binding/python_c_ffi.py

@@ -28,6 +28,9 @@ FILES = {c:i for i,c in enumerate("abcdefgh")}
 WHITE, BLACK, BOTH = 0, 1, 2
 P, N, B, R, Q, K, p, n, b, r, q, k = range(12)
 
+PIECE_CH = ('P','N','B','R','Q','K','p','n','b','r','q','k')
+FILES_STR = "a b c d e f g h"
+
 
 """
     Register C function bindings and interfaces in a dictionary.
@@ -58,6 +61,9 @@ FFI_SPEC = {
     "perft": ((C.POINTER(Board), C.c_int), C.c_uint64),
     "load_fen": ((C.POINTER(Board), C.c_char_p), C.c_int),
     "gen_pseudo_moves": ((C.POINTER(Board), C.POINTER(Move), C.c_bool), C.c_int),
+    "apply_move_on_copy": ((C.POINTER(Board), C.POINTER(Board), Move), C.c_bool),
+    # AI Methods
+    "ai_find_best_move_with_window": ((C.POINTER(Board), C.c_int, C.c_int, C.POINTER(Move)), C.c_int)
 }
 
 
@@ -82,6 +88,28 @@ def draw_bb(mask, origin=None):
     print(lines, "\n")
 
 
+def print_board(board):
+    """
+    Prints the current position using piece letters from board.pieces.
+    highlight_sq: optional 0..63 square index to mark with 'O'.
+    """
+    def piece_at(sq: int) -> str:
+        for i, ch in enumerate(PIECE_CH):
+            if (int(board.pieces[i]) >> sq) & 1:
+                return ch
+        return '.'
+
+    lines = []
+    for r in range(7, -1, -1):
+        row = []
+        for f in range(8):
+            sq = r * 8 + f
+            row.append(piece_at(sq))
+        lines.append(f"{r+1} " + " ".join(row))
+    lines.append("  " + FILES_STR)
+    print("\n" + "\n".join(lines) + "\n")
+
+
 def sq_to_coord(sq):
     return chr(ord('a') + (sq % 8)) + chr(ord('1') + (sq // 8))
 
@@ -131,6 +159,10 @@ class ChessFFI:
         return buf, n
 
 
+    def apply_move_on_copy(self, board, out_board, move):
+        return bool(self._c_apply_move_on_copy(C.byref(board), C.byref(out_board), move))
+
+
     def get_legal_moves(self, board, out):
         return self._c_get_legal_moves(board, out)
 

engine/include/ai.h

@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+#include "bitboard.h"
+
+int ai_find_best_move_with_window(struct Board *b, int depth, int window_cp, struct Move *best_out);
+int ai_play(struct Board *b, int depth);

engine/src/ai/negamax.c

@@ -0,0 +1,123 @@
+#include <stdlib.h>
+#include <time.h>
+#include <limits.h>
+#include "ai.h"
+#include "bitboard.h"
+
+#define INF 30000
+#define MATE 29000
+
+// P N B R Q K
+int VAL[6] = {100, 300, 300, 500, 900, 0};
+
+int popcount64(uint64_t bits) {
+    int count = 0;
+    while (bits) {
+        // clear lowest set bit.
+        bits &= (bits - 1);
+        ++count;
+    }
+    return count;
+}
+
+static int eval(struct Board *board) {
+    // White minus Black material (centipawns)
+    // Ignore the King's material.
+    int score = 0;
+    score += VAL[0] * (popcount64(board->pieces[P]) - popcount64(board->pieces[p]));
+    score += VAL[1] * (popcount64(board->pieces[N]) - popcount64(board->pieces[n]));
+    score += VAL[2] * (popcount64(board->pieces[B]) - popcount64(board->pieces[b]));
+    score += VAL[3] * (popcount64(board->pieces[R]) - popcount64(board->pieces[r]));
+    score += VAL[4] * (popcount64(board->pieces[Q]) - popcount64(board->pieces[q]));
+
+    // Negamax convention: score from side-to-move POV
+    return (board->side_to_move == WHITE) ? score : -score;
+}
+
+static int search(struct Board *b, int depth, int alpha, int beta, int ply) {
+    if (depth == 0) return eval(b);
+
+    struct Move moves[256];
+    int n = get_legal_moves((struct Board*)b, moves);
+
+    if (n == 0) {
+        // terminal: checkmate or stalemate
+        // prefer quicker mates
+        if (in_check(b, b->side_to_move)) {
+            return -MATE + ply;
+        }
+        // Stalemate
+        return 0;
+    }
+
+    int best = -INF;
+    for (int i = 0; i < n; ++i) {
+        struct Board after;
+        if (!apply_move_on_copy((struct Board*)b, &after, moves[i])) continue;
+
+        int score = -search(&after, depth - 1, -beta, -alpha, ply + 1);
+        if (score > best) best = score;
+        if (score > alpha) alpha = score;
+        if (alpha >= beta) break; // cutoff
+    }
+    return best;
+}
+
+int rand_uniform(int upper_bound) {
+    if (upper_bound <= 0) return 0;
+    // Rejection sampling to reduce modulo bias
+    int limit = RAND_MAX - (RAND_MAX % upper_bound);
+    int r;
+    do { r = rand(); } while (r > limit);
+    return r % upper_bound;
+}
+
+int ai_find_best_move_with_window(struct Board *board, int depth, int window_cp, struct Move *best_out) {
+    enum { MAX_MOVES = 256 };
+    struct Move moves[MAX_MOVES];
+    int n = get_legal_moves(board, moves);
+    if (n <= 0) return 0;
+
+    int scores[MAX_MOVES];
+    int best = -INF;
+
+    for (int i = 0; i < n; ++i) {
+        struct Board after;
+        if (!apply_move_on_copy(board, &after, moves[i])) return 0;
+
+        // Root child: depth-1; alpha=-INF, beta=+INF; ply starts at 1
+        int s = -search(&after, depth - 1, -INF, INF, 1);
+        scores[i] = s;
+        if (s > best) best = s;
+    }
+
+    // collect candidates within window
+    int cand_idx[MAX_MOVES], cand_n = 0;
+    for (int i = 0; i < n; ++i)
+        if (scores[i] >= best - window_cp)
+            cand_idx[cand_n++] = i;
+
+    // fallback if window excludes all
+    if (cand_n == 0) {
+        int best_i = 0;
+        for (int i = 1; i < n; ++i)
+            if (scores[i] > scores[best_i]) best_i = i;
+        *best_out = moves[best_i];
+        return 1;
+    }
+
+    // Select a random candidate to prevent deterministic results.
+    // I found that games were coming out with the same result each
+    // time when the AI played itself.
+    int pick = cand_idx[rand_uniform(cand_n)];
+    *best_out = moves[pick];
+    return 1;
+}
+
+int ai_play(struct Board *b, int depth) {
+    struct Move m;
+    struct Board after;
+    if (!apply_move_on_copy(b, &after, m)) return 0;
+    *b = after;
+    return 1;
+}

makefile

@@ -2,46 +2,64 @@ CC       := gcc
 CFLAGS   := -O3 -fPIC -Wall -Wextra
 LDFLAGS  := -shared
 
-SRCDIR   := engine/src
-INCDIR   := engine/include
+# ---- paths ----
+SRCDIRS  := engine/src engine/src/ai
+INCDIRS  := engine/include
 BUILDDIR := build
 LIBNAME  := libchess
-
-# Exclude test.c from the shared lib build
-SRC := $(filter-out $(SRCDIR)/test.c,$(wildcard $(SRCDIR)/*.c))
-OBJ := $(patsubst $(SRCDIR)/%.c,$(BUILDDIR)/%.o,$(SRC))
 LIB      := $(BUILDDIR)/$(LIBNAME).so
 
+# ---- sources/objects ----
+EXCLUDE  := engine/src/test.c
+SRCS     := $(foreach d,$(SRCDIRS),$(wildcard $(d)/*.c))
+SRCS     := $(filter-out $(EXCLUDE),$(SRCS))
+OBJS     := $(patsubst %.c,$(BUILDDIR)/%.o,$(SRCS))
+
+# ---- includes ----
+INCLUDES := $(addprefix -I,$(INCDIRS))
+
 # ---- test executable (engine/src/test.c) ----
-TESTSRC := $(SRCDIR)/test.c
-TESTOBJ := $(BUILDDIR)/test.o
+TESTSRC  := engine/src/test.c
+TESTOBJ  := $(BUILDDIR)/engine/src/test.o
 TESTBIN  := $(BUILDDIR)/print_board
 
-.PHONY: all clean test test-exe run-c-test
+# ---- runner (python) ----
+PYTHON     := python3
+RUN_SCRIPT := scripts/simulation.py
+ARGS       ?=
+
+.PHONY: all clean test test-exe run-c-test run-engine
 
 all: $(LIB)
 
-$(BUILDDIR):
-	@mkdir -p $(BUILDDIR)
+# generic object rule: build/<path>/file.o from <path>/file.c
+$(BUILDDIR)/%.o: %.c
+	@mkdir -p $(dir $@)
+	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(INCLUDES) -c $< -o $@
 
-$(BUILDDIR)/%.o: $(SRCDIR)/%.c | $(BUILDDIR)
-	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -I$(INCDIR) -c $< -o $@
-
-$(LIB): $(OBJ) | $(BUILDDIR)
+$(LIB): $(OBJS)
+	@mkdir -p $(dir $@)
 	$(CC) $(LDFLAGS) -o $@ $^
 
 # ---- test exe rules ----
 test-exe: $(TESTBIN)
 
-$(TESTOBJ): $(TESTSRC) | $(BUILDDIR)
-	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -I$(INCDIR) -c $< -o $@
+$(TESTOBJ): $(TESTSRC)
+	@mkdir -p $(dir $@)
+	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(INCLUDES) -c $< -o $@
 
-$(TESTBIN): $(TESTOBJ) $(LIB) | $(BUILDDIR)
+$(TESTBIN): $(TESTOBJ) $(LIB)
 	$(CC) -O2 -o $@ $(TESTOBJ) -L$(BUILDDIR) -lchess -Wl,-rpath,'$$ORIGIN'
 
 run-c-test: $(TESTBIN)
 	LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$(BUILDDIR) $(TESTBIN) $(FEN)
 
+# ---- run engine (Python) ----
+# Usage: make run-engine ARGS="--fen '...' --depth 5"
+run-engine: $(LIB)
+	@echo "Running engine via $(RUN_SCRIPT)"
+	LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$(BUILDDIR) $(PYTHON) $(RUN_SCRIPT) $(ARGS)
+
 clean:
 	@echo "Cleaning build and Python caches..."
 	@rm -rf $(BUILDDIR)

scripts/evaluation.py

@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+import random
+import ctypes as C
+from binding.python_c_ffi import ChessFFI
+from binding.python_c_ffi import Move
+
+
+class BaseEvaluation:
+    def __init__(self, chess_ffi=None):
+        if chess_ffi is None:
+            chess_ffi = ChessFFI()
+        self.chess_ffi = chess_ffi
+
+
+    def get_best_move(self, board, legal_moves):
+        pass
+
+
+"""
+    We will use a random move evaluation as our base AI. This
+    is expected to be the worst performing strategy. We can
+    play our other AI evaluation methods against this one to
+    confirm if our other strategies are at least better than
+    a simplistic approach.
+"""
+class RandomEval(BaseEvaluation):
+    def __init__(self, chess_ffi=None):
+        super().__init__(chess_ffi)
+
+
+    def get_best_move(self, board, legal_moves):
+        return random.choice(legal_moves)
+
+
+class NegaMaxEval(BaseEvaluation):
+    def __init__(self, depth=6, cp_window=20, chess_ffi=None):
+        super().__init__(chess_ffi)
+        self.depth = depth
+        self.window = cp_window
+
+
+    def _same(self, a, b):
+        return (int(getattr(a, "from")) == int(getattr(b, "from"))
+                and int(a.to) == int(b.to)
+                and int(getattr(a, "promo", 0) or 0) == int(getattr(b, "promo", 0) or 0))
+
+    def get_best_move(self, board, legal_moves):
+        if not legal_moves:
+            raise RuntimeError("No legal moves")
+
+        best = Move()
+        ok = self.chess_ffi._c_ai_find_best_move_with_window(
+            board,
+            self.depth,
+            self.window,
+            best
+        )
+
+        if ok:
+            for m in legal_moves:
+                if self._same(m, best):
+                    return m
+        return legal_moves[0]

scripts/simulation.py

@@ -0,0 +1,149 @@
+from binding.python_c_ffi import Board
+from binding.python_c_ffi import Move
+from binding.python_c_ffi import ChessFFI
+from binding.python_c_ffi import WHITE
+from binding.python_c_ffi import print_board
+from binding.python_c_ffi import sq_to_coord
+from scripts.evaluation import RandomEval
+from scripts.evaluation import NegaMaxEval
+
+
+YMD_HM = "%Y-%m-%d-%H-%M"
+MAX_MOVES = 256
+DATA_PATH = "./data"
+
+
+class Engine:
+    def __init__(self, strat_white=None, strat_black=None, max_plys=500):
+        self.chess_ffi = ChessFFI()
+        self.board = Board()
+        self.max_plys = max_plys
+        self.moves = []
+        self._load_attack_cache()
+        self._seed_engine()
+
+        random_strat = RandomEval(chess_ffi=self.chess_ffi)
+        nega_strat = NegaMaxEval(chess_ffi=self.chess_ffi, depth=2, cp_window=30)
+        if not strat_white:
+            self.strat_white = random_strat
+        else:
+            self.strat_white = strat_white
+
+        if not strat_black:
+            self.strat_black = random_strat
+        else:
+            self.strat_black = strat_black
+
+
+    def run(self, fen):
+        self.chess_ffi.load_fen(self.board, fen)
+        self._clear_moves()
+        plys = 0
+
+        while plys <= self.max_plys:
+            print_board(self.board)
+
+            moves_buf = (Move * MAX_MOVES)()
+            n_legal = self.chess_ffi.get_legal_moves(self.board, moves_buf)
+
+            game_over, ending = self._is_game_over(n_legal)
+            if game_over:
+                print(ending)
+                break
+
+            legal = [moves_buf[i] for i in range(n_legal)]
+            if self.board.side_to_move == WHITE:
+                best_move = self.strat_white.get_best_move(self.board, legal)
+            else:
+                best_move = self.strat_black.get_best_move(self.board, legal)
+
+
+            new_board = Board()
+            if not self.chess_ffi.apply_move_on_copy(self.board, new_board, best_move):
+                print("ERROR: apply_move_on_copy failed")
+                break
+
+            self.board = new_board
+            plys += 1
+
+            move = self.to_uci(best_move)
+            self.moves.append(move)
+
+            if self.board.halfmove_clock >= 100:
+                print("draw (50-move rule)")
+                break
+
+        for move in self.moves:
+            # print(move)
+            pass
+
+
+        print("done")
+        print(f"winner: {self.side_tag(not self.board.side_to_move)}")
+        print(len(self.moves))
+
+
+    def side_tag(self, side):
+        return 'w' if side == WHITE else 'b'
+
+
+    def load_fen(self, fen):
+        self.chess_ffi.load_fen(self.board, fen)
+
+    
+    def _clear_moves(self):
+        self.moves = []
+
+
+    def to_uci(self, move):
+        fr = sq_to_coord(getattr(move, "from"))
+        to = sq_to_coord(move.to)
+        promo = getattr(move, "promo", 0) or ""
+        
+        if promo:
+            MAP = {
+                1:"n",
+                2:"b",
+                3:"r",
+                4:"q",
+                "n":"n",
+                "b":"b",
+                "r":"r",
+                "q":"q"
+            }
+            promo = MAP.get(promo, "").lower()
+        return f"{fr}{to}{promo}"
+
+
+    def _load_attack_cache(self):
+        self.chess_ffi.init_attack_cache()
+
+
+    def _seed_engine(self):
+        import ctypes as C, time
+
+        seed = time.time_ns()
+        s32 = int(seed) & 0xFFFFFFFF
+
+        libc = C.CDLL("libc.so.6")   # on Ubuntu
+        libc.srand.argtypes = (C.c_uint,)
+        libc.srand.restype  = None
+        libc.srand(C.c_uint(s32))
+        return s32
+
+
+    def _is_game_over(self, legal_moves):
+        if legal_moves == 0:
+            if self.chess_ffi.in_check(self.board, self.board.side_to_move):
+                ending = "checkmate"
+            else:
+                ending = "stalemate"
+            return True, ending
+        return False, None
+    
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    engine = Engine()
+
+    fen = "rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1"
+    engine.run(fen)