Xiangqi - Chinese Chess for Kindle

A Chinese Chess (象棋/Xiangqi) game for Kindle e-readers, built on the Wukong JavaScript engine by Code Monkey King.

Features

• vs AI mode — play as Red or Black against the Wukong engine
• Two Player mode — local hot-seat play
• 3 AI difficulty levels — Easy (depth 1), Medium (depth 3), Hard (depth 5)
• Traditional board style — pieces on intersections, 楚河漢界, palace diagonals
• e-ink optimized — black & white, minimal refresh, touch-friendly
• Popup menu — New Game, Undo, Flip Board, Show/Hide Moves, Main Menu
• Move history — toggleable PGN display in UCI notation
• Piece styles — Red: white background red text; Black: black background white text

Tech Stack

• Engine: Wukong Xiangqi — pure JavaScript, negamax + alpha-beta pruning + Zobrist hashing + repetition detection
• UI: Vanilla HTML/CSS/JavaScript (no frameworks, no dependencies)
• Board rendering: SVG data URL background + absolutely positioned pieces on intersections
• Runtime: Kindle Mesquite (WebKit-based app container, ~Safari 5 / ES5)

File Structure

xiangqi/
├── config.xml              # Mesquite widget configuration (must include <feature> + <kindle:messaging>)
├── index.html              # Game UI + Chrome bar integration
├── main.css                # Board styling (e-ink optimized, pieces on intersections)
├── main.js                 # Game logic + UI binding (ES5 only)
├── shortcut_xiangqi.sh     # Kindle launcher shortcut (with embedded base64 icon)
├── assets/
│   └── wukong.js           # Wukong Xiangqi engine (Babel-transpiled to ES5)
├── kual_extension/         # KUAL extension for easy launching
│   ├── config.xml
│   ├── menu.json
│   └── bin/
│       └── launch.sh       # Copy of shortcut script
├── AGENTS.md               # Development notes for AI agents
└── README.md

Installation

Via KUAL (recommended)

1. Copy the xiangqi/ folder to /mnt/us/documents/xiangqi/ on your Kindle
2. Copy the kual_extension/ folder to /mnt/us/extensions/xiangqi/
3. Eject the Kindle, open KUAL, select Xiangqi → Install & Launch
4. The script copies game files to /var/local/mesquite/xiangqi/, registers the app, and launches it

Via shortcut script

1. Copy the xiangqi/ folder to /mnt/us/documents/xiangqi/ on your Kindle
2. Copy shortcut_xiangqi.sh to /mnt/us/documents/shortcut_xiangqi.sh
3. Eject the Kindle and tap the "Xiangqi" entry in your library

Note: After updating game files, you must re-run the shortcut/KUAL extension to copy the new files to /var/local/mesquite/xiangqi/. Launching directly from the Kindle app list uses cached files.

How to Play

1. Select game mode from the menu (vs AI Red, vs AI Black, or Two Player)
2. Tap a piece to select it — legal moves are highlighted with dots
3. Tap a destination intersection to move; tap a capturable piece to capture
4. In AI mode, the engine responds automatically
5. Tap [Menu] in the top-right for game controls

Piece Characters

Red	Black	Piece
帅	将	King (General)
仕	士	Advisor (Guard)
相	象	Bishop (Elephant)
马	马	Knight (Horse)
炮	炮	Cannon
车	车	Rook (Chariot)
兵	卒	Pawn (Soldier)

Compatibility

• Kindle Paperwhite 4 (10th Gen) — tested
• Other Kindle models with Mesquite + touch support should work
• Requires jailbroken Kindle with KUAL installed

Credits

• Engine: Wukong Xiangqi by maksimKorzh (Code Monkey King), MIT License
• Game UI: Built for Kindle Mesquite, inspired by KShips and KWordle
• KUAL extension pattern: Based on the Kindle homebrew community

License

• Game UI code: MIT
• Wukong engine: See assets/wukong.js for original license