Chess tree

chess tree

中文 | English

If you like this project, feel free to check out my page on

Likes, coins, and feedback are greatly appreciated.

Overview

Obsidian Chess Plugin is a chess rendering engine built for Obsidian. It displays chess positions and games in FEN and PGN formats, supports move exploration and variation management. Full rules engine powered by chess.js.

PGN File Support

Open .pgn files directly in Obsidian — the plugin registers a dedicated .pgn file view with an interactive board interface.

• Real-time I/O: Any changes (moves, variations, comments, annotations) are saved back to the file automatically
• Variation Tree: Interactive tree graph showing all branches — click nodes to navigate
• Comments & Annotations: Supports ! ? W+ B+ = and other standard annotations
• View Toggle: Switch between text view and PGN view via the file menu
• Quick Create: New PGN files from the ribbon button

Note: .pgn files only support single games. For multi-game PGN files, use AI to add code block markers and convert to Markdown format:

```chess
[Event "Game 1"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 1-0
```
```chess
[Event "Game 2"]
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 1/2-1/2
```

Code Blocks

Two code block types:

---

chess: Display and explore chess games in Markdown

```chess
1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nc6
3. Bb5 a6
```

---

fen: Visual board editor — generates a chess block with FEN

```fen

```

---

Features

• Complete Rules Engine: Castling, en passant, promotion, check/checkmate detection, threefold repetition, 50-move rule — all via chess.js
• Board Rendering: High-quality chessboard via chessground with drag-and-drop moves
• Move List: Full move record with click-to-navigate
• Variation Tree: Tree graph with icon/SAN display modes for node labels
• Visual FEN Editor: Drag/click to place pieces, clear/fill board, toggle side to move
• PGN Saving: Button colors — gray (empty), green (saved), orange (modified)
• Customizable Settings:
  • Board themes: Wood, Green, Blue, Grey, Dark, Light
  • Toolbar position: right / bottom
  • Adjustable board size and move text size
  • Move list display options
  • Auto-jump to end
  • Optional move narration (desktop only)
• Board Markers: Draw arrows and highlights on the board
• Mobile Friendly: Adjust board size for small screens

Usage

fen Code Block

1. Add a fen code block to start the editor
2. Drag pieces or click piece buttons to set up the position
3. Use clear/fill/turn buttons as needed
4. Click Save to generate a chess code block with the FEN

chess Code Block

1. Write your game inside a chess code block (optionally with FEN and SAN moves)
2. FEN is optional — defaults to the standard starting position
3. Controls:
   • When no manual moves are made, the move list shows the original PGN
   • After making moves, the list shows your modified sequence
   • Click Reset to revert to before manual edits
4. Click Save to overwrite the original PGN

Optional Parameters

Example

```chess
r:true
[FEN "rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/4P3/8/PPPP1PPP/RNBQKBNR b KQkq - 0 1"]
1... e5 2. Nf3 Nc6
```

• Colons can be Chinese or English; r and p are case-insensitive
• FEN value works with or without quotes

Installation

This plugin is available on the Obsidian Community Plugin marketplace. Search for "Chess" to install. (Not yet published)

1. Open Obsidian
2. Go to Settings
3. Click Community plugins
4. Ensure Restricted mode is off
5. Click Browse
6. Search for "Chess"
7. Find this plugin and click Install
8. Click Enable

Build

git clone https://github.com/west-shell/obsidian-chess-tree.git
cd obsidian-chess-tree
npm install
npm run build        # Dev build (unminified, with sourcemaps)
npm run build:min    # Minified build (for release)

Donation

If you like this plugin, feel free to support me!