I really like it, but just a heads-up: the directions threw me for a solid 15-30 seconds.
"Click a piece to select it, then click on the board to place it."
Okay, cool! I clicked on the King's Pawn, then e4. The king's pawn disappeared, and then... nothing. I clicked e3. I clicked e4 again and then... e5? e2? Nope.
Okay, maybe something went wrong. Let's try with the queen's pawn. d2, pawn goes away. d4? d3? Nope.
I re-read the directions: "Click a piece to select it, then click on the board to place it."
Weird. The pawn went away instead of being selected. How do I select a pawn? Click f2. Nope.
At that point, I look again at the pieces below the board, and click on the pawn. It's selected! I click on e4. It's on the board! Okay, I get this now, but it's not what I expected.
I see what you're doing with the controls, but I think it's a poor match for your default state. When I see a chess board in starting position, my instinct is to move a piece, not to find a way to add new pieces to the board.
My thoughts:
If you want to keep the controls the same, I'd start with an empty board and maybe clarify the directions a smidge. I'd try something like:
To place a piece, first select it from the case, then click any empty square on the board.
To remove an existing piece from the board, click once on it.
Use the buttons below for standard starting position or to import a FEN position.
If you're up for modifying the controls, I was expecting something like: clicking a piece currently on the board selects it. A second click on the same square deletes that piece, while a click on any other square "moves" the selected piece there, emptying its source square and overwriting the contents (if any) of the destination square.
Agreed. Poor controls. You can actually drag and drop to place pieces, and clicking on an existing piece removes it, so the instructions should just be modified to say this.
"Click a piece to select it, then click on the board to place it."
Okay, cool! I clicked on the King's Pawn, then e4. The king's pawn disappeared, and then... nothing. I clicked e3. I clicked e4 again and then... e5? e2? Nope.
Okay, maybe something went wrong. Let's try with the queen's pawn. d2, pawn goes away. d4? d3? Nope.
I re-read the directions: "Click a piece to select it, then click on the board to place it."
Weird. The pawn went away instead of being selected. How do I select a pawn? Click f2. Nope.
At that point, I look again at the pieces below the board, and click on the pawn. It's selected! I click on e4. It's on the board! Okay, I get this now, but it's not what I expected.
I see what you're doing with the controls, but I think it's a poor match for your default state. When I see a chess board in starting position, my instinct is to move a piece, not to find a way to add new pieces to the board.
My thoughts:
If you want to keep the controls the same, I'd start with an empty board and maybe clarify the directions a smidge. I'd try something like:
If you're up for modifying the controls, I was expecting something like: clicking a piece currently on the board selects it. A second click on the same square deletes that piece, while a click on any other square "moves" the selected piece there, emptying its source square and overwriting the contents (if any) of the destination square.