Checkers-AI

About

Checkers playing agent implemented in Java. The agent uses the Minimax algorithm with alpha-beta pruning.

Motivation

English draughts or American checkers is a popular 2 player game played on an 8x8 checkerboard. AI witnessed one of its earliest success in game playing through checkers when Arthur Samuel, a pioneer in Computer gaming and AI created a self-learning checkers program. This project is motivatated by the history of game playing and AI.

Features

• Interactive command prompt.
• Multiple difficulty levels.
• Move generator function that takes a board configuration and generates all the available moves for the user to choose.
• Evaluation function that use the weighted count of Kings and Pawn.
• Alpha beta search for agent moves.

Requirements 🔧

• Java version 8 or higher.

Installation 🔌

1. Press the Fork button (on the top right corner of the page) to save a copy of this project on your account.

2. Download the repository files (project) from the download section or clone this project by typing in the bash the following command:

   git clone https://github.com/sramakrishnan247/Checkers-AI
   

3. Import the project using Intellij Ide(or any other Ide or your favorite text editor)

4. Run the application from Game.java :D

Checkers Rules

1. Follows standard game rules for piece movement and king promotion.
2. If a piece has the option to jump, then it must jump

Checkerboard Numbering

Move notation

The prompt will list all the available moves in this format so that the user only needs to choose the required move.

Follows standard checkers notation as follows:

1. Piece movement denoted using "-" for single steps.(Eg 5-6 denotes moving a piece from square "5" to square "6")
2. Caputure is denoted using "x" (Eg. 14 x 23 denotes moving a piece from square "14" to square "23" after capturing the piece on square "18")

Sample Gameplay:

Welcome!
Pick the difficulty!
1.Rookie
2.Intermediate
3.Pro
4.Grandmaster

Pick the difficulty(1-4)!
2

Player color: 2
AI color: 1
Player King: 4
AI King: 3
Light(Player) Pieces: 12,Dark(AI) Pieces: 12

Current Board
0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 
1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 
0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
2 0 2 0 2 0 2 0 
0 2 0 2 0 2 0 2 
2 0 2 0 2 0 2 0 

Available Moves: 
1: 21-17
2: 22-17
3: 22-18
4: 23-18
5: 23-19
6: 24-19
7: 24-20
Please choose move number:
2

Player Played last...
Light(Player) Pieces: 12,Dark(AI) Pieces: 12

AI thinking...

Heuristic val(AI is winning if +ve): 0.0
Source: 2,1,  Dest: 3,2 Jump: false
Skipped squares: 
Move notation: 9-14

AI PLAYED LAST...

0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 
1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 
0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 
0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 
0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 
2 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 
0 2 0 2 0 2 0 2 
2 0 2 0 2 0 2 0 

Available Moves: 
1: 17-13
2: 23-18
3: 23-19
4: 24-19
5: 24-20
6: 25-22
7: 26-22
Please choose move number:

...

Player Played last...

Light(Player) Pieces: 1,Dark(AI) Pieces: 8

AI thinking...

Heuristic val(AI is winning if +ve): 9.0
Source: 5,6,  Dest: 7,4 Jump: true
Skipped squares: (6,5),
Move notation: 24x31

AI PLAYED LAST...
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 
0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 
0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
0 0 3 0 3 0 0 0 

Light(Player) Pieces: 0,Dark(AI) Pieces: 8

Final Board Status
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 
0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 
0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
0 0 3 0 3 0 0 0 

1
AI WINS!