zig-chess/README.md

zig-chess

A learning-first Zig project for building chess software while continuing the current Vulkan/GLFW rendering work.

Intent

This repository keeps the current rendering bootstrap, but pivots the long-term learning target to chess. The near-term goal is to get the basic rendering path working; after that, chess rules, board representation, UI, and engine/search work become the main Zig learning vehicle.

The assistant should support learning with explanations, references, algorithms, tradeoffs, and review feedback; it should not write implementation code unless explicitly asked.

Initial milestones

1. Finish the minimal Vulkan/GLFW rendering bootstrap.
2. Render a chessboard with simple 2D primitives.
3. Model board coordinates, pieces, moves, turns, castling, en passant, and promotion.
4. Add legal move generation and rule validation.
5. Build an interactive local UI: select pieces, highlight legal moves, update board state.
6. Add chess notation and data helpers: FEN, algebraic notation basics, and PGN later if useful.
7. Explore engine concepts: evaluation, minimax/negamax, alpha-beta pruning, move ordering, and perft tests.
8. Performance work: board representation tradeoffs, allocation behavior, profiling, and benchmarks.

Project-local Pi agents

This repo includes project agents in .pi/agents/ and Pi package settings in .pi/settings.json:

• algorithm-researcher — factual research on chess algorithms, board representation, move generation, search, graphics, and Zig/library behavior.
• optimization-reviewer — performance, memory-layout, profiling, SIMD/bitboard, and Zig-specific optimization review.
• zig-learning-mentor — learning-focused Zig explanations and exercises without writing code for you.

The agents are configured for web-enabled research via pi-web-access tools (web_search, fetch_content, get_search_content) and subagent orchestration via pi-subagents.