A chess board visualization with pieces that can be positioned programmatically to display specific game positions, puzzles, or notable games. Pieces are defined using a dictionary mapping squares (e.g., 'e4': 'K') to standard chess notation where uppercase letters represent white pieces (K/Q/R/B/N/P) and lowercase represent black pieces (k/q/r/b/n/p). Unicode chess symbols provide clean, recognizable piece rendering.
""" anyplot.ai
chessboard-pieces: Chess Board with Pieces for Position Diagrams
Library: pygal 3.1.0 | Python 3.13.13
Quality: 80/100 | Created: 2026-05-17
"""
import importlib
import os
import sys
import xml.etree.ElementTree as ET
# This file is named pygal.py; strip its directory from sys.path so that
# importlib resolves to the installed package, not this script itself.
_self_dir = os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__))
sys.path = [p for p in sys.path if os.path.realpath(p or ".") != _self_dir]
pygal = importlib.import_module("pygal")
Style = importlib.import_module("pygal.style").Style
ET.register_namespace("", "http://www.w3.org/2000/svg")
ET.register_namespace("xlink", "http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink")
THEME = os.getenv("ANYPLOT_THEME", "light")
PAGE_BG = "#FAF8F1" if THEME == "light" else "#1A1A17"
INK = "#1A1A17" if THEME == "light" else "#F0EFE8"
INK_MUTED = "#6B6A63" if THEME == "light" else "#A8A79F"
LIGHT_SQUARE = "#E8D5C4" if THEME == "light" else "#4A4136"
DARK_SQUARE = "#B5956F" if THEME == "light" else "#2D2622"
WHITE_PIECE_COLOR = "#F5E6D0"
BLACK_PIECE_COLOR = "#1A1A17"
IMPRINT = ("#009E73", "#C475FD", "#4467A3", "#BD8233", "#AE3030", "#2ABCCD", "#954477")
PIECE_UNICODE = {
"K": "♔",
"Q": "♕",
"R": "♖",
"B": "♗",
"N": "♘",
"P": "♙",
"k": "♚",
"q": "♛",
"r": "♜",
"b": "♝",
"n": "♞",
"p": "♟",
}
pieces = {
"a1": "R",
"b1": "N",
"c1": "B",
"d1": "Q",
"e1": "K",
"f1": "B",
"g1": "N",
"h1": "R",
"a2": "P",
"b2": "P",
"c2": "P",
"d2": "P",
"e2": "P",
"f2": "P",
"g2": "P",
"h2": "P",
"a7": "p",
"b7": "p",
"c7": "p",
"d7": "p",
"e7": "p",
"f7": "p",
"g7": "p",
"h7": "p",
"a8": "r",
"b8": "n",
"c8": "b",
"d8": "q",
"e8": "k",
"f8": "b",
"g8": "n",
"h8": "r",
}
# Pygal Style — maps ANYPLOT_THEME tokens to pygal's chrome
custom_style = Style(
background=PAGE_BG,
plot_background=PAGE_BG,
foreground=INK,
foreground_strong=INK,
foreground_subtle=INK_MUTED,
colors=IMPRINT,
title_font_size=72,
label_font_size=40,
major_label_font_size=40,
legend_font_size=36,
)
# pygal.XY renders the SVG skeleton: title, background, and theme chrome
chart = pygal.XY(
width=3600,
height=3600,
title="chessboard-pieces · pygal · anyplot.ai",
style=custom_style,
show_legend=False,
show_x_guides=False,
show_y_guides=False,
show_dots=False,
show_x_labels=False,
show_y_labels=False,
margin=80,
)
chart.add("", [(0, 0)]) # single invisible seed point — show_dots=False hides it
# Render via pygal to get the themed SVG base
svg_bytes = chart.render()
# Inject chess board elements into pygal's SVG tree
root = ET.fromstring(svg_bytes)
NS = "http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"
BOARD_SIZE = 2800
MARGIN_X = (3600 - BOARD_SIZE) // 2 # 400 px side margins
MARGIN_Y = 210 # clears title + top margin
SQ = BOARD_SIZE // 8 # 350 px per square
board_g = ET.SubElement(root, f"{{{NS}}}g", attrib={"id": "chess-board"})
# 64 alternating squares — h1 (file=7, rank=0): (7+0)%2==1 → light ✓
for rank in range(8):
for file in range(8):
x = MARGIN_X + file * SQ
y = MARGIN_Y + (7 - rank) * SQ
fill = LIGHT_SQUARE if (file + rank) % 2 == 1 else DARK_SQUARE
ET.SubElement(
board_g,
f"{{{NS}}}rect",
attrib={"x": str(x), "y": str(y), "width": str(SQ), "height": str(SQ), "fill": fill},
)
# Pieces — white pieces cream, black pieces near-black for visual distinction
for sq_name, piece in pieces.items():
file = ord(sq_name[0]) - ord("a")
rank = int(sq_name[1]) - 1
cx = MARGIN_X + file * SQ + SQ // 2
cy = MARGIN_Y + (7 - rank) * SQ + SQ // 2
t = ET.SubElement(
board_g,
f"{{{NS}}}text",
attrib={
"x": str(cx),
"y": str(cy),
"font-size": str(int(SQ * 0.7)),
"text-anchor": "middle",
"dominant-baseline": "central",
"fill": WHITE_PIECE_COLOR if piece.isupper() else BLACK_PIECE_COLOR,
},
)
t.text = PIECE_UNICODE[piece]
# File labels (a–h)
for file in range(8):
t = ET.SubElement(
board_g,
f"{{{NS}}}text",
attrib={
"x": str(MARGIN_X + file * SQ + SQ // 2),
"y": str(MARGIN_Y + BOARD_SIZE + 55),
"font-size": "44",
"text-anchor": "middle",
"fill": INK_MUTED,
},
)
t.text = chr(ord("a") + file)
# Rank labels (1–8)
for rank in range(8):
t = ET.SubElement(
board_g,
f"{{{NS}}}text",
attrib={
"x": str(MARGIN_X - 30),
"y": str(MARGIN_Y + (7 - rank) * SQ + SQ // 2),
"font-size": "44",
"text-anchor": "end",
"dominant-baseline": "central",
"fill": INK_MUTED,
},
)
t.text = str(rank + 1)
# Serialize — register_namespace calls above keep default SVG namespace prefix clean
svg_content = ET.tostring(root, encoding="unicode")
with open(f"plot-{THEME}.svg", "w", encoding="utf-8") as f:
f.write(svg_content)
try:
import cairosvg
cairosvg.svg2png(bytestring=svg_content.encode(), write_to=f"plot-{THEME}.png")
except ImportError:
pass
with open(f"plot-{THEME}.html", "w", encoding="utf-8") as f:
f.write(
f'<!DOCTYPE html><html><head><meta charset="utf-8">'
f"<style>body{{margin:0;background:{PAGE_BG}}}</style></head>"
f"<body>{svg_content}</body></html>"
)
Part of Chess Board with Pieces for Position Diagrams on anyplot.ai.