⚡ StrikeChess

A chess app with Stockfish 17.1, 8 themes, 32 time controls, and 3500 openings.

Features

• Play against or analyze with Stockfish 17.1 → bundled engine with automatic CPU optimization
• Real-time analysis → evaluation bar visualization, best move arrows, and live principal variation updates
• PGN support → import and export games in standard notation
• FEN editor → paste or type positions directly, with validation in place
• Move history → navigate with arrow keys, mouse wheel, or click
• Drag-and-drop → smooth piece movement with slide-back animation
• Sound effects → distinct audio output for moves, captures, checks, castling, promotion, and game over
• 8 themes → 4 dark and 4 light theme variants
• 32 time controls → 8 time settings × 4 increment options

Installation

Download the latest stable release for your platform from the Releases page.

Linux users

Extract the downloaded ZIP file, navigate to the extracted directory in your terminal, and run the install.sh script:

cd ~/Downloads/StrikeChess-Linux  # Adjust path if needed
./install.sh

Uninstallation

• Linux: Run the uninstall.sh script from the extracted StrikeChess-Linux directory.
• Windows/macOS: Delete the extracted StrikeChess-Windows or StrikeChess-macOS directory. To also delete personal settings of StrikeChess, delete the .StrikeChess directory from your home directory.

Development

Requirements: Python 3.14+, 2+ GB RAM, 1.5+ GB storage

git clone https://github.com/PedanticHacker/StrikeChess.git
cd StrikeChess
pip install -r requirements.txt
python main.py

Standalone build:

pip install pyinstaller
pyinstaller --clean bundle.spec

Keyboard Shortcuts

macOS: Ctrl → Command ⌘, Alt → Option ⌥

General

Action	Shortcut
Start new game	Ctrl+N
Open settings	F2
Flip board	Ctrl+F
Navigate moves	←/→ or scroll up/down
Load PGN	Ctrl+O
Save PGN	Ctrl+S
Set custom position	Double-click FEN editor to paste from clipboard

Analysis

Action	Shortcut
Start analysis	F3
Stop analysis	F4

Engine

Action	Shortcut
Force engine move	Ctrl+P
Load custom engine	Ctrl+L
Unload engine	Ctrl+U

Themes

Shortcut	Theme
Alt+1	Dark Forest
Alt+2	Dark Mint
Alt+3	Dark Nebula
Alt+4	Dark Ocean
Alt+5	Light Forest
Alt+6	Light Mint
Alt+7	Light Nebula
Alt+8	Light Ocean

Licenses

• StrikeChess: MIT License © 2026 Boštjan Mejak → See LICENSE file
• Stockfish: GPLv3 © 2004-2026 The Stockfish developers → See NOTICE file
• Python dependencies: chess, psutil, py-cpuinfo, PySide6 → See NOTICE file