A flagship 3D chess game for Linux. Play Shadow — a threaded engine with six strengths — at a walnut table in a candle-dark private salon, solve 36 verified checkmate puzzles, or analyse your games with a live evaluation bar. Built with Godot 4.7.
Version 3.0.0 · Linux x86_64 · MIT
Play
- Shadow, six levels from Beginner (~600) to Master (~2100), with a weighted opening book. Its search runs on a worker thread, so the board never freezes. See docs/AI.md.
- Two players on one board, and an analysis board for free play with evaluation and Shadow's best line.
- Time controls from 1+0 bullet to 30+0 classical, with increments, low-time warnings, and a working tournament clock on the table.
- Full FIDE rules: castling, en passant, any promotion, and automatic draws by stalemate, threefold repetition, the fifty-move rule, insufficient material, and timeout against a bare king.
- Offer draws (Shadow judges them on the position), resign, rematch, or swap colours.
Learn and review
- 36 puzzles — mate in 1, 2, and 3 on classic patterns. Any correct move counts; the defender resists as long as possible; progress is saved.
- Hints show Shadow's suggestion as an arrow.
- Review any game move by move from the scoresheet or with the arrow keys; the evaluation bar and Shadow's line follow along.
- Import and export PGN (with comments, variations, and custom start positions) and FEN.
- Statistics: your rating against Shadow, a record per level, puzzles solved, streaks.
Feel
- Drag-and-drop or click-to-move, legal-move marks, hover highlights, typed moves (
Nf3,O-O,e2e4). - Blender-built Staunton pieces with a sculpted knight, four board themes, and four piece sets.
- Pieces glide on arcs, captures land in felt trays beside the board, promotions pop, kings jolt in check.
- Original synthesised sound: wooden placements with variation, a bell for mate, and an ambient D-Dorian score.
- Autosave with Continue, settings that apply instantly, UI scaling, reduce-motion, and high-contrast marks.
Download: grab shadow-chess-3d-3.0.0-linux-x86_64 from the latest release, then chmod +x it and run it. It is a single self-contained binary.
Build from source:
./tools/export_linux.sh # builds export/linux/shadow-chess-3d.x86_64
./tools/install-user.sh # installs to ~/.local/bin and adds the app launcher
shadow-chess-3d./tools/install-user.sh --uninstall removes the binary and launcher and keeps your saves. Export templates for Godot 4.7.2 must be installed under ~/.local/share/godot/export_templates/4.7.2.stable/.
From source: godot --path .
| Input | Action |
|---|---|
| Left click / drag | Select and move |
| Right drag · middle drag · wheel | Orbit · pan · zoom |
| Q / E, + / − | Orbit and zoom from the keyboard |
| C · T · F | Reset camera · top-down view · flip board |
| H | Hint |
| Ctrl+Z · Ctrl+Y | Take back · replay |
| ← → · Home End | Step through the game |
| Esc · F1 · F11 | Pause menu · help · fullscreen |
- Settings:
~/.config/shadow-chess-3d/settings.json - Saves, autosave, profile:
~/.local/share/shadow-chess-3d/
Settings and saves from 2.0 are migrated automatically.
./tools/run_tests.sh # all headless suites
godot --headless --path . --script res://tools/check_scripts.gd # parse-check every script
godot --headless --path . --script res://tools/bench_ai.gd # engine depth and speed per level
./tools/capture_screenshots.sh # regenerate docs/screenshotsThe suites cover the rules engine (perft on reference positions, every special move and draw), SAN/PGN round trips, Shadow's behaviour and threading, every puzzle and book line, settings and save migration, and an end-to-end drive of the game controller.
Assets are generated by scripts in tools/assetgen/ — models (Blender), textures, and audio. See docs/ASSETS.md.
- Architecture — modules, threading, save format, rendering
- Shadow, the engine — search, evaluation, levels, puzzles
- Presentation — scene, themes, lighting, motion
- Assets — where every asset comes from
- Changelog
Sibling project: Shadow Checkers.