Author: Mike Hood
Date: 21:55:36 12/10/04
Go up one level in this thread
On December 09, 2004 at 21:44:25, Eric Oldre wrote: > >Let me take you back to 1999. As a senior business major at >Gustavus Adolphus College, our protagonist has an interest in >playing chess. > >He had only basic computer programming skills, he knew HTML from >making his personal homepage and a little bit of JavaScript. He gets >the idea that it would be neat to make a webpage that he could use as >a chess board. He begins one Sunday night in April. > >First he just makes a table which allows him to move pieces around on it. >First by clicking on the piece you want to move, then on the square you >want to move it to. He has a working chess board. > >Sometime during class the next day he decides that he should make the >board so it will only accept legal moves. That night he writes a move generator >and then adds a feature that if you press a button on the page, it will randomly >choose a move against you. The finished product manages to entertain him for >about half an hour. This game is going to have to make somewhat logical moves he >decides. > >Over the course of the next few days he becomes obsessed with improving the >program. Some reading online taught him the concept of a mini-max function. He >starts skipping class to work on his program. Each day that week he wakes up in >the morning and goes to the computer lab in his dorm, works non-stop though the >day taking a break to grab a small bite to eat only. Each night he tries to go >to bed at around 1-2 AM. He usually wakes up with a new idea in his head that he >needs to try, and it certainly can't wait until morning. He returns to the lab >to work for a few more hours. > >His roommates and girlfriend plead with him to start going to class again but he >can think of nothing else but the chess game. They tell him that if he doesn't >return to class soon his grades will tumble and he'll have trouble finding a job >when he graduates in a few months. He doesn't care, the program must be >finished. > >A friend of his helps him come up with better graphics to use for his pieces and >his board. Replacing the simple letters (PKQNRB) that he created in MS paint. > >The following Tuesday he declares his work finished. It was a week and 2 days of >non-stop work on the chess game, which he decides to name "JChess". > >A few months later he graduates and decides that instead of utilizing his >business degree, he wants to become a programmer. Finding a job is difficult >with no degree and no real experience in programming to speak of. At the bottom >of his resume is a link to a chess game he created. Interview after interview >passes without an offer. He spends his days studying trying to learn the skills >he knows he'll need in the "real world". > >One day he gets a call on his phone. It's the hiring manager of a company he had >an interview with 2 days before. Certainly nice of him to call me and give me >the "thanks but no thanks" talk he thinks. After all he could tell the guy was >less than inspired by his qualifications during the interview. The deeply in >need of money graduate is stunned to find he is being offered a job! A senior >programmer at the company had followed the link to the chess game at the bottom >of the resume and decided that if he could write “JChess” with no training, he >had enough potential to be worth the gamble. The game which his friends had >warned him could cost him his future had actually turned out to be the primary >reason he found a job! > >THE END > >I've now decided that I should put up that page so that you can take a peek if >you like: > >http://www.oldre.com/jchess/ > >Now remember, this thread is about the "Most Grotesque Chess Engine Ever >Written" so don't expect too much skill from the computer (or good code). The >fun part is since it's written in JavaScript you can view the source. > >I hope that some of you might get a kick out of it. Nice graphics. I played a game against the program, and I was winning easily, but I gave up when he made an illegal move (castling to get out of check). Apart from that, it's a cute little program :)
This page took 0 seconds to execute
Last modified: Thu, 15 Apr 21 08:11:13 -0700
Current Computer Chess Club Forums at Talkchess. This site by Sean Mintz.