ChessPilot v2.1.0

ChessPilot v2.1.0

🚀 Overview

ChessPilot v2.x introduced the biggest UI and engine upgrade to the project — with Qt6, dynamic engine controls, multi-input movement, and major stability fixes.
This new v2.1.0 update continues that work by polishing gameplay precision, adding full promotion support, and improving cross-platform reliability.

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🆕 What’s New in v2.1.0

♟️ Full Pawn Promotion Support

• Promotion now works flawlessly in all legal scenarios.
• Auto-handles promotions without breaking flow.
• Works for both Drag and Click movement modes.

🔧 Engine Stability & Consistency

• More predictable search timing.
• Improved long-session reliability.
• Smoother responses during deep calculations.

🌐 Better Cross-Platform Behavior

• Windows PyInstaller builds run with fewer background popups.
• Linux builds handle resources and paths more reliably.
• Lower chance of missing configuration files on first launch.

🛠 Minor Enhancements

• Cleaner logging and reduced noise.
• Slightly faster UI refresh during engine evaluation.
• Small codebase cleanup and micro-optimizations.

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📚 Major Features from the 2.x Series

v2.0.0 — The Big Update

✨ Full Migration to Qt6 (PyQt6)

• Replaced old Tkinter UI with a modern, faster, smoother Qt6 interface.
• Better rendering, scaling, and layout responsiveness on all OSes.

🎚️ Dynamic Depth Control

• Adjust Stockfish/engine depth live, mid-game.
• Instantly tune difficulty without restarting a match.

⌨️ “Keys” Shortcut Menu

• Dedicated shortcut panel listing all hotkeys.
• Cleaner workflow and faster gameplay navigation.

🖱️ Dual Movement Input

• Drag & Drop
• Click-to-Move
  Users can switch naturally between both.

⚙️ Engine Improvements

• Faster move generation.
• Smarter search pruning.
• Better handling of repeated positions.

🐞 Stability Overhaul

• Fixed old Tkinter freezing issues.
• Fixed engine crash loops.
• Improved config saving, logging, and error recovery.

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v2.0.1 — Patch & Polish Update

• Fixed crash when rapidly adjusting Depth Slider.
• Fixed missing config file on first launch (Linux).
• Fixed alignment issues in the “Keys” window.
• Improved startup speed (Windows).
• Cleaner error handling and tidier logs.

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✅ Summary

v2.1.0 continues the spirit of the 2.x line: stability, precision, and smooth gameplay — now with complete and reliable pawn promotion.

ChessPilot v2.0.1

ChessPilot v2.0.1

🚀 Overview

This release builds upon the major v2.0.0 update — bringing refined stability, smoother performance, and minor interface polish following user feedback.

ChessPilot continues to offer a modern Qt6-powered interface, dynamic engine control, and a flexible input system for an improved chess experience on both Linux and Windows.

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🩹 What’s New in v2.0.1 (Patch Update)

• Fixed: Occasional crash when adjusting the Depth Slider rapidly.
• Fixed: Missing configuration file issue on first-time launch (Linux).
• Fixed: Minor misalignment in the Keys (shortcut) menu.
• Improved: Startup time and memory footprint, especially on Windows.
• Improved: Logging and error messages for better debugging.

💬 No new features — this update focuses purely on polish, reliability, and performance.

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🧩 Key Features from v2.0.0

• Replaced Tkinter with Qt6 (PyQt6)
  A full UI migration to Qt6, offering faster performance, smoother rendering, and a modern design on all platforms.

• Dynamic Depth Control
  Adjust the engine’s search depth mid-game using the new Depth Slider — instantly tune AI difficulty.

• Shortcut Menu ("Keys")
  A dedicated Keys button provides a full list of keyboard shortcuts and controls for faster play.

• Dual Input Mode: Drag or Click
  Move pieces using drag-and-drop or simple click-to-select — whichever feels more natural.

• Improved Engine Performance
  Optimized move generation and search algorithms for faster, smarter engine responses.

• Bug Fixes & Stability Enhancements (2.0.0)

  • Fixed UI freezes from earlier Tkinter builds.
  • Resolved engine crash on repeated positions.
  • Improved window scaling and layout responsiveness.
  • Enhanced configuration saving and logging.

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💡 Additional Improvements

• Polished color scheme and UI layout for better readability.
• Optimized packaging for Linux and Windows distributions.
• Clearer debug logs and user-facing error messages.

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Builds Included:

• Linux .AppImage
• Linux .deb
• Native Linux executable
• Windows .exe

ChessPilot v2.0.0

ChessPilot v2.0.0

🚀 Overview

This release brings a modern interface overhaul, real-time engine depth control, and several usability upgrades for a smoother and more responsive chess experience.

🧩 Key Changes

• Replaced Tkinter with Qt6 (PyQt6)
  The entire UI has been migrated to Qt6, providing a faster, more stable, and visually refined experience on Linux and Windows.

• Added Dynamic Depth Control
  A new Depth Slider lets players adjust the engine’s search depth mid-game — tweak AI difficulty without restarting.

• New Shortcut Menu ("Keys")
  Press the Keys button to quickly view all available keyboard shortcuts and controls.

• New Input Mode: Drag or Click
  Players can now move pieces using either drag-and-drop or simple click-to-select actions.

• Improved Engine Performance
  Enhanced search algorithms and move generation for faster, smarter responses.

• Bug Fixes & Stability Improvements

  • Fixed UI freezes from previous Tkinter versions.
  • Resolved engine crash on repeated positions.
  • Improved scaling, resizing.
  • Enhanced configuration saving and logging.

💡 Additional Improvements

• Polished color scheme and layout for better readability.
• Optimized packaging for Linux and Windows.
• Clearer error messages and debug logs.

---

Builds included:

• Linux .AppImage
• Linux .deb
• Native Linux executable
• Windows .exe

ChessPilot 1.1.0 Maia Edition

🧠 ChessPilot Maia Edition 1.1.0 – Human-Like Play, Automatic Setup

This release brings major quality-of-life improvements to ChessPilot’s Maia Edition:
moves now feel humanized (slight randomness in cursor drags), and Lc0 is automatically downloaded on first run — no manual setup required!

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✨ What’s New in 1.1.0

• Humanized Move Simulation 🖱️
  Cursor movements now include subtle randomness and natural delays, making play feel less robotic.

• Auto Lc0 Download ⬇️
  On first launch, ChessPilot fetches and sets up Lc0 automatically — just drop in your Maia weights and start playing.

• Improved Stability ⚡
  Better error handling and smoother fallback if inputs fail (Windows / Wayland / X11).

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📦 Included Files (Maia Builds)

File	Platform
ChessPilot-maia-v1.1.0-windows.exe	Windows (Maia build)
ChessPilot-maia-v1.1.0.AppImage	Linux (AppImage)
ChessPilot-maia-v1.1.0_amd64.deb	Linux (Debian/Ubuntu)
ChessPilot-maia-v1.1.0-linux	Linux (raw executable)

✅ The ONNX model (chess_detectionv0.0.4.onnx) is bundled.
🤖 Lc0 is downloaded automatically at first run.
➕ Just add Maia weights (maiaNN-*.pb.gz) — ChessPilot handles the rest!

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📥 How to Use (Maia Edition)

1. Download your platform’s build (above).
2. Run ChessPilot once — it will automatically fetch and install Lc0.
3. Download a Maia weights file from CSSLab Maia Chess — e.g. maia-1600.pb.gz.
4. Place the weights file in the same folder as ChessPilot.

That’s it — enjoy natural, Maia-powered play right away! 🧠♟️

👉 README for setup details.

ChessPilot 1.1.0

🏁 ChessPilot v1.1.0 – More Hassle-Free

After cleaning up old releases, ChessPilot is back—rebuilt, refined, and fully offline.
A stable autoplayer and position evaluator for Windows and Linux, powered by ONNX and Stockfish.

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🔧 What’s New in v1.1.0

✋ More Human Touch
Added configurable ±X / ±Y pixel click offsets so moves land slightly off-center, mimicking real human mouse movement. Makes play look more natural and less “robotic.”

⚡ Zero-Setup Stockfish
On first run, ChessPilot now detects your OS and CPU and automatically downloads the latest compatible Stockfish binary.
No manual setup required — just launch and play.

🐞 Minor Fixes & Polish
Faster startup, smoother engine handling, and subtle UI refinements.

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🔧 What’s New in v1.0.2

🚀 Faster Move Execution
Stockfish now stays active between moves instead of quitting and restarting every turn — making gameplay significantly faster.

🖥️ Engine Starts with GUI
Stockfish is now automatically launched when the ChessPilot interface opens.

🐞 Minor Glitch Fixes
Small bugs and inconsistencies were resolved for a more stable experience.

📄 Auto-Generated Engine Config
engine_config.txt is now created automatically on first launch — ready for you to tweak without editing code.

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🔧 What’s New in v1.0.1

🛠️ Improved Engine Configuration
Stockfish engine settings are now auto-loaded from a plain text file: engine_config.txt

# ================================
# ChessPilot Engine Configuration
# ================================
# You can edit these values to change engine behavior.
# Be sure to restart the app after editing this file.

# Memory used in MB (64–1024+ recommended depending on your system)
setoption name Hash value 512

# CPU threads to use (1–8 usually; match your CPU core count)
setoption name Threads value 2

✅ This enables:

• Better performance on multi-core systems
• Easy manual tuning without editing code
• Cleaner config separation

📁 Keep engine_config.txt in the same directory as the ChessPilot executable.

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📦 Included Files

File	Platform
ChessPilot-1.1.0-windows-x64.exe	Windows (installer)
ChessPilot-1.1.0-linux-x86_64.AppImage	Linux (portable AppImage)
ChessPilot-1.1.0-amd64.deb	Linux (Debian/Ubuntu)
ChessPilot-1.1.0-linux-x86_64.tar.gz	Linux (tarball)
ChessPilot-1.1.0-linux-x86_64	Linux (raw executable)

✅ The ONNX model (chess_detectionv0.0.4.onnx) is already bundled.
⚡ Stockfish will be downloaded automatically on first run.
🪟 Windows Raw Build Note: If you’re using the raw executable (not installer), you may need the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable installed.

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📥 How to Use (Standard Build)

1. Download your platform's build.
2. Launch ChessPilot — Stockfish will be automatically fetched on first run.
3. (Optional) Modify engine_config.txt to tune Stockfish’s Hash and Threads settings.

---

🧠 Looking for Maia Edition?

Want a more human-like evaluation using Lc0 with Maia weights?

👉 Check out the Maia Edition v1.1.0 here
Supports Windows and Linux just like the standard version.

---

That’s it — welcome back to smarter, faster, offline chess 🧠♟️
👉 README for more details.

ChessPilot 1.0.2

🏁 ChessPilot 1.0.2 – Smoother and Faster

After cleaning up old releases, ChessPilot is back—rebuilt, refined, and fully offline.
A stable autoplayer and position evaluator for Windows and Linux, powered by ONNX and Stockfish.

---

🔧 What’s New in v1.0.2

🚀 Faster Move Execution
Stockfish now stays active between moves, instead of quitting and restarting every turn — making gameplay significantly faster.

🖥️ Engine Starts with GUI
Stockfish is now automatically launched when the ChessPilot interface opens.

🐞 Minor Glitch Fixes
Small bugs and inconsistencies were resolved for a more stable experience.

📄 Auto-Generated Engine Config
engine_config.txt is now created automatically on first launch — ready for you to tweak without editing code.

---

🔧 What’s New in v1.0.1

🛠️ Improved Engine Configuration
Stockfish engine settings are now auto-loaded from a plain text file: engine_config.txt

# ================================
# ChessPilot Engine Configuration
# ================================
# You can edit these values to change engine behavior.
# Be sure to restart the app after editing this file.

# Memory used in MB (64–1024+ recommended depending on your system)
setoption name Hash value 512

# CPU threads to use (1–8 usually; match your CPU core count)
setoption name Threads value 2

✅ This enables:

• Better performance on multi-core systems
• Easy manual tuning without editing code
• Cleaner config separation

📁 Keep engine_config.txt in the same directory as the ChessPilot executable.

---

📦 Included Files

File	Platform
ChessPilot-1.0.2-windows-x64.exe	Windows (installer)
ChessPilot-1.0.2-linux-x86_64.AppImage	Linux (portable AppImage)
ChessPilot-1.0.2-amd64.deb	Linux (Debian/Ubuntu)
ChessPilot-1.0.2-linux-x86_64.tar.gz	Linux (tarball)
ChessPilot-1.0.2-linux-x86_64	Linux (raw executable)

✅ The ONNX model (chess_detectionv0.0.4.onnx) is already bundled.
➕ Just add Stockfish, and you're ready to go!

---

📥 How to Use

1. Download your platform's build.

2. Download Stockfish.

3. Place the Stockfish binary:

   • Next to the ChessPilot executable or
   • Inside the src/ directory.

4. (Optional) Modify engine_config.txt to tune Stockfish’s Hash and Threads settings.

---

🐧 Linux Users

Install Stockfish using your package manager:

sudo pacman -S stockfish       # Arch / Manjaro
sudo apt install stockfish     # Ubuntu / Debian
sudo dnf install stockfish     # Fedora
yay -S stockfish               # AUR-based

---

That’s it — welcome back to smarter, faster, offline chess 🧠♟️
👉 README for more details.

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🧠 ChessPilot Maia Edition 1.0.0 – Human-Like Moves, Smarter Play

This is the Maia-enhanced edition of ChessPilot — still offline, stable, and sharp, but powered by Leela Chess Zero (Lc0) with Maia weights for a more human-like playing style.

⚠️ Note: The Maia Edition is currently only available in v1.0.0.
You can continue using it alongside the updated standard build (v1.0.2).

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📦 Included Files (Maia Builds)

File	Platform
ChessPilot-maia-v1.0.0-windows.exe	Windows (Maia build)
ChessPilot-maia-v1.0.0.AppImage	Linux (AppImage)
ChessPilot-maia-v1.0.0_amd64.deb	Linux (Debian/Ubuntu)
ChessPilot-maia-v1.0.0-linux	Linux (raw executable)

✅ The ONNX model (chess_detectionv0.0.4.onnx) is already bundled.
➕ Just add Lc0 with Maia weights, and you’re ready to go!

---

🧠 Looking for Maia Edition?

Want a more human-like evaluation using Lc0 with Maia weights?

👉 Check out the Maia Edition v1.0.0 here
Supports Windows and Linux just like the standard version.

---

That’s it — welcome back to smarter, faster, offline chess 🧠♟️
👉 README for more details.

ChessPilot 1.0.1

🏁 ChessPilot 1.0.1 – It’s Back, Smarter!

After cleaning up old releases, ChessPilot is back—rebuilt, refined, and fully offline.
A stable autoplayer and position evaluator for Windows and Linux, powered by ONNX and Stockfish.

---

🔧 What’s New in v1.0.1

🛠️ Improved Engine Configuration
Stockfish engine settings are now auto-loaded from a plain text file: engine_config.txt

# ================================
# ChessPilot Engine Configuration
# ================================
# You can edit these values to change engine behavior.
# Be sure to restart the app after editing this file.

# Memory used in MB (64–1024+ recommended depending on your system)
setoption name Hash value 512

# CPU threads to use (1–8 usually; match your CPU core count)
setoption name Threads value 2

✅ This enables:

• Better performance on multi-core systems
• Easy manual tuning without editing code
• Cleaner config separation

📁 Keep engine_config.txt in the same directory as the ChessPilot executable.

---

📦 Included Files

File	Platform
ChessPilot-1.0.1-windows-x64.exe	Windows (installer)
ChessPilot-1.0.1-linux-x86_64.AppImage	Linux (portable AppImage)
ChessPilot-1.0.1-amd64.deb	Linux (Debian/Ubuntu)
ChessPilot-1.0.1-linux-x86_64.tar.gz	Linux (tarball)
ChessPilot-1.0.1-linux-x86_64	Linux (raw executable)

✅ The ONNX model (chess_detectionv0.0.4.onnx) is already bundled.
➕ Just add Stockfish, and you're ready to go!

---

📥 How to Use

1. Download your platform's build.

2. Download Stockfish.

3. Place the Stockfish binary:

   • Next to the ChessPilot executable or
   • Inside the src/ directory.

4. (Optional) Modify engine_config.txt to tune Stockfish’s Hash and Threads settings.

---

🐧 Linux Users

Install Stockfish using your package manager:

sudo pacman -S stockfish       # Arch / Manjaro
sudo apt install stockfish     # Ubuntu / Debian
sudo dnf install stockfish     # Fedora
yay -S stockfish               # AUR-based

---

That’s it — welcome back to smarter, faster, offline chess 🧠♟️
👉 README for more details.

---

🧠 Looking for Maia Edition?

Want a more human-like evaluation using Lc0 with Maia weights?

👉 Check out the Maia Edition v1.0.0 here
Supports Windows and Linux just like the standard version.

---

That’s it — welcome back to smarter, faster, offline chess 🧠♟️
👉 README for more details.

ChessPilot Maia Edition 1.0.0

🧠 ChessPilot Maia Edition 1.0.0 – Human-Like Moves, Smarter Play

This is the Maia-enhanced edition of ChessPilot — still offline, stable, and sharp, but powered by Leela Chess Zero (Lc0) with Maia weights for a more human-like playing style.

---

📦 Included Files (Maia Builds)

File	Platform
ChessPilot-maia-v1.0.0-windows.exe	Windows (Maia build)
ChessPilot-maia-v1.0.0.AppImage	Linux (AppImage)
ChessPilot-maia-v1.0.0_amd64.deb	Linux (Debian/Ubuntu)
ChessPilot-maia-v1.0.0-linux	Linux (raw executable)

✅ The ONNX model (chess_detectionv0.0.4.onnx) is already bundled.
➕ Just add Lc0 with Maia weights, and you’re ready to go!

---

📥 How to Use (Maia Edition)

1. Download your platform’s Maia build.
2. Download a Maia weights file:
   From https://github.com/CSSLab/maia-chess — e.g., maia-1600.pb.gz

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⚠️ Windows Users

1. Download the Lc0 zip from https://github.com/LeelaChessZero/lc0/releases

2. Place in the same folder as ChessPilot-maia-v1.0.0-windows.exe:

   • The Lc0 zip file (do not unzip it)
   • The Maia weights file (maiaNN-*.pb.gz)

✅ No need to unzip anything — ChessPilot handles Lc0 zip loading automatically.

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🐧 Linux Users

1. Install Lc0 via your package manager:

   sudo apt install lc0       # Ubuntu / Debian
   sudo dnf install lc0       # Fedora
   yay/paru -S lc0            # AUR-based

2. Place the Maia weights file (maiaNN-*.pb.gz) in the same directory as the ChessPilot-maia executable.

📂 No zip files are used on Linux — Lc0 must be installed system-wide.

---

That’s it — enjoy smarter, more human-like evaluation with Maia and Lc0 🧠♟️
👉 README for setup details.

ChessPilot 1.0.0

🏁 ChessPilot 1.0.0 – It’s Back!

After cleaning up old releases, ChessPilot is back—rebuilt, refined, and fully offline.
A stable autoplayer and position evaluator for Windows and Linux, powered by ONNX and Stockfish.

---

📦 Included Files

File	Platform
ChessPilot-1.0.0-windows-x64.exe	Windows (installer)
ChessPilot-1.0.0-linux-x86_64.AppImage	Linux (portable AppImage)
ChessPilot-1.0.0-amd64.deb	Linux (Debian/Ubuntu)
ChessPilot-1.0.0-linux-x86_64.tar.gz	Linux (tarball)
ChessPilot-1.0.0-linux-x86_64	Linux (raw executable)

✅ The ONNX model (chess_detectionv0.0.4.onnx) is already bundled.
➕ Just add Stockfish, and you're ready to go!

---

📥 How to Use

1. Download your platform's build.

2. Download Stockfish.

3. Place the Stockfish binary:

   • Next to the ChessPilot executable or
   • Inside the src/ directory.

---

🐧 Linux Users

Install Stockfish using your package manager:

sudo pacman -S stockfish       # Arch / Manjaro
sudo apt install stockfish     # Ubuntu / Debian
sudo dnf install stockfish     # Fedora
yay -S stockfish               # AUR-based

---

That's it — welcome back to smarter, faster, offline chess 🧠♟️
👉 README for more details.

---

🧠 ChessPilot Maia Edition 1.0.0 – Human-Like Moves, Smarter Play

This is the Maia-enhanced edition of ChessPilot — still offline, stable, and sharp, but powered by Leela Chess Zero (Lc0) with Maia weights for a more human-like playing style.

---

📦 Included Files (Maia Builds)

File	Platform
ChessPilot-maia-v1.0.0-windows.exe	Windows (Maia build)
ChessPilot-maia-v1.0.0.AppImage	Linux (AppImage)
ChessPilot-maia-v1.0.0_amd64.deb	Linux (Debian/Ubuntu)
ChessPilot-maia-v1.0.0-linux	Linux (raw executable)

✅ The ONNX model (chess_detectionv0.0.4.onnx) is already bundled.
➕ Just add Lc0 with Maia weights, and you’re ready to go!

---

📥 How to Use (Maia Edition)

1. Download your platform’s Maia build.
2. Download a Maia weights file:
   From https://github.com/CSSLab/maia-chess — e.g., maiaNN-0625.pb.gz

---

⚠️ Windows Users

1. Download the Lc0 zip from https://github.com/LeelaChessZero/lc0/releases

2. Place in the same folder as ChessPilot-maia-v1.0.0-windows.exe:

   • The Lc0 zip file (do not unzip it)
   • The Maia weights file (maiaNN-*.pb.gz)

✅ No need to unzip anything — ChessPilot handles Lc0 zip loading automatically.

---

🐧 Linux Users

1. Install Lc0 via your package manager:

   sudo apt install lc0       # Ubuntu / Debian
   sudo dnf install lc0       # Fedora
   yay/paru -S lc0                 # AUR-based

2. Place the Maia weights file (maiaNN-*.pb.gz) in the same directory as the ChessPilot-maia executable.

📂 No zip files are used on Linux — Lc0 must be installed system-wide.

---

That’s it — enjoy smarter, more human-like evaluation with Maia and Lc0 🧠♟️
👉 README for setup details.