python-chess icon indicating copy to clipboard operation
python-chess copied to clipboard

Possible to Support Rendering Coordinates Inside the Chessboard?

Open plutotree opened this issue 8 months ago • 3 comments

When comparing chess.com and lichess's chessboards, their coordinates are displayed inside the board, which makes the layout more compact and visually appealing. In python-chess, the coordinates are rendered outside the chessboard. Based on documentation and testing, there seems to be no parameter or method to control the coordinate display style.

Is there a plan to support internal coordinate rendering in future updates?

chess.com Image

lichess Image

python-chess

Image

plutotree avatar Apr 16 '25 17:04 plutotree

IMO the only good aspect of the Lichess coordinate placement is the compactness. In every other regard, especially clarity and readability, it is (significantly) inferior.

jsonn avatar Apr 18 '25 16:04 jsonn

IMO the only good aspect of the Lichess coordinate placement is the compactness. In every other regard, especially clarity and readability, it is (significantly) inferior.

How about the new coordinate layout for python-chess ?

Image

plutotree avatar Apr 18 '25 16:04 plutotree

Coordinates are clearly a second class citizen on that board. They are available, but not really meant to be used. Consider for a moment using a projector to show a puzzle to a class room. Either the students mostly know coordinates or they will struggle to read them. Note that the same idea applies to both Lichess and Chess.com -- most users either don't care about coordinates at all or know them blindly.

jsonn avatar Apr 18 '25 16:04 jsonn