Swing-based interface that displays the board, highlights selected pieces and legal moves, and shows status messages.
• Networked Play: A simple client–server architecture that allows two players to connect from different machines. The server (run via ChessServer) is the authority for the game state, and two clients (run via ChessClient) connect to play.

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Features

• Standard Chess Moves: Validates legal moves for each piece.
• Special Moves: Supports castling, en passant, and pawn promotion (auto-promotes to queen by default).
• Networked Multiplayer: A server accepts two clients, assigning one to White and one to Black.
• GUI Enhancements: The GUI highlights the selected square and legal moves, and updates messages to indicate whose turn it is.
• Modular Design: The code is organized into separate classes for better maintainability and future enhancements.

Requirements

• Java JDK (tested with Java 17+; your setup uses Java 23 OpenJDK)
• Basic command-line tools (or your favorite IDE)

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Getting Started

1. Clone the Repository:

   git clone https://github.com/Sibo523/chess.git
   cd chess

2. Compile the Project:

   javac -d bin src/*.java

This compiles all Java files in src and outputs the class files into the bin directory.

3. Run the Server:

Start the server in one terminal window:

    java -cp bin ChessServer

4. Run the Client(s):

On two separate machines (or two separate terminals on the same machine), run:

java -cp bin ChessClient

Each client will be assigned a color (White or Black) by the server.

Project Structure

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Description of every file

• Board.java: Contains the game logic for move validation, special moves (castling, en passant, promotion), and overall game state.

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• Piece.java & Subclasses: Each piece (Pawn, Rook, Knight, Bishop, Queen, King) implements its own movement logic.
• ChessServer.java: Handles incoming connections, assigns players, validates moves, and broadcasts updates.
• ChessClient.java: Connects to the server and updates the local UI based on server messages.
• NetworkedScreen.java: Provides the GUI for the game, including move highlighting and status messages.

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License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for more details.

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