Prevent users from matching with a game they created
Some users had no puzzle rating, so profile would show an error
2024-12-16
When users create a game, first check if they can join an existing game that matches,
instead of creating a duplicate (match making)
(issue #246)
Attempt to fix issue where authenticated users get logged out and logged as guest instead
Make guest ids vary between 3 and 6 chars included
2024-12-15
Add an option to the New Game modal, to allow to keep games always visible in the lobby,
even when the user is offline.
This used to be determined by game time (correspondence games being always visible).
(issue #220)
Add an option to the New Game modal, to allow authenticated users to allow/disallow guest users to join
their games
(issue #238)
On mobile layout, move the up/down votes button away from the navigation buttons (in order to avoid up vote
by accident)
(issue #248)
Play a sound and show notification when somebody joined a PvP game; and when there are new games where it's
user's turn to play
(issue #245)
Let guest ids vary between 2 and 6 chars included (instead of 3 to 5 previously)
For some reason, some game contained illegal moves in their history (could be that a move wasn't properly
sent but was registered in the UI?) Added some checks on PvP played moves to avoid registering illegal
moves.
(issue #252)
Technical changes (move some things generated dynamically in JavaScript to be directly rendered in the HTML)
2024-12-14
Fix New Game modal which changed size a bit when selecting a time option
(issue #247)
2024-12-12
Improve list of game to join on the lobby page for mobile layout
(issue #224)
Technical changes (WebSocket)
Technical changes (admin console)
2024-12-11
Only mark a game as "live" if it was updated < 3 min ago.
(issue #242)
Technical changes (caching)
Technical changes (admin console)
2024-12-10
Fix issue where guest couldn't cancel their own games or join via link
(issue #241)
Technical changes (admin console)
2024-12-09
Adjust Global page numbers to take guests into account
(issue #237)
Improve top bar menu in mobile layout (making icons larger and hiding less relevant features)
(issue #229)
Allow FEN parsing in format R1bk5/4a4/N4a3/9/7r1/9/9/6p2/4AK3/3A5 r (i.e. without the full moves count at
the end and with 'r' instead of 'w' for red)
(issue #203)
Technical changes (use CDN for vanillajs-datepicker,
to be consistent with other libs we use)
Technical changes (refactor of the HTML rendering)
Technical changes (libraries upgrades)
2024-11-24
Add puzzle vote (thumb up / thumb down) to the Puzzles page
Update title html tag on user profile page
Technical changes (modularization of the service layer)
Technical changes (libraries upgrades)
2024-11-23
Technical changes (dependency injection)
2024-11-04
Minor technical changes related to HTML rendering
2024-11-03
Attempt to fix SEO-related issue
#195, i.e. by rendering user profile HTML with username already resolved.
Also added user profile description to the HTML rendering, so it can be indexed by search engines.
2024-11-02
Fix issue where incomplete analysis status would not update (making it impossible to restart the analysis
later)
Move navigation buttons (beginning, previous, next, end) just below the board on mobile
Fix clock orientation to be consistent with board orientation, issue #73
Minor CSS changes
2024-10-12
Technical changes (libraries upgrades)
2024-09-04
Fix CSS issue where the mask covering the miniboard would overflow its parent div
Re-add the 3 dots menu on Analysis Board (not visible on mobile yet though)
2024-09-02
Fix CSS issue where the 2 Analyze buttons would be visible
2024-08-31
Make the website more mobile-friendly. The triptych layout (used in puzzles, games, etc.) has been
refactored to be more reactive, as well as the lobby page. There are still a few things to improve to be
perfectly usable on mobile devices, but it is already great improvement compared to what it was.
2024-08-24
Technical changes (removal of un-used template)
HTML minification (resulting in small performance improvements for end users)
Bug fix on username menu (it would not open when clicking on the username itself)
2024-08-21
Make the top bar reactive, i.e. automatically adapted to narrower screen resolutions. This is the first step
in the process of making the whole platform look better on mobile devices.
2024-08-06
Technical changes (HTML id of elements on the squares (image, highlight, etc.))
2024-08-03
Position Editor to create custom positions without playing the moves. Currently only available in the Analysis Board. Still in beta.
Add empty block in Move History Tree Widget when a custom start FEN starts with black
2024-06-05
Technical changes (admin console)
2024-05-25
Display e.g. "m10" instead of "100" in the Analysis Board when the result from the engine contains a "mate
in N" rather than a centipawn value. The idea would be to later smooth out and "integrate" cp and "mate in
N" results in order to display consistent line charts and eval bar changes.
Technical changes (admin console)
2024-05-12
Add original game link on the Puzzle app (after puzzle is resolved)
Add color field to "My Played Puzzles" screen
Add orientation url param to Database game viewer (so game links related to puzzles can be oriented
according to the color of the puzzle)
2024-05-09
Add original game in "My Played Puzzles" screen
Minor technical changes
2024-05-05
Add 3 dots menu on the side of the Move History Tree Widget in the Analysis Board to
access more actions (right now the only menu item is Import Moves, but we should add export too or "delete
all")
Refactor HTML templating
Move remaining scripts tags to headers (HTML rendering)
Threads configuration (internal)
Minor improvements in the client-server communication framework (internal)
Minify CSS (resulting in small performance improvements for end users)
2024-05-04
Move scripts tags to headers (HTML rendering)
Document the elephantchess-specific cookies in the cookie consent banner (under category "Necessary")
2024-05-01
Reduce threads overhead by using more coroutines (internal)
EnginesPool improvements (internal)
Cookie consent banner and related information in the FAQ page
2024-04-29
EnginesPool improvements (internal)
2024-04-28
Forward exotic positions (e.g. more than 2 chariots) queries to Fairy Stockfish (illegal positions are not
supported by Pikafish)
Modals refactoring (no significant change for end users)
Admin console refactoring (no significant change for end users)
Metrics logging (no significant change for end users)
2024-04-21
Added the River of the Chu 楚河 and the Border of the Han 漢界 decoration texts inside the
river. Of course, it doesn't work on Safari.
Display dates in relative time (e.g. 2 months ago) in "userdata" pages (i.e. "my played puzzles", "my
games", etc.)
Add game creation date on PvP game page
Technical changes (admin console)
2024-04-20
Fix bug where it looks like Elo calculation happened twice (ticket #142)
Render top bar menu directly in HTML (instead of dynamically in JavaScript), which should improve
performance a little. Also made menu items proper anchor (which means it can be opened in a new tab by right
click).
Auto-cancel created games after 14 days of inactivity (previously 7 days)
Technical changes (admin console)
User sessions expiration after 60 days (internal)
2024-04-18
Update opening repertoire in the Analysis Board (to move 20)
Re-enable analysis for games custom start FENs. It seems the most exotic positions are not well supported by
the engine though, so nothing is guaranteed.
Avoid requesting engine data that is already available in the Analysis Board
Indicate which move format is currently selected in the settings drop down menu
Refactor drop down menu rendering management, to ensure they all behave consistently
Add setting to change move format (WXF, PGN or algebraic). There is still some work to do to update opening
and engine widgets in the Analysis Board (those are still in UCI); as well as the
horizontal axis coordinates while using WXF move format.
Add tool tip text to settings buttons
2024-04-04
Fix small issue in the Analysis Board (prevent querying engine when game is already
being analyzed)
2024-04-01
Add UI tooltips (i.e. the feature, it's currently not enabled on many elements)
Enable bot games up to depth 14 (previously limited to 10). Only logged-in users can play depth higher than
6 (previously there was no difference).
2024-03-31
Automatically persist requested engine data while viewing an analysis in the Analysis
Board (even if requested by another user than the analysis owner)
Automatically analyze un-selected moves in the Analysis Board. It used to only query
engine for the selected move, which would force user to select each move one by one after importing a game
in WXF for example.
2024-03-24
Fix bug where trying to analyzed an anonymous game against a bot would crash the Analysis
Board
Fix the bug where the
wrong PV would be associated to FENs. Clean up existing analysis data. Not super clear how it happens
though, but we now ensure incorrect data doesn't get persisted.
2024-03-18
Fix the bug where after
clicking on PV line in the Analysis Board, clicking again on the PV line would
result in error message Can not create branch when no move is selected. The selected node was not
correctly updated after selecting a PV line.
2024-03-17
Some refactoring about last changes (remove old table and refresh materialized views)
2024-03-16
Some refactoring about last changes (deletion of some deprecated code)
Admin console page to monitor latest analyzed games
2024-02-25
Add option to analyze in-app games to the Analysis Board
2024-02-11
Fix issue in the moves import function in the Analysis Board. The bug had been
introduced by the last update.
2024-02-10
Perpetual checking rule enforcement in PvP games
Technical bugfix (user session IP in the wrong format)
2024-01-02
Fix to the admin UI
Technical changes (split board UI from board logic, pre-requisite for perpetual checks implementation in the
UI)
Minor style changes (remove bold style on table row hovering, 2 digits year format)
Working on perpetual checks, fixed small bugs in the board core library
Re-designed home page
2023-12-04
Refactored user profile page (and hide puzzle stats panel by default)
2023-12-03
In profile settings, indicate characters limit on the description field
Users can see their own games in the lobby. I thought it might be less confusing for users. Of course they
can not join their own games.
Automatically cancel un-joined games when user has been offline for more than 7 days (it could later become
user setting)
Technical changes (admin console)
2023-11-27
Add engine caching in the Analysis Board, resulting in faster response time when
position has already been analyzed. It's noticeable for early positions (that are more likely to have been
analyzed before).
Pre-Analyze database games (about 3% of the db is now pre-analyzed)
Fix issue where bot repetitions avoidance would not work if user played black
Add move number on "my games" and "my bot games" pages
Technical changes (Kotlin version, refactored HTML rendering cache)
2023-11-24
Ad-hoc / experimental solution to avoid that the bot gets stuck in a loop where it checks perpetually
2023-11-20
Add a function to Cancel and Resign bot games
2023-11-19
Add option to select depth 1 when playing against bot
Technical changes (admin UI, HTML rending, re-organization of JS files)
2023-11-18
Persist games played against bots
Technical changes (no significant change for end users; changed related to routing, configuration
management, JS minification management)
2023-11-01
Fix issue where password recovery wouldn't show any feedback when providing valid email
2023-10-29
Password recovery now shows an error message if the provided email doesn't match any known user (to avoid
confusion, because it used to be a positive message no matter what the user input)
2023-10-09
Improve design for smaller board (pre-requisite to add mini-board overview widget in the future)
2023-10-07
Ensure username doesn't overflow in the top bar
2023-10-02
Add a time limit to all games. Correspondence games will be "move time based", meaning the counter will
reset to e.g. 1 day on each move. Games shorted than 1 day remain "game time based".
Fix bug where the "games where it's your turn to play" indicator would show "casual" when the game was
rated.
2023-10-01
Technical changes regarding the batch jobs (no significant change for end users)
Refactor the puzzles screen code (no significant change for user, it is mainly to
make future changes easier to develop)
Add a page to view played puzzles
Puzzle re-playability: save results of puzzles, even for those you had already played recently (but with a
smaller k value when you solve it correctly - depending on how long ago you last played it, spread linearly
on 90 days, i.e. the k value is 8 instead of 16 if you solved it 45 days ago)
2023-09-10
Import moves in WXF format in the Analysis Board (fixes)
Send email notifications when opponent joins, plays a move, resigns, send draws, accept/decline draws, etc.
but you're offline. You can disable/enable this in your Settings.
2023-07-24
Add Player-vs-Player in beta. Time Control is still missing, as well as a couple
functionalities that should be added soon.
2023-07-21
Make annotation max. length more explicit in the Analysis Board. Increase the max
length to 2000.
2023-06-17
Some technical changes
2023-06-10
New opening cache for the Analysis Board. The experience isn't much different for
end users, except that the cache itself has been updated.
Indicate if user is online on their profile
2023-06-04
Add an option to Settings to enable/disable email notifications. Right now it's only for the newsletter we
might send later.
Refactor of the pre-calculated opening data (not yet visible to end users)
Upload more games to the Database, totalling 92,000.
2023-06-03
Replace logarithmic eval calculation by a more simple linear calculation in Analysis
Board. The new calculation caps cp at 7,706 which seems to be the actual maximum (except for 31,753 but
there is nothing in-between). cp is then normalize to a 0-100 scale.
Make the engine result data more understandable in the Analysis Board. It would only
show data for evaluation that had a cp value, and nothing for "mate in N" results. Sometimes it would also
show the data for the previously selected move, which didn't make sense. In the future, it would be
interesting to persist engine result data that don't contain a cp value.
Enable/Disable download PGN button in the Move Tree Widget depending on its content (i.e. disabled when
empty)
Add some texts visible only by unauthenticated users, to inform them about the benefits of creating an
account
Upload more games to the Database, reaching about 60,000. The Opening Widget
in the Analysis Board is now a bit unresponsive, so we need to pre-calculate opening
data.
2023-05-20
Export PGN with variations with a nested structure instead of a flat list of lines/variations. However, we
might keep both types of exports later.
Some refactoring around the Move Tree Widget in the Analysis Board, before
integrating to the other screens
2023-05-19
Add a button to the Analysis Board to download the PGN of your analysis
Technical re-organization of files
2023-05-18
Improve "My Analysis" view with buttons to load an older version of your analysis and to delete your
analysis. It will only keep maximum 10 versions.
2023-05-14
Add save and reload user's analysis feature in the Analysis Board
Optimize response time for the Opening Repository Widget on the Analysis Board
2023-05-12
Fix the bug where you had to click twice to open the user drop down menu
2023-05-11
Add right click menu in the Move History Tree Widget in the Analysis Board to edit
the history (e.g. delete branch, etc.)
2023-05-09
Allow multiple variations in the Move History Tree Widget in the Analysis Board
2023-05-08
Re-add the navigation arrows below the new Move History Tree Widget in Analysis
Board.
2023-05-07
Add the Move History Tree Widget to Analysis Board. Still a test version.
Exclude coordinate texts from automated Google translation
2023-04-07
Add a setting option to show/hide coordinates
2023-04-03 / 2023-04-04
Simplifying the UI, so it's more stable on more devices
2023-04-02
Password recovery procedure via email
Indicate number of users online on Global page
Add success rate bar indicator in Global page
2023-04-01
Fix profiles with username with Chinese characters (NB: it's currently not possible to sign up with a
username containing Chinese characters, but this was done manually for some users)
Improved security
Key shortcut to go to next puzzle (Enter)
2023-03-31
Additional information on the global stats page
Charts style on user profile
2023-03-30
Only show the 20 players with the highest rating on the leaderboard
Display solved rate on the leaderboard
2023-03-27
Add quick fix for render on Safari (still doesn't look perfect but at least it's playable)
Only hide category and rating for the easiest puzzles (below mate in 5)
Improve puzzle caching in the backend (should improve performance a little)
Move the changelog on a separate page
2023-03-26
Add option to play with romanized pieces
Add option to rotate the board
Add link to the simple board tool
Bug fix on the new puzzle system (mated by puzzle was not rendered)
Hide puzzle metadata (category and rating) until the puzzle is done
2023-03-25
Refactor puzzles so it can accept alternative paths to checkmate
Uploaded remaining puzzles, to reach just a bit less of 18,000 puzzles total
2023-03-24
Additional data in Global stats page + Top menu item to access it
2023-03-23
Drop down menu for users to update their profile and logout
Caching on HTML files for better performance
2023-03-20
Fix UI issue on mobiles
Add user profile with stats
2023-03-19
UI improvements and fixes (align Puzzles and Play Bot screens with top menu, make Play Bot screen consistent
with Puzzle screen, center modals in the middle of the screen, submit modals form with Enter key, etc.)
2023-03-18
Play against Fairy Stockfish
Click sound on opponent move
Highlight last opponent move (with a dashed green circle)
Basic UI to play against the Pikafish engine (i.e. games are not saved and there is no option to select the
level at the moment). Depth has been set to 4 for now.
