NextChess

A full-stack chess platform built with Next.js and TypeScript, featuring real-time multiplayer gameplay, custom move validation engine, and responsive design for all devices.

Live Demo

GitHub Repository

Project Overview

NextChess is a comprehensive chess platform that brings the classic game into the modern web era. Built with a focus on performance and user experience, it combines a custom chess engine with an intuitive interface to deliver an engaging gameplay experience for players of all skill levels.

The application offers real-time multiplayer matches, AI opponents, game history tracking, and responsive design that adapts seamlessly to any device. By leveraging Next.js 14 and TypeScript, the platform ensures type safety and optimal performance while maintaining clean, maintainable code.

Technology Stack & Rationale

Frontend & Backend

Built with Next.js 14, leveraging its full-stack capabilities for server-side rendering, API routes, and seamless page transitions. TypeScript provides robust type safety throughout the codebase, reducing runtime errors and improving developer experience.

State Management

Redux manages application state, providing a predictable state container for complex chess logic, game history, and user interactions. This architecture ensures consistent state across components and enables features like game replay and move validation.

Styling & Responsiveness

Tailwind CSS combined with CSS modules creates a responsive and visually appealing interface. The design system adapts gracefully from mobile to desktop, maintaining usability and aesthetic consistency across all screen sizes.

Real-time Communication

WebSocket integration enables real-time multiplayer gameplay with minimal latency. Players experience smooth, responsive interactions during matches, enhancing the competitive nature of the game.

Deployment

Vercel platform provides seamless deployment with automatic preview environments for each pull request, ensuring high availability and performance for users worldwide.

Key Features

Custom Chess Engine

•Hand-crafted move validation system with specialized piece classes
•FEN notation support for game state serialization
•Advanced chess rules including en passant, castling, and promotion
•Comprehensive check and checkmate detection

Multiplayer & AI

•Real-time multiplayer matches with WebSocket communication
•AI opponents powered by Stockfish integration
•Multiple difficulty levels for AI gameplay
•Matchmaking system for finding online opponents

Interactive UI

•Custom drag-and-drop system optimized for chess piece movement
•Visual move highlighting showing legal moves and captures
•Interactive move history with algebraic notation
•Game state indicators for check, checkmate, and draw conditions

User Experience

•Secure authentication via GitHub and Google OAuth
•Responsive design optimized for mobile, tablet, and desktop
•Game history and statistics tracking
•Light and dark mode themes

Technical Challenges & Solutions

Performance Optimization

One of the most significant challenges was managing component re-renders in the chessboard. With 64 squares and multiple pieces, even small state changes would trigger cascading re-renders, impacting performance and user experience.

Problem: DragClone Excessive Re-rendering

The DragClone component's position state changes were causing unnecessary re-renders of all child components, even when using React's memoization techniques.

const usePreviousProps = (props) => {
    const ref = useRef();
    useEffect(() => {
        ref.current = props;
    });
    return ref.current; // Returns the previous props
};

I implemented a custom hook to compare prop changes between renders, which helped identify playMoveIfValid as the volatile prop. Further analysis revealed unstable dependencies in useCallback hooks for game state management functions.

Solution: Strategic Memoization

The solution involved multiple optimization techniques:

Ensuring dependency stability in useCallback and useMemo hooks
Applying React.memo correctly to prevent unnecessary component re-renders
Implementing request throttling for drag operations
Restructuring component hierarchy to minimize render cascades

These optimizations resulted in a 60% reduction in render operations during gameplay, providing a smoother user experience even during rapid move sequences.

Chess Logic Implementation

Building a robust chess engine required careful consideration of the game's complex rules, particularly for special moves like castling and detecting check/checkmate conditions.

Object-Oriented Design with Inheritance

I implemented a class-based structure for chess pieces, using inheritance and composition to share common behaviors while allowing piece-specific move logic:

import { inherit } from './inherit.js';
import { Piece } from './piece.js';
import { Slideable } from './slideable.js';

const DIRS = [[1,0],[0,1],[-1,0],[0,-1],[1,1],[-1,-1],[-1,1],[1,-1]];

export function Queen(color, square, board) {
    this.pieceName = "queen";
    this.type = color.slice(0,1) + "_" + this.pieceName;
    Piece.call(this, color, square, board);
    this.slideable = new Slideable(board);
    this.fenChar = color === "white" ? "Q" : "q";
}

inherit(Piece, Queen);

Queen.prototype.pieceMoves = function(pos = this.getPos()) {
    const color = this.getColor();
    const [options, takeOptions] = this.slideable.calculateMoves(color, pos, DIRS);
    return [options, takeOptions];
}

This approach allowed for efficient code reuse while maintaining the unique movement patterns of each chess piece. The Slideable composition pattern was particularly effective for handling the line-based movements of queens, rooks, and bishops.

Feature Showcase

Game Interface

The chess board interface features intuitive drag-and-drop functionality, move highlighting, and responsive design that works seamlessly across devices.

Move Validation

The custom move validation system highlights legal moves, prevents illegal actions, and handles special chess rules like castling and en passant captures.

Mobile Experience

The responsive design adapts to mobile screens, maintaining full functionality while optimizing the interface for touch interactions.

Development Insights

Building NextChess provided valuable experience in both frontend and game development. Key learnings included:

Performance optimization is critical for interactive applications, especially those with complex state management
Object-oriented design principles translate effectively to JavaScript/TypeScript when building complex systems
FEN notation provides an elegant solution for chess game state serialization
WebSockets enable truly real-time experiences that traditional HTTP requests cannot match
Careful component architecture planning pays dividends when scaling application features

Future Enhancements

While NextChess is fully functional, several enhancements are planned for future iterations:

Player rankings and ELO system for competitive play
Tournament functionality with brackets and time controls
Puzzle mode for chess training and skill improvement
Opening book integration for learning standard chess openings
Advanced analysis tools with position evaluation