Chess / Tic-Tac-Toe Engine — Notes

Functional

• Represent board + pieces.
• Validate moves (legal, in-check rules).
• Detect end states: checkmate/stalemate/draw.
• Optional AI player.
• Networked play.

Patterns

• Strategy (Player AI/Human).
• State (GameStatus).
• Command (Move + undo stack).
• Visitor (per-piece legal moves).

Trade-offs

• Bitboard representation (64-bit) for chess scales to engine performance.
• Per-piece subclass is OO-clean but slower than bitboards.
• Rule engine centralizes special moves (castling, en passant, promotion).

Refs

• "Programming a Chess Engine" classic tutorials; Stockfish source.