antichess

Terminal implementation of suicide chess / anti-chess, with an AI.

Overview

antichess is a terminal implementation of suicide chess - also called antichess or losing chess - which is a very fun and deep variation of standard chess. The objective of the game is to lose all pieces. Rules are the same as for standard chess, except:

• Captures are obligatory. If one or more captures are available, the capturing player may choose.
• There is no check, checkmate or castling. Kings are treated as a normal piece which may be captured.
• A player that is stalemated wins.
• There is no fifty-move rule or threefold repetition rule.

The first player to lose all their pieces wins. If a player cannot move on their turn, they win.

Usage

Start a new game as white against the AI, giving it 10 seconds per move thinking time (default is 5):

./antichess.py -t 10

For other command-line options:

./antichess.py -h

Moves are input by specifying the origin and destination squares, e.g.

e2e4

For promotions, specify the desired piece, e.g.

e7e8Q

You can also:

• See valid moves with v
• Undo (retract) with u or r
• Print the board again with b
• Resign with q