eschac

README.md

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+# eschac
+
+A library for computing chess moves.
+
+## Overview
+
+eschac implements fast legal move generation and a copy-make interface that enforces at compile
+time that no illegal move is played, with no runtime checks and no potential panics.
+
+## Example
+
+```rust
+use eschac::prelude::*;
+
+// read a position from a text record
+let setup = "7k/4P1rp/5Q2/5p2/1Pp1bP2/8/r4K1P/6R1 w - -".parse::<Setup>()?;
+let position = setup.validate()?;
+
+// read a move in algebraic notation
+let san = "Ke1".parse::<San>()?;
+let m = san.to_move(&position)?;
+
+// play the move (note the absence of error handling)
+let position = m.make();
+
+// generate all the legal moves on the new position
+let moves = position.legal_moves();
+for m in moves {
+    // print the UCI notation of each move
+    println!("{}", m.to_uci());
+}
+```
+
+## Comparison with [shakmaty](https://crates.io/crates/shakmaty)
+
+shakmaty is another Rust library for chess processing. It is written by Niklas Fiekas, whose work
+greatly inspired the development of eschac. For most purposes, shakmaty is probably a better
+option, as eschac comes short of its miriad of features.
+
+Both libraries have the same core features:
+- vocabulary to describe the chessboard (squares, pieces, etc.)
+- parsing and editing positions
+- parsing standard move notations
+- fast legal move generation and play
+
+**eschac** distinguishes itself with:
+- a focus on performance
+- a more compact board representation
+- its use of the borrow checker to guarantee only legal moves are played
+
+**shakmaty** will be more suitable for a lot of applications, with:
+- vocabulary to describe and work with games, not just positions
+- insufficient material detection
+- PGN parsing
+- Zobrist hashing
+- Syzygy endgame tablebases
+- chess960 and other variants
+- etc.
+
+## License
+
+eschac is licensed under [AGPL-3.0](./COPYING) (or any later version at your option).