Immersive 3D medieval chess built with Rust and the Bevy game engine. Experience chess as an epic battlefield with physically-based rendering, atmospheric lighting, and cinematic battle animations when pieces clash!
- PBR Rendering - Physically-based materials with authentic stone and metallic surfaces
- Medieval Atmosphere - Moonlit battlefield with flickering torchlight ambiance
- Distinctive Piece Meshes - Recognizable 3D models including L-shaped knights with horse heads
- Epic Battle Animations - Every 3rd capture triggers a 9-second cinematic battle sequence with swords and shields
- Smooth Visuals - 60 FPS gameplay with anti-aliasing and depth rendering
- Cinematic Captures - Watch pieces come to life every third capture
- 4-Phase Battle Sequence:
- Introduction (6s) - Camera zooms in, warriors face each other
- Approach (1s) - Pieces move into striking distance
- Combat (1s) - Weapons clash with dramatic effects
- Conclusion (1s) - Victor celebrates, defeated piece fades
- Medieval Arsenal - Attackers wield swords, defenders hold shields
- Dynamic Camera - Automatic cinematic angles during battles
- Intuitive Menu System - Choose your color and AI difficulty with visual feedback
- Point-and-Click Controls - Select pieces and moves with mouse ray-casting
- Persistent Visual Feedback - Selected menu buttons stay highlighted (bright yellow/purple/green)
- Dynamic Camera - Right-click drag to rotate, keyboard controls, mouse wheel zoom
- Captured Pieces Display - Defeated pieces line up on the sides of the board
- 10 Difficulty Levels - Configurable challenge from 1 (beginner) to 10 (expert)
- Minimax Algorithm - Strategic thinking with depth-based search (2-3 moves ahead)
- Legal Move Engine - AI makes only valid chess moves
- Turn-Based Play - Proper White/Black alternation with state management
- Fast Response - Optimized AI thinking for smooth gameplay
- All Standard Rules - Castling, en passant, pawn promotion, check/checkmate detection
- Custom Board Layout - King on d-file, Queen on e-file for strategic variation
- Move Validation - Comprehensive legal move generation prevents illegal moves
- Bitflag System - Efficient move encoding with capture/castle/promotion flags
- Algebraic Notation - Full support for standard chess notation (e2-e4, etc.)
# Prerequisites: Rust 1.70+ with cargo
# Install from https://rustup.rs/
# Clone and run
git clone https://github.com/samuelabdelsayed/iron-chess.git
cd iron-chess
cargo run --release
# Development build (faster compile, slower runtime)
cargo run- Main Menu - Press Start Game
- Color Selection - Click White or Black (buttons turn bright yellow/purple when selected)
- Difficulty Selection - Choose AI level 1-10 (button turns bright green when selected)
- Play! - 3D board loads with pieces ready
| Action | Control |
|---|---|
| Select Button | Left Click |
| Confirm Selection | Click highlighted button again |
| Action | Control |
|---|---|
| Select & Move Pieces | Left Click |
| Rotate Camera | Right Click + Drag |
| Zoom In/Out | Mouse Scroll |
| Pan Left/Right | A / D Keys |
| Pan Forward/Back | W / S Keys |
| Pan Up/Down | Q / E Keys |
iron-chess/
├── crates/
│ ├── core-logic/ # Chess engine library
│ │ ├── board.rs # 8x8 board state & castling
│ │ ├── pieces.rs # Color, PieceType, Position
│ │ ├── moves.rs # ChessMove with bitflags
│ │ ├── validation.rs # Legal move generation
│ │ └── lib.rs # GameState, make_move, checkmate
│ └── iron-chess/ # Bevy game binary
│ └── src/main.rs # ECS systems, rendering, UI
├── Cargo.toml # Workspace configuration
└── target/ # Build artifacts (gitignored)
- Language: Rust 2021 Edition
- Game Engine: Bevy 0.14 (ECS architecture)
- Rendering: PBR materials with HDR, MSAA, depth prepass
- Dependencies: rand 0.8, serde, bitflags 2.6, tracing
- Build System: Cargo with workspace structure
- Menu Selection: Buttons stay highlighted after selection - click multiple times to confirm
- Camera Control: Right-click and drag for free rotation, keyboard for fine positioning
- Valid Moves: Game prevents illegal moves - only legal squares are clickable
- Battle Animations: Every 3rd capture triggers an epic cinematic sequence - sit back and enjoy!
- Board Setup: King starts on d-file (4th column), Queen on e-file (5th column)
- Castling: Move pieces first to enable castling - Queen blocks kingside, Knight blocks queenside from start
- Opening Strategy: Adapt to the custom board layout - develop pieces before castling
- Knight Recognition: L-shaped pieces with forward-facing horse heads
- Watch the Sides: Captured pieces are displayed on the left (black) and right (white) sides
- Operating System: macOS, Linux, or Windows
- Rust: 1.70 or newer (install via rustup.rs)
- Graphics: Modern GPU with Vulkan/Metal/DirectX 12 support
- Memory: 4GB RAM minimum
- Display: 1280x720 or higher resolution
# Check for warnings
cargo clippy
# Run tests
cargo test
# Build optimized release
cargo build --release
# Clean build artifacts
cargo clean
# Check compile without building
cargo check- Components:
ChessPiece,BoardSquare,MenuButton,BattleParticipant,BattleAccessory,CapturedPiece - Resources:
ChessGameState,CameraState,BattleCounter,BattleAnimationState,AIDifficulty - States:
MainMenu,ColorSelect,DifficultySelect,PlayerTurn,AIThinking,BattleAnimation,Checkmate - Systems: Event-driven with state-dependent system sets, battle animation choreography
- 8x8 Board Representation with piece tracking
- Custom Board Layout - King on d-file (3), Queen on e-file (4)
- Bitflag Move System for captures, castling, en passant, promotion
- Legal Move Generation with king safety checks
- Castling Logic - Adapted for d-file King position
- Castling Rights Management (kingside/queenside per player)
- En Passant Detection with target square tracking
- Check & Checkmate Detection with comprehensive move validation
- PBR Materials: Metallic pieces (0.9) with varying roughness
- Directional Lighting: Moonlight from above at 45° angle
- Point Lights: Flickering torchlight for atmosphere (4 corners)
- Camera: Perspective projection with orbit controls + cinematic battle angles
- Mesh Generation: Procedural piece meshes with distinctive knight shape
- Battle Effects: Dynamic weapon meshes (swords and shields) for combat sequences
- Animation System: Smooth interpolation for piece movements and battle choreography
Issue: Cargo build fails
- Update Rust:
rustup update - Clean and rebuild:
cargo clean && cargo build
Issue: Menu buttons not responding
- Ensure you're clicking on the button text/background
- Selected buttons change color - click again to proceed
Issue: Camera not rotating
- Hold RIGHT mouse button (not left) while dragging
- Camera only rotates during gameplay, not in menus
Issue: Battle animation seems slow
- This is intentional! Battles are 9-second cinematic sequences
- They only occur every 3rd capture, not on every capture
- Enjoy the medieval spectacle!
Issue: Castling not available
- The custom board layout (King on d-file) blocks castling from the start
- Move your Queen (blocks kingside) or Knight (blocks queenside) first
- Ensure your King and Rooks haven't moved yet
Issue: Graphics artifacts or crashes
- Update graphics drivers
- Check GPU supports Vulkan/Metal/DX12
- Try reducing window size in main.rs
MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.
- ⚔️ Added epic battle animations every 3rd capture
- 🎥 Cinematic camera system for battles
- ⚡ Fixed checkmate detection bug (board state synchronization)
- 🏰 Medieval weapons: swords for attackers, shields for defenders
- 📊 Added debug logging for move generation (can be disabled)
- ♟️ Complete chess engine with all standard rules
- 🎨 3D rendering with PBR materials
- 🤖 10-level AI opponent with minimax algorithm
- 🎮 Interactive menu and gameplay systems
Built with Rust and Bevy to deliver a rich 3D chess experience with medieval aesthetics, smooth gameplay, and epic battle animations that bring the pieces to life!