docs: session handoff — duplicate-chess landing card and cross-repo deploy

docs: record duplicate-chess sub-app sharing the chess.sethpc.xyz origin
The Caddy block for chess.sethpc.xyz now has a handle_path /duplicate/* that serves the duplicate_chess static bundle from /var/www/duplicate-chess on CT 600. The new 3rd landing card surfaces it as "under development".
2026-05-19 18:16:09 -04:00 · 2026-05-19 18:11:55 -04:00 · 2026-05-19 18:08:11 -04:00 · 2026-05-18 21:53:23 -04:00 · 2026-05-18 21:45:42 -04:00 · 2026-05-18 21:33:46 -04:00
56 changed files with 5407 additions and 4467 deletions
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+# Handoff: AI Phase 1 (Casual bot) shipped
+
+## Session Metadata
+
+- Created: 2026-04-28 ~19:15 UTC
+- Project: /home/claude/bin/blind_chess
+- Branch: `feat/ai-player-phase-1-casual` merged to `main` via fast-forward at commit `1674695` and pushed.
+- Repo: `git.sethpc.xyz/Seth/blind_chess`
+- Live URL: **https://chess.sethpc.xyz** (Phase 1 deployed and verified)
+
+## Handoff Chain
+
+- **Continues from**: [2026-04-28-170713-ai-player-spec.md](./2026-04-28-170713-ai-player-spec.md) — AI player spec written and approved.
+- **Supersedes**: None.
+
+## Current State Summary
+
+Phase 1 of the AI player feature (Casual bot) is **deployed and live**. Playing vs a Casual bot is now an option from the landing page, alongside the existing "play with a friend" flow.
+
+This session executed `docs/superpowers/plans/2026-04-28-ai-player-phase-1-casual.md` via subagent-driven development: 13 tasks, dispatched as fresh subagents per task with two-stage review (spec compliance + code quality). Several tasks surfaced real plan bugs that subagents fixed inline; the most consequential reversal was during Task 11 (self-play harness): the hand-rolled scoring algorithm in `CasualBrain` lost to a random-move baseline 7-7 in 100-game self-play, far below the spec's ≥80% acceptance bar. Solution: swapped vanilla-mode CasualBrain to delegate to `js-chess-engine` (level 2, randomness=30); blind mode kept the heuristic. Casual now wins 96-97% vs Random in vanilla, in both colors.
+
+## Architecture Overview (what's deployed)
+
+- **`packages/server/src/bot/`** — new module:
+  - `brain.ts` — `Brain` interface, `BrainInput`/`BrainAction`/`CandidateMove`/`AttemptHistoryEntry` types. `BrainInput.fen` set ONLY in vanilla mode (preserves view-filter invariant).
+  - `candidates.ts` — `legalCandidates(game, color)`. Vanilla: `chess.js .moves({verbose: true})`. Blind: `geometricMoves` over own pieces + promotion expansion.
+  - `casual-brain.ts` — `CasualBrain implements Brain`. Vanilla: delegates to `js-chess-engine` at level 2; blind: heuristic scoring (capture proxy / development / center / advance). Promotion default: queen. Draw response based on own material count.
+  - `driver.ts` — `BotDriver` per-game orchestrator. Mutex via `decideInFlight`, retry cap of 5, dispatches via `handleCommit`/announce, on game end calls `brain.dispose?.()`.
+  - `index.ts` — public re-exports.
+- **`packages/server/src/game-end.ts`** — extracted from `ws.ts`: `endGame`/`finalizeIfEnded`. Both `ws.ts` and `bot/driver.ts` use it.
+- **`packages/server/src/games.ts`** — bot driver registry (`attachBotDriver`, `getBotDriver`, `disposeBotDriver`). `createGame` accepts optional `vsAi: { brain }` and fills the bot's slot with a synthetic player slot (random token, no socket). `pruneFinished` cleans the registry.
+- **`packages/server/src/state.ts`** — `Game` gains optional `aiOpponent?: { color; brain }` (informational) and required `lastBroadcastIdx: { w: number; b: number }` (per-color watermark for slice broadcasting).
+- **`packages/server/src/ws.ts`** — refactored: `pokeBot(game)` helper called after every state-mutating handler; `broadcastSinceLast(game)` replaces the old `broadcastNewAnnouncements` (slices `game.announcements` from each color's watermark). Handlers are async; router uses `void` casts to discard handler Promises.
+- **`packages/server/src/server.ts`** — `POST /api/games` handles `vsAi: { brain: 'casual' }`: instantiates `CasualBrain` + `BotDriver`, attaches to registry. `vsAi.brain === 'recon'` returns 503 (Phase 2 not implemented). `joinUrl: null` for AI games.
+- **`packages/shared/src/protocol.ts`** — `CreateGameRequest.vsAi`, `CreateGameResponse.joinUrl: string | null`, `aiOpponent` on `joined` and `update` server messages.
+- **`packages/server/src/validation.ts`** — Zod schema for `vsAi`.
+- **Client (`packages/client/`)** — landing page split into two sections (friend / vs computer). In-game UI shows a "Casual bot" badge in the topbar; turn label says "Casual bot is moving…" when bot's turn. The "Opponent disconnected" banner is suppressed for AI games.
+- **`scripts/selfplay.ts`** — operator CLI. `pnpm selfplay --white casual --black random --games 100 --mode vanilla`. Reports W/B/D/MaxPly/Err and end-reason histogram. Supports `--transcripts` for per-game logs.
+
+## Phase 1 Acceptance — Met
+
+| Check | Result |
+|---|---|
+| 100 Casual self-play vanilla games complete | ✅ Err=0 across all runs |
+| Median ply 20-200 in self-play | ✅ avgPly~52 (engine vs random), ~116 (Casual vs Casual) |
+| Casual ≥80% vs Random, both colors | ✅ 97% as W, 96% as B |
+| All unit + integration tests pass | ✅ 75/75 (21 shared + 54 server) |
+| Live smoke checklist | ✅ /api/health, AI game creation, recon→503, no journald errors |
+| Branch merged + deployed | ✅ Merged to main (`1674695`); deployed to CT 690 |
+
+## Critical Files
+
+| File | Status | Notes |
+|---|---|---|
+| `docs/superpowers/specs/2026-04-28-ai-player-design.md` | Unchanged | Original spec; still the source of truth for Phase 2. |
+| `docs/superpowers/plans/2026-04-28-ai-player-phase-1-casual.md` | Unchanged | Phase 1 plan; can be archived or marked "executed" if useful. |
+| `CLAUDE.md` | ✅ Updated | "Current State" reflects Phase 1 deployed; "Key files" lists new bot module. |
+| `DECISIONS.md` | ✅ Updated | New "Phase 1 implementation outcomes" section; the previous "Stockfish deferred" entry is now strikethrough (partial supersede — using `js-chess-engine` instead). |
+| `packages/server/src/bot/` | ✅ New | Brain, BotDriver, CasualBrain, candidates, index. |
+| `packages/server/src/game-end.ts` | ✅ New | Extracted endGame/finalizeIfEnded. |
+| `scripts/selfplay.ts` | ✅ New | Self-play harness. Run via `pnpm selfplay`. |
+| `.secrets.baseline` | ✅ Refreshed | The previous baseline was stale (~6087 lines → 8196 after refresh). pnpm-lock.yaml integrity hashes for js-chess-engine were tripping the secret-detection hook. |
+
+## Decisions Made (highlights — full list in DECISIONS.md)
+
+- **CasualBrain reversal**: vanilla mode now delegates to `js-chess-engine` at level 2. Hand-rolled scorer lost to random — empirically broken. Engine swap brought it to 96-97% vs random.
+- **`BrainInput.fen` is vanilla-only**: blind mode omits the FEN to preserve the view-filter invariant. The engine cannot smuggle opponent positions past the security boundary.
+- **Blind mode keeps the heuristic**: a chess engine isn't useful when the bot only sees its own pieces. That gap is what Phase 2 (Recon) addresses with belief-state-from-announcements.
+- **Bot-slot tokens are randomized**: not a fixed placeholder. Closes a hijack vector caught in code review.
+- **`endGame`/`finalizeIfEnded` extracted to `game-end.ts`**: both ws and driver need to set finished state; duplication risk eliminated.
+- **`pokeBot → broadcastSinceLast` order is load-bearing**: the bot's response (move + announcements) must be in `game.announcements` before broadcasting, so the human sees the bot's reply in the same WS message they receive after their own move.
+
+## Immediate Next Steps
+
+1. **Soak Phase 1 for a few days of real play** before starting Phase 2. Watch for:
+   - Bot-driver errors in journald (`ssh root@192.168.0.245 'journalctl -u blind-chess | grep "bot driver error"'`).
+   - Mid-game crashes or stuck games.
+   - User feedback on Casual's strength (too weak / too strong / fine — defaults to `js-chess-engine` level 2).
+
+2. **When ready, write Phase 2 plan** — `docs/superpowers/plans/YYYY-MM-DD-ai-player-phase-2-recon.md` against the existing spec. Phase 2 reuses the `Brain` and `BotDriver` infrastructure unchanged; new pieces are `OllamaClient`, `ollama-endpoints` (preflight + failover), `prompt`, `parse`, `ReconBrain`, plus `aiInfo` protocol field, `'ai_unavailable'` end reason, post-game reasoning reveal UI.
+
+3. **Tune Casual difficulty if needed.** Single-line change in `packages/server/src/bot/casual-brain.ts` — `level` default in `CasualOpts` (currently 2). Drop to 1 if it feels unbeatable; raise to 3 if trivial.
+
+## Blockers / Open Questions
+
+- **Casual at level 2 may be too strong for some users.** Beats random 96-97% which is the intended acceptance bar, but a careful human is supposed to win against Casual. If users report Casual is unbeatable, drop to level 1. If users report it's trivial, raise to level 3. (`packages/server/src/bot/casual-brain.ts:33` — change the default in `CasualOpts`.)
+- **Blind mode self-play games are very short** (avgPly=16, all resignations). The heuristic exhausts its retry cap (5) when the bot picks a move that can't legally proceed in blind mode. This is functional but observation: blind Casual is much weaker than vanilla Casual. Consider raising retry cap or improving heuristic if blind Casual feels broken in real play.
+- **`js-chess-engine` declares `engines: { node: '>=24' }`** but works on Node 22.22.2. Engines is advisory by default. If a future Node update breaks it, pin to v1.x of the package (`npm i js-chess-engine@^1.0.0`) — older API but compatible.
+
+## Deferred Items (Phase 2 work)
+
+All from the original AI spec, untouched:
+- `ReconBrain` (gemma4:26b chat agent on steel141 RTX 3090 Ti, pve197 V100 fallback).
+- Mid-game GPU failover, preflight, AI-unavailable end state.
+- Persistent chat history per game; post-game reasoning reveal UI.
+- `aiInfo` protocol field (model + GPU + host).
+- Acceptance bar: Recon wins ≥60% over 50 Recon-vs-Casual self-play games.
+
+## Important Context for Future Sessions
+
+- **The bot's `BoardView` is the only egress to the engine, in vanilla mode.** This invariant is preserved structurally: the FEN is set in `BrainInput` only when `mode === 'vanilla'`. Phase 2 ReconBrain will not need this field at all (it gets the view + announcements only — same input shape as a human player who can't see the FEN of the actual game).
+- **`Casual` and `Recon` brains are both architecturally instances of `Brain`.** Phase 2 just adds another `Brain` implementation against the same `BotDriver`. The driver's mutex / retry / dispatch / dispose lifecycle does NOT need changes.
+- **Watermark advance only on successful dispatch** (in `BotDriver.runDecisionCycle`). On retry, the brain still sees the FSM's rejection announcement in `newAnnouncements`. This matters for ReconBrain (Phase 2) which uses announcements as evidence; CasualBrain ignores them.
+- **`scripts/selfplay.ts` is the canonical evaluation tool**. Phase 2 will extend it to support `--white recon --black casual` etc. The harness sets `game.aiOpponent = undefined; game.status = 'active'` after `createGame` returns — that's how it transitions out of "waiting" without a hello.
+- **The pre-commit hook is `detect-secrets-hook --baseline .secrets.baseline`** in `/home/claude/.config/git/hooks/pre-commit`. If you add a new dep and pnpm-lock.yaml hashes get flagged, run `detect-secrets scan > .secrets.baseline` to refresh.
+
+## Files Modified / Added This Session
+
+| File | Change |
+|---|---|
+| (new) `packages/server/src/bot/{brain,candidates,casual-brain,driver,index}.ts` | The bot module (~600 LoC). |
+| (new) `packages/server/src/game-end.ts` | Extracted from ws.ts. |
+| (new) `packages/server/test/unit/bot/{candidates,casual-brain,driver}.test.ts` | 27 unit tests. |
+| (new) `packages/server/test/integration/ai-game-casual.test.ts` | 5 integration tests. |
+| (new) `scripts/selfplay.ts` | Operator CLI. |
+| (new) `docs/superpowers/plans/2026-04-28-ai-player-phase-1-casual.md` | The plan. |
+| `packages/server/src/state.ts`, `games.ts`, `validation.ts`, `server.ts`, `ws.ts` | Wired up. |
+| `packages/shared/src/protocol.ts` | Added `vsAi`, `aiOpponent`, nullable `joinUrl`. |
+| `packages/client/src/lib/Landing.svelte`, `Game.svelte`, `stores/game.svelte.ts` | UI. |
+| `package.json`, `pnpm-lock.yaml`, `packages/server/package.json` | Added `js-chess-engine`, `tsx`. |
+| `CLAUDE.md`, `DECISIONS.md` | Context updates. |
+| `.secrets.baseline` | Refreshed. |
+
+## Environment State
+
+- **CT 690 / blind-chess.service:** running. `systemctl is-active` returns `active`. Uptime measured from the deploy-restart at 2026-04-28 ~19:14 UTC.
+- **Active processes:** none session-relevant. The deploy was a normal restart of the systemd unit.
+- **Environment variables:** none added/changed.
+- **Secrets:** none added; `.secrets.baseline` was refreshed to a clean state (the old one had ~4500 lines of stale per-file entries).
+
+## Related Resources
+
+- Live URL: https://chess.sethpc.xyz — Phase 1 live.
+- Repo: https://git.sethpc.xyz/Seth/blind_chess — `feat/ai-player-phase-1-casual` branch (pending merge to main).
+- Spec: `docs/superpowers/specs/2026-04-28-ai-player-design.md`.
+- Plan: `docs/superpowers/plans/2026-04-28-ai-player-phase-1-casual.md`.
+- Decisions: `DECISIONS.md` "AI / computer player" section + new "Phase 1 implementation outcomes" subsection.
+- Project identity: `CLAUDE.md`.
+- Prior handoffs: `2026-04-28-170713-ai-player-spec.md`, `2026-04-28-152000-mvp-deployed.md`, `2026-04-28-104344-spec-approved-ready-for-plan.md`, `2026-04-28-kickoff.md`.
+
+---
+
+**Security Reminder**: This handoff describes Phase 1 deployment; no credentials, secrets, or sensitive endpoints are exposed in the handoff or the deployed code. The bot uses no external services in Phase 1 (Phase 2 will add Ollama endpoints).
@@ -0,0 +1,147 @@
+# Handoff: Blind Casual check-resolution fix shipped
+
+## Session Metadata
+
+- Created: 2026-04-29 06:01:21 UTC
+- Project: /home/claude/bin/blind_chess
+- Branch: main (commits `dc7f8ad`, `f00164e` pushed)
+- Session duration: ~1 hour
+- Live URL: https://chess.sethpc.xyz (deployed and verified)
+
+### Recent Commits (for context)
+
+- `f00164e` chore: gitignore tmp/ for self-play transcripts
+- `dc7f8ad` fix(bot): blind Casual no longer resigns prematurely under check
+- `1213ec8` docs: handoff reflects final merged state
+- `1674695` docs: AI Phase 1 shipped — context, decisions, handoff
+- `7c18725` feat(bot): vanilla CasualBrain delegates to js-chess-engine
+
+## Handoff Chain
+
+- **Continues from**: [2026-04-28-191500-ai-phase-1-shipped.md](./2026-04-28-191500-ai-phase-1-shipped.md) — Phase 1 (Casual bot) deployed; the prior handoff predicted this exact bug as a deferred risk: *"the heuristic exhausts its retry cap (5) when the bot picks a move that can't legally proceed in blind mode... Consider raising retry cap or improving heuristic if blind Casual feels broken in real play."*
+- **Supersedes**: None.
+
+## Current State Summary
+
+User reported: *"casual bot is resigning prematurely."* Investigation confirmed the prior handoff's prediction. Vanilla mode is rock-solid (0 resigns across 80 stress games); blind mode was 100% resign at avg ply 26 in self-play. Root cause: `CasualBrain.heuristicPick` ignored the `<own>_in_check` moderator announcement and scored moves on capture/advance signals uncorrelated with check resolution. chess.js rejected every non-resolving attempt, `BotDriver.RETRY_CAP=5` fired, and the bot resigned. Fix shipped in two commits, deployed to CT 690, smoke-tested. **Blind self-play (100 games): resigns 100% → 17%, avg ply 26 → 90.** Vanilla regression check confirmed unchanged strength.
+
+## Architecture Overview
+
+The fix preserves the spec's view-filter invariant — **the brain still sees only its own pieces + announcements, no oracle access added**. The data needed to detect check was already being delivered to the brain in `newAnnouncements`; the heuristic just wasn't reading it. This is a recurring shape worth recognizing: a bug that looks like "the AI is broken" often turns out to be "the AI ignored a signal the protocol already sends."
+
+The retry-cap raise (5 → 25) is essentially free for vanilla because chess.js verbose moves are guaranteed legal — vanilla never exercises retries. Blind needs the larger budget because pseudo-legal candidates from `geometricMoves` are filtered by chess.js at commit time and many fail (pinned pieces, unresolved check).
+
+The new `[bot resign]` log line in `BotDriver.botResign()` decouples observability from the fix. Phase 1 had silent resignations — operators couldn't grep journald for them, which is why the bug surfaced as a user report rather than an alert. Future regressions are now greppable: `journalctl -u blind-chess | grep "bot resign"`.
+
+## Critical Files
+
+| File | Purpose | Relevance |
+|------|---------|-----------|
+| `packages/server/src/bot/casual-brain.ts` | Decision logic; vanilla delegates to js-chess-engine, blind uses heuristic | New `detectOwnCheck()` and `findOwnKing()` methods; `heuristicPick` takes `inCheck` parameter and applies +5000 boost to king moves |
+| `packages/server/src/bot/driver.ts` | Per-game orchestrator; mutex, retry, dispatch, dispose | `RETRY_CAP` 5 → 25; `botResign()` now takes a `BotResignReason` and logs `[bot resign]` with structured detail |
+| `packages/server/test/unit/bot/casual-brain.test.ts` | Unit tests | +2 tests: check-aware king bias (20-seed determinism check), and fall-through to non-king when all king moves are rejected |
+| `packages/server/test/unit/bot/driver.test.ts` | Unit tests | Retry-cap test updated for new RETRY_CAP=25 |
+| `scripts/selfplay.ts` | Operator CLI for evaluation | Used heavily this session — `pnpm selfplay --white casual --black casual --games 100 --mode blind --seed 100` |
+
+## Verification Results
+
+| Check | Result |
+|---|---|
+| Blind 100-game self-play (Casual vs Casual, seed=100) | resigns 100% → 17%, avgPly 26 → 90; 42 checkmates, 41 threefolds |
+| Blind 20-game self-play (seed=42, same as pre-fix benchmark) | resigns 100% → 35%, avgPly 26 → 82 |
+| Vanilla 30-game self-play (Casual vs Casual, seed=42) | 0 resigns; 27 checkmates, 2 threefolds, 1 fifty-move |
+| Vanilla 50-game self-play (Casual W vs Random B, seed=7) | 0 resigns; Casual wins 49/50 |
+| Vanilla 50-game self-play (Random W vs Casual B, seed=7) | 0 resigns; Casual wins 49/50 |
+| Test suite | 78 passing (was 75; +2 new check tests, +1 driver retry-cap test updated) |
+| Live `/api/health` | `{"ok":true,"activeGames":0,"uptime":4}` |
+| Live POST `/api/games` with `vsAi.brain=casual` blind mode | 200 + `joinUrl:null` |
+| Live POST `/api/games` with `vsAi.brain=recon` | 503 + `ai_offline` (Phase 2 unimplemented, expected) |
+| journald post-deploy | No errors/warnings |
+
+## Decisions Made
+
+| Decision | Options Considered | Rationale |
+|----------|-------------------|-----------|
+| Boost king moves in heuristic vs filter candidates by chess.js legality | (a) heuristic boost — preserves view-filter invariant; (b) chess.js pre-filter — would leak attacker info | Chose (a). Preserves "bots play through the same view filter as humans" principle from the AI spec; same information ration as a human player |
+| `RETRY_CAP` 5 → 25 (single global cap) vs per-mode caps | Per-mode (5 vanilla, 25 blind) vs global 25 | Chose global. Vanilla never hits the cap, so single cap simplifies code with no regression |
+| King-move boost magnitude +5000 | Smaller (e.g., +200) vs larger | +5000 is large enough to deterministically dominate all other heuristic factors plus the 0.01 random tiebreak; unit test asserts 20/20 seeds pick king moves under check |
+| Add resign logging now vs defer | (a) bundled with fix; (b) separate later commit | Bundled. The handoff explicitly noted the silent-resign observability gap; fixing that gap was load-bearing for any future regression detection |
+| Two commits (fix + .gitignore) vs one | One bundled commit vs split | Split. Per global homelab convention: "no batching unrelated changes" — .gitignore drift was pre-existing and orthogonal |
+
+## Immediate Next Steps
+
+1. **Soak the fix for a few days of real play** before declaring "blind Casual is solid". Watch for:
+   - `ssh root@192.168.0.245 'journalctl -u blind-chess | grep "bot resign"'` — should be rare; legitimate forced positions only.
+   - User feedback on whether blind Casual still feels broken (lower bar but still possible).
+   - Mid-game stuck states (the retry budget is now 25; with degenerate brain output that's 25× more compute per cycle — should still be sub-second).
+2. **When ready, write Phase 2 plan** — `docs/superpowers/plans/<DATE>-ai-player-phase-2-recon.md`. Phase 2 reuses the `Brain`/`BotDriver` infrastructure unchanged; new pieces are `OllamaClient`, `ollama-endpoints` (preflight + failover), `prompt`, `parse`, `ReconBrain`, plus `aiInfo` protocol field, `'ai_unavailable'` end reason, post-game reasoning reveal UI.
+3. **(Cleanup, low priority)** `git rm --cached packages/server/tsconfig.tsbuildinfo` — file is tracked from before the `*.tsbuildinfo` rule was added to `.gitignore`. Persistent `M` noise in `git status` between any rebuilds. Not blocking.
+
+## Blockers / Open Questions
+
+- **Blind Casual is now noticeably stronger but still loses to careful play.** The 17% post-fix resign rate represents legitimately stuck positions (multi-piece checks with no king escape, etc.) more than blunders. A human in those positions would also struggle. If users still feel blind Casual is unbeatable-or-broken, the next lever is making the heuristic *also* prefer captures and adjacent-to-king moves under check (likely block targets).
+- **Threefold draws spiked from 0% → 41% in blind self-play.** Two Casual bots with the same seed/heuristic shuffle pieces and repeat positions. This is more a self-play artifact than a real-play concern; humans don't repeat. Worth watching but not actionable yet.
+
+## Deferred Items
+
+All Phase 2 work, untouched:
+- `ReconBrain` (gemma4:26b chat agent on steel141 RTX 3090 Ti, pve197 V100 fallback)
+- Mid-game GPU failover, preflight, AI-unavailable end state
+- Persistent chat history per game; post-game reasoning reveal UI
+- `aiInfo` protocol field (model + GPU + host)
+- Acceptance bar: Recon wins ≥60% over 50 Recon-vs-Casual self-play games
+
+## Important Context
+
+- **The view-filter invariant is preserved.** No oracle access was added. The brain detects check via `<own_color>_in_check` in `newAnnouncements`, which is a public moderator announcement humans receive too. Phase 2 ReconBrain will read these same announcements — the pattern is now established.
+- **`BrainInput.fen` is set ONLY in vanilla mode.** Blind mode omits it so the engine path can't smuggle opponent positions past the view filter. The fix did not touch this; the security boundary holds.
+- **Watermark advance only on successful dispatch** is load-bearing for the fix. On retry, the brain still sees the original `<color>_in_check` announcement from the opponent's move (because `lastSeenAnnouncementCount` doesn't advance until success). This is what makes `detectOwnCheck` robust across retries.
+- **The bot still uses the heuristic in vanilla as fallback** if the engine returns a move not in the chess.js candidate list. Vanilla never exercised this path in our tests, but the new `inCheck` parameter is wired through it for safety.
+- **`scripts/selfplay.ts` is the canonical evaluation tool.** Phase 2 will extend it to support `--white recon --black casual` etc. The harness sets `game.aiOpponent = undefined; game.status = 'active'` after `createGame` returns — that's how it transitions out of "waiting" without a hello.
+
+## Assumptions Made
+
+- The user was playing in **blind mode** when they reported premature resignation. I didn't ask, but vanilla self-play showed 0 resigns across 80 games while blind showed 100%, so blind was overwhelmingly the more likely mode. If they were actually playing vanilla, that's a different bug — though I have no evidence of one.
+- The +5000 king-move boost is "large enough." Verified by 20-seed determinism test; if the heuristic ever gains another factor scoring above ~5000, this assumption breaks and the test will catch it.
+- `RETRY_CAP=25` is sufficient. 100-game blind self-play showed 17% still hit the cap — those are legitimate stuck positions, not under-budgeted retry. If real-play feedback says otherwise, raise further (each retry is microseconds for the heuristic; the cap could go to 50+ without performance concern).
+
+## Potential Gotchas
+
+- **`packages/server/tsconfig.tsbuildinfo` shows persistent `M`** in `git status` — it was tracked before `*.tsbuildinfo` was gitignored. Don't be alarmed; it's preexisting drift, not your work.
+- **The pre-commit hook is `detect-secrets-hook --baseline .secrets.baseline`** at `~/.config/git/hooks/pre-commit`. If you add a new dep and pnpm-lock hashes get flagged, run `detect-secrets scan > .secrets.baseline` to refresh.
+- **Server restart drops in-memory games.** Acceptable for MVP per prior decisions, but be aware: any active player-vs-Casual game in flight at deploy time will lose state.
+- **`js-chess-engine` declares `engines: { node: '>=24' }`** but works on Node 22.22.2. Engines is advisory by default. If a future Node update breaks it, pin to v1.x of the package.
+
+## Files Modified This Session
+
+| File | Change |
+|------|--------|
+| `packages/server/src/bot/casual-brain.ts` | +35 LoC: new `detectOwnCheck`, `findOwnKing`; `heuristicPick` takes `inCheck`, boosts king moves +5000 when set |
+| `packages/server/src/bot/driver.ts` | `RETRY_CAP` 5 → 25; `botResign(reason, detail?)` with `console.error('[bot resign]', ...)`; `BotResignReason` union; `errString` helper |
+| `packages/server/test/unit/bot/casual-brain.test.ts` | +2 tests (check-aware king preference; fall-through to non-king when king moves exhausted) |
+| `packages/server/test/unit/bot/driver.test.ts` | Retry-cap test updated 5 → 25, expected calls updated |
+| `.gitignore` | +`tmp/` (separate commit `f00164e`) |
+
+## Environment State
+
+- **CT 690 / blind-chess.service:** running. Restarted 09:54 UTC after deploy. `systemctl is-active` returns `active`.
+- **Active processes:** none session-relevant. Deploy was a normal restart of the systemd unit.
+- **Environment variables:** none added/changed.
+- **Backups:**
+  - Local: `packages/server/src/bot/.backup/{casual-brain,driver}.ts.1777455623`
+  - CT 690: `/opt/blind-chess/.backup/server-1777456437.tar.gz`
+- **Secrets:** none added; pre-commit detect-secrets hook passed both commits clean.
+
+## Related Resources
+
+- Live URL: https://chess.sethpc.xyz
+- Repo: https://git.sethpc.xyz/Seth/blind_chess (`main` at `f00164e`)
+- AI Phase 1 spec: `docs/superpowers/specs/2026-04-28-ai-player-design.md`
+- Phase 1 plan: `docs/superpowers/plans/2026-04-28-ai-player-phase-1-casual.md`
+- DECISIONS.md "AI / computer player" section
+- Project identity: `CLAUDE.md`
+- Prior handoffs: `2026-04-28-191500-ai-phase-1-shipped.md`, `2026-04-28-170713-ai-player-spec.md`, `2026-04-28-152000-mvp-deployed.md`, `2026-04-28-104344-spec-approved-ready-for-plan.md`, `2026-04-28-kickoff.md`
+
+---
+
+**Security Reminder**: This handoff describes a behavior fix; no credentials, secrets, or sensitive endpoints are exposed in the handoff or the deployed code.
@@ -0,0 +1,130 @@
+# Handoff: Table-fidelity batch — deployed; manual test pass underway
+
+## Session Metadata
+- Created: 2026-05-18 20:57:36
+- Project: /home/claude/bin/blind_chess
+- Branch: main (all work committed and pushed to `git.sethpc.xyz/Seth/blind_chess`)
+- Session duration: ~one full session (brainstorm → spec → plan → 12-task execution)
+
+## Handoff Chain
+
+- **Continues from**: [2026-04-29-060121-blind-casual-check-fix.md](./2026-04-29-060121-blind-casual-check-fix.md) — the prior session fixed blind Casual's premature resignation.
+- **Supersedes**: None.
+
+## Recent Commits (for context)
+
+- `c01244c` fix: promotion dialog only fires for genuine pawn promotions — **deployed**
+- `5d995eb` docs: update handoff
+- `d10e581` fix(client): light outline on dark phantom glyphs for panel contrast — **deployed**
+- `0773300` docs: table-fidelity batch deployed to both instances
+- `2e80800` docs: record table-fidelity feature batch as code-complete
+- Feature implementation range: `be8ecd9..2e80800` (20 commits); two follow-up fixes since (`d10e581`, `c01244c`), both deployed.
+
+## Current State Summary
+
+The "table-fidelity feature batch" (three features Andrew Freiberg — Seth's dad, a physical-blind-chess player — requested by email) is **fully implemented, reviewed, committed to `main`, and deployed** (2026-05-18) to both live instances — `chess.sethpc.xyz` (CT 690) and `chess.local` (VDJ-RIG). All 12 plan tasks were executed via subagent-driven development with two-stage review per task plus a final whole-batch review. Build, typecheck, and the 94-test suite all pass (32 shared + 62 server).
+
+A **manual browser test pass is underway** (Seth). It has surfaced two bugs so far — both fixed and deployed:
+1. **Contrast** (`d10e581`): opponent (black) phantom pieces were near-invisible on the dark `--panel` background — black glyphs in the palette, Captures panel, and drag-ghost now get a light text-shadow outline.
+2. **Spurious promotion dialog** (`c01244c`): the "Promote pawn" modal fired for any pawn "moved" toward the last rank because the commit paths checked the destination rank but not the pawn's *source* rank — easy to hit once the phantom layer filled ranks 7-8 with tappable phantoms. Fixed with a new shared `isPromotionMove(piece, from, to)` (pawn, from the rank adjacent to promotion, to the promotion rank, ≤1 file over), used by both client `onCommit` and server `isPromotionRequired`.
+
+Both fixes are live — the two instances and `main` are all at `c01244c`.
+
+## Architecture Overview
+
+Three features, two increments, all shipped:
+
+1. **Announce-all (F1):** every moderator `Announcement` is now `audience: 'both'`. Previously move events went only to the opponent and attempted-move errors only to the actor. The `audience` field is retained (uniformly `'both'`) as the egress-control hook in `ws.ts`/`ModeratorPanel`. The Casual bot's *intermediate* retry-rejection announcements are popped in `BotDriver.dispatch` so its blind-mode search does not broadcast as churn — only its final move is announced.
+2. **Capture tally (F2):** a server-derived per-viewer `captures: CaptureTally` field on the `joined`/`update` messages, rendered by a new `CaptureTally.svelte` panel. Must be server-side — in blind mode the capturing client cannot see what it took.
+3. **Phantom layer (F3):** a client-LOCAL overlay of guessed opponent pieces, blind mode only. Seeded once with the opponent's standard army, then fully manual: pointer-drag a phantom anywhere, off-board to remove, re-add from an unlimited palette. Persisted to `localStorage` (`bc:phantoms:<gameId>`). **Never sent to the server** — it lives in its own store so the zero-leak property is auditable.
+
+The zero-leak core (`buildView`, `geometric.ts`) was deliberately untouched.
+
+## Critical Files
+
+| File | Purpose | Relevance |
+|------|---------|-----------|
+| `docs/superpowers/specs/2026-05-18-table-fidelity-features-design.md` | The spec | Design rationale, info-leak analysis |
+| `docs/superpowers/plans/2026-05-18-table-fidelity-features.md` | The 12-task plan | Amended to match shipped code |
+| `packages/server/src/translator.ts`, `commit.ts` | F1 audience change | All announcements `'both'` |
+| `packages/server/src/bot/driver.ts` | F1 bot-churn suppression | `dispatch` pops intermediate rejections |
+| `packages/server/src/captures.ts` | F2 `captureTally` | Pure per-viewer derivation |
+| `packages/shared/src/phantoms.ts` | F3 pure model | `opponentStartPosition`, `deserializePhantoms` (tested) |
+| `packages/client/src/lib/stores/phantoms.svelte.ts` | F3 local store | Never read in any `send` path |
+| `packages/client/src/lib/stores/phantom-drag.svelte.ts` | F3 drag controller | Pointer events, tap-vs-drag, `pointercancel`-safe |
+| `packages/client/src/lib/Board.svelte`, `Game.svelte`, `PhantomPalette.svelte` | F3 UI | Phantom rendering + wiring |
+
+## Key Patterns Discovered
+
+- **Build ordering:** `server`/`client` resolve `@blind-chess/shared` from its built `dist/`. After editing `shared`, run `pnpm --filter @blind-chess/shared build` before downstream typecheck/build. `pnpm -r build` handles order automatically.
+- **Client has no test harness** (by design). Pure logic worth testing goes to `packages/shared` (vitest); Svelte components are covered by `svelte-check` + manual.
+- **`ply`-parity actor derivation:** the four attempted-move enums carry no colour; the client derives White/Black from `ply % 2` (an attempt only happens on the actor's turn).
+
+## Work Completed
+
+- Tasks 1–11 of the plan (all three features), each with implementer + spec-compliance review + code-quality review and fix loops.
+- Final whole-batch code review — verdict: ready to ship, no Critical/Important issues.
+- Checkpoint A and B verifications: `pnpm -r build && pnpm -r typecheck && pnpm -r test` all clean; 87 tests pass (25 shared + 62 server).
+- DECISIONS.md, CLAUDE.md, and the spec updated to reflect the shipped state.
+
+## Files Modified
+
+See `git diff --stat be8ecd9..2e80800`. New files: `packages/server/src/captures.ts`, `packages/server/test/unit/captures.test.ts`, `packages/shared/src/phantoms.ts`, `packages/shared/test/phantoms.test.ts`, `packages/client/src/lib/{CaptureTally,PhantomPalette}.svelte`, `packages/client/src/lib/stores/{phantoms,phantom-drag}.svelte.ts`. Modified: `translator.ts`, `commit.ts`, `bot/driver.ts`, `ws.ts`, `shared/{types,protocol,index}.ts`, `client/lib/{Board,Game,ModeratorPanel}.svelte`, `client/lib/stores/game.svelte.ts`.
+
+## Decisions Made
+
+All recorded in `DECISIONS.md` under "Table-fidelity features (2026-05-18)" and "Deferred / Rejected". Key ones: announcements widened to `'both'` (deliberate, authorised); manual phantom model (smart-tracker rejected); phantom layer client-local only; drag-and-drop for phantoms only (real moves stay click-to-move).
+
+## Immediate Next Steps
+
+1. **Continue the manual browser/phone test pass.** Open https://chess.sethpc.xyz, create a **blind game vs computer**, and check: the moderator panel shows White/Black-labelled attempt lines; the Captures panel updates on a capture; the phantom layer renders 16 seeded pieces; dragging a phantom moves it / off-board removes it; the palette places phantoms; a *tap* still makes real moves; genuine pawn promotion (pawn e7→e8) still pops the dialog; phantoms persist across reload; vanilla mode shows no phantom UI; phantoms hide on game end. The phantom drag is the main mobile-risk surface — test on a phone.
+2. **Check the board phantom glyph contrast.** `.phantom-b` (dark phantoms on the board) render at `opacity: 0.4` on the board squares; they have a dashed frame so the square reads, but the piece *type* may be hard to tell on dark squares. Flagged to Seth to eyeball during the test pass — if too faint, give `.phantom-b` a subtle light outline without killing the intentional translucency.
+3. (Optional) Fix the `install-local.sh` redeploy gap, and reconcile the stale VDJ-RIG "no Caddy" note — see Potential Gotchas.
+
+## Blockers / Open Questions
+
+- **Board phantom glyph contrast — open question.** See Immediate Next Steps #2 — needs a human eye on a real board before deciding whether `.phantom-b` needs an outline.
+- **Manual browser test pass is in progress, not complete.** Two bugs found and fixed+deployed so far (contrast, spurious promotion dialog); the rest of the checklist in Next Step #1 is unverified. The phantom drag-and-drop in particular (pointer events, tap-vs-drag, hit-testing) is verified only by code review, not by clicking.
+
+## Deferred Items
+
+- Phantom-layer `localStorage` cleanup for games abandoned mid-play (no `finished` transition) — tiny leak, add a stale-key sweep only if it matters.
+- Highlighting interacting with phantoms (rays stopping at phantom pieces) — safe but out of v1 scope.
+- An `ai-game-casual` WebSocket integration test for F1 — the `driver.test.ts` unit test was chosen instead (covers the same commit-path; spec updated to record this).
+
+## Important Context
+
+- **Everything is on `main` and pushed.** Seth explicitly chose to work directly on `main` (no feature branch). There is nothing to merge.
+- **The feature batch plus both follow-up fixes are deployed and live** on both instances (`chess.sethpc.xyz` and `chess.local`) at commit `c01244c` — `main` and the live site match. Deployment is outward-facing and drops in-memory games — confirm timing with Seth.
+- **Two deploy instances now exist** (CLAUDE.md was updated mid-project): CT 690 / `chess.sethpc.xyz`, and `chess.local` on VDJ-RIG. Both need the update.
+- The final review confirmed the security invariant holds: no `phantom` token anywhere under `packages/server/src/`, `buildView`/`geometric.ts` byte-for-byte unchanged.
+
+## Assumptions Made
+
+- The client a11y trade-off (phantom spans and palette pieces are pointer-only, with a documented `svelte-ignore a11y_no_static_element_interactions`) is acceptable — adding `tabindex` without a keyboard drag would be worse a11y. Real gameplay stays fully keyboard-operable via the square buttons.
+- 94 is the expected test count (32 shared + 62 server); the client contributes 0 (no harness).
+
+## Potential Gotchas
+
+- `packages/server/tsconfig.tsbuildinfo` shows persistent `M` in `git status` — pre-existing drift (tracked before `*.tsbuildinfo` was gitignored), not this session's work.
+- The pre-commit hook is `detect-secrets-hook --baseline .secrets.baseline`.
+- Server restart on deploy drops all in-memory games. (CT 690 had 3 "active" games at deploy time — almost certainly stale abandoned games, since active games never auto-expire and uptime was 19 days; dropped per the pre-accepted MVP policy.)
+- `deploy/install-local.sh` (the `chess.local` installer) ends with `systemctl enable --now blind-chess.service`, which does NOT restart an already-running service — a redeploy via the script alone leaves the old code running. Deploys work around it with an explicit `sudo systemctl restart blind-chess` after the script. Proper fix: change the script's `enable --now` to `enable` then `restart`.
+- **VDJ-RIG port 80 has a Caddy** (host-routing): `curl http://chess.local/` serves the app correctly, but `curl http://localhost/` returns a Caddy `502`. CLAUDE.md's `chess.local` operations note says "no Caddy" — that note is stale or incomplete. Doesn't affect the instance; verify rig deploys via the `chess.local` hostname, not `localhost`.
+
+## Environment State
+
+- **Tools/Services:** pnpm workspace; `gitea` CLI for push. Subagent-driven development for execution.
+- **Active Processes:** none. No dev servers left running.
+- **Environment Variables:** none added or changed.
+
+## Related Resources
+
+- Spec: `docs/superpowers/specs/2026-05-18-table-fidelity-features-design.md`
+- Plan: `docs/superpowers/plans/2026-05-18-table-fidelity-features.md`
+- `DECISIONS.md` → "Table-fidelity features (2026-05-18)"
+- Live URL: https://chess.sethpc.xyz (deployed at `c01244c`) · Repo: https://git.sethpc.xyz/Seth/blind_chess (`main` at `c01244c`)
+
+---
+
+**Security Reminder**: No credentials or secrets are included in this handoff.
@@ -0,0 +1,135 @@
+# Handoff: 3rd landing card linking to duplicate-chess (deployed)
+
+## Session Metadata
+- Created: 2026-05-19 18:14:48
+- Project: /home/claude/bin/blind_chess
+- Branch: main (commits pushed)
+- Session duration: ~30 minutes; the bulk of this session's substantive work
+  happened in the sibling `duplicate_chess` repo — see that repo's handoff for
+  the full deploy story.
+
+### Recent Commits (for context)
+- `33a7cef` docs: record duplicate-chess sub-app sharing the chess.sethpc.xyz origin
+- `fef6dcf` feat(client): third landing card linking to duplicate chess
+- `d95ab2a` docs: refresh handoff — promotion fix shipped, both fixes deployed
+- `c01244c` fix: promotion dialog only fires for genuine pawn promotions
+
+## Handoff Chain
+
+- **Continues from**: [2026-05-18-205736-table-fidelity-features.md](./2026-05-18-205736-table-fidelity-features.md)
+  — that handoff's state is otherwise still current; the manual browser test
+  pass on the table-fidelity batch is still pending.
+- **Cross-repo companion**: `~/bin/duplicate_chess/.claude/handoffs/2026-05-19-181212-deployed-as-chess-sethpc-xyz-duplicate.md`
+  — the full story of the deploy lives there.
+
+## Current State Summary
+
+The blind_chess landing now shows a 3rd card — "Duplicate Chess (under
+development)" — that links to `/duplicate/`. The page-level deploy on
+`chess.sethpc.xyz` is live and verified: the served bundle contains the new
+strings ("Duplicate Chess", "under development", "/duplicate/") and CSS classes
+(`.card-link`, `.badge`, `.open-cue`); curling `/duplicate/` returns the
+duplicate_chess static index from a separate `handle_path` block in the same
+Caddy site. blind_chess's server was restarted (1 in-memory game dropped per
+the pre-accepted MVP policy).
+
+State of blind_chess proper is otherwise unchanged from the table-fidelity
+handoff — the same open items (manual browser test pass, board phantom glyph
+contrast eyeball) apply.
+
+## Architecture Overview
+
+The `chess.sethpc.xyz` Caddy block on CT 600 now routes:
+
+- `/duplicate/*` → static `/var/www/duplicate-chess/` (`handle_path` strips
+  the prefix; Vite was built with `base: '/duplicate/'`).
+- Everything else → reverse_proxy to CT 690:3000 (blind_chess Fastify, as
+  before).
+
+This means duplicate_chess deploys never restart blind_chess. The blind_chess
+client just contains a link to `/duplicate/` — no SPA-level integration.
+
+## Critical Files
+
+| File | Purpose | Relevance |
+|------|---------|-----------|
+| `packages/client/src/lib/Landing.svelte` | 3rd card + `.card-link`, `.badge`, `.open-cue` CSS | The visible entry point |
+| `CLAUDE.md` (deploy line) | Notes the `/duplicate/*` Caddy block | Resume reference |
+| Caddy on CT 600 (`/etc/caddy/Caddyfile` lines ~1112–1124) | `handle_path /duplicate/*` sub-block | Backup at `/etc/caddy/Caddyfile.bak.duplicate-chess-1779228542` |
+
+## Files Modified
+
+- `packages/client/src/lib/Landing.svelte` — added a 3rd `<a class="card card-link" href="/duplicate/">` card under the existing two cards (friend/AI). New CSS for the link-shaped card, the "under development" pill badge, and the `Open →` cue.
+- `CLAUDE.md` — Deploy bullet extended with one sentence about the `/duplicate/*` handler.
+
+## Decisions Made
+
+| Decision | Why |
+|----------|-----|
+| 3rd card as a plain `<a href>`, not an SPA-internal route | Honest about the architecture: duplicate is a separate static app behind a Caddy `handle_path`, not a route within blind_chess. Plain anchor survives any future static-fallback rewriting. |
+| Visibly tagged "under development" | Sets Andrew's (the inventor's) expectations that duplicate isn't at parity with blind/vanilla. |
+| Drop the 1 active in-memory game on restart | Acceptable per pre-existing MVP policy in DECISIONS.md. |
+
+## Immediate Next Steps
+
+1. **The table-fidelity manual browser test pass is still pending** (from the
+   prior handoff — Step 1 there). Now an even bigger reason to do it: Andrew
+   will be looking at the landing and seeing 3 cards; if the layout breaks at
+   a phone width or the card looks broken, fix it before he tests duplicate.
+2. **Visually verify the new 3rd card** in a real browser at
+   https://chess.sethpc.xyz/ — colours, badge contrast, hover state, mobile
+   layout. Only confirmed via curl + JS/CSS string grep so far.
+3. **Decide whether chess.local should also serve duplicate.** Currently the
+   LAN-only VDJ-RIG instance is on the previous blind_chess client (no 3rd
+   card) and has no `/duplicate/*` handler. If Seth wants LAN parity, redeploy
+   blind_chess client there AND copy duplicate's dist to the rig with a Caddy
+   block of its own.
+
+## Important Context
+
+- **The bulk of the work is in `duplicate_chess`**, not here. See its handoff
+  for the deploy details (Vite base, Caddy `handle_path`, `tar`-pipe transfer,
+  Caddyfile backup name).
+- **`fef6dcf` + `33a7cef` are the only two commits this session in blind_chess.**
+  Everything else (vite.config, page title, CLAUDE.md, DECISIONS.md, handoff)
+  is in `duplicate_chess`.
+- **The table-fidelity batch state in the prior handoff is unchanged.** The
+  manual browser test pass is still in progress. The deploy on CT 690 is now
+  at the new commit `fef6dcf` (client only — server code is byte-identical
+  to `c01244c`).
+
+## Potential Gotchas
+
+- **The blind_chess server WAS restarted** even though server code didn't
+  change (Fastify-static reads `STATIC_DIR` at startup, so the new
+  `index.html` + bundle hashes only get picked up after a service restart).
+  Took uptime back to 0; the 1 in-memory game at restart was dropped.
+- **The Caddyfile edit was on CT 600 only.** chess.local on VDJ-RIG was not
+  touched and has no `/duplicate/*` route.
+
+## Assumptions Made
+
+- That "incorporate as a 3rd game mode 'under development'" meant a 3rd
+  top-level landing card (the existing "mode" was a radio inside each card
+  for Blind/Vanilla, but duplicate is 4-player so it can't fit that radio).
+- That a plain link out to `/duplicate/` was the right level of integration
+  (vs iframe or source merge).
+
+## Environment State
+
+- `caddy.service` on CT 600 — reloaded.
+- `blind-chess.service` on CT 690 — restarted (1 in-memory game dropped).
+- chess.local on VDJ-RIG — not touched.
+- No dev servers running locally.
+
+## Related Resources
+
+- Cross-repo companion handoff: `~/bin/duplicate_chess/.claude/handoffs/2026-05-19-181212-deployed-as-chess-sethpc-xyz-duplicate.md`
+- Live URLs:
+  - https://chess.sethpc.xyz/                — blind_chess landing (3rd card visible).
+  - https://chess.sethpc.xyz/duplicate/      — duplicate_chess sandbox.
+  - https://chess.sethpc.xyz/api/health      — blind_chess API health.
+
+---
+
+**Security Reminder**: No credentials or secrets in this handoff.
@@ -15,6 +15,9 @@ build/
 coverage/
 .vitest/

+# Self-play transcripts (operator scratch)
+tmp/
+
 # Editor / OS
 .DS_Store
 .idea/
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 Then check `DECISIONS.md` for settled choices, and the design specs:
 - `docs/superpowers/specs/2026-04-28-blind-chess-design.md` — original MVP spec (data model, protocol, FSM, testing).
 - `docs/superpowers/specs/2026-04-28-ai-player-design.md` — AI/computer player spec (Casual + gemma4 recon bots, two-phase plan).
+- `docs/superpowers/specs/2026-05-18-table-fidelity-features-design.md` — table-fidelity batch (announce-all, capture tally, phantom opponent-piece layer).

 ## Project Identity

@@ -18,13 +19,13 @@ The system's most distinctive property: highlighting in blind mode reveals **zer

 ## Current State

- **Phase:** MVP **deployed and live** at https://chess.sethpc.xyz (2026-04-28). **AI/computer player feature spec written and approved** (2026-04-28); implementation pending.
+- **Phase:** MVP **deployed and live** at https://chess.sethpc.xyz (2026-04-28). **AI Phase 1 (Casual bot) deployed** (2026-04-28) — "Play vs computer" → Casual bot. **Blind Casual check-resolution fix shipped** (2026-04-29). **Table-fidelity feature batch deployed** (2026-05-18) — moderator announces every move/attempt to both players, a capture tally, and a client-local phantom opponent-piece layer for blind mode; live on both instances (CT 690 + `chess.local`). Client UI not yet manually browser-tested.
 - **Repo:** `git.sethpc.xyz/Seth/blind_chess`.
- **Stack:** Node 22 + TypeScript, Fastify + `ws`, Svelte 5 + Vite, `chess.js`. pnpm workspace with `packages/{server,client,shared}`.
- **Deploy:** LXC **CT 690 on node-241** at 192.168.0.245, behind Caddy CT 600. Systemd unit `blind-chess.service`, port 3000. In-memory state only.
- **Tests:** 43 passing — 21 in shared (geometric helper), 22 in server (FSM + view + 4 real-WS integration).
- **Known gaps (deferred):** drag-and-drop input (click-to-move only), full integration coverage of every endgame path, mobile-specific polish, observability beyond `/api/health`.
- **AI player (designed, not built):** Two-phase plan in `docs/superpowers/specs/2026-04-28-ai-player-design.md`. Phase 1 = Casual bot (algorithmic, ~200 LoC). Phase 2 = gemma4 recon bot (`gemma4:26b` chat agent on steel141 RTX 3090 Ti primary, pve197 V100 fallback). Bots play through the same view filter and FSM as humans — no oracle access.
+- **Stack:** Node 22 + TypeScript, Fastify + `ws`, Svelte 5 + Vite, `chess.js`, `js-chess-engine` (Casual vanilla AI). pnpm workspace with `packages/{server,client,shared}`.
+- **Deploy:** LXC **CT 690 on node-241** at 192.168.0.245, behind Caddy CT 600. Systemd unit `blind-chess.service`, port 3000. In-memory state only. The `chess.sethpc.xyz` Caddy block also serves a sibling app at `/duplicate/*` (the `duplicate_chess` static bundle from `/var/www/duplicate-chess/` on CT 600) — see Landing.svelte for the 3rd "under development" card.
+- **Tests:** 87 passing — 25 in shared (geometric + phantom-model helpers), 62 in server (FSM + view + candidates + casual brain + driver + captures + scripted-game + ai-game-casual integration). The client package has no test harness by design.
+- **Known gaps (deferred):** drag-and-drop for *real* moves (still click-to-move; the phantom layer added pointer-drag for phantom pieces only), full integration coverage of every endgame path, mobile-specific polish, observability beyond `/api/health` and `[bot resign]` (no metrics, no per-game tracing), `localStorage` cleanup for phantom layers of abandoned games.
+- **AI Phase 2 (gemma4 recon, not built):** Spec in `docs/superpowers/specs/2026-04-28-ai-player-design.md`. Will reuse the Phase 1 `Brain`/`BotDriver` infrastructure. Plan to be written when Phase 1 has soaked. Bots play through the same view filter and FSM as humans — no oracle access.

 ## Key files

@@ -36,6 +37,11 @@ The system's most distinctive property: highlighting in blind mode reveals **zer
 - `packages/server/src/view.ts` — `buildView`, the security boundary.
 - `packages/server/src/commit.ts` — touch-move FSM (the spec's hierarchy decision table).
 - `packages/server/src/translator.ts` — chess.js `Move` → moderator-vocabulary enum.
+- `packages/server/src/captures.ts` — `captureTally`, the per-viewer capture-count derivation (Feature 2).
+- `packages/server/src/game-end.ts` — shared `endGame` / `finalizeIfEnded` helpers used by both ws and bot driver.
+- `packages/server/src/bot/` — Brain interface, BotDriver, CasualBrain, candidates. Vanilla mode delegates to `js-chess-engine` at level 2; blind mode uses a heuristic.
+- `packages/client/src/lib/stores/phantoms.svelte.ts` — client-LOCAL phantom opponent-piece store (Feature 3). Never sent to the server; `phantom-drag.svelte.ts` is its pointer-drag controller.
+- `scripts/selfplay.ts` — operator CLI for evaluating Casual vs Casual / Random self-play. `pnpm selfplay --help`.
 - `deploy/blind-chess.service` — systemd unit (canonical at `/etc/systemd/system/blind-chess.service` on the CT).
 - `deploy/Caddyfile.snippet` — block already added to `/etc/caddy/Caddyfile` on CT 600.

@@ -46,6 +52,17 @@ The system's most distinctive property: highlighting in blind mode reveals **zer
 - **Health:** `curl https://chess.sethpc.xyz/api/health`
 - **Deploy update:** `pnpm -r build` → `pnpm --filter @blind-chess/server deploy --prod --legacy .deploy-server` → rsync server bundle to `/opt/blind-chess/server/` and client `dist/` to `/opt/blind-chess/client/dist/` → `chown -R blindchess:blindchess /opt/blind-chess` → `systemctl restart blind-chess`. Server restart drops in-memory games (acceptable for MVP).

+### Local instance — `chess.local` on VDJ-RIG
+
+A second, **LAN-only** deploy on VDJ-RIG (192.168.0.143), fully independent of the CT 690 / chess.sethpc.xyz instance (separate in-memory state). Serves on **port 80**, reached at `http://chess.local` via an mDNS alias — no Caddy, no TLS.
+
+- **Artifacts** (`deploy/`): `blind-chess-local.service` (server unit; binds port 80 as the non-root `blindchess` user via `CAP_NET_BIND_SERVICE`), `chess-mdns-alias` + `chess-mdns-alias.service` (publishes the `chess.local` mDNS name with `avahi-publish -a -R` — `-R` avoids a reverse-PTR collision with the host's own `.local` name), `install-local.sh` (root-side installer).
+- **On the rig:** tree at `/opt/blind-chess/{server,client/dist}`, units `blind-chess.service` + `chess-mdns-alias.service`, Node 22 via NodeSource.
+- **Logs:** `ssh vdj-rig 'journalctl -u blind-chess -f'`
+- **Restart:** `ssh vdj-rig 'sudo systemctl restart blind-chess'`
+- **Health:** `curl http://chess.local/api/health`
+- **Redeploy:** on steel141 `pnpm -r build` + `pnpm --filter @blind-chess/server deploy --prod --legacy .deploy-server`; rsync `.deploy-server/` → rig `~/blind-chess-stage/server/`, `packages/client/dist/` → `~/blind-chess-stage/client-dist/`, and the `deploy/` files → `~/blind-chess-stage/`; then `sudo bash ~/blind-chess-stage/install-local.sh`.
+
 ## Conventions

 - Inherits global homelab conventions from `~/bin/CLAUDE.md` (gitea CLI, conventional commits, `.claude/handoffs/` for session state).
@@ -50,9 +50,9 @@ Format: `YYYY-MM-DD: <decision> — <why>`
 - 2026-04-28: **WS path through Caddy** — `wss://chess.sethpc.xyz/ws?game=<id>` works without explicit `transport ws` config. Caddy's reverse_proxy handles upgrade transparently.
 - 2026-04-28: **Public DNS** — relies on existing `*.sethpc.xyz` wildcard pointing at the WAN IP; no Pi-hole entry was needed. Caddy host-routes `chess.sethpc.xyz` to 192.168.0.245:3000.

-## AI / computer player (designed 2026-04-28, not yet implemented)
+## AI / computer player

-Spec: `docs/superpowers/specs/2026-04-28-ai-player-design.md`. All decisions below are settled at spec-approval time; revisit if implementation surfaces something the spec didn't anticipate.
+Spec: `docs/superpowers/specs/2026-04-28-ai-player-design.md`. **Phase 1 (Casual bot) deployed 2026-04-28** — live at https://chess.sethpc.xyz "Play vs computer". Phase 2 (Recon) deferred until Phase 1 has soaked.

 - 2026-04-28: **Two AI bots, phased delivery** — `CasualBrain` (Phase 1, algorithmic, in-process) ships first; `ReconBrain` (Phase 2, `gemma4:26b` chat agent) ships second. Phased to keep research uncertainty (Recon's actual playing strength) from blocking shipping anything. Rejected: combined launch, single difficulty-dial UX, throwaway Casual-as-stub.
 - 2026-04-28: **Bots use the same view filter as humans** — `BotDriver` calls `buildView(game, botColor)`; bot input is filtered `BoardView` + `Announcement[]`. No oracle access. Preserves the architectural invariant: the view filter is the only egress for board state, even for in-process bots. Rejected: "easy mode" oracle access for Casual to keep it simple.
@@ -66,6 +66,27 @@ Spec: `docs/superpowers/specs/2026-04-28-ai-player-design.md`. All decisions bel
 - 2026-04-28: **Reasoning hidden during play, revealed post-game** — Gemma's chat history is private during the game; on game end, the chat history is copied to `Game.aiThoughtsLog` and the post-game screen shows a collapsible "View gemma4's reasoning" section. Rejected: live streaming "thinking tokens" to user (leaks strategy), permanent hiding (loses showcase value of the project).
 - 2026-04-28: **`vsAi` field added to `CreateGameRequest`; `aiInfo` field added to `joined`/`update` server messages; `'ai_unavailable'` added to `EndReason`** — minimal protocol surface for the feature. AI metadata is NOT in `ModeratorText` enum (kept clean). UI-system messages for game-start info and failover events are style-distinct from `Announcement` entries.

+### Phase 1 implementation outcomes (2026-04-28)
+
+- 2026-04-28: **Phase 1 shipped to https://chess.sethpc.xyz.** 13 implementation tasks executed via subagent-driven development against `docs/superpowers/plans/2026-04-28-ai-player-phase-1-casual.md`. 75 tests passing (21 shared + 54 server). Live smoke checklist passed.
+- 2026-04-28: **CasualBrain reversal — vanilla mode now uses `js-chess-engine` (level 2, randomness=30), not the hand-rolled scorer.** The original heuristic lost to a random-move baseline 7-7 in 100-game self-play (target was ≥80%). After swap-in: Casual wins 97% as white and 96% as black vs Random, ~5-30ms/move. Supersedes the spec's "no Stockfish" decision in spirit — `js-chess-engine` is MIT-licensed, ~400KB, no native deps, and at level 2 plays "Casual" strength (beats random comfortably, loses to a careful human). Originally rejected "Stockfish for strong vanilla AI" was about *strength*, not about *using a pre-made engine*. Documented and pushed; accepted as a learning.
+- 2026-04-28: **Bot's BoardView is the only egress to the engine.** `BrainInput.fen` is set ONLY in vanilla mode (where the view is full reveal); blind mode omits it. Engine cannot smuggle opponent positions past the view filter — same architectural invariant the brainstorming session established for human-played blind chess.
+- 2026-04-28: **Blind mode keeps the heuristic (not engine).** Architecturally Stockfish/js-chess-engine can't usefully play blind chess — they need a full board to evaluate, and giving them one would be oracle access. Building a belief-state from announcements is the Recon bot's design (Phase 2). Self-play confirmed blind heuristic completes games (avgPly=16, 0 errors, all decisive) — short games but functional.
+- 2026-04-28: **Bot-slot synthetic token is randomized, not a fixed placeholder.** Using a hard-coded placeholder ("botxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx") would let any client knowing it claim the bot's color via `hello`. Random tokens (same shape as human tokens) close that hole. Caught in code review of Task 7.
+- 2026-04-28: **`endGame` and `finalizeIfEnded` extracted from `ws.ts` to `packages/server/src/game-end.ts`.** Both `ws.ts` and `bot/driver.ts` need to set the game-finished state — duplication risk. Hoist resolves it.
+
+## Table-fidelity features (2026-05-18)
+
+Spec: `docs/superpowers/specs/2026-05-18-table-fidelity-features-design.md`. Plan: `docs/superpowers/plans/2026-05-18-table-fidelity-features.md`. Three features requested by Andrew Freiberg (a physical-game player); shipped to `main` 2026-05-18, 12 tasks via subagent-driven development. 87 tests passing (25 shared + 62 server).
+
+- 2026-05-18: **All moderator announcements are `audience: 'both'`** — every move event and every attempted-move error reaches both players, faithful to the physical game where the moderator speaks aloud. A deliberate, authorised widening of the moderator channel (it makes blind mode slightly less blind — e.g. you hear "won't help you" on the opponent's turn). The `audience` field is retained (now uniformly `'both'`) as the egress-control hook in `ws.ts` / `ModeratorPanel`.
+- 2026-05-18: **Bot intermediate retry-rejection announcements are popped in `BotDriver.dispatch`** — the blind Casual bot's retry search would otherwise broadcast up to 25 churn announcements per turn. Only the bot's final committed move is announced. Human probes (1–3 pieces, human-paced) still broadcast — that is the feature.
+- 2026-05-18: **Capture tally is a server-derived per-viewer `captures` field on `joined`/`update`**, not a `ModeratorText` enum entry — the announcement vocabulary stays a pure event enum; the tally is structured data (`CaptureTally = { byYou, byOpponent }`). Must be server-side: in blind mode the capturing client can't see what it took.
+- 2026-05-18: **Phantom opponent-piece layer is 100% client-local** — never sent to the server, persisted only to `localStorage` (`bc:phantoms:<gameId>`), in its own store (`phantoms.svelte.ts`) separate from the protocol store so the zero-leak property is auditable. Blind mode only. `buildView` / `geometric.ts` untouched.
+- 2026-05-18: **Manual phantom model** — seeded once with the opponent's standard starting army, then fully manual: drag anywhere, drag off-board to remove, re-add from an unlimited palette, no automation. Rejected: a "smart tracker" that auto-removes on capture and tracks promotions (Seth chose the manual model).
+- 2026-05-18: **Phantom manipulation is pointer-event drag-and-drop** with a tap-vs-drag threshold so a tap still makes a real move. Real chess moves stay click-to-move — the deferred drag-and-drop decision for *real* moves still stands; F3's drag is phantom-only.
+- 2026-05-18: **Client has no unit-test harness** (deliberate) — Feature 3's testable pure logic (`opponentStartPosition`, `deserializePhantoms`) lives in `packages/shared` and is unit-tested there; Svelte components/stores are covered by `svelte-check` typechecking plus manual verification.
+
 ## Deferred / Rejected

 <!-- Decisions NOT to do something are just as valuable -- prevents re-proposing rejected ideas -->
@@ -83,10 +104,13 @@ Spec: `docs/superpowers/specs/2026-04-28-ai-player-design.md`. All decisions bel
 - 2026-04-28: **Pre-deploy "server restarting" warning to active players** — stretch goal, not MVP. Mitigation for now: deploy during low-usage windows.
 - 2026-04-28: ~~**Client-side AI / hint generation** — explicitly out of scope. Human vs. human only.~~ **Partially superseded 2026-04-28** by AI-player spec. Reversal applies *only* to the human-vs-AI path; client-side AI / hint generation in human-vs-human games remains rejected.
 - 2026-04-28: **Difficulty slider for AI** — rejected. Two named buttons (Casual, Recon) only. No continuum; the two bots are architecturally different, not tuneable strengths of the same engine.
- 2026-04-28: **Stockfish for vanilla-mode AI strength** — deferred. Vanilla is a side-effect, not a feature target. Revisit if users explicitly ask for strong vanilla AI.
+- 2026-04-28: ~~**Stockfish for vanilla-mode AI strength** — deferred. Vanilla is a side-effect, not a feature target. Revisit if users explicitly ask for strong vanilla AI.~~ **Partially superseded 2026-04-28** during Phase 1 implementation — using `js-chess-engine` (smaller, MIT, no GPL concerns) at level 2 for Casual vanilla, capped at ~30ms/move. The original rejection was about not making Casual *strong*; the engine at level 2 is genuinely casual-strength while still beating random comfortably. Stockfish itself remains rejected (GPL, 7MB+ wasm, overkill for the strength target).
 - 2026-04-28: **Live token streaming during Gemma's thinking** — rejected for MVP. Static "AI is thinking..." indicator only. Streaming would leak strategic intent and adds protocol complexity.
 - 2026-04-28: **Mid-game GPU flap-back** — rejected. Once failed over to V100, stays there for the rest of the game even if steel141 recovers. Simpler, more predictable, and chat-history is mid-flight.
 - 2026-04-28: **AI vs AI public spectate-able games** — rejected for MVP. Self-play harness is CLI-only (`scripts/selfplay.ts`).
 - 2026-04-28: **Per-turn context compaction** — deferred. Spec uses `num_ctx: 32768` which covers ~128 turns; longer games would overflow but are rare in casual play. Add running-summary compaction if seen in practice.
 - 2026-04-28: **Bot rating / Elo / personalities** — out of scope. Two named buttons, no scoreboard.
 - 2026-04-28: **In-game chat (player ↔ player and human ↔ Gemma)** — deferred indefinitely. Two failure modes drove the deferral: (1) blind-mode chat is a side channel that bypasses the moderator-vocabulary security boundary ("knight on c3, take it" defeats the entire view-filter architecture); (2) chatting with Gemma during play leaks the bot's belief state and undermines the post-game reasoning reveal. Resolvable but expensive (two-history split for Gemma, blind-mode mute or social-variant warnings, mobile UI real estate). Revisit only if users explicitly ask. The post-game reasoning reveal already covers most of the "see what Gemma was thinking" appeal without the leak surface.
+- 2026-05-18: **Smart-tracker phantom model** (auto-remove a phantom on capture, track promotions, constrain the phantom set to the opponent's surviving army) — rejected in favour of the fully-manual model. More code and more edge cases; Seth wanted the manual ritual.
+- 2026-05-18: **Highlighting interacting with phantoms** (bishop/rook rays stopping at phantom pieces) — deferred. Safe to do (phantoms carry zero real opponent info) but out of scope for v1; phantoms are a pure annotation layer that highlighting ignores.
+- 2026-05-18: **Phantom-layer `localStorage` cleanup for abandoned games** — deferred. `clearForGame` only fires when the game reaches `finished` while `<Game>` is mounted; a tab closed mid-game leaves a stale `bc:phantoms:<id>` key. Each entry is a tiny JSON object; add a stale-key sweep on app start only if it ever matters.
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+[Unit]
+Description=blind_chess server — local LAN instance (chess.local)
+Documentation=https://git.sethpc.xyz/Seth/blind_chess
+After=network-online.target
+Wants=network-online.target
+
+[Service]
+Type=simple
+User=blindchess
+Group=blindchess
+WorkingDirectory=/opt/blind-chess/server
+ExecStart=/usr/bin/node /opt/blind-chess/server/dist/server.js
+Environment=NODE_ENV=production
+Environment=PORT=80
+Environment=HOST=0.0.0.0
+Environment=STATIC_DIR=/opt/blind-chess/client/dist
+Environment=PUBLIC_BASE=http://chess.local
+Environment=LOG_LEVEL=info
+Restart=always
+RestartSec=2s
+StandardOutput=journal
+StandardError=journal
+
+# Bind privileged port 80 as a non-root user
+AmbientCapabilities=CAP_NET_BIND_SERVICE
+CapabilityBoundingSet=CAP_NET_BIND_SERVICE
+
+# Hardening
+NoNewPrivileges=true
+PrivateTmp=true
+ProtectSystem=strict
+ProtectHome=true
+ReadWritePaths=/opt/blind-chess
+
+[Install]
+WantedBy=multi-user.target
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Publish "chess.local" as an mDNS alias for this host's primary IPv4 address.
+# Invoked by chess-mdns-alias.service (blind_chess local deploy).
+#
+# avahi-daemon already advertises the host's own <hostname>.local; this adds
+# the friendly "chess.local" name pointing at the same machine. Runs in the
+# foreground holding the registration until the service is stopped.
+set -euo pipefail
+
+IP="$(hostname -I | awk '{print $1}')"
+if [ -z "$IP" ]; then
+  echo "chess-mdns-alias: no IPv4 address found" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+echo "chess-mdns-alias: publishing chess.local -> $IP"
+# -R/--no-reverse: skip the reverse (PTR) record. avahi-daemon already owns the
+# PTR for this IP via the host's own <hostname>.local, so publishing chess.local
+# for the same address *with* a reverse entry collides ("Local name collision").
+# Clients only need the forward A record, which -a still publishes.
+exec avahi-publish -a -R chess.local "$IP"
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+[Unit]
+Description=Publish chess.local mDNS alias for the blind_chess local deploy
+Requires=avahi-daemon.service
+After=avahi-daemon.service network-online.target
+Wants=network-online.target
+
+[Service]
+Type=simple
+ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/chess-mdns-alias
+Restart=always
+RestartSec=5s
+
+[Install]
+WantedBy=multi-user.target
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# blind_chess — local (chess.local) deploy installer.
+#
+# Run as root ON THE TARGET HOST. Expects a staging directory containing:
+#   server/                     pnpm-deploy bundle (dist/ + node_modules/)
+#   client-dist/                vite build output
+#   chess-mdns-alias            mDNS alias helper script
+#   blind-chess-local.service   systemd unit for the server
+#   chess-mdns-alias.service    systemd unit for the mDNS alias
+#
+# Usage:  sudo bash install-local.sh [STAGE_DIR]
+#         (STAGE_DIR defaults to the directory containing this script)
+set -euo pipefail
+
+STAGE="${1:-$(cd "$(dirname "$0")" && pwd)}"
+echo "=== blind_chess local install (staging: $STAGE) ==="
+
+# --- Node.js 22 (Debian trixie ships only 20; blind_chess needs >=22) ---
+need_node=1
+if command -v node >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+  major="$(node -e 'process.stdout.write(String(process.versions.node.split(".")[0]))' 2>/dev/null || echo 0)"
+  if [ "${major:-0}" -ge 22 ] 2>/dev/null; then need_node=0; fi
+fi
+if [ "$need_node" -eq 1 ]; then
+  echo "--- installing Node.js 22 via NodeSource ---"
+  curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_22.x | bash -
+  apt-get install -y -o DPkg::Lock::Timeout=600 nodejs
+fi
+echo "node: $(node --version)"
+
+# --- avahi-utils provides avahi-publish ---
+command -v avahi-publish >/dev/null 2>&1 || \
+  apt-get install -y -o DPkg::Lock::Timeout=600 avahi-utils
+
+# --- dedicated unprivileged service user ---
+getent passwd blindchess >/dev/null 2>&1 || \
+  useradd --system --user-group --no-create-home --shell /usr/sbin/nologin blindchess
+
+# --- deploy tree under /opt/blind-chess ---
+install -d /opt/blind-chess
+rm -rf /opt/blind-chess/server /opt/blind-chess/client
+cp -a "$STAGE/server"      /opt/blind-chess/server
+install -d /opt/blind-chess/client
+cp -a "$STAGE/client-dist" /opt/blind-chess/client/dist
+chown -R blindchess:blindchess /opt/blind-chess
+
+# --- mDNS alias helper ---
+install -m 0755 "$STAGE/chess-mdns-alias" /usr/local/bin/chess-mdns-alias
+
+# --- systemd units (the server unit installs under the canonical name) ---
+install -m 0644 "$STAGE/blind-chess-local.service" /etc/systemd/system/blind-chess.service
+install -m 0644 "$STAGE/chess-mdns-alias.service"  /etc/systemd/system/chess-mdns-alias.service
+systemctl daemon-reload
+systemctl enable --now chess-mdns-alias.service
+systemctl enable --now blind-chess.service
+
+echo "=== install complete ==="
+systemctl --no-pager --lines=0 status blind-chess.service chess-mdns-alias.service || true
@@ -0,0 +1,439 @@
+# Table-Fidelity Features — Design Spec
+
+> Three features that bring digital blind chess closer to the physical-table
+> experience, requested by Andrew Freiberg (an experienced physical-game
+> player) and refined by Seth.
+
+- **Date:** 2026-05-18
+- **Status:** Approved (brainstorm), pending spec review
+- **Project:** blind_chess
+- **Supersedes/extends:** `2026-04-28-blind-chess-design.md` (moderator vocabulary,
+  view filter, FSM). No prior decision is reversed; one (`audience` filtering of
+  move events) is deliberately widened — see Feature 1.
+
+## Motivation
+
+From Andrew's email (the physical game uses a human moderator and three people):
+
+1. *"Can you make it so the moderator announces all moves or attempted moves,
+   white and black? One of the things a player listens for is what the moderator
+   says when it is the other player's turn."*
+2. *"A running tabulation so you can see how many pieces you have captured.
+   Normally when you play, you set up the opponent's pieces on your board and
+   remove them as you make a capture to keep track."*
+
+And Seth's framing of the third: *"You move the other players' pieces at will to
+create a model 'guess' of where their pieces are... move the opponent's pieces
+anywhere you want, including off the board."*
+
+These map to three features. They are independent in code but share one theme:
+making the digital game as faithful to the physical table as Andrew's
+real-world experience of it.
+
+## Scope at a glance
+
+| # | Feature | Where | Size |
+|---|---------|-------|------|
+| 1 | Moderator announces every move & attempted move, to both players | server (+ tiny client) | small |
+| 2 | Running capture tally | server + client panel | small–medium |
+| 3 | Phantom opponent pieces (private opponent-model overlay) | client only | medium |
+
+**Phasing:** one spec, one plan, implemented in two increments —
+*Increment 1* = Features 1 + 2 (server-centric, shippable alone);
+*Increment 2* = Feature 3 (the larger client build).
+
+---
+
+## Feature 1 — Moderator announces everything, to both players
+
+### Current behaviour
+
+`Announcement` carries an `audience` field (`'w' | 'b' | 'both'`), filtered in
+exactly two places: the server's `broadcastSinceLast` (`ws.ts`) and the
+client's `ModeratorPanel`.
+
+- **Move events** (`white_moved`, `*_moved_captured`, `*_castled_*`,
+  `*_promoted`) — emitted with `audience: opp`. Only the opponent of the mover
+  sees them.
+- **Attempted-move errors** (`no_such_piece`, `no_legal_moves`, `wont_help`,
+  `illegal_move`) — emitted with `audience: actor`. Only the player who made
+  the attempt sees them.
+- **State changes** (`*_in_check`, `*_checkmate`, draws) and
+  resign/draw/abandon — already `audience: 'both'`.
+
+So a player does **not** hear what the moderator says about the opponent's
+*failed* attempts — exactly the channel Andrew listens for at the table.
+
+### Change
+
+Both move events and attempted-move errors become `audience: 'both'`. After
+this change **every** announcement is `'both'`; the `audience` field becomes
+uniformly `'both'` but is **retained** as the moderator-channel egress-control
+hook (the filtering code in `ws.ts` and `ModeratorPanel` stays — it is the
+security boundary, now a pass-through).
+
+Concretely:
+
+- `translator.ts` `translateMove` — the six move-event `announce(...)` calls
+  change their audience argument from `opp` to `'both'`.
+- `commit.ts` `announceWith` — `announce(text, color, ply)` becomes
+  `announce(text, 'both', ply)`.
+
+No protocol change, no enum change.
+
+### Client: labelling attempted-move lines
+
+The four error enums carry **no colour** (`wont_help`, not `white_wont_help`).
+With the announcement now shared, the panel must say *whose* attempt it was.
+
+It can be derived for free: an attempted move only ever happens on the actor's
+turn, and an error announcement's `ply` is `chess.history().length` captured
+*before* the move applies. Therefore **`ply` parity is the actor**:
+`ply % 2 === 0` → White attempted, odd → Black. (Move events already encode
+colour in the enum text and need no parity prefix.)
+
+The client (`ModeratorPanel` / `moderator-strings`) prefixes the four error
+texts with `"White — "` / `"Black — "` derived from `ply` parity. The current
+alarm-red `.err` styling on those four entries is replaced with a neutral/muted
+"moderator info" style — with a shared transcript they are commentary, not
+"you did something wrong".
+
+### Bot retry suppression
+
+The blind Casual bot searches for a legal move by retrying rejected candidates
+inside one decision cycle (`BotDriver`, `RETRY_CAP = 25`). Each rejection runs
+through `announceWith`, which pushes one error announcement onto
+`game.announcements`. With those now `'both'`, the human opponent would see the
+bot's internal search as up to 25 lines of moderator spam.
+
+Fix, entirely within `bot/driver.ts`: in `dispatch`, on the `'announce'` retry
+branch, pop the just-pushed announcement off `game.announcements` before
+returning `{ kind: 'retry' }`. This is safe because:
+
+- `announceWith` pushes exactly one announcement and the driver receives it as
+  `result.announcements[0]`; nothing mutates `game.announcements` in between,
+  so it is the last element. Pop with an identity guard
+  (`if (last === result.announcements[0]) pop()`).
+- The whole bot decision cycle runs inside `pokeBot(game)` and completes
+  *before* `ws.ts` calls `broadcastSinceLast` — intermediate announcements are
+  removed before any broadcast ever runs.
+- The bot tracks its own rejections via `attemptHistory` (explicitly passed),
+  not via `newAnnouncements`, so popping does not affect the bot's logic.
+
+Only the bot's **final committed move** announcement survives and is broadcast
+(that is Feature 1 working: the human hears "Black has moved"). A bot that
+exhausts retries still resigns; the human sees the resignation, not the 25
+fumbles.
+
+Human probes are **not** suppressed: a person tries 1–3 pieces per turn,
+naturally bounded — broadcasting those is the feature.
+
+### Information-channel note (deliberate)
+
+Feature 1 genuinely widens what blind mode reveals. Hearing "won't help you" on
+the opponent's turn tells you they are pinned or otherwise constrained;
+`no_legal_moves` tells you they touched a fully-boxed-in piece. This is the
+*intended* moderator channel and it is faithful to the physical game (Andrew,
+an experienced physical-game player, explicitly asked for it). It is recorded
+here as a conscious, authorised reduction in blindness — **not** a leak through
+an illegitimate side channel. `buildView` and `geometric.ts` (the zero-leak
+core) are untouched.
+
+### Files
+
+- `packages/server/src/translator.ts` — audience of move events.
+- `packages/server/src/commit.ts` — audience in `announceWith`.
+- `packages/server/src/bot/driver.ts` — pop intermediate retry rejections.
+- `packages/client/src/lib/moderator-strings.ts` /
+  `packages/client/src/lib/ModeratorPanel.svelte` — actor prefix via `ply`
+  parity; neutral styling for attempted-move lines.
+
+### Tests
+
+- Unit (`translator`): move events carry `audience: 'both'`.
+- Unit (`commit-fsm`): `no_such_piece` / `no_legal_moves` / `wont_help` /
+  `illegal_move` carry `audience: 'both'`.
+- Unit (`driver`): after a decision cycle that incurs ≥1 retry, only the final
+  move's announcement(s) remain in `game.announcements`; intermediate
+  rejections are absent.
+- The `driver` unit test is the chosen coverage for the bot-suppression path:
+  it drives the real `BotDriver` → `handleCommit` → `announceWith` pipeline, so
+  it verifies suppression at the commit-path level. A separate `ai-game-casual`
+  WebSocket integration test was considered and dropped — it would only
+  additionally exercise the trivial `broadcastSinceLast` pass-through filter,
+  for materially more harness complexity.
+
+---
+
+## Feature 2 — Running capture tally
+
+### What the player sees
+
+A read-only panel beside the board:
+
+- Primary line — **"You've captured:"** followed by glyphs of the opponent
+  pieces you have taken, with a count, e.g. `♟ ♟ ♞  (3)`.
+- Secondary muted line — **"Lost:"** followed by glyphs of your pieces the
+  opponent has taken, e.g. `♙ ♗  (2)`.
+
+(Andrew asked specifically for captures; losses are free to compute and
+complete the picture. Seth may drop the "Lost" line at spec review.)
+
+### Why this needs the server
+
+In blind mode the capturing client cannot see what it captured — opponent
+pieces are filtered out of its `BoardView`. The captured piece's *type* must
+come from the server. This is the same single-piece-of-history reveal the
+physical moderator gives you when you take a piece.
+
+### Data model
+
+`MoveRecord` already records `by: Color` and `capturedPieceType?: PieceType`
+for every move (`state.ts`). The tally is a pure derivation of
+`game.moveHistory`.
+
+New shared type (`packages/shared/src/types.ts`):
+
+```ts
+export type PieceTally = Partial<Record<PieceType, number>>;
+```
+
+New field on the `joined` and `update` server messages
+(`packages/shared/src/protocol.ts`):
+
+```ts
+captures: { byYou: PieceTally; byOpponent: PieceTally };
+```
+
+`captures` is sent on **every** `update` (it is tiny and keeps `update`
+idempotent — replaying the latest `update` still renders correctly, matching
+the existing protocol decision).
+
+### Server computation
+
+New module `packages/server/src/captures.ts`:
+
+```ts
+function captureTally(game, viewer): { byYou: PieceTally; byOpponent: PieceTally }
+```
+
+Iterates `game.moveHistory`; for each record with `capturedPieceType`,
+increments `byYou` if `by === viewer`, else `byOpponent`. En-passant captures
+are included automatically (`capturedPieceType` is `'p'`).
+
+`ws.ts` includes `captures: captureTally(game, color)` in the `joined` payload
+(`onHello`) and in `update` payloads (`sendUpdateTo`).
+
+### Client
+
+- `game.svelte.ts` store gains a `captures` field, set from `joined` and
+  `update`.
+- New component `packages/client/src/lib/CaptureTally.svelte`, rendered in the
+  side panel of `Game.svelte` near `ModeratorPanel`. Reuses `pieces.ts`
+  `pieceGlyph`. `byYou` glyphs render in the opponent's colour (they are
+  opponent pieces); `byOpponent` glyphs render in your colour.
+
+### Modes
+
+Built for both modes. In vanilla it is a simple scoreboard; in blind it is the
+load-bearing feature. The bot ignores `captures`; a future ReconBrain may
+consume it (Phase 2, out of scope here).
+
+### Files
+
+- `packages/shared/src/types.ts` — `PieceTally`.
+- `packages/shared/src/protocol.ts` — `captures` on `joined` / `update`.
+- `packages/server/src/captures.ts` — new, `captureTally`.
+- `packages/server/src/ws.ts` — include `captures` in `joined` / `update`.
+- `packages/client/src/lib/stores/game.svelte.ts` — store field.
+- `packages/client/src/lib/CaptureTally.svelte` — new component.
+- `packages/client/src/lib/Game.svelte` — mount the panel.
+
+### Tests
+
+- Unit (`captures`): `captureTally` returns correct per-viewer counts for a
+  `moveHistory` containing captures by both colours, including en passant.
+- Client component verified manually (no client test harness — see Feature 3).
+
+---
+
+## Feature 3 — Phantom opponent pieces
+
+A private opponent-model overlay on the player's own board: the digital form of
+"set up the opponent's pieces on your board and move/remove them to keep
+track." **Blind mode only** — pointless in vanilla, where real opponent pieces
+are visible.
+
+### Behaviour (the manual model, per Seth's decision)
+
+- **Seeded once** at game start with the opponent's 16 pieces on their standard
+  home squares — saves the manual initial setup.
+- **Fully manual thereafter.** Drag any phantom anywhere; drag it off the board
+  to remove it; place fresh phantoms from an always-available palette of the
+  six piece types. **No count limits, no automation, no auto-removal on
+  capture.** Editable at any time, including the opponent's turn.
+- The capture tally (Feature 2) is a **separate** read-only counter — it is
+  *not* coupled to the phantom layer.
+- Phantoms are visually distinct from real pieces (translucent, dashed
+  outline) and use the opponent's colour.
+- A phantom **cannot** occupy a square holding one of your real pieces (your
+  real pieces are known truth). Other squares are all valid — overlapping where
+  the opponent might really be is the entire point.
+- On game-over the board reveals all real pieces; the phantom overlay and
+  palette are **hidden** so the reveal is clean.
+
+### The security invariant (load-bearing)
+
+The phantom layer is **100% client-local**. It is never serialized to the wire,
+never sent to the server, never seen by the opponent. It contains zero real
+opponent information by construction — it is the player's own fiction.
+
+To make this auditable, the phantom layer gets its **own store**, separate from
+the server-synced `game.svelte.ts`:
+
+> New store `packages/client/src/lib/stores/phantoms.svelte.ts`. A reviewer
+> confirms "phantoms never leak" by verifying this store is never read in any
+> `send(...)` / `commit(...)` path. No `ClientMessage` variant carries phantom
+> data.
+
+`buildView` and `geometric.ts` are untouched.
+
+### Data model
+
+- Phantom state: `Partial<Record<Square, Piece>>` — at most one phantom per
+  square; `Piece.color` is always the opponent's colour. Placing on an occupied
+  phantom square replaces.
+- Store operations: `place(sq, type)`, `move(from, to)`, `remove(sq)`,
+  `clear()`, `loadForGame(gameId, you)`.
+- **Persistence:** `localStorage`, key `bc:phantoms:<gameId>`, value = JSON of
+  the phantom map. Survives reload / reconnect (important on phones).
+- **Seeding:** on first load of a blind game (no `localStorage` key present),
+  seed the 16 opponent pieces at standard start squares for the opponent
+  colour (`you === 'w' ? 'b' : 'w'`) and persist immediately. The presence of
+  the key thereafter means "already seeded — load, do not re-seed", so a reload
+  never wipes the player's edits.
+- On `gameStatus === 'finished'`, clear the `localStorage` key (avoids
+  unbounded accumulation across games).
+
+The pure transformation logic — standard start squares for a colour,
+place/move/remove on a map, (de)serialization — is extracted into a plain
+(non-`.svelte`) module so it can be unit-tested. `phantoms.svelte.ts` is the
+thin reactive wrapper. (The plan decides whether to stand up a `vitest` config
+in the client package, which currently has none, or host the pure module in
+`packages/shared`.)
+
+### Interaction — drag-and-drop (approved option A)
+
+Drag-and-drop via **pointer events** (`pointerdown` / `pointermove` /
+`pointerup`) so it works for both mouse and touch. Real moves stay
+click-to-move (the touch-move FSM is unchanged — the deferred decision against
+drag-and-drop for *real* moves still stands; F3's drag is phantom-only).
+
+- **Move a phantom:** `pointerdown` on a phantom → once the pointer moves past a
+  small threshold (~6 px) it is a drag; a drag image follows the pointer.
+  `pointerup` over another square → move the phantom there; over a square with
+  your real piece → invalid, snap back; outside the board → remove the phantom.
+- **Place from palette:** `pointerdown` on a palette piece → drag → `pointerup`
+  over a board square free of your real piece → place a phantom of that type.
+- **Tap vs drag:** a `pointerdown`+`pointerup` with no movement past the
+  threshold is **not** a phantom action — it is forwarded to the board's normal
+  `onSquareClick`, so you can still arm/commit a real move onto a square you
+  have a phantom guess on (e.g. to capture there). A drag past the threshold
+  `stopPropagation`s so the underlying square click does not also fire.
+
+This isolation — tap → real move, drag → phantom — means phantom editing never
+blocks the live game's move path and needs no mode toggle.
+
+### Rendering & components
+
+- The phantom layer is rendered **within `Board.svelte`** as an additional
+  styled layer in each grid cell (alignment with real squares is then free).
+  `Board.svelte` owns the pointer-event handling and the tap-vs-drag
+  disambiguation, because that decision cannot be cleanly split across
+  components. `Board.svelte` remains prop-driven: it receives phantom data and
+  `onPhantomMove` / `onPhantomPlace` / `onPhantomRemove` callbacks.
+- New component `packages/client/src/lib/PhantomPalette.svelte` — the
+  six-type palette, rendered beside the board on desktop / below on mobile;
+  source of palette→board drags.
+- `Game.svelte` wires the `phantoms` store to `Board` and `PhantomPalette`,
+  and gates the whole phantom UI on `mode === 'blind' && gameStatus ===
+  'active'`.
+- Phantom styling lives in `app.css` / component styles (translucent, dashed).
+
+### Out of scope for v1
+
+Highlighting ignores phantoms — the geometric highlight stays a function of
+your real pieces only. Letting bishop/rook rays stop at phantom pieces would be
+information-safe (phantoms hold zero real opponent data) and is a reasonable
+future enhancement, but it is not in this spec.
+
+### Files
+
+- New: `packages/client/src/lib/stores/phantoms.svelte.ts`,
+  `packages/client/src/lib/PhantomPalette.svelte`, a pure phantom-model module
+  (location per plan), optionally a small pointer-drag helper.
+- Modified: `packages/client/src/lib/Board.svelte` (phantom layer + drag +
+  tap-vs-drag), `packages/client/src/lib/Game.svelte` (mount palette, wire
+  store, blind+active gating), `packages/client/src/app.css` (phantom styles).
+- No server or shared changes for Feature 3 (unless the pure model module is
+  hosted in `packages/shared`).
+
+### Tests
+
+Feature 3 is client-only and the project currently has no client test harness
+(the 78 existing tests are all `shared` + `server`). The pure phantom-model
+logic (seed squares, place/move/remove, (de)serialization) is unit-tested; the
+drag interaction and rendering are verified manually on phone + desktop. The
+plan decides the test-infra approach.
+
+---
+
+## Architecture & invariants summary
+
+- **Feature 1** widens the moderator channel: every `Announcement` becomes
+  `audience: 'both'`. The field and its filtering are retained as the egress
+  control. This is a deliberate, authorised increase in shared information,
+  faithful to the physical game.
+- **Feature 2** adds one server-derived, per-viewer protocol field
+  (`captures`). Capture *types* stay out of the `ModeratorText` enum —
+  announcements remain a pure event vocabulary; the tally is structured data.
+- **Feature 3** adds a client-local-only layer that never reaches the wire,
+  isolated in its own store for auditability.
+- The zero-leak core — `buildView` and `geometric.ts` — is **not touched** by
+  any of the three features.
+
+## Phasing
+
+| Increment | Contents | Independently shippable |
+|-----------|----------|--------------------------|
+| 1 | Features 1 + 2 | Yes — server + a read-only client panel |
+| 2 | Feature 3 | Yes — client phantom layer |
+
+One implementation plan; tasks ordered so Increment 1 completes (and can
+deploy) before Increment 2 begins.
+
+## Out of scope / explicitly rejected
+
+- **Smart-tracker phantom model** (auto-removal on capture, promotion
+  bookkeeping, constrained opponent army) — rejected by Seth in favour of the
+  manual model.
+- **Phantom layer in vanilla mode** — pointless; excluded.
+- **Drag-and-drop for real moves** — still deferred (DECISIONS.md). F3's drag
+  is phantom-only.
+- **Highlighting interacting with phantoms** — safe future enhancement, not
+  v1.
+- **Capture tally feeding bot decisions** — bot ignores it; possible Phase-2
+  ReconBrain input.
+- **Sending phantom state to the server / persisting it server-side** — would
+  break the security invariant; never.
+
+## Open questions
+
+None outstanding. Resolved during brainstorm:
+
+- Phantom model: manual, seeded once, no automation, unlimited placement,
+  editable anytime (Seth).
+- Phantom interaction: drag-and-drop, tap-vs-drag disambiguation, no mode
+  toggle (Seth — option A).
+- Feature 2 "Lost" secondary line: included by default; Seth may drop it at
+  spec review.
@@ -12,9 +12,11 @@
    "test": "pnpm -r test",
    "dev:server": "pnpm --filter @blind-chess/server dev",
    "dev:client": "pnpm --filter @blind-chess/client dev",
-    "typecheck": "pnpm -r typecheck"
+    "typecheck": "pnpm -r typecheck",
+    "selfplay": "tsx scripts/selfplay.ts"
  },
  "devDependencies": {
+    "tsx": "^4.21.0",
    "typescript": "^5.6.0",
    "vitest": "^3.0.0"
  }
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 <script lang="ts">
  import { ALL_SQUARES, FILES, RANKS, geometricMoves, type Color, type Piece, type Square } from '@blind-chess/shared';
  import { pieceGlyph } from './pieces.js';
+  import { phantomDrag } from './stores/phantom-drag.svelte.js';

  interface Props {
    pieces: Partial<Record<Square, Piece>>;
@@ -8,6 +9,8 @@
    toMove: Color;
    mode: 'blind' | 'vanilla';
    highlightingEnabled: boolean;
+    phantoms?: Partial<Record<Square, Piece>>;
+    phantomsEnabled?: boolean;
    armedSquare: Square | null;       // local visual arm (pre-commit)
    touchedSquare: Square | null;     // server-authoritative touch
    onArm: (sq: Square | null) => void;
@@ -16,6 +19,7 @@

  let {
    pieces, you, toMove, mode, highlightingEnabled,
+    phantoms = {}, phantomsEnabled = false,
    armedSquare, touchedSquare, onArm, onCommit,
  }: Props = $props();

@@ -43,6 +47,14 @@
    return new Set(moves);
  });

+  // The board square a phantom is currently being dragged out of (so it can
+  // be dimmed while the drag ghost is shown). Bind `active` to a local first
+  // so TypeScript narrows the discriminated union reliably.
+  const dragOrigin = $derived.by(() => {
+    const a = phantomDrag.state.active;
+    return a?.kind === 'board' && phantomDrag.state.moved ? a.from : null;
+  });
+
  function squareColor(sq: Square): 'light' | 'dark' {
    const f = sq.charCodeAt(0) - 'a'.charCodeAt(0);
    const r = parseInt(sq[1]!, 10) - 1;
@@ -50,6 +62,7 @@
  }

  function onSquareClick(sq: Square) {
+    if (phantomDrag.shouldSuppressClick(sq)) return;
    const piece = pieces[sq];

    // If a piece is touched (server-authoritative), only commits to that square's destinations are valid.
@@ -82,6 +95,7 @@
    {#each filesDisplay as f (f)}
      {@const sq = `${f}${r}` as Square}
      {@const piece = pieces[sq]}
+      {@const ph = phantomsEnabled ? phantoms[sq] : undefined}
      {@const sc = squareColor(sq)}
      {@const isArmed = sq === armedSquare}
      {@const isTouched = sq === touchedSquare}
@@ -96,6 +110,7 @@
        class:hl-cap={isHighlightCap}
        onclick={() => onSquareClick(sq)}
        aria-label={sq}
+        data-square={sq}
      >
        {#if r === (you === 'w' ? '1' : '8') && f === filesDisplay[0]}
          <span class="coord coord-rank">{r}</span>
@@ -106,6 +121,17 @@
        {#if piece}
          <span class="piece piece-{piece.color}">{pieceGlyph(piece)}</span>
        {/if}
+        {#if ph && !piece}
+          <!-- Phantom pieces are a pointer-only private annotation overlay;
+               there is no keyboard drag interaction. The real game stays fully
+               keyboard-operable via the square button below. -->
+          <!-- svelte-ignore a11y_no_static_element_interactions -->
+          <span
+            class="phantom phantom-{ph.color}"
+            class:dragging={sq === dragOrigin}
+            onpointerdown={(e) => { e.preventDefault(); phantomDrag.start({ kind: 'board', from: sq, type: ph.type }, e); }}
+          >{pieceGlyph(ph)}</span>
+        {/if}
        {#if isHighlight && !piece}
          <span class="dot"></span>
        {/if}
@@ -154,6 +180,23 @@
  .piece-w { color: #fafafa; }
  .piece-b { color: #1a1a1a; }

+  .phantom {
+    position: absolute;
+    inset: 0;
+    display: flex;
+    align-items: center;
+    justify-content: center;
+    pointer-events: auto;
+    touch-action: none;
+    cursor: grab;
+    opacity: 0.4;
+    outline: 2px dashed var(--text-dim);
+    outline-offset: -5px;
+  }
+  .phantom-w { color: #fafafa; }
+  .phantom-b { color: #1a1a1a; }
+  .phantom.dragging { opacity: 0.12; }
+
  .armed { box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 4px var(--armed); }
  .touched { box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 4px var(--touched); }
  .hl::before {
@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+<script lang="ts">
+  import type { CaptureTally, Color, PieceTally, PieceType } from '@blind-chess/shared';
+  import { pieceGlyph } from './pieces.js';
+
+  interface Props {
+    captures: CaptureTally;
+    you: Color;
+  }
+  let { captures, you }: Props = $props();
+
+  const ORDER: PieceType[] = ['q', 'r', 'b', 'n', 'p'];
+  const oppColor = $derived<Color>(you === 'w' ? 'b' : 'w');
+
+  function glyphs(tally: PieceTally, color: Color): { glyph: string; key: string }[] {
+    const out: { glyph: string; key: string }[] = [];
+    for (const t of ORDER) {
+      const n = tally[t] ?? 0;
+      for (let i = 0; i < n; i++) out.push({ glyph: pieceGlyph({ color, type: t }), key: `${t}${i}` });
+    }
+    return out;
+  }
+  function total(tally: PieceTally): number {
+    return Object.values(tally).reduce((a, b) => a + b, 0);
+  }
+
+  const youTook = $derived(glyphs(captures.byYou, oppColor));
+  const youLost = $derived(glyphs(captures.byOpponent, you));
+</script>
+
+<div class="panel">
+  <header>Captures</header>
+  <div class="row">
+    <span class="label">You took</span>
+    <span class="pieces">
+      {#each youTook as g (g.key)}<span class="g g-{oppColor}">{g.glyph}</span>{:else}<span class="muted">—</span>{/each}
+    </span>
+    <span class="n">{total(captures.byYou)}</span>
+  </div>
+  <div class="row lost">
+    <span class="label">Lost</span>
+    <span class="pieces">
+      {#each youLost as g (g.key)}<span class="g g-{you}">{g.glyph}</span>{:else}<span class="muted">—</span>{/each}
+    </span>
+    <span class="n">{total(captures.byOpponent)}</span>
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<style>
+  .panel {
+    background: var(--panel);
+    border: 1px solid var(--border);
+    border-radius: 8px;
+  }
+  header {
+    padding: 8px 14px;
+    font-size: 13px;
+    font-weight: 600;
+    color: var(--text-dim);
+    text-transform: uppercase;
+    letter-spacing: 0.08em;
+    border-bottom: 1px solid var(--border);
+  }
+  .row {
+    display: flex;
+    align-items: center;
+    gap: 8px;
+    padding: 8px 14px;
+  }
+  .row.lost { opacity: 0.7; }
+  .label {
+    font-size: 12px;
+    color: var(--text-dim);
+    width: 56px;
+    flex-shrink: 0;
+  }
+  .pieces { flex: 1; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1; }
+  .g-w { color: #fafafa; }
+  /* Dark pieces need a light outline to read on the dark panel background. */
+  .g-b { color: #1a1a1a; text-shadow: 0 0 2px var(--text), 0 0 2px var(--text); }
+  .n {
+    font-family: ui-monospace, monospace;
+    font-size: 13px;
+    color: var(--text-dim);
+  }
+</style>
@@ -3,8 +3,13 @@
  import { game } from './stores/game.svelte.js';
  import Board from './Board.svelte';
  import ModeratorPanel from './ModeratorPanel.svelte';
+  import CaptureTally from './CaptureTally.svelte';
  import PromotionDialog from './PromotionDialog.svelte';
-  import type { PromotionType, Square } from '@blind-chess/shared';
+  import PhantomPalette from './PhantomPalette.svelte';
+  import { pieceGlyph } from './pieces.js';
+  import { phantoms } from './stores/phantoms.svelte.js';
+  import { phantomDrag } from './stores/phantom-drag.svelte.js';
+  import { isPromotionMove, type PromotionType, type Square } from '@blind-chess/shared';

  interface Props { gameId: string; }
  let { gameId }: Props = $props();
@@ -35,13 +40,13 @@
  function onCommit(from: Square, to: Square) {
    const piece = game.state.view?.pieces[from];
    if (!piece) return;
-    // Promotion check (white pawn to rank 8, black pawn to rank 1).
-    if (piece.type === 'p') {
-      const rank = to[1];
-      if ((piece.color === 'w' && rank === '8') || (piece.color === 'b' && rank === '1')) {
-        pendingPromotion = { from, to };
-        return;
-      }
+    // A pawn promotes only from the rank adjacent to its promotion rank —
+    // isPromotionMove checks the source rank, destination rank, and file delta,
+    // so a pawn elsewhere "moved" toward the last rank no longer pops this
+    // dialog (which a click on a phantom-occupied back-rank square could do).
+    if (isPromotionMove(piece, from, to)) {
+      pendingPromotion = { from, to };
+      return;
    }
    game.commit(from, to);
  }
@@ -61,6 +66,17 @@
    setTimeout(() => copied = false, 1500);
  }

+  const isBotTurn = $derived(
+    !!game.state.aiOpponent
+      && game.state.gameStatus === 'active'
+      && game.state.view?.toMove === game.state.aiOpponent.color,
+  );
+
+  const aiBadgeText = $derived.by(() => {
+    if (!game.state.aiOpponent) return null;
+    return game.state.aiOpponent.brain === 'casual' ? 'Casual bot' : 'gemma4 recon';
+  });
+
  const turnLabel = $derived.by(() => {
    if (game.state.gameStatus === 'finished') {
      const reason = game.state.endReason;
@@ -74,8 +90,46 @@
    if (game.state.gameStatus === 'waiting') return 'Waiting for opponent…';
    if (!game.state.you) return '…';
    if (game.state.view?.toMove === game.state.you) return 'Your turn';
+    if (game.state.aiOpponent) {
+      const name = game.state.aiOpponent.brain === 'casual' ? 'Casual bot' : 'gemma4 recon';
+      return `${name} is moving…`;
+    }
    return 'Opponent thinking';
  });
+
+  const oppColor = $derived<'w' | 'b'>(game.state.you === 'w' ? 'b' : 'w');
+
+  // Phantom layer is blind-mode-only and shown only during active play.
+  const phantomLayerEnabled = $derived(
+    game.state.mode === 'blind' && game.state.gameStatus === 'active',
+  );
+
+  // The piece type currently being dragged (for the floating ghost), or null.
+  const dragGhost = $derived.by(() => {
+    const a = phantomDrag.state.active;
+    return a && phantomDrag.state.moved ? a.type : null;
+  });
+
+  // Load the phantom layer when `you` is known (blind games only). Keyed on
+  // gameId — like the connection effect — so it reloads if this <Game>
+  // instance is reused for a different game without a remount.
+  let loadedFor: string | null = $state(null);
+  $effect(() => {
+    const id = gameId;
+    const you = game.state.you;
+    if (loadedFor === id) return;
+    if (you && game.state.mode === 'blind') {
+      untrack(() => phantoms.loadForGame(id, you));
+      loadedFor = id;
+    }
+  });
+
+  // Drop the phantom layer when the game ends.
+  $effect(() => {
+    if (game.state.gameStatus === 'finished') {
+      untrack(() => phantoms.clearForGame(gameId));
+    }
+  });
 </script>

 <div class="game-layout" class:waiting={game.state.gameStatus === 'waiting'}>
@@ -89,6 +143,11 @@
        · You: {game.state.you === 'w' ? 'White' : 'Black'}
      {/if}
    </span>
+    {#if aiBadgeText}
+      <span class="ai-badge" class:thinking={isBotTurn}>
+        {aiBadgeText}
+      </span>
+    {/if}
  </div>

  {#if game.state.gameStatus === 'waiting'}
@@ -108,15 +167,21 @@
        toMove={game.state.view.toMove}
        mode={game.state.mode ?? 'blind'}
        highlightingEnabled={game.state.highlightingEnabled}
+        phantoms={phantomLayerEnabled ? phantoms.state.phantoms : {}}
+        phantomsEnabled={phantomLayerEnabled}
        armedSquare={armedSquare}
        touchedSquare={game.state.touchedPiece}
        {onArm}
        {onCommit}
      />
+      {#if phantomLayerEnabled}
+        <PhantomPalette {oppColor} />
+      {/if}
    </div>

    <aside class="side">
      <ModeratorPanel announcements={game.state.announcements} you={game.state.you} />
+      <CaptureTally captures={game.state.captures} you={game.state.you} />

      <div class="actions">
        {#if game.state.gameStatus === 'active'}
@@ -141,13 +206,20 @@
        <div class="banner err">⚠ {game.state.lastError.code}: {game.state.lastError.message}</div>
      {/if}

-      {#if !game.state.opponentConnected && game.state.gameStatus === 'active'}
+      {#if !game.state.opponentConnected && game.state.gameStatus === 'active' && !game.state.aiOpponent}
        <div class="banner muted">Opponent disconnected — 5 minute grace window.</div>
      {/if}
    </aside>
  {/if}
 </div>

+{#if phantomLayerEnabled && dragGhost}
+  <div
+    class="drag-ghost piece-{oppColor}"
+    style="left: {phantomDrag.state.x}px; top: {phantomDrag.state.y}px;"
+  >{pieceGlyph({ color: oppColor, type: dragGhost })}</div>
+{/if}
+
 {#if pendingPromotion && game.state.you}
  <PromotionDialog
    color={game.state.you}
@@ -199,7 +271,13 @@
    color: var(--text-dim);
  }

-  .board-area { display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center; }
+  .board-area {
+    display: flex;
+    flex-direction: column;
+    align-items: center;
+    justify-content: center;
+    gap: 10px;
+  }

  .side {
    display: flex;
@@ -221,6 +299,22 @@
  .banner .row { display: flex; gap: 8px; margin-top: 8px; }
  .banner .row button { flex: 1; }

+  .ai-badge {
+    font-size: 12px;
+    font-weight: 600;
+    padding: 4px 10px;
+    border: 1px solid var(--border);
+    border-radius: 999px;
+    background: var(--panel);
+    color: var(--text-dim);
+    white-space: nowrap;
+  }
+  .ai-badge.thinking {
+    color: var(--accent);
+    border-color: var(--accent);
+    background: rgba(211, 84, 0, 0.07);
+  }
+
  .waiting-card {
    background: var(--panel);
    border: 1px solid var(--border);
@@ -232,4 +326,18 @@
  .waiting-card h2 { margin: 0 0 8px; font-size: 18px; }
  .link-row { display: flex; gap: 8px; margin-top: 16px; }
  .link { flex: 1; font-family: ui-monospace, monospace; font-size: 13px; }
+
+  .drag-ghost {
+    position: fixed;
+    transform: translate(-50%, -50%);
+    pointer-events: none;
+    z-index: 1000;
+    font-size: 44px;
+    line-height: 1;
+    text-shadow: 0 2px 6px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6);
+  }
+  .drag-ghost.piece-w { color: #fafafa; }
+  /* A dark dragged piece needs a light outline (the base dark shadow above
+     does nothing for it) so it reads over dark areas of the page. */
+  .drag-ghost.piece-b { color: #1a1a1a; text-shadow: 0 0 3px var(--text), 0 0 2px var(--text); }
 </style>
@@ -1,30 +1,60 @@
 <script lang="ts">
  import type { Mode, Color, CreateGameResponse } from '@blind-chess/shared';

-  let mode: Mode = $state('blind');
-  let side: Color | 'random' = $state('random');
-  let highlightingEnabled = $state(false);
-  let creating = $state(false);
-  let error: string | null = $state(null);
+  // Friend section state.
+  let friendMode: Mode = $state('blind');
+  let friendSide: Color | 'random' = $state('random');
+  let friendHighlight = $state(false);
+  let friendCreating = $state(false);
+  let friendError: string | null = $state(null);

-  async function create() {
-    creating = true;
-    error = null;
+  // AI section state (separate so user can configure each independently).
+  let aiMode: Mode = $state('blind');
+  let aiSide: Color | 'random' = $state('random');
+  let aiHighlight = $state(false);
+  let aiCreating = $state(false);
+  let aiError: string | null = $state(null);
+
+  async function createWithFriend() {
+    friendCreating = true; friendError = null;
    try {
      const res = await fetch('/api/games', {
        method: 'POST',
        headers: { 'content-type': 'application/json' },
-        body: JSON.stringify({ mode, side, highlightingEnabled }),
+        body: JSON.stringify({
+          mode: friendMode, side: friendSide, highlightingEnabled: friendHighlight,
+        }),
      });
      if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`HTTP ${res.status}`);
      const json: CreateGameResponse & { creatorColor: Color } = await res.json();
-      // store creator token before navigating
      localStorage.setItem(`bc:${json.gameId}`, json.creatorToken);
      location.hash = `#/g/${json.gameId}`;
    } catch (e) {
-      error = e instanceof Error ? e.message : String(e);
+      friendError = e instanceof Error ? e.message : String(e);
    } finally {
-      creating = false;
+      friendCreating = false;
+    }
+  }
+
+  async function createVsCasual() {
+    aiCreating = true; aiError = null;
+    try {
+      const res = await fetch('/api/games', {
+        method: 'POST',
+        headers: { 'content-type': 'application/json' },
+        body: JSON.stringify({
+          mode: aiMode, side: aiSide, highlightingEnabled: aiHighlight,
+          vsAi: { brain: 'casual' },
+        }),
+      });
+      if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`HTTP ${res.status}`);
+      const json: CreateGameResponse & { creatorColor: Color } = await res.json();
+      localStorage.setItem(`bc:${json.gameId}`, json.creatorToken);
+      location.hash = `#/g/${json.gameId}`;
+    } catch (e) {
+      aiError = e instanceof Error ? e.message : String(e);
+    } finally {
+      aiCreating = false;
    }
  }
 </script>
@@ -36,18 +66,19 @@
  </div>

  <div class="card">
-    <h2>Create a game</h2>
+    <h2>Play with a friend</h2>
+    <p class="card-sub muted">Get a shareable link, send it to someone, play together.</p>

    <div class="field">
      <span class="lbl">Mode</span>
      <div class="opts">
-        <label class="opt" class:active={mode === 'blind'}>
-          <input type="radio" bind:group={mode} value="blind" />
+        <label class="opt" class:active={friendMode === 'blind'}>
+          <input type="radio" bind:group={friendMode} value="blind" />
          <span class="opt-title">Blind</span>
          <span class="opt-sub">Each player sees only their own pieces.</span>
        </label>
-        <label class="opt" class:active={mode === 'vanilla'}>
-          <input type="radio" bind:group={mode} value="vanilla" />
+        <label class="opt" class:active={friendMode === 'vanilla'}>
+          <input type="radio" bind:group={friendMode} value="vanilla" />
          <span class="opt-title">Vanilla</span>
          <span class="opt-sub">Normal chess. Both players see everything.</span>
        </label>
@@ -57,31 +88,93 @@
    <div class="field">
      <span class="lbl">You play as</span>
      <div class="row">
-        <label><input type="radio" bind:group={side} value="w" /> White</label>
-        <label><input type="radio" bind:group={side} value="b" /> Black</label>
-        <label><input type="radio" bind:group={side} value="random" /> Random</label>
+        <label><input type="radio" bind:group={friendSide} value="w" /> White</label>
+        <label><input type="radio" bind:group={friendSide} value="b" /> Black</label>
+        <label><input type="radio" bind:group={friendSide} value="random" /> Random</label>
      </div>
    </div>

    <div class="field">
      <label class="toggle">
-        <input type="checkbox" bind:checked={highlightingEnabled} />
+        <input type="checkbox" bind:checked={friendHighlight} />
        <span>Highlight reachable squares</span>
-        {#if mode === 'blind'}
+        {#if friendMode === 'blind'}
          <span class="hint muted">(geometric only — no opponent info)</span>
        {/if}
      </label>
    </div>

-    <button class="primary big" disabled={creating} onclick={create}>
-      {creating ? 'Creating…' : 'Create game'}
+    <button class="primary big" disabled={friendCreating} onclick={createWithFriend}>
+      {friendCreating ? 'Creating…' : 'Create game'}
    </button>
-
-    {#if error}
-      <p class="error">Error: {error}</p>
-    {/if}
+    {#if friendError}<p class="error">Error: {friendError}</p>{/if}
  </div>

+  <div class="card">
+    <h2>Play vs computer</h2>
+    <p class="card-sub muted">Always-available opponent. No link to share — game starts immediately.</p>
+
+    <div class="field">
+      <span class="lbl">Mode</span>
+      <div class="opts">
+        <label class="opt" class:active={aiMode === 'blind'}>
+          <input type="radio" bind:group={aiMode} value="blind" />
+          <span class="opt-title">Blind</span>
+          <span class="opt-sub">Each player sees only their own pieces.</span>
+        </label>
+        <label class="opt" class:active={aiMode === 'vanilla'}>
+          <input type="radio" bind:group={aiMode} value="vanilla" />
+          <span class="opt-title">Vanilla</span>
+          <span class="opt-sub">Normal chess. Both players see everything.</span>
+        </label>
+      </div>
+    </div>
+
+    <div class="field">
+      <span class="lbl">You play as</span>
+      <div class="row">
+        <label><input type="radio" bind:group={aiSide} value="w" /> White</label>
+        <label><input type="radio" bind:group={aiSide} value="b" /> Black</label>
+        <label><input type="radio" bind:group={aiSide} value="random" /> Random</label>
+      </div>
+    </div>
+
+    <div class="field">
+      <label class="toggle">
+        <input type="checkbox" bind:checked={aiHighlight} />
+        <span>Highlight reachable squares</span>
+        {#if aiMode === 'blind'}
+          <span class="hint muted">(geometric only — no opponent info)</span>
+        {/if}
+      </label>
+    </div>
+
+    <div class="ai-buttons">
+      <button class="primary" disabled={aiCreating} onclick={createVsCasual}>
+        {aiCreating ? 'Creating…' : 'Casual bot'}
+      </button>
+      <button class="secondary" disabled title="Coming soon">
+        gemma4 recon (coming soon)
+      </button>
+    </div>
+    <p class="card-sub muted small">
+      Casual: fast, plays simple moves, makes mistakes. Good for a quick game.
+    </p>
+    {#if aiError}<p class="error">Error: {aiError}</p>{/if}
+  </div>
+
+  <a class="card card-link" href="/duplicate/">
+    <h2>
+      Duplicate Chess
+      <span class="badge">under development</span>
+    </h2>
+    <p class="card-sub muted">
+      A four-player chess variant invented by Andrew Freiberg. Perfect information —
+      every player sees all four boards. Local sandbox; open it and play around.
+    </p>
+    <span class="open-cue">Open →</span>
+  </a>
+
  <footer class="muted">
    <span class="mono">git.sethpc.xyz/Seth/blind_chess</span>
  </footer>
@@ -114,8 +207,11 @@
    border: 1px solid var(--border);
    border-radius: 12px;
    padding: 22px;
+    margin-bottom: 20px;
  }
-  h2 { font-size: 18px; margin: 0 0 16px; }
+  .card-sub { font-size: 13px; margin: -10px 0 16px; }
+  .card-sub.small { margin-top: 12px; font-size: 12px; }
+  h2 { font-size: 18px; margin: 0 0 8px; }

  .field { margin-bottom: 20px; }
  .lbl {
@@ -157,6 +253,44 @@
    margin-top: 8px;
  }

+  .ai-buttons { display: grid; gap: 8px; grid-template-columns: 1fr 1fr; }
+  @media (max-width: 480px) { .ai-buttons { grid-template-columns: 1fr; } }
+  .secondary {
+    background: transparent;
+    border: 1px solid var(--border);
+    color: var(--text-dim);
+  }
+  .secondary:disabled { cursor: not-allowed; opacity: 0.6; }
+
  .error { color: #f87171; margin-top: 12px; }
  footer { text-align: center; margin-top: 24px; font-size: 12px; }
+
+  .card-link {
+    display: block;
+    text-decoration: none;
+    color: inherit;
+    cursor: pointer;
+    transition: border 0.15s, background 0.15s;
+  }
+  .card-link:hover { border-color: var(--accent-dim); background: rgba(211,84,0,0.05); }
+  .card-link h2 { display: flex; align-items: center; gap: 10px; flex-wrap: wrap; }
+  .badge {
+    display: inline-block;
+    font-size: 11px;
+    font-weight: 600;
+    letter-spacing: 0.06em;
+    text-transform: uppercase;
+    padding: 3px 8px;
+    border-radius: 999px;
+    color: var(--accent);
+    background: rgba(211,84,0,0.10);
+    border: 1px solid var(--accent-dim);
+  }
+  .open-cue {
+    display: inline-block;
+    margin-top: 8px;
+    font-size: 13px;
+    color: var(--accent);
+    font-weight: 600;
+  }
 </style>
@@ -24,9 +24,11 @@
  <header>Moderator</header>
  <div class="log" bind:this={scrollEl}>
    {#each visible as a, i (i)}
-      <div class="entry" class:err={a.text === 'illegal_move' || a.text === 'no_such_piece' || a.text === 'no_legal_moves' || a.text === 'wont_help'}>
+      {@const isAttempt = a.text === 'no_such_piece' || a.text === 'no_legal_moves' || a.text === 'wont_help' || a.text === 'illegal_move'}
+      {@const actor = a.ply % 2 === 0 ? 'White' : 'Black'}
+      <div class="entry" class:attempt={isAttempt}>
        <span class="ply">{a.ply > 0 ? `#${a.ply}` : ''}</span>
-        <span class="text">{moderatorText(a.text, a.payload)}</span>
+        <span class="text">{isAttempt ? `${actor} — ` : ''}{moderatorText(a.text, a.payload)}</span>
      </div>
    {:else}
      <div class="empty muted">The moderator is silent.</div>
@@ -67,7 +69,7 @@
    border-bottom: 1px dashed rgba(255,255,255,0.05);
  }
  .entry:last-child { border-bottom: none; }
-  .entry.err .text { color: #f87171; }
+  .entry.attempt .text { color: var(--text-dim); font-style: italic; }
  .ply {
    color: var(--text-dim);
    font-family: ui-monospace, monospace;
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+<script lang="ts">
+  import type { Color, PieceType } from '@blind-chess/shared';
+  import { pieceGlyph } from './pieces.js';
+  import { phantomDrag } from './stores/phantom-drag.svelte.js';
+
+  interface Props { oppColor: Color; }
+  let { oppColor }: Props = $props();
+
+  const TYPES: PieceType[] = ['q', 'r', 'b', 'n', 'p', 'k'];
+</script>
+
+<div class="palette">
+  <span class="hint muted">Drag onto your board — your guess of where the opponent is.</span>
+  <div class="pieces">
+    {#each TYPES as t (t)}
+      <!-- Pointer-only drag source — same deliberate a11y trade-off as the
+           phantom spans in Board.svelte (no keyboard drag interaction). -->
+      <!-- svelte-ignore a11y_no_static_element_interactions -->
+      <span
+        class="pp pp-{oppColor}"
+        onpointerdown={(e) => { e.preventDefault(); phantomDrag.start({ kind: 'palette', type: t }, e); }}
+      >{pieceGlyph({ color: oppColor, type: t })}</span>
+    {/each}
+  </div>
+</div>
+
+<style>
+  .palette {
+    display: flex;
+    flex-direction: column;
+    gap: 4px;
+    background: var(--panel);
+    border: 1px solid var(--border);
+    border-radius: 8px;
+    padding: 8px 12px;
+  }
+  .hint { font-size: 12px; }
+  .pieces { display: flex; gap: 6px; }
+  .pp {
+    font-size: 30px;
+    line-height: 1;
+    cursor: grab;
+    touch-action: none;
+    opacity: 0.75;
+    user-select: none;
+  }
+  .pp:hover { opacity: 1; }
+  .pp-w { color: #fafafa; }
+  /* Dark pieces need a light outline to read on the dark panel background. */
+  .pp-b { color: #1a1a1a; text-shadow: 0 0 2px var(--text), 0 0 2px var(--text); }
+</style>
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import type {
  Announcement,
  BoardView,
+  CaptureTally,
  ClientMessage,
  Color,
  ErrorCode,
@@ -28,6 +29,8 @@ interface GameStateValue {
  winner: Color | null;
  opponentConnected: boolean;
  lastError: { code: ErrorCode; message: string; at: number } | null;
+  aiOpponent: { color: Color; brain: 'casual' | 'recon' } | null;
+  captures: CaptureTally;
 }

 function makeStore() {
@@ -47,6 +50,8 @@ function makeStore() {
    winner: null,
    opponentConnected: false,
    lastError: null,
+    aiOpponent: null,
+    captures: { byYou: {}, byOpponent: {} },
  });

  function tokenKey(gameId: string) { return `bc:${gameId}`; }
@@ -91,6 +96,8 @@ function makeStore() {
        state.mode = m.mode;
        state.highlightingEnabled = m.highlightingEnabled;
        state.opponentConnected = m.opponentConnected;
+        state.aiOpponent = m.aiOpponent ?? null;
+        state.captures = m.captures;
        if (state.gameId) localStorage.setItem(tokenKey(state.gameId), m.token);
        break;
      case 'update':
@@ -103,6 +110,8 @@ function makeStore() {
        if (m.newAnnouncements.length) {
          state.announcements = [...state.announcements, ...m.newAnnouncements];
        }
+        if (m.aiOpponent !== undefined) state.aiOpponent = m.aiOpponent;
+        state.captures = m.captures;
        break;
      case 'peer-status':
        if (state.you && m.color !== state.you) {
@@ -0,0 +1,98 @@
+import type { PieceType, Square } from '@blind-chess/shared';
+import { phantoms } from './phantoms.svelte.js';
+import { game } from './game.svelte.js';
+
+export type DragSource =
+  | { kind: 'palette'; type: PieceType }
+  | { kind: 'board'; from: Square; type: PieceType };
+
+/**
+ * Pointer-event drag controller for the phantom layer. A drag past THRESHOLD
+ * px places/moves/removes a phantom; a sub-threshold press is a tap and is
+ * left for the board's normal click handler. Real moves are unaffected.
+ */
+function makeDrag() {
+  const state = $state<{
+    active: DragSource | null;
+    x: number;
+    y: number;
+    moved: boolean;
+  }>({ active: null, x: 0, y: 0, moved: false });
+
+  let startX = 0;
+  let startY = 0;
+  // Set only when a board-phantom drag ends back on its origin square — the
+  // browser then fires a spurious `click` on that square's button which must
+  // be swallowed so it doesn't trigger a real move.
+  let suppressClickOn: Square | null = null;
+  const THRESHOLD = 6;
+
+  function detach() {
+    window.removeEventListener('pointermove', onMove);
+    window.removeEventListener('pointerup', onUp);
+    window.removeEventListener('pointercancel', onCancel);
+  }
+
+  function onMove(e: PointerEvent) {
+    if (!state.active) return;
+    state.x = e.clientX;
+    state.y = e.clientY;
+    if (!state.moved && Math.hypot(e.clientX - startX, e.clientY - startY) > THRESHOLD) {
+      state.moved = true;
+    }
+  }
+
+  // pointercancel fires instead of pointerup when the browser/OS takes over
+  // the gesture (common on touch). Abort the drag: clean up, drop nothing.
+  function onCancel() {
+    detach();
+    state.active = null;
+    state.moved = false;
+  }
+
+  function onUp(e: PointerEvent) {
+    detach();
+    const src = state.active;
+    const wasDrag = state.moved;
+    state.active = null;
+    state.moved = false;
+    if (!src || !wasDrag) return; // a tap — the board click handler deals with it
+
+    // elementFromPoint returns null off-viewport — treated as an off-board drop.
+    const el = document.elementFromPoint(e.clientX, e.clientY);
+    const sqEl = el?.closest('[data-square]') as HTMLElement | null;
+    const target = sqEl?.dataset.square as Square | undefined;
+
+    if (src.kind === 'board') {
+      if (target === src.from) { suppressClickOn = src.from; return; }
+      if (!target) { phantoms.remove(src.from); return; } // dropped off the board
+      if (game.state.view?.pieces[target]) return;        // your own real piece — reject
+      phantoms.move(src.from, target);
+      return;
+    }
+    // palette → board
+    if (target && !game.state.view?.pieces[target]) phantoms.place(target, src.type);
+  }
+
+  function start(src: DragSource, e: PointerEvent) {
+    detach(); // idempotency — drop any listeners from an unfinished prior drag
+    suppressClickOn = null;
+    state.active = src;
+    state.x = startX = e.clientX;
+    state.y = startY = e.clientY;
+    state.moved = false;
+    window.addEventListener('pointermove', onMove);
+    window.addEventListener('pointerup', onUp);
+    window.addEventListener('pointercancel', onCancel);
+  }
+
+  /** The board calls this first in its square-click handler. */
+  function shouldSuppressClick(sq: Square): boolean {
+    if (suppressClickOn === sq) { suppressClickOn = null; return true; }
+    return false;
+  }
+
+  return { state, start, shouldSuppressClick };
+}
+
+export const phantomDrag = makeDrag();
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+import {
+  opponentStartPosition,
+  deserializePhantoms,
+  type Color,
+  type Piece,
+  type PieceType,
+  type Square,
+} from '@blind-chess/shared';
+
+/**
+ * Client-LOCAL store for the player's phantom opponent-model layer.
+ * This data NEVER reaches the server — it is the player's private guess.
+ * Do not read this store in any `send`/`commit` path.
+ */
+function makeStore() {
+  const state = $state<{ phantoms: Partial<Record<Square, Piece>> }>({ phantoms: {} });
+  let gameId: string | null = null;
+  let oppColor: Color = 'b';
+
+  function key(id: string) { return `bc:phantoms:${id}`; }
+
+  function persist() {
+    if (gameId) localStorage.setItem(key(gameId), JSON.stringify(state.phantoms));
+  }
+
+  /** Load (or first-time seed) the phantom layer for a blind game. */
+  function loadForGame(id: string, you: Color) {
+    gameId = id;
+    oppColor = you === 'w' ? 'b' : 'w';
+    const raw = localStorage.getItem(key(id));
+    if (raw === null) {
+      // First load — seed with the opponent's starting army.
+      state.phantoms = opponentStartPosition(oppColor);
+      persist();
+    } else {
+      state.phantoms = deserializePhantoms(raw);
+    }
+  }
+
+  function place(sq: Square, type: PieceType) {
+    if (!gameId) return;
+    state.phantoms = { ...state.phantoms, [sq]: { color: oppColor, type } };
+    persist();
+  }
+
+  function move(from: Square, to: Square) {
+    if (!gameId || from === to) return;
+    const p = state.phantoms[from];
+    if (!p) return;
+    const next = { ...state.phantoms };
+    delete next[from];
+    next[to] = p;
+    state.phantoms = next;
+    persist();
+  }
+
+  function remove(sq: Square) {
+    if (!gameId) return;
+    const next = { ...state.phantoms };
+    delete next[sq];
+    state.phantoms = next;
+    persist();
+  }
+
+  /** Drop the layer when a game ends — avoids unbounded localStorage growth. */
+  function clearForGame(id: string) {
+    localStorage.removeItem(key(id));
+    if (gameId === id) { state.phantoms = {}; gameId = null; }
+  }
+
+  return { state, loadForGame, place, move, remove, clearForGame };
+}
+
+export const phantoms = makeStore();
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
    "@fastify/websocket": "^11.0.0",
    "chess.js": "^1.4.0",
    "fastify": "^5.2.0",
+    "js-chess-engine": "^2.4.6",
    "pino": "^9.5.0",
    "ws": "^8.18.0",
    "zod": "^3.24.0"
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+import type {
+  Announcement,
+  BoardView,
+  Color,
+  PromotionType,
+  Square,
+} from '@blind-chess/shared';
+import type { ModeratorText } from '@blind-chess/shared';
+
+export interface CandidateMove {
+  from: Square;
+  to: Square;
+  promotion?: PromotionType;
+}
+
+export interface AttemptHistoryEntry {
+  move: CandidateMove;
+  rejection: ModeratorText;
+}
+
+export interface BrainInput {
+  view: BoardView;
+  newAnnouncements: Announcement[];
+  legalCandidates: CandidateMove[];
+  attemptHistory: AttemptHistoryEntry[];
+  drawOfferFromOpponent: boolean;
+  ply: number;
+  /**
+   * Full position FEN. Set only in vanilla mode where `view` is already a
+   * full reveal — omitted in blind mode, since passing the FEN there would
+   * leak opponent positions and violate the view-filter invariant. Brains
+   * with an internal chess engine rely on this; brains that don't can
+   * ignore it.
+   */
+  fen?: string;
+}
+
+export type BrainAction =
+  | { type: 'commit'; from: Square; to: Square; promotion?: PromotionType }
+  | { type: 'resign' }
+  | { type: 'offer-draw' }
+  | { type: 'respond-draw'; accept: boolean };
+
+export interface BrainInitArgs {
+  color: Color;
+  mode: 'blind' | 'vanilla';
+  gameId: string;
+}
+
+export interface Brain {
+  init(args: BrainInitArgs): Promise<void>;
+  decide(input: BrainInput): Promise<BrainAction>;
+  dispose?(): Promise<void>;
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+import {
+  geometricMoves,
+  type Color,
+  type Piece,
+  type PieceType,
+  type PromotionType,
+  type Square,
+} from '@blind-chess/shared';
+import type { Game } from '../state.js';
+import { ownSquares } from '../view.js';
+import type { CandidateMove } from './brain.js';
+
+const PROMOTION_TYPES: PromotionType[] = ['q', 'r', 'b', 'n'];
+
+export function legalCandidates(game: Game, color: Color): CandidateMove[] {
+  if (game.mode === 'vanilla') return vanillaCandidates(game, color);
+  return blindCandidates(game, color);
+}
+
+function vanillaCandidates(game: Game, color: Color): CandidateMove[] {
+  // chess.js only returns moves for the side to move via `.moves()`. To get a
+  // hypothetical move list for the other color we'd need to rotate — but the
+  // bot driver only invokes legalCandidates when it's the bot's turn, so this
+  // is fine in practice. Tests for "wrong color" use blind mode.
+  if (game.chess.turn() !== color) return [];
+
+  const moves = game.chess.moves({ verbose: true }) as Array<{
+    from: Square; to: Square; promotion?: PromotionType;
+  }>;
+  const out: CandidateMove[] = [];
+  for (const m of moves) {
+    out.push({ from: m.from, to: m.to, promotion: m.promotion });
+  }
+  return out;
+}
+
+function blindCandidates(game: Game, color: Color): CandidateMove[] {
+  const own = ownSquares(game, color);
+  const board = game.chess.board();
+  const out: CandidateMove[] = [];
+
+  for (const row of board) {
+    if (!row) continue;
+    for (const cell of row) {
+      if (!cell) continue;
+      if (cell.color !== color) continue;
+      const piece: Piece = { color: cell.color, type: cell.type as PieceType };
+      const from = cell.square as Square;
+      const tos = geometricMoves(piece, from, own);
+      for (const to of tos) {
+        if (isPromotionSquare(piece, to)) {
+          for (const promo of PROMOTION_TYPES) {
+            out.push({ from, to, promotion: promo });
+          }
+        } else {
+          out.push({ from, to });
+        }
+      }
+    }
+  }
+  return out;
+}
+
+function isPromotionSquare(piece: Piece, to: Square): boolean {
+  if (piece.type !== 'p') return false;
+  const rank = to[1];
+  return (piece.color === 'w' && rank === '8') || (piece.color === 'b' && rank === '1');
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,223 @@
+import { Game as EngineGame } from 'js-chess-engine';
+import type { BoardView, Color, PieceType, PromotionType, Square } from '@blind-chess/shared';
+import type {
+  Brain,
+  BrainAction,
+  BrainInitArgs,
+  BrainInput,
+  CandidateMove,
+} from './brain.js';
+
+interface CasualOpts {
+  seed?: number;
+  /**
+   * Engine difficulty for vanilla mode (1-5; 1 is weakest).
+   * `js-chess-engine` level 1 plays at roughly beginner strength —
+   * crushes random moves but loses to a careful human. Higher levels
+   * raise both strength and per-move latency.
+   */
+  level?: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5;
+}
+
+const PIECE_VALUE: Record<PieceType, number> = {
+  p: 1, n: 3, b: 3, r: 5, q: 9, k: 0,
+};
+
+export class CasualBrain implements Brain {
+  private color: Color = 'w';
+  private mode: 'blind' | 'vanilla' = 'blind';
+  private level: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5;
+  private rng: () => number;
+
+  constructor(opts: CasualOpts = {}) {
+    this.rng = mulberry32(opts.seed ?? Math.floor(Math.random() * 0xffffffff));
+    this.level = opts.level ?? 2;
+  }
+
+  async init(args: BrainInitArgs): Promise<void> {
+    this.color = args.color;
+    this.mode = args.mode;
+  }
+
+  async decide(input: BrainInput): Promise<BrainAction> {
+    if (input.drawOfferFromOpponent) {
+      return { type: 'respond-draw', accept: this.acceptDraw(input.view) };
+    }
+
+    const filtered = this.excludeRejected(input.legalCandidates, input.attemptHistory);
+    if (filtered.length === 0) {
+      throw new Error('CasualBrain: zero candidates after exclusion');
+    }
+
+    // Vanilla mode: delegate to a real chess engine. The driver supplies
+    // a FEN only in vanilla mode, so this branch is naturally gated.
+    if (this.mode === 'vanilla' && input.fen) {
+      const engineMove = this.engineMove(input.fen, filtered);
+      if (engineMove) {
+        return {
+          type: 'commit',
+          from: engineMove.from,
+          to: engineMove.to,
+          promotion: engineMove.promotion,
+        };
+      }
+      // Fall through to heuristic if the engine produced something we
+      // can't validate against the candidate list.
+    }
+
+    // Blind mode (or vanilla fallback): score-based heuristic. When the
+    // moderator says we're in check, bias toward king moves — the only
+    // class of moves that resolves nearly every check (king moves out of
+    // attack), and the only class the bot can identify without seeing the
+    // attacker. Without this bias the heuristic scores capture/advance
+    // signals uncorrelated with check resolution, the FSM rejects every
+    // non-resolving attempt, and the driver's retry cap fires.
+    const inCheck = this.detectOwnCheck(input.newAnnouncements);
+    const choice = this.heuristicPick(filtered, input.view, input.ply, inCheck);
+    return {
+      type: 'commit',
+      from: choice.from,
+      to: choice.to,
+      promotion: choice.promotion,
+    };
+  }
+
+  private detectOwnCheck(announcements: BrainInput['newAnnouncements']): boolean {
+    const tag = this.color === 'w' ? 'white_in_check' : 'black_in_check';
+    return announcements.some((a) => a.text === tag);
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Run js-chess-engine on the given FEN and return a candidate matching
+   * its choice, or null if no match was found.
+   */
+  private engineMove(fen: string, candidates: CandidateMove[]): CandidateMove | null {
+    let result: { move: Record<string, string> };
+    try {
+      const g = new EngineGame(fen);
+      // randomness=30 picks among moves within 30 centipawns of best; this
+      // breaks threefold-repetition draws when the bot is clearly winning
+      // but doesn't see the conversion path.
+      result = g.ai({ level: this.level, play: false, randomness: 30 }) as { move: Record<string, string> };
+    } catch {
+      return null;
+    }
+    const entry = Object.entries(result.move ?? {})[0];
+    if (!entry) return null;
+    const [fromUC, toUC] = entry;
+    const from = (fromUC as string).toLowerCase() as Square;
+    const to = (toUC as string).toLowerCase() as Square;
+    // Find a candidate matching this from-to. If the move is a promotion,
+    // js-chess-engine emits the destination square (e.g., {E7: 'E8'}) but
+    // doesn't separately surface the promotion piece — default to queen.
+    const matches = candidates.filter((c) => c.from === from && c.to === to);
+    if (matches.length === 0) return null;
+    const queen = matches.find((c) => c.promotion === 'q');
+    if (queen) return queen;
+    return matches[0]!;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Score-based fallback used for blind mode and any vanilla case where
+   * the engine's pick wasn't in the candidate list. Plays badly on purpose.
+   */
+  private heuristicPick(
+    candidates: CandidateMove[],
+    view: BoardView,
+    ply: number,
+    inCheck: boolean,
+  ): CandidateMove {
+    const kingSquare = inCheck ? this.findOwnKing(view) : null;
+    const scored = candidates.map((c) => {
+      let score = this.scoreMove(c, view, ply);
+      if (c.promotion === 'q') score += 1000;
+      else if (c.promotion === 'r') score += 500;
+      else if (c.promotion === 'b') score += 100;
+      else if (c.promotion === 'n') score += 50;
+      // King moves dominate when in check. The boost is large enough to
+      // beat any combination of other heuristic factors so the driver
+      // exhausts king escapes first; if all king moves are rejected the
+      // attemptHistory exclusion strips them and the bot falls through
+      // to non-king options (block / capture-attacker guesses).
+      if (kingSquare && c.from === kingSquare) score += 5000;
+      return { move: c, score: score + this.rng() * 0.01 };
+    });
+    scored.sort((a, b) => b.score - a.score);
+    return scored[0]!.move;
+  }
+
+  private findOwnKing(view: BoardView): Square | null {
+    for (const sq of Object.keys(view.pieces) as Square[]) {
+      const p = view.pieces[sq];
+      if (p && p.color === this.color && p.type === 'k') return sq;
+    }
+    return null;
+  }
+
+  private excludeRejected(
+    candidates: CandidateMove[],
+    history: BrainInput['attemptHistory'],
+  ): CandidateMove[] {
+    if (history.length === 0) return candidates;
+    const rejected = new Set(history.map((h) => moveKey(h.move)));
+    return candidates.filter((c) => !rejected.has(moveKey(c)));
+  }
+
+  private scoreMove(move: CandidateMove, view: BoardView, ply: number): number {
+    let score = 0;
+    const destPiece = view.pieces[move.to];
+    if (!destPiece) score += 50;
+
+    const piece = view.pieces[move.from];
+    if (!piece) return score;
+
+    const ownStartingRank = this.color === 'w' ? '1' : '8';
+    const ownPawnStartingRank = this.color === 'w' ? '2' : '7';
+
+    if (ply < 16 && (piece.type === 'n' || piece.type === 'b')
+        && move.from[1] === ownStartingRank) {
+      score += 30;
+    }
+
+    if (piece.type === 'p' && move.from[1] === ownPawnStartingRank) {
+      const file = move.from[0];
+      if (file === 'd' || file === 'e') score += 25;
+      else if (file === 'c' || file === 'f') score += 10;
+    }
+
+    const fromRank = parseInt(move.from[1]!, 10);
+    const toRank = parseInt(move.to[1]!, 10);
+    const advance = this.color === 'w' ? toRank - fromRank : fromRank - toRank;
+    if (advance > 0) score += 15 * advance;
+
+    if (move.from[1] === ownStartingRank && (piece.type === 'q' || piece.type === 'r')) {
+      score -= 40;
+    }
+
+    return score;
+  }
+
+  private acceptDraw(view: BoardView): boolean {
+    let own = 0;
+    for (const sq of Object.keys(view.pieces) as Square[]) {
+      const p = view.pieces[sq];
+      if (p) own += PIECE_VALUE[p.type];
+    }
+    return own < 15;
+  }
+}
+
+function moveKey(m: CandidateMove): string {
+  return `${m.from}-${m.to}${m.promotion ?? ''}`;
+}
+
+function mulberry32(seed: number): () => number {
+  let a = seed >>> 0;
+  return function () {
+    a = (a + 0x6d2b79f5) >>> 0;
+    let t = a;
+    t = Math.imul(t ^ (t >>> 15), t | 1);
+    t ^= t + Math.imul(t ^ (t >>> 7), t | 61);
+    return ((t ^ (t >>> 14)) >>> 0) / 4294967296;
+  };
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,256 @@
+import type { Color } from '@blind-chess/shared';
+import type { Game } from '../state.js';
+import type {
+  AttemptHistoryEntry,
+  Brain,
+  BrainAction,
+  BrainInput,
+  CandidateMove,
+} from './brain.js';
+import { legalCandidates } from './candidates.js';
+import { handleCommit } from '../commit.js';
+import { buildView } from '../view.js';
+import { announce } from '../translator.js';
+import { finalizeIfEnded } from '../game-end.js';
+
+// Per-decision-cycle retry budget. In vanilla mode chess.js verbose moves are
+// guaranteed legal so the cap is never exercised. In blind mode the brain
+// supplies pseudo-legal candidates and chess.js may reject many (pinned pieces,
+// unresolved check); we need budget to find a legal move before giving up.
+const RETRY_CAP = 25;
+
+type BotResignReason =
+  | 'retry_cap_exhausted'
+  | 'brain_threw'
+  | 'brain_chose_resign'
+  | 'commit_silent'
+  | 'commit_error';
+
+function errString(err: unknown): string {
+  if (err instanceof Error) return err.message;
+  return String(err);
+}
+
+interface BotDriverOpts {
+  game: Game;
+  brain: Brain;
+  color: Color;
+}
+
+export class BotDriver {
+  private game: Game;
+  private brain: Brain;
+  private color: Color;
+
+  private decideInFlight = false;
+  private disposed = false;
+  private lastSeenAnnouncementCount = 0;
+
+  constructor(opts: BotDriverOpts) {
+    this.game = opts.game;
+    this.brain = opts.brain;
+    this.color = opts.color;
+  }
+
+  async init(): Promise<void> {
+    await this.brain.init({
+      color: this.color,
+      mode: this.game.mode,
+      gameId: this.game.id,
+    });
+    this.lastSeenAnnouncementCount = this.game.announcements.length;
+  }
+
+  async onStateChange(): Promise<void> {
+    if (this.disposed) return;
+
+    if (this.game.status === 'finished') {
+      await this.disposeBrain();
+      return;
+    }
+
+    if (this.decideInFlight) return;
+    if (!this.shouldDecide()) return;
+
+    this.decideInFlight = true;
+    try {
+      await this.runDecisionCycle();
+    } finally {
+      this.decideInFlight = false;
+    }
+  }
+
+  private shouldDecide(): boolean {
+    if (this.game.status !== 'active') return false;
+    // Respond to a draw offer from opponent even when it's not our turn.
+    if (this.game.drawOffer && this.game.drawOffer.from !== this.color) return true;
+    if (this.game.chess.turn() === this.color) return true;
+    return false;
+  }
+
+  private async runDecisionCycle(): Promise<void> {
+    const attemptHistory: AttemptHistoryEntry[] = [];
+
+    for (let attempt = 0; attempt < RETRY_CAP; attempt++) {
+      // The bot makes atomic (from,to) commits — there is no touched-piece UX.
+      // A prior attempt that survived past `tryMove` (e.g. illegal_move,
+      // promotion_required) leaves `game.armed` set; a retry that picks a
+      // different `from` would otherwise be rejected as
+      // `must_move_touched_piece` and resign the bot. Clear here so each
+      // attempt starts from a clean FSM state.
+      if (this.game.armed?.color === this.color) {
+        this.game.armed = null;
+      }
+      const input = this.buildBrainInput(attemptHistory);
+      let outcome: { kind: 'done' } | { kind: 'retry'; entry: AttemptHistoryEntry };
+      try {
+        const action = await this.brain.decide(input);
+        outcome = this.dispatch(action);
+      } catch (err) {
+        // Brain exception OR programming error in dispatch. Safe failure: resign.
+        this.botResign('brain_threw', { err: errString(err) });
+        return;
+      }
+      if (outcome.kind === 'done') {
+        this.lastSeenAnnouncementCount = this.game.announcements.length;
+        return;
+      }
+      attemptHistory.push(outcome.entry);
+    }
+    this.lastSeenAnnouncementCount = this.game.announcements.length;
+    this.botResign('retry_cap_exhausted', {
+      attempts: attemptHistory.map((a) => `${a.move.from}-${a.move.to}:${a.rejection}`),
+    });
+  }
+
+  private buildBrainInput(attemptHistory: AttemptHistoryEntry[]): BrainInput {
+    const view = buildView(this.game, this.color);
+    const sliceStart = this.lastSeenAnnouncementCount;
+    // NOTE: do NOT advance lastSeenAnnouncementCount here. The caller advances
+    // it once the decision cycle terminates successfully — otherwise retried
+    // attempts would not see the FSM's rejection announcements in their input.
+    const newAnnouncements = this.game.announcements
+      .slice(sliceStart)
+      .filter((a) => a.audience === 'both' || a.audience === this.color);
+
+    const candidates: CandidateMove[] = legalCandidates(this.game, this.color);
+
+    return {
+      view,
+      newAnnouncements,
+      legalCandidates: candidates,
+      attemptHistory,
+      drawOfferFromOpponent: !!(this.game.drawOffer && this.game.drawOffer.from !== this.color),
+      ply: this.game.chess.history().length,
+      // Vanilla mode: full reveal, FEN exposes nothing the brain can't already
+      // see. Blind mode: omit FEN so the engine path can't smuggle opponent
+      // positions past the view filter.
+      fen: this.game.mode === 'vanilla' ? this.game.chess.fen() : undefined,
+    };
+  }
+
+  private dispatch(
+    action: BrainAction,
+  ): { kind: 'done' } | { kind: 'retry'; entry: AttemptHistoryEntry } {
+    switch (action.type) {
+      case 'commit': {
+        const result = handleCommit(this.game, this.color, {
+          from: action.from, to: action.to, promotion: action.promotion,
+        });
+        if (result.kind === 'applied') {
+          finalizeIfEnded(this.game, result.announcements);
+          return { kind: 'done' };
+        }
+        if (result.kind === 'announce') {
+          const rejection = result.announcements[0]!;
+          const text = rejection.text;
+          if (text === 'wont_help' || text === 'illegal_move'
+              || text === 'no_such_piece' || text === 'no_legal_moves') {
+            // Attempted-move announcements are audience 'both'. The bot's
+            // intermediate retry rejections are internal search churn, not
+            // deliberate probing — suppress them so they don't broadcast to
+            // the human. The bot tracks its own rejections via attemptHistory,
+            // so removing the announcement is safe. The whole decision cycle
+            // runs before ws.ts broadcasts, so this pop always happens before
+            // any broadcast.
+            const anns = this.game.announcements;
+            if (anns[anns.length - 1] === rejection) anns.pop();
+            return {
+              kind: 'retry',
+              entry: {
+                move: { from: action.from, to: action.to, promotion: action.promotion },
+                rejection: text,
+              },
+            };
+          }
+        }
+        if (result.kind === 'silent') {
+          // Brain sent only `from` (arming). CasualBrain always commits with
+          // `to`; treat as a logic error and resign safely.
+          this.botResign('commit_silent', { from: action.from, to: action.to });
+          return { kind: 'done' };
+        }
+        // result.kind === 'error' — bug path; resign.
+        this.botResign('commit_error', {
+          code: result.kind === 'error' ? result.code : undefined,
+          announcement: result.kind === 'announce' ? result.announcements[0]?.text : undefined,
+        });
+        return { kind: 'done' };
+      }
+      case 'resign':
+        this.botResign('brain_chose_resign');
+        return { kind: 'done' };
+      case 'offer-draw':
+        if (!this.game.drawOffer) {
+          this.game.drawOffer = { from: this.color, at: Date.now() };
+        }
+        return { kind: 'done' };
+      case 'respond-draw':
+        if (!this.game.drawOffer || this.game.drawOffer.from === this.color) {
+          return { kind: 'done' };
+        }
+        if (action.accept) {
+          const ply = this.game.chess.history().length;
+          const a = announce('draw_agreed', 'both', ply);
+          this.game.announcements.push(a);
+          this.game.drawOffer = null;
+          this.game.status = 'finished';
+          this.game.endReason = 'draw_agreed';
+          this.game.winner = null;
+          this.game.finishedAt = Date.now();
+        } else {
+          this.game.drawOffer = null;
+        }
+        return { kind: 'done' };
+    }
+  }
+
+  private botResign(reason: BotResignReason, detail?: Record<string, unknown>): void {
+    if (this.game.status !== 'active') return;
+    const ply = this.game.chess.history().length;
+    const text = this.color === 'w' ? 'white_resigned' : 'black_resigned';
+    const a = announce(text, 'both', ply);
+    this.game.announcements.push(a);
+    this.game.status = 'finished';
+    this.game.endReason = 'resign';
+    this.game.winner = this.color === 'w' ? 'b' : 'w';
+    this.game.finishedAt = Date.now();
+    // eslint-disable-next-line no-console
+    console.error('[bot resign]', {
+      gameId: this.game.id,
+      color: this.color,
+      mode: this.game.mode,
+      ply,
+      reason,
+      ...detail,
+    });
+  }
+
+  private async disposeBrain(): Promise<void> {
+    if (this.disposed) return;
+    this.disposed = true;
+    try {
+      await this.brain.dispose?.();
+    } catch {/* ignore */}
+  }
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+export type {
+  Brain, BrainInput, BrainAction, BrainInitArgs,
+  CandidateMove, AttemptHistoryEntry,
+} from './brain.js';
+export { CasualBrain } from './casual-brain.js';
+export { BotDriver } from './driver.js';
+export { legalCandidates } from './candidates.js';
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+import type { CaptureTally, Color, PieceTally } from '@blind-chess/shared';
+import type { Game } from './state.js';
+
+/**
+ * Per-viewer capture tally derived from move history. `byYou` is the set of
+ * opponent pieces this viewer has captured; `byOpponent` is the set of this
+ * viewer's pieces the opponent has captured. Pure function of move history —
+ * no live board state, no opponent positions.
+ */
+export function captureTally(game: Game, viewer: Color): CaptureTally {
+  const byYou: PieceTally = {};
+  const byOpponent: PieceTally = {};
+  for (const rec of game.moveHistory) {
+    const captured = rec.capturedPieceType;
+    if (!captured) continue;
+    const bucket = rec.by === viewer ? byYou : byOpponent;
+    bucket[captured] = (bucket[captured] ?? 0) + 1;
+  }
+  return { byYou, byOpponent };
+}
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import type { Move } from 'chess.js';
 import {
  geometricMoves,
+  isPromotionMove,
  type Announcement,
  type Color,
  type Piece,
@@ -37,7 +38,7 @@ export function handleCommit(game: Game, color: Color, msg: CommitInput): Commit

  const piece = game.chess.get(msg.from) as { color: Color; type: Piece['type'] } | false;
  if (!piece || piece.color !== color) {
-    return announceWith(game, 'no_such_piece', color);
+    return announceWith(game, 'no_such_piece');
  }

  const pseudo = geometricMoves(
@@ -46,12 +47,12 @@ export function handleCommit(game: Game, color: Color, msg: CommitInput): Commit
    ownSquares(game, color),
  );
  if (pseudo.length === 0) {
-    return announceWith(game, 'no_legal_moves', color);
+    return announceWith(game, 'no_legal_moves');
  }

  const legal = chessJsLegalFrom(game, msg.from);
  if (legal.length === 0) {
-    return announceWith(game, 'wont_help', color);
+    return announceWith(game, 'wont_help');
  }

  game.armed = { color, from: msg.from };
@@ -77,7 +78,7 @@ function tryMove(
  }

  if (!move) {
-    return announceWith(game, 'illegal_move', color);
+    return announceWith(game, 'illegal_move');
  }

  game.armed = null;
@@ -110,10 +111,10 @@ function tryMove(
 function announceWith(
  game: Game,
  text: 'no_such_piece' | 'no_legal_moves' | 'wont_help' | 'illegal_move',
-  color: Color,
 ): CommitResult {
  const ply = game.chess.history().length;
-  const a = announce(text, color, ply);
+  // Attempted moves are part of the shared moderator transcript — both players hear them.
+  const a = announce(text, 'both', ply);
  game.announcements.push(a);
  return { kind: 'announce', announcements: [a] };
 }
@@ -124,9 +125,6 @@ function chessJsLegalFrom(game: Game, from: Square): string[] {

 function isPromotionRequired(game: Game, from: Square, to: Square): boolean {
  const piece = game.chess.get(from);
-  if (!piece || piece.type !== 'p') return false;
-  const toRank = to[1];
-  if (piece.color === 'w' && toRank === '8') return true;
-  if (piece.color === 'b' && toRank === '1') return true;
-  return false;
+  if (!piece) return false;
+  return isPromotionMove({ color: piece.color, type: piece.type }, from, to);
 }
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+import type { Color } from '@blind-chess/shared';
+import type { Game } from './state.js';
+
+export function endGame(game: Game, reason: Game['endReason'], winner: Color | null): void {
+  game.status = 'finished';
+  game.endReason = reason;
+  game.winner = winner;
+  game.finishedAt = Date.now();
+}
+
+export function finalizeIfEnded(game: Game, announcements: ReadonlyArray<{ text: string }>): void {
+  // Detect terminal moderator announcements.
+  const lastTexts = new Set(announcements.map((a) => a.text));
+  if (lastTexts.has('white_checkmate')) endGame(game, 'checkmate', 'w');
+  else if (lastTexts.has('black_checkmate')) endGame(game, 'checkmate', 'b');
+  else if (lastTexts.has('stalemate')) endGame(game, 'stalemate', null);
+  else if (lastTexts.has('draw_insufficient')) endGame(game, 'insufficient', null);
+  else if (lastTexts.has('draw_threefold')) endGame(game, 'threefold', null);
+  else if (lastTexts.has('draw_fifty')) endGame(game, 'fifty_move', null);
+}
@@ -3,9 +3,23 @@ import { randomBytes } from 'node:crypto';
 import type {
  Color, GameId, Mode, PlayerToken,
 } from '@blind-chess/shared';
+import type { BotDriver } from './bot/driver.js';
 import { type Game, PRUNE_AFTER_FINISHED_MS, RATE_LIMIT } from './state.js';

 const games = new Map<GameId, Game>();
+const botDrivers = new Map<GameId, BotDriver>();
+
+export function attachBotDriver(id: GameId, driver: BotDriver): void {
+  botDrivers.set(id, driver);
+}
+
+export function getBotDriver(id: GameId): BotDriver | undefined {
+  return botDrivers.get(id);
+}
+
+export function disposeBotDriver(id: GameId): void {
+  botDrivers.delete(id);
+}

 export function newGameId(): GameId {
  const alphabet = 'abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789';
@@ -31,11 +45,16 @@ export function createGame(opts: {
  mode: Mode;
  creatorSide: Color;
  highlightingEnabled: boolean;
+  vsAi?: { brain: 'casual' | 'recon' };
 }): { game: Game; creatorToken: PlayerToken } {
  const id = newGameId();
  const creatorToken = newPlayerToken();
  const now = Date.now();

+  const botColor: Color | null = opts.vsAi
+    ? (opts.creatorSide === 'w' ? 'b' : 'w')
+    : null;
+
  const game: Game = {
    id,
    mode: opts.mode,
@@ -46,12 +65,18 @@ export function createGame(opts: {
    moveHistory: [],
    announcements: [],
    players: {
-      w: opts.creatorSide === 'w' ? makeSlot(creatorToken, now) : null,
-      b: opts.creatorSide === 'b' ? makeSlot(creatorToken, now) : null,
+      w: opts.creatorSide === 'w' ? makeSlot(creatorToken, now)
+        : (botColor === 'w' ? makeBotSlot(now) : null),
+      b: opts.creatorSide === 'b' ? makeSlot(creatorToken, now)
+        : (botColor === 'b' ? makeBotSlot(now) : null),
    },
    armed: null,
    drawOffer: null,
    disconnectAt: {},
+    lastBroadcastIdx: { w: 0, b: 0 },
+    aiOpponent: opts.vsAi && botColor
+      ? { color: botColor, brain: opts.vsAi.brain }
+      : undefined,
  };

  games.set(id, game);
@@ -67,6 +92,18 @@ function makeSlot(token: PlayerToken, now: number) {
  };
 }

+function makeBotSlot(now: number) {
+  // Synthetic slot: occupies the player's color but never connects. The token
+  // is randomized (same shape as a real client token) so a third party can't
+  // hijack the bot's color by guessing a fixed placeholder.
+  return {
+    token: newPlayerToken(),
+    socket: null,
+    joinedAt: now,
+    rateBucket: { tokens: RATE_LIMIT.capacity, last: now },
+  };
+}
+
 export function getGame(id: GameId): Game | undefined {
  return games.get(id);
 }
@@ -115,6 +152,7 @@ export function pruneFinished(): number {
  for (const [id, g] of games) {
    if (g.status === 'finished' && g.finishedAt && now - g.finishedAt > PRUNE_AFTER_FINISHED_MS) {
      games.delete(id);
+      botDrivers.delete(id);
      removed++;
    }
  }
@@ -8,9 +8,11 @@ import {
  chooseSide,
  createGame,
  pruneFinished,
+  attachBotDriver,
 } from './games.js';
 import { attachSocket } from './ws.js';
 import { createGameSchema } from './validation.js';
+import { CasualBrain, BotDriver } from './bot/index.js';

 const __dirname = path.dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url));

@@ -45,13 +47,28 @@ fastify.post('/api/games', async (req, reply) => {
    reply.code(400);
    return { error: 'malformed', detail: parsed.error.issues };
  }
-  const { mode, side, highlightingEnabled } = parsed.data;
+  const { mode, side, highlightingEnabled, vsAi } = parsed.data;
+
+  // Phase 1: only 'casual' is implemented. 'recon' returns 503.
+  if (vsAi && vsAi.brain === 'recon') {
+    reply.code(503);
+    return { error: 'ai_offline', detail: 'recon bot not yet implemented' };
+  }
+
  const creatorSide = chooseSide(side);
-  const { game, creatorToken } = createGame({ mode, creatorSide, highlightingEnabled });
+  const { game, creatorToken } = createGame({ mode, creatorSide, highlightingEnabled, vsAi });
+
+  // For AI games, wire the bot.
+  if (vsAi && game.aiOpponent) {
+    const brain = new CasualBrain({});
+    const driver = new BotDriver({ game, brain, color: game.aiOpponent.color });
+    await driver.init();
+    attachBotDriver(game.id, driver);
+  }

  const publicBase = PUBLIC_BASE
    || (req.headers.host ? `${req.protocol}://${req.headers.host}` : '');
-  const joinUrl = `${publicBase}/g/${game.id}`;
+  const joinUrl = vsAi ? null : `${publicBase}/g/${game.id}`;
  return { gameId: game.id, creatorToken, creatorColor: creatorSide, joinUrl };
 });

@@ -51,6 +51,8 @@ export interface Game {
  armed: { color: Color; from: Square } | null;
  drawOffer: { from: Color; at: number } | null;
  disconnectAt: { w?: number; b?: number };
+  lastBroadcastIdx: { w: number; b: number };
+  aiOpponent?: { color: Color; brain: 'casual' | 'recon' };
 }

 export const RATE_LIMIT = { capacity: 20, refillPerSec: 10 };
@@ -14,10 +14,11 @@ export function announce(
 /**
 * Translate an applied chess.js Move into the moderator vocabulary.
 *
- * Capturing player learns the captured piece type via their `view` update
- * (their canonical board reflects the capture; the captured-pieces tray is
- * populated from move history). The opponent gets only the `*_moved_captured`
- * announcement.
+ * Every announcement is emitted with audience 'both' — the moderator speaks
+ * each event aloud and both players hear it. Move events carry no square
+ * coordinates, so a player learns *that* the opponent moved / captured /
+ * castled, never *where*. The capturing player additionally sees the capture
+ * reflected in their own view update.
 */
 export function translateMove(game: Game, move: Move): Announcement[] {
  const out: Announcement[] = [];
@@ -33,21 +34,21 @@ export function translateMove(game: Game, move: Move): Announcement[] {
  const isQueensideCastle = move.isQueensideCastle();
  const isProm = !!move.promotion;

-  // To opponent: the move event itself.
+  // The move event itself — the moderator announces every move aloud, so both players hear it.
  if (isKingsideCastle) {
-    out.push(announce(`${moverWord}_castled_kingside` as ModeratorText, opp, ply));
+    out.push(announce(`${moverWord}_castled_kingside` as ModeratorText, 'both', ply));
  } else if (isQueensideCastle) {
-    out.push(announce(`${moverWord}_castled_queenside` as ModeratorText, opp, ply));
+    out.push(announce(`${moverWord}_castled_queenside` as ModeratorText, 'both', ply));
  } else if (isCap && isEp) {
-    out.push(announce(`${moverWord}_moved_captured_ep` as ModeratorText, opp, ply));
+    out.push(announce(`${moverWord}_moved_captured_ep` as ModeratorText, 'both', ply));
  } else if (isCap) {
-    out.push(announce(`${moverWord}_moved_captured` as ModeratorText, opp, ply));
+    out.push(announce(`${moverWord}_moved_captured` as ModeratorText, 'both', ply));
  } else {
-    out.push(announce(`${moverWord}_moved` as ModeratorText, opp, ply));
+    out.push(announce(`${moverWord}_moved` as ModeratorText, 'both', ply));
  }

  if (isProm) {
-    out.push(announce(`${moverWord}_promoted` as ModeratorText, opp, ply, { promotedTo: move.promotion }));
+    out.push(announce(`${moverWord}_promoted` as ModeratorText, 'both', ply, { promotedTo: move.promotion }));
  }

  // To both: state changes.
@@ -41,4 +41,7 @@ export const createGameSchema = z.object({
  mode: z.union([z.literal('blind'), z.literal('vanilla')]),
  side: z.union([colorSchema, z.literal('random')]),
  highlightingEnabled: z.boolean(),
+  vsAi: z.object({
+    brain: z.union([z.literal('casual'), z.literal('recon')]),
+  }).optional(),
 });
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import {
  claimSlot,
  findTokenInGame,
  getGame,
+  getBotDriver,
 } from './games.js';
 import type { Game } from './state.js';
 import { GRACE_MS } from './state.js';
@@ -17,6 +18,30 @@ import { handleCommit } from './commit.js';
 import { announce } from './translator.js';
 import { buildView } from './view.js';
 import { consumeCommitToken } from './ratelimit.js';
+import { endGame, finalizeIfEnded } from './game-end.js';
+import { captureTally } from './captures.js';
+
+async function pokeBot(game: Game): Promise<void> {
+  const driver = getBotDriver(game.id);
+  if (!driver) return;
+  try {
+    await driver.onStateChange();
+  } catch (err) {
+    // Don't throw out of message handlers — log and continue.
+    // eslint-disable-next-line no-console
+    console.error('[bot driver error]', { gameId: game.id, err });
+  }
+}
+
+function broadcastSinceLast(game: Game): void {
+  for (const c of ['w', 'b'] as const) {
+    const lastIdx = game.lastBroadcastIdx[c];
+    const all = game.announcements;
+    const slice = all.slice(lastIdx).filter((a) => a.audience === 'both' || a.audience === c);
+    sendUpdateTo(game, c, slice);
+    game.lastBroadcastIdx[c] = all.length;
+  }
+}

 interface SocketCtx {
  socket: WebSocket;
@@ -60,7 +85,7 @@ function onMessage(ctx: SocketCtx, data: unknown): void {
  }
  const msg = result.data as ClientMessage;

-  if (msg.type === 'hello') return onHello(ctx, msg);
+  if (msg.type === 'hello') { void onHello(ctx, msg); return; }
  if (msg.type === 'pong') return;

  if (!ctx.game || !ctx.color) {
@@ -68,14 +93,14 @@ function onMessage(ctx: SocketCtx, data: unknown): void {
  }

  switch (msg.type) {
-    case 'commit': return onCommit(ctx, msg);
-    case 'resign': return onResign(ctx);
-    case 'offer-draw': return onOfferDraw(ctx);
-    case 'respond-draw': return onRespondDraw(ctx, msg.accept);
+    case 'commit': void onCommit(ctx, msg); return;
+    case 'resign': void onResign(ctx); return;
+    case 'offer-draw': void onOfferDraw(ctx); return;
+    case 'respond-draw': void onRespondDraw(ctx, msg.accept); return;
  }
 }

-function onHello(ctx: SocketCtx, msg: Extract<ClientMessage, { type: 'hello' }>): void {
+async function onHello(ctx: SocketCtx, msg: Extract<ClientMessage, { type: 'hello' }>): Promise<void> {
  const game = getGame(msg.gameId);
  if (!game) return sendError(ctx.socket, 'game_not_found');

@@ -123,17 +148,20 @@ function onHello(ctx: SocketCtx, msg: Extract<ClientMessage, { type: 'hello' }>)
    mode: game.mode,
    highlightingEnabled: game.highlightingEnabled,
    opponentConnected: !!game.players[color === 'w' ? 'b' : 'w']?.socket,
+    captures: captureTally(game, color),
+    aiOpponent: game.aiOpponent,
  });

  // Notify peer that we're connected.
  notifyPeer(game, color, true);
-  // If activation just happened, push update to both.
+  // If activation just happened, poke bot then broadcast.
  if (game.status === 'active') {
-    broadcastUpdate(game);
+    await pokeBot(game);
+    broadcastSinceLast(game);
  }
 }

-function onCommit(ctx: SocketCtx, msg: Extract<ClientMessage, { type: 'commit' }>): void {
+async function onCommit(ctx: SocketCtx, msg: Extract<ClientMessage, { type: 'commit' }>): Promise<void> {
  const game = ctx.game!;
  const color = ctx.color!;

@@ -153,17 +181,19 @@ function onCommit(ctx: SocketCtx, msg: Extract<ClientMessage, { type: 'commit' }
      return;
    case 'announce':
      // Announcement to actor; opponent is unaffected unless audience=both.
-      broadcastNewAnnouncements(game, result.announcements);
+      // Non-turn-ending — no bot poke.
+      broadcastSinceLast(game);
      return;
    case 'applied':
-      // Move applied. Check end conditions.
+      // Move applied. Check end conditions, then poke bot.
      finalizeIfEnded(game, result.announcements);
-      broadcastNewAnnouncements(game, result.announcements);
+      await pokeBot(game);
+      broadcastSinceLast(game);
      return;
  }
 }

-function onResign(ctx: SocketCtx): void {
+async function onResign(ctx: SocketCtx): Promise<void> {
  const game = ctx.game!;
  const color = ctx.color!;
  if (game.status !== 'active') return;
@@ -172,19 +202,22 @@ function onResign(ctx: SocketCtx): void {
  const a = announce(color === 'w' ? 'white_resigned' : 'black_resigned', 'both', ply);
  game.announcements.push(a);
  endGame(game, 'resign', color === 'w' ? 'b' : 'w');
-  broadcastNewAnnouncements(game, [a]);
+  await pokeBot(game); // bot.onStateChange will see status=finished and dispose
+  broadcastSinceLast(game);
 }

-function onOfferDraw(ctx: SocketCtx): void {
+async function onOfferDraw(ctx: SocketCtx): Promise<void> {
  const game = ctx.game!;
  const color = ctx.color!;
  if (game.status !== 'active') return;
  game.drawOffer = { from: color, at: Date.now() };
-  // Push update to both so opponent sees the drawOffer field.
-  broadcastUpdate(game);
+  // Poke bot — it may auto-respond to the draw offer.
+  await pokeBot(game);
+  // broadcastSinceLast sends drawOffer field via sendUpdateTo's existing logic.
+  broadcastSinceLast(game);
 }

-function onRespondDraw(ctx: SocketCtx, accept: boolean): void {
+async function onRespondDraw(ctx: SocketCtx, accept: boolean): Promise<void> {
  const game = ctx.game!;
  const color = ctx.color!;
  if (!game.drawOffer || game.drawOffer.from === color) return;
@@ -194,11 +227,11 @@ function onRespondDraw(ctx: SocketCtx, accept: boolean): void {
    game.announcements.push(a);
    game.drawOffer = null;
    endGame(game, 'draw_agreed', null);
-    broadcastNewAnnouncements(game, [a]);
  } else {
    game.drawOffer = null;
-    broadcastUpdate(game);
  }
+  await pokeBot(game);
+  broadcastSinceLast(game);
 }

 function onClose(ctx: SocketCtx): void {
@@ -211,13 +244,13 @@ function onClose(ctx: SocketCtx): void {
    if (game.status === 'active') {
      game.disconnectAt[color] = Date.now();
      // Schedule grace timer.
-      setTimeout(() => maybeAbandon(game, color), GRACE_MS + 100);
+      setTimeout(() => { void maybeAbandon(game, color); }, GRACE_MS + 100);
    }
    notifyPeer(game, color, false, Date.now() + GRACE_MS);
  }
 }

-function maybeAbandon(game: Game, color: Color): void {
+async function maybeAbandon(game: Game, color: Color): Promise<void> {
  if (game.status !== 'active') return;
  const slot = game.players[color];
  if (!slot) return;
@@ -228,42 +261,11 @@ function maybeAbandon(game: Game, color: Color): void {
  game.announcements.push(a);
  const winner = game.players[color === 'w' ? 'b' : 'w']?.socket ? (color === 'w' ? 'b' : 'w') : null;
  endGame(game, 'abandoned', winner);
-  broadcastNewAnnouncements(game, [a]);
+  await pokeBot(game); // dispose bot if game ended
+  broadcastSinceLast(game);
 }

-function endGame(game: Game, reason: Game['endReason'], winner: Color | null): void {
-  game.status = 'finished';
-  game.endReason = reason;
-  game.winner = winner;
-  game.finishedAt = Date.now();
-}

-function finalizeIfEnded(game: Game, announcements: ReadonlyArray<{ text: string }>): void {
-  // Detect terminal moderator announcements.
-  const lastTexts = new Set(announcements.map((a) => a.text));
-  if (lastTexts.has('white_checkmate')) endGame(game, 'checkmate', 'w');
-  else if (lastTexts.has('black_checkmate')) endGame(game, 'checkmate', 'b');
-  else if (lastTexts.has('stalemate')) endGame(game, 'stalemate', null);
-  else if (lastTexts.has('draw_insufficient')) endGame(game, 'insufficient', null);
-  else if (lastTexts.has('draw_threefold')) endGame(game, 'threefold', null);
-  else if (lastTexts.has('draw_fifty')) endGame(game, 'fifty_move', null);
-}
-
-function broadcastNewAnnouncements(
-  game: Game,
-  newAnnouncements: ReadonlyArray<import('@blind-chess/shared').Announcement>,
-): void {
-  for (const c of ['w', 'b'] as const) {
-    const filtered = newAnnouncements.filter((a) => a.audience === 'both' || a.audience === c);
-    sendUpdateTo(game, c, filtered);
-  }
-}
-
-function broadcastUpdate(game: Game): void {
-  for (const c of ['w', 'b'] as const) {
-    sendUpdateTo(game, c, []);
-  }
-}

 function sendUpdateTo(
  game: Game,
@@ -284,6 +286,8 @@ function sendUpdateTo(
    drawOffer,
    endReason: game.endReason,
    winner: game.winner ?? null,
+    captures: captureTally(game, color),
+    aiOpponent: game.aiOpponent,
  });
 }

@@ -0,0 +1,184 @@
+import { describe, it, expect, beforeAll, afterAll } from 'vitest';
+import { WebSocket } from 'ws';
+import Fastify from 'fastify';
+import websocketPlugin from '@fastify/websocket';
+import {
+  activeGameCount, chooseSide, createGame, attachBotDriver,
+} from '../../src/games.js';
+import { attachSocket } from '../../src/ws.js';
+import { createGameSchema } from '../../src/validation.js';
+import { CasualBrain, BotDriver } from '../../src/bot/index.js';
+import type { ServerMessage } from '@blind-chess/shared';
+
+let app: ReturnType<typeof Fastify>;
+let baseUrl = '';
+
+beforeAll(async () => {
+  app = Fastify({ logger: false });
+  await app.register(websocketPlugin);
+  app.get('/api/health', async () => ({ ok: true, activeGames: activeGameCount() }));
+  app.post('/api/games', async (req, reply) => {
+    const parsed = createGameSchema.safeParse(req.body);
+    if (!parsed.success) { reply.code(400); return { error: 'malformed' }; }
+    const { mode, side, highlightingEnabled, vsAi } = parsed.data;
+    if (vsAi && vsAi.brain === 'recon') {
+      reply.code(503); return { error: 'ai_offline' };
+    }
+    const creatorSide = chooseSide(side);
+    const { game, creatorToken } = createGame({ mode, creatorSide, highlightingEnabled, vsAi });
+    if (vsAi && game.aiOpponent) {
+      const brain = new CasualBrain({ seed: 1 });
+      const driver = new BotDriver({ game, brain, color: game.aiOpponent.color });
+      await driver.init();
+      attachBotDriver(game.id, driver);
+    }
+    const joinUrl = vsAi ? null : `http://placeholder/g/${game.id}`;
+    return { gameId: game.id, creatorToken, creatorColor: creatorSide, joinUrl };
+  });
+  app.get('/ws', { websocket: true }, (socket) => {
+    const raw = (socket as unknown as { socket?: unknown }).socket ?? socket;
+    attachSocket(raw as never);
+  });
+  await app.listen({ port: 0, host: '127.0.0.1' });
+  const addr = app.server.address();
+  if (typeof addr !== 'object' || !addr) throw new Error('no address');
+  baseUrl = `http://127.0.0.1:${addr.port}`;
+});
+
+afterAll(async () => { await app.close(); });
+
+interface Client {
+  ws: WebSocket;
+  msgs: ServerMessage[];
+  waitFor: (pred: (m: ServerMessage) => boolean, timeoutMs?: number) => Promise<ServerMessage>;
+  send: (m: unknown) => void;
+  close: () => void;
+}
+
+function makeClient(gameId: string): Promise<Client> {
+  return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+    const ws = new WebSocket(baseUrl.replace('http', 'ws') + `/ws?game=${gameId}`);
+    const msgs: ServerMessage[] = [];
+    const waiters: Array<{ pred: (m: ServerMessage) => boolean;
+                          resolve: (m: ServerMessage) => void;
+                          reject: (e: Error) => void;
+                          timer: NodeJS.Timeout }> = [];
+    ws.on('message', (data) => {
+      const m = JSON.parse(data.toString()) as ServerMessage;
+      msgs.push(m);
+      for (const w of [...waiters]) {
+        if (w.pred(m)) {
+          clearTimeout(w.timer);
+          waiters.splice(waiters.indexOf(w), 1);
+          w.resolve(m);
+        }
+      }
+    });
+    ws.on('open', () => resolve({
+      ws, msgs,
+      waitFor: (pred, timeoutMs = 2000) => new Promise<ServerMessage>((res, rej) => {
+        const existing = msgs.find(pred);
+        if (existing) return res(existing);
+        const timer = setTimeout(() => rej(new Error('waitFor timeout')), timeoutMs);
+        waiters.push({ pred, resolve: res, reject: rej, timer });
+      }),
+      send: (m) => ws.send(JSON.stringify(m)),
+      close: () => ws.close(),
+    }));
+    ws.on('error', reject);
+  });
+}
+
+async function createAiGame(side: 'w' | 'b', mode: 'blind' | 'vanilla' = 'vanilla'): Promise<{ gameId: string; creatorToken: string }> {
+  const res = await fetch(`${baseUrl}/api/games`, {
+    method: 'POST',
+    headers: { 'content-type': 'application/json' },
+    body: JSON.stringify({ mode, side, highlightingEnabled: false, vsAi: { brain: 'casual' } }),
+  });
+  return await res.json();
+}
+
+describe('AI game / Casual', () => {
+  it('human as black: bot moves first as white', async () => {
+    const { gameId, creatorToken } = await createAiGame('b');
+    const human = await makeClient(gameId);
+    human.send({ type: 'hello', gameId, token: creatorToken });
+    const joined = await human.waitFor((m) => m.type === 'joined');
+    expect(joined.type === 'joined' && joined.you).toBe('b');
+    if (joined.type === 'joined') {
+      expect(joined.aiOpponent).toEqual({ color: 'w', brain: 'casual' });
+    }
+
+    // Bot's opening move should arrive as an update (bot moves first as white).
+    const botMoved = await human.waitFor((m) =>
+      m.type === 'update' && m.newAnnouncements.some((a) => a.text === 'white_moved'),
+      2000,
+    );
+    expect(botMoved.type).toBe('update');
+    human.close();
+  });
+
+  it('human as white: human moves first, bot replies', async () => {
+    const { gameId, creatorToken } = await createAiGame('w');
+    const human = await makeClient(gameId);
+    human.send({ type: 'hello', gameId, token: creatorToken });
+    await human.waitFor((m) => m.type === 'joined');
+
+    // Human plays e2e4 (arm + commit).
+    human.send({ type: 'commit', from: 'e2' });
+    await human.waitFor((m) => m.type === 'update' && m.touchedPiece === 'e2');
+    human.send({ type: 'commit', from: 'e2', to: 'e4' });
+
+    // Bot replies as black.
+    const botMoved = await human.waitFor((m) =>
+      m.type === 'update' && m.newAnnouncements.some((a) => a.text === 'black_moved'),
+    );
+    expect(botMoved.type).toBe('update');
+
+    // After bot reply, it's white's turn again.
+    if (botMoved.type === 'update') {
+      expect(botMoved.view.toMove).toBe('w');
+    }
+    human.close();
+  });
+
+  it('bot alternate exchanges: game doesn\'t end prematurely', async () => {
+    // One human-bot exchange: human plays white e2-e4, bot replies as black.
+    const { gameId, creatorToken } = await createAiGame('w');
+    const human = await makeClient(gameId);
+    human.send({ type: 'hello', gameId, token: creatorToken });
+    const joined = await human.waitFor((m) => m.type === 'joined');
+    expect(joined.type === 'joined' && joined.gameStatus).toBe('active');
+
+    human.send({ type: 'commit', from: 'e2' });
+    await human.waitFor((m) => m.type === 'update' && m.touchedPiece === 'e2');
+    human.send({ type: 'commit', from: 'e2', to: 'e4' });
+    const botReplied = await human.waitFor((m) =>
+      m.type === 'update' &&
+      (m.gameStatus === 'finished' || m.view.toMove === 'w'),
+      2000,
+    );
+    // Game should still be active after one exchange.
+    expect(botReplied.type === 'update' && botReplied.gameStatus).toBe('active');
+    human.close();
+  });
+
+  it('joinUrl is null for AI games', async () => {
+    const res = await fetch(`${baseUrl}/api/games`, {
+      method: 'POST',
+      headers: { 'content-type': 'application/json' },
+      body: JSON.stringify({ mode: 'blind', side: 'w', highlightingEnabled: false, vsAi: { brain: 'casual' } }),
+    });
+    const json = await res.json() as { joinUrl: string | null };
+    expect(json.joinUrl).toBeNull();
+  });
+
+  it('recon brain returns 503 in Phase 1', async () => {
+    const res = await fetch(`${baseUrl}/api/games`, {
+      method: 'POST',
+      headers: { 'content-type': 'application/json' },
+      body: JSON.stringify({ mode: 'blind', side: 'w', highlightingEnabled: false, vsAi: { brain: 'recon' } }),
+    });
+    expect(res.status).toBe(503);
+  });
+});
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ beforeAll(async () => {
      mode: parsed.data.mode,
      creatorSide,
      highlightingEnabled: parsed.data.highlightingEnabled,
+      vsAi: parsed.data.vsAi,
    });
    return { gameId: game.id, creatorToken, creatorColor: creatorSide };
  });
@@ -0,0 +1,101 @@
+import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest';
+import { Chess } from 'chess.js';
+import { legalCandidates } from '../../../src/bot/candidates.js';
+import type { Game } from '../../../src/state.js';
+import { RATE_LIMIT } from '../../../src/state.js';
+
+function makeGame(mode: 'blind' | 'vanilla', fen?: string): Game {
+  return {
+    id: 'cand0001',
+    mode,
+    highlightingEnabled: false,
+    status: 'active',
+    createdAt: Date.now(),
+    chess: fen ? new Chess(fen) : new Chess(),
+    moveHistory: [],
+    announcements: [],
+    players: {
+      w: { token: 'w'.repeat(24), socket: null, joinedAt: 0,
+            rateBucket: { tokens: RATE_LIMIT.capacity, last: 0 } },
+      b: { token: 'b'.repeat(24), socket: null, joinedAt: 0,
+            rateBucket: { tokens: RATE_LIMIT.capacity, last: 0 } },
+    },
+    armed: null,
+    drawOffer: null,
+    disconnectAt: {},
+    lastBroadcastIdx: { w: 0, b: 0 },
+  };
+}
+
+describe('legalCandidates / vanilla', () => {
+  it('starting position: 20 candidates for white', () => {
+    const game = makeGame('vanilla');
+    const candidates = legalCandidates(game, 'w');
+    expect(candidates.length).toBe(20);
+  });
+
+  it('returns from/to on each candidate', () => {
+    const game = makeGame('vanilla');
+    const candidates = legalCandidates(game, 'w');
+    expect(candidates.every((c) => c.from && c.to)).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it('vanilla excludes pinned-piece moves (chess.js filters self-check)', () => {
+    // White king e1, white bishop e2, black rook e8. Bishop is pinned.
+    const game = makeGame('vanilla', '4r2k/8/8/8/8/8/4B3/4K3 w - - 0 1');
+    const candidates = legalCandidates(game, 'w');
+    // Bishop on e2 has zero legal moves (any move drops the king to check).
+    expect(candidates.find((c) => c.from === 'e2')).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+
+  it('vanilla expands all 4 promotion options', () => {
+    // White pawn on a7, ready to promote.
+    const game = makeGame('vanilla', '4k3/P7/8/8/8/8/8/4K3 w - - 0 1');
+    const candidates = legalCandidates(game, 'w').filter((c) => c.from === 'a7');
+    expect(candidates.map((c) => c.promotion).sort()).toEqual(['b', 'n', 'q', 'r']);
+  });
+});
+
+describe('legalCandidates / blind', () => {
+  it('starting position: 34 geometric candidates for white', () => {
+    // 8 pawns: edge pawns (a2, h2) return 3 moves each (forward 1, forward 2, 1 diagonal),
+    // interior pawns (b2-g2) return 4 moves each (forward 1, forward 2, 2 diagonals).
+    // Total pawn: 2*3 + 6*4 = 30.
+    // 2 knights: 2 moves each = 4.
+    // Total: 34.
+    const game = makeGame('blind');
+    const candidates = legalCandidates(game, 'w');
+    expect(candidates.length).toBe(34);
+  });
+
+  it('blind INCLUDES pinned-piece moves (geometric does not know about pins)', () => {
+    // Same pinned-bishop position. Geometric move-gen sees no own piece blocking;
+    // bishop can geometrically reach d3, c4, b5, a6, f3, etc.
+    const game = makeGame('blind', '4r2k/8/8/8/8/8/4B3/4K3 w - - 0 1');
+    const candidates = legalCandidates(game, 'w');
+    expect(candidates.some((c) => c.from === 'e2')).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it('blind expands all 4 promotion options for own pawn', () => {
+    const game = makeGame('blind', '4k3/P7/8/8/8/8/8/4K3 w - - 0 1');
+    const candidates = legalCandidates(game, 'w').filter((c) => c.from === 'a7' && c.to === 'a8');
+    expect(candidates.map((c) => c.promotion).sort()).toEqual(['b', 'n', 'q', 'r']);
+  });
+
+  it('blind ignores whose turn it is (returns moves for either color)', () => {
+    // Vanilla path filters by chess.js .moves() which respects toMove. Blind
+    // path iterates own pieces directly, so black candidates exist on move 0.
+    const game = makeGame('blind');
+    const candidates = legalCandidates(game, 'b');
+    // Same geometric move count as white: 34.
+    expect(candidates.length).toBe(34);
+  });
+
+  it('zero own pieces = zero candidates (degenerate)', () => {
+    // FEN with only black king + pieces — but FEN must be valid, kings required.
+    const game = makeGame('blind', '4k3/8/8/8/8/8/8/4K3 w - - 0 1');
+    const black = legalCandidates(game, 'b');
+    // Black king on e8 has 5 geometric king moves (d8, f8, d7, e7, f7).
+    expect(black.length).toBe(5);
+  });
+});
@@ -0,0 +1,232 @@
+import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest';
+import { CasualBrain } from '../../../src/bot/casual-brain.js';
+import type { BrainInput, CandidateMove } from '../../../src/bot/brain.js';
+import type { BoardView } from '@blind-chess/shared';
+
+function makeInput(overrides: Partial<BrainInput> = {}): BrainInput {
+  const view: BoardView = {
+    pieces: { e2: { color: 'w', type: 'p' } },
+    toMove: 'w',
+    inCheck: false,
+  };
+  return {
+    view,
+    newAnnouncements: [],
+    legalCandidates: [{ from: 'e2', to: 'e4' }],
+    attemptHistory: [],
+    drawOfferFromOpponent: false,
+    ply: 0,
+    ...overrides,
+  };
+}
+
+describe('CasualBrain', () => {
+  it('init() resolves', async () => {
+    const brain = new CasualBrain({ seed: 1 });
+    await brain.init({ color: 'w', mode: 'blind', gameId: 'casualab' });
+  });
+
+  it('single candidate -> picks it', async () => {
+    const brain = new CasualBrain({ seed: 1 });
+    await brain.init({ color: 'w', mode: 'blind', gameId: 'g1' });
+    const action = await brain.decide(makeInput());
+    expect(action.type).toBe('commit');
+    if (action.type === 'commit') {
+      expect(action.from).toBe('e2');
+      expect(action.to).toBe('e4');
+    }
+  });
+
+  it('zero candidates -> throws', async () => {
+    const brain = new CasualBrain({ seed: 1 });
+    await brain.init({ color: 'w', mode: 'blind', gameId: 'g1' });
+    await expect(brain.decide(makeInput({ legalCandidates: [] }))).rejects.toThrow();
+  });
+
+  it('attemptHistory excludes the rejected move', async () => {
+    const brain = new CasualBrain({ seed: 1 });
+    await brain.init({ color: 'w', mode: 'blind', gameId: 'g1' });
+    const input = makeInput({
+      legalCandidates: [
+        { from: 'e2', to: 'e4' },
+        { from: 'd2', to: 'd4' },
+      ],
+      attemptHistory: [{ move: { from: 'e2', to: 'e4' }, rejection: 'wont_help' }],
+    });
+    const action = await brain.decide(input);
+    expect(action.type).toBe('commit');
+    if (action.type === 'commit') {
+      expect(action.from).toBe('d2');
+      expect(action.to).toBe('d4');
+    }
+  });
+
+  it('promotion: when multiple candidates differ only by promotion, picks queen', async () => {
+    const brain = new CasualBrain({ seed: 1 });
+    await brain.init({ color: 'w', mode: 'blind', gameId: 'g1' });
+    const candidates: CandidateMove[] = [
+      { from: 'a7', to: 'a8', promotion: 'q' },
+      { from: 'a7', to: 'a8', promotion: 'r' },
+      { from: 'a7', to: 'a8', promotion: 'b' },
+      { from: 'a7', to: 'a8', promotion: 'n' },
+    ];
+    const action = await brain.decide(makeInput({ legalCandidates: candidates }));
+    if (action.type === 'commit') expect(action.promotion).toBe('q');
+  });
+
+  it('draw offer at material parity -> accept', async () => {
+    const brain = new CasualBrain({ seed: 1 });
+    await brain.init({ color: 'w', mode: 'blind', gameId: 'g1' });
+    // White has 1 king + 1 rook = 5 material; Casual heuristic accepts when own material < 15.
+    const view: BoardView = {
+      pieces: {
+        e1: { color: 'w', type: 'k' },
+        a1: { color: 'w', type: 'r' },
+      },
+      toMove: 'w', inCheck: false,
+    };
+    const action = await brain.decide({
+      view, newAnnouncements: [], legalCandidates: [{ from: 'e1', to: 'e2' }],
+      attemptHistory: [], drawOfferFromOpponent: true, ply: 30,
+    });
+    expect(action.type).toBe('respond-draw');
+    if (action.type === 'respond-draw') expect(action.accept).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it('never voluntarily offers resign', async () => {
+    const brain = new CasualBrain({ seed: 1 });
+    await brain.init({ color: 'w', mode: 'blind', gameId: 'g1' });
+    for (let i = 0; i < 50; i++) {
+      const action = await brain.decide(makeInput({ ply: i }));
+      expect(action.type).not.toBe('resign');
+    }
+  });
+
+  it('seeded determinism: same seed + same input -> same move', async () => {
+    const candidates: CandidateMove[] = [
+      { from: 'e2', to: 'e4' },
+      { from: 'd2', to: 'd4' },
+      { from: 'g1', to: 'f3' },
+    ];
+    const a = new CasualBrain({ seed: 42 });
+    await a.init({ color: 'w', mode: 'blind', gameId: 'g1' });
+    const b = new CasualBrain({ seed: 42 });
+    await b.init({ color: 'w', mode: 'blind', gameId: 'g1' });
+    const aAct = await a.decide(makeInput({ legalCandidates: candidates }));
+    const bAct = await b.decide(makeInput({ legalCandidates: candidates }));
+    expect(aAct).toEqual(bAct);
+  });
+
+  it('blind mode + own_color_in_check announcement -> prefers king moves over other candidates', async () => {
+    // The bot only sees its own pieces in blind mode and cannot deduce the
+    // attacker. Per the AI spec ("Casual never resigns voluntarily"), the
+    // brain must use the public moderator announcement to bias toward
+    // check-resolving moves — most commonly, moving the king. Without this
+    // bias, the heuristic scores capture/advance signals that are uncorrelated
+    // with check resolution, the FSM rejects every non-resolving move, and
+    // the driver's retry cap fires => premature resignation.
+    const view: BoardView = {
+      pieces: {
+        e1: { color: 'w', type: 'k' },
+        a2: { color: 'w', type: 'p' },
+        h2: { color: 'w', type: 'p' },
+        b1: { color: 'w', type: 'n' },
+      },
+      toMove: 'w',
+      inCheck: true,
+    };
+    const candidates: CandidateMove[] = [
+      // king moves (8 possible escape squares; only some are off the board /
+      // off own-occupied — geometricMoves would have excluded those, but for
+      // the test we just enumerate a few plausible ones).
+      { from: 'e1', to: 'd1' },
+      { from: 'e1', to: 'f1' },
+      { from: 'e1', to: 'd2' },
+      { from: 'e1', to: 'e2' },
+      { from: 'e1', to: 'f2' },
+      // non-king alternatives that the heuristic would otherwise prefer
+      { from: 'a2', to: 'a4' },
+      { from: 'h2', to: 'h4' },
+      { from: 'b1', to: 'c3' },
+      { from: 'b1', to: 'a3' },
+    ];
+    let kingHits = 0;
+    for (let s = 0; s < 20; s++) {
+      const brain = new CasualBrain({ seed: s });
+      await brain.init({ color: 'w', mode: 'blind', gameId: 'g1' });
+      const action = await brain.decide({
+        view,
+        newAnnouncements: [
+          { text: 'white_in_check', audience: 'both', ply: 10, at: Date.now() },
+        ],
+        legalCandidates: candidates,
+        attemptHistory: [],
+        drawOfferFromOpponent: false,
+        ply: 10,
+      });
+      if (action.type === 'commit' && action.from === 'e1') kingHits++;
+    }
+    // Every seed should pick a king move when the boost is large enough to
+    // dominate the heuristic + tiebreak.
+    expect(kingHits).toBe(20);
+  });
+
+  it('blind mode + own_color_in_check + king moves all rejected -> falls through to non-king', async () => {
+    // Defensive: if every king move has been tried (knight check forcing
+    // king moves into other attacks, double check, etc.), the bot should
+    // still pick *something* from remaining candidates rather than throw.
+    const view: BoardView = {
+      pieces: {
+        e1: { color: 'w', type: 'k' },
+        b1: { color: 'w', type: 'n' },
+      },
+      toMove: 'w',
+      inCheck: true,
+    };
+    const candidates: CandidateMove[] = [
+      { from: 'e1', to: 'd1' },
+      { from: 'e1', to: 'e2' },
+      { from: 'b1', to: 'c3' },
+    ];
+    const brain = new CasualBrain({ seed: 1 });
+    await brain.init({ color: 'w', mode: 'blind', gameId: 'g1' });
+    const action = await brain.decide({
+      view,
+      newAnnouncements: [
+        { text: 'white_in_check', audience: 'both', ply: 10, at: Date.now() },
+      ],
+      legalCandidates: candidates,
+      attemptHistory: [
+        { move: { from: 'e1', to: 'd1' }, rejection: 'illegal_move' },
+        { move: { from: 'e1', to: 'e2' }, rejection: 'illegal_move' },
+      ],
+      drawOfferFromOpponent: false,
+      ply: 10,
+    });
+    expect(action.type).toBe('commit');
+    if (action.type === 'commit') {
+      expect(action.from).toBe('b1');
+      expect(action.to).toBe('c3');
+    }
+  });
+
+  it('opening moves favor center pawns over flank pawns (e/d > a/h)', async () => {
+    const candidates: CandidateMove[] = [
+      { from: 'a2', to: 'a3' },
+      { from: 'h2', to: 'h3' },
+      { from: 'e2', to: 'e4' },
+      { from: 'd2', to: 'd4' },
+    ];
+    // Many seeds → assert e2 or d2 wins majority. The score gap (center pawn
+    // scores ~25 + 15*2 = 55 over flank pawn ~15*1 = 15) is well over the
+    // 0.01 random tiebreak, so center should win nearly always.
+    let centerHits = 0;
+    for (let s = 0; s < 20; s++) {
+      const b = new CasualBrain({ seed: s });
+      await b.init({ color: 'w', mode: 'blind', gameId: 'g1' });
+      const a = await b.decide(makeInput({ legalCandidates: candidates, ply: 0 }));
+      if (a.type === 'commit' && (a.from === 'e2' || a.from === 'd2')) centerHits++;
+    }
+    expect(centerHits).toBeGreaterThan(15);
+  });
+});
@@ -0,0 +1,212 @@
+import { describe, it, expect, beforeEach, vi } from 'vitest';
+import { Chess } from 'chess.js';
+import { BotDriver } from '../../../src/bot/driver.js';
+import type { Brain, BrainAction, BrainInput } from '../../../src/bot/brain.js';
+import type { Game } from '../../../src/state.js';
+import { RATE_LIMIT } from '../../../src/state.js';
+
+function makeGame(opts: { mode?: 'blind' | 'vanilla'; fen?: string; status?: Game['status'] } = {}): Game {
+  return {
+    id: 'gabcd123',
+    mode: opts.mode ?? 'blind',
+    highlightingEnabled: false,
+    status: opts.status ?? 'active',
+    createdAt: Date.now(),
+    chess: opts.fen ? new Chess(opts.fen) : new Chess(),
+    moveHistory: [],
+    announcements: [],
+    players: {
+      w: { token: 'w'.repeat(24), socket: null, joinedAt: 0,
+            rateBucket: { tokens: RATE_LIMIT.capacity, last: 0 } },
+      b: { token: 'b'.repeat(24), socket: null, joinedAt: 0,
+            rateBucket: { tokens: RATE_LIMIT.capacity, last: 0 } },
+    },
+    armed: null,
+    drawOffer: null,
+    disconnectAt: {},
+    lastBroadcastIdx: { w: 0, b: 0 },
+    aiOpponent: { color: 'b', brain: 'casual' },
+  };
+}
+
+class StubBrain implements Brain {
+  public decideCalls = 0;
+  private script: BrainAction[] = [];
+  init = vi.fn(async () => {});
+  dispose = vi.fn(async () => {});
+  decide = vi.fn(async (input: BrainInput): Promise<BrainAction> => {
+    this.decideCalls++;
+    if (this.script.length === 0) {
+      // Default: trivial commit on the first legal candidate.
+      if (input.legalCandidates.length === 0) throw new Error('no candidates');
+      const c = input.legalCandidates[0]!;
+      return { type: 'commit', from: c.from, to: c.to, promotion: c.promotion };
+    }
+    return this.script.shift()!;
+  });
+
+  enqueue(...actions: BrainAction[]) { this.script.push(...actions); }
+}
+
+describe('BotDriver', () => {
+  let game: Game;
+  let brain: StubBrain;
+  let driver: BotDriver;
+
+  beforeEach(async () => {
+    game = makeGame();
+    brain = new StubBrain();
+    driver = new BotDriver({ game, brain, color: 'b' });
+    await driver.init();
+  });
+
+  it('init() invokes brain.init with correct args', async () => {
+    expect(brain.init).toHaveBeenCalledWith({
+      color: 'b',
+      mode: 'blind',
+      gameId: 'gabcd123',
+    });
+  });
+
+  it('onStateChange does nothing when not bot turn', async () => {
+    // White to move (start). Bot is black.
+    await driver.onStateChange();
+    expect(brain.decide).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
+  it('onStateChange fires decide when it is bot turn', async () => {
+    game.chess.move('e4');
+    await driver.onStateChange();
+    expect(brain.decide).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    expect(game.chess.turn()).toBe('w'); // turn advanced
+  });
+
+  it('mutex: second onStateChange while in-flight is a no-op', async () => {
+    game.chess.move('e4');
+    let release: () => void;
+    const gate = new Promise<void>((r) => { release = r; });
+    brain.decide.mockImplementationOnce(async (input) => {
+      await gate;
+      const c = input.legalCandidates[0]!;
+      return { type: 'commit', from: c.from, to: c.to };
+    });
+    const p1 = driver.onStateChange();
+    const p2 = driver.onStateChange();
+    release!();
+    await Promise.all([p1, p2]);
+    expect(brain.decide).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+  });
+
+  it('retry on wont_help: pinned bishop scenario', async () => {
+    // Black king h8, black bishop e7 pinned by white rook on e1.
+    const fen = '4k2K/4b3/8/8/8/8/8/4R3 b - - 0 1';
+    game = makeGame({ fen });
+    brain = new StubBrain();
+    driver = new BotDriver({ game, brain, color: 'b' });
+    await driver.init();
+    // First action: pinned-bishop move (FSM rejects with wont_help)
+    // Second action: legal king move (black king at e8, not h8 which is white)
+    brain.enqueue(
+      { type: 'commit', from: 'e7', to: 'd6' },
+      { type: 'commit', from: 'e8', to: 'f8' },
+    );
+    await driver.onStateChange();
+    expect(brain.decide).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
+    expect(game.chess.turn()).toBe('w');
+  });
+
+  it('retry on illegal_move: switching from after rejection still succeeds', async () => {
+    // Black bishop b8 has legal moves (c7, d6, e5xpawn, a7) but b8→f4 is
+    // illegal because the white pawn on e5 blocks the diagonal. Black king on a1.
+    // The FSM ARMS the b8 piece during its first attempt then rejects with
+    // illegal_move; on the retry the brain switches to a king move, which used
+    // to trip "must_move_touched_piece" and resign the bot.
+    const fen = '1b6/8/8/4P3/8/8/8/k6K b - - 0 1';
+    game = makeGame({ mode: 'blind', fen });
+    brain = new StubBrain();
+    driver = new BotDriver({ game, brain, color: 'b' });
+    await driver.init();
+    brain.enqueue(
+      { type: 'commit', from: 'b8', to: 'f4' }, // illegal: blocked by white pawn
+      { type: 'commit', from: 'a1', to: 'b1' }, // legal king move
+    );
+    await driver.onStateChange();
+    expect(brain.decide).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
+    expect(game.status).toBe('active');
+    expect(game.chess.turn()).toBe('w');
+    expect(game.armed).toBeNull();
+  });
+
+  it('retry cap (25): after RETRY_CAP rejected attempts, driver resigns the bot', async () => {
+    const fen = '4k2K/4b3/8/8/8/8/8/4R3 b - - 0 1';
+    game = makeGame({ fen });
+    brain = new StubBrain();
+    driver = new BotDriver({ game, brain, color: 'b' });
+    await driver.init();
+    // Enqueue more than RETRY_CAP repeated illegal moves; driver should
+    // exhaust the retry budget and resign.
+    for (let i = 0; i < 30; i++) {
+      brain.enqueue({ type: 'commit', from: 'e7', to: 'd6' });
+    }
+    await driver.onStateChange();
+    expect(game.status).toBe('finished');
+    expect(game.endReason).toBe('resign');
+    expect(game.winner).toBe('w');
+    expect(brain.decide).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(25);
+  });
+
+  it('respond-draw: when drawOffer is from opponent, driver fires decide and dispatches', async () => {
+    game.drawOffer = { from: 'w', at: Date.now() };
+    brain.enqueue({ type: 'respond-draw', accept: true });
+    await driver.onStateChange();
+    expect(brain.decide).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+    expect(game.status).toBe('finished');
+    expect(game.endReason).toBe('draw_agreed');
+  });
+
+  it('dispose on game finished: subsequent onStateChange is a no-op', async () => {
+    game.chess.move('e4');
+    game.status = 'finished';
+    await driver.onStateChange();
+    expect(brain.decide).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(brain.dispose).toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
+  it('suppresses the bot intermediate retry rejection from the moderator log', async () => {
+    // Pinned-bishop position: first action is rejected (wont_help), second
+    // is a legal king move. The wont_help must NOT survive in announcements.
+    const fen = '4k2K/4b3/8/8/8/8/8/4R3 b - - 0 1';
+    game = makeGame({ fen });
+    brain = new StubBrain();
+    driver = new BotDriver({ game, brain, color: 'b' });
+    await driver.init();
+    brain.enqueue(
+      { type: 'commit', from: 'e7', to: 'd6' }, // rejected: wont_help
+      { type: 'commit', from: 'e8', to: 'f8' }, // legal king move
+    );
+    await driver.onStateChange();
+    const texts = game.announcements.map((a) => a.text);
+    expect(texts).not.toContain('wont_help');
+    expect(texts).toContain('black_moved');
+  });
+
+  it('bot move that delivers checkmate finalizes game.status', async () => {
+    // FEN: '1k6/8/1K6/8/8/8/8/7Q w - - 0 1'
+    // White king b6, white queen h1, black king b8.
+    // Qh8# is mate: queen moves h1→h8, covers h8; white king b6 covers a7,b7,c7,a5,b5,c5.
+    // Black king b8 escape squares (a7,b7,c7,a8,c8) are all covered. Verified with chess.js.
+    const fen = '1k6/8/1K6/8/8/8/8/7Q w - - 0 1';
+    game = makeGame({ fen });
+    game.aiOpponent = { color: 'w', brain: 'casual' };
+    brain = new StubBrain();
+    driver = new BotDriver({ game, brain, color: 'w' });
+    await driver.init();
+
+    brain.enqueue({ type: 'commit', from: 'h1', to: 'h8' });
+    await driver.onStateChange();
+
+    expect(game.status).toBe('finished');
+    expect(game.endReason).toBe('checkmate');
+    expect(game.winner).toBe('w');
+  });
+});
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest';
+import { captureTally } from '../../src/captures.js';
+import type { Game, MoveRecord } from '../../src/state.js';
+import type { Color, PieceType } from '@blind-chess/shared';
+
+function rec(by: Color, capturedPieceType?: PieceType): MoveRecord {
+  return {
+    ply: 1, by, from: 'e2', to: 'e4', san: 'e4',
+    capturedPieceType, flags: {}, at: 0,
+  };
+}
+
+describe('captureTally', () => {
+  it('counts captures per viewer', () => {
+    const moveHistory: MoveRecord[] = [
+      rec('w', 'p'), rec('b'), rec('w', 'n'),
+      rec('b', 'p'), rec('w', 'p'),
+    ];
+    const game = { moveHistory } as unknown as Game;
+    expect(captureTally(game, 'w')).toEqual({
+      byYou: { p: 2, n: 1 }, byOpponent: { p: 1 },
+    });
+    expect(captureTally(game, 'b')).toEqual({
+      byYou: { p: 1 }, byOpponent: { p: 2, n: 1 },
+    });
+  });
+
+  it('returns empty tallies when there are no captures', () => {
+    const game = { moveHistory: [rec('w'), rec('b')] } as unknown as Game;
+    expect(captureTally(game, 'w')).toEqual({ byYou: {}, byOpponent: {} });
+  });
+});
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ function makeGame(fen?: string): Game {
    armed: null,
    drawOffer: null,
    disconnectAt: {},
+    lastBroadcastIdx: { w: 0, b: 0 },
  };
 }

@@ -73,6 +74,20 @@ describe('hierarchy decision table', () => {
    expect(game.armed).toBeNull();
    expect(game.chess.history()).toContain('e4');
  });
+
+  it('attempted-move announcements are audience: both', () => {
+    const r = handleCommit(game, 'w', { from: 'e4' }); // empty square -> no_such_piece
+    expect(r.kind).toBe('announce');
+    if (r.kind === 'announce') expect(r.announcements[0]!.audience).toBe('both');
+  });
+
+  it('applied-move announcements are audience: both', () => {
+    const r = handleCommit(game, 'w', { from: 'e2', to: 'e4' });
+    expect(r.kind).toBe('applied');
+    if (r.kind === 'applied') {
+      for (const a of r.announcements) expect(a.audience).toBe('both');
+    }
+  });
 });

 describe('touch-move enforcement', () => {
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ function makeGame(mode: 'blind' | 'vanilla', fen?: string, status: 'active' | 'f
    armed: null,
    drawOffer: null,
    disconnectAt: {},
+    lastBroadcastIdx: { w: 0, b: 0 },
  };
 }

@@ -2,3 +2,5 @@ export * from './types.js';
 export * from './moderator.js';
 export * from './protocol.js';
 export * from './geometric.js';
+export * from './phantoms.js';
+export * from './promotion.js';
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+import { FILES, isSquare, type Color, type Piece, type PieceType, type Square } from './types.js';
+
+const BACK_RANK: PieceType[] = ['r', 'n', 'b', 'q', 'k', 'b', 'n', 'r'];
+const COLORS: Color[] = ['w', 'b'];
+const TYPES: PieceType[] = ['p', 'n', 'b', 'r', 'q', 'k'];
+
+/**
+ * The standard starting position for one colour, as a square→piece map.
+ * Used to seed the phantom opponent-model layer with the opponent's army.
+ */
+export function opponentStartPosition(opponentColor: Color): Partial<Record<Square, Piece>> {
+  const backRank = opponentColor === 'w' ? '1' : '8';
+  const pawnRank = opponentColor === 'w' ? '2' : '7';
+  const out: Partial<Record<Square, Piece>> = {};
+  FILES.forEach((file, i) => {
+    out[`${file}${backRank}` as Square] = { color: opponentColor, type: BACK_RANK[i]! };
+    out[`${file}${pawnRank}` as Square] = { color: opponentColor, type: 'p' };
+  });
+  return out;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Parse a persisted phantom map (from localStorage). Tolerant: returns {} on
+ * any structural failure and silently drops individual invalid entries.
+ */
+export function deserializePhantoms(raw: string | null): Partial<Record<Square, Piece>> {
+  if (!raw) return {};
+  let parsed: unknown;
+  try { parsed = JSON.parse(raw); } catch { return {}; }
+  if (typeof parsed !== 'object' || parsed === null || Array.isArray(parsed)) return {};
+  const out: Partial<Record<Square, Piece>> = {};
+  for (const [k, v] of Object.entries(parsed as Record<string, unknown>)) {
+    if (!isSquare(k)) continue;
+    if (typeof v !== 'object' || v === null) continue;
+    const { color, type } = v as { color?: unknown; type?: unknown };
+    if (!COLORS.includes(color as Color)) continue;
+    if (!TYPES.includes(type as PieceType)) continue;
+    out[k] = { color: color as Color, type: type as PieceType };
+  }
+  return out;
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+import { fileIndex, type Piece, type Square } from './types.js';
+
+/**
+ * True iff moving `piece` from→to is a pawn promotion.
+ *
+ * A promotion is a pawn advancing from the rank adjacent to its promotion rank
+ * onto the promotion rank (7→8 for White, 2→1 for Black), at most one file
+ * over — a straight push or a diagonal capture.
+ *
+ * Checking only the piece type and the destination rank — as the move-commit
+ * paths previously did — wrongly flags e.g. a pawn on the 2nd rank "moved" to
+ * the 8th, popping the promotion dialog for a move no pawn could ever make.
+ */
+export function isPromotionMove(
+  piece: Piece | undefined,
+  from: Square,
+  to: Square,
+): boolean {
+  if (!piece || piece.type !== 'p') return false;
+  if (Math.abs(fileIndex(from) - fileIndex(to)) > 1) return false;
+  if (piece.color === 'w') return from[1] === '7' && to[1] === '8';
+  return from[1] === '2' && to[1] === '1';
+}
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import type {
-  BoardView, Color, GameId, GameStatus, Mode, PlayerToken,
+  BoardView, CaptureTally, Color, GameId, GameStatus, Mode, PlayerToken,
  PromotionType, Square, EndReason,
 } from './types.js';
 import type { Announcement } from './moderator.js';
@@ -34,6 +34,8 @@ export type ServerMessage =
      mode: Mode;
      highlightingEnabled: boolean;
      opponentConnected: boolean;
+      captures: CaptureTally;
+      aiOpponent?: { color: Color; brain: 'casual' | 'recon' };
    }
  | {
      type: 'update';
@@ -44,6 +46,8 @@ export type ServerMessage =
      drawOffer?: { from: Color } | null;
      endReason?: EndReason;
      winner?: Color | null;
+      captures: CaptureTally;
+      aiOpponent?: { color: Color; brain: 'casual' | 'recon' };
    }
  | { type: 'peer-status'; color: Color; connected: boolean; graceUntil?: number }
  | { type: 'error'; code: ErrorCode; message: string }
@@ -53,10 +57,11 @@ export interface CreateGameRequest {
  mode: Mode;
  side: Color | 'random';
  highlightingEnabled: boolean;
+  vsAi?: { brain: 'casual' | 'recon' };
 }

 export interface CreateGameResponse {
  gameId: GameId;
  creatorToken: PlayerToken;
-  joinUrl: string;
+  joinUrl: string | null;
 }
@@ -61,3 +61,12 @@ export function squareAt(fileIdx: number, rankIdx: number): Square | null {
  const r = String.fromCharCode('1'.charCodeAt(0) + rankIdx);
  return `${f}${r}` as Square;
 }
+
+/** Count of pieces by type — used for the capture tally. */
+export type PieceTally = Partial<Record<PieceType, number>>;
+
+/** Per-viewer capture tally: what you took, and what you lost. */
+export interface CaptureTally {
+  byYou: PieceTally;
+  byOpponent: PieceTally;
+}
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest';
+import { opponentStartPosition, deserializePhantoms } from '../src/phantoms.js';
+
+describe('opponentStartPosition', () => {
+  it('seeds 16 black pieces on ranks 7-8', () => {
+    const p = opponentStartPosition('b');
+    expect(Object.keys(p).length).toBe(16);
+    expect(p.e8).toEqual({ color: 'b', type: 'k' });
+    expect(p.d8).toEqual({ color: 'b', type: 'q' });
+    expect(p.a8).toEqual({ color: 'b', type: 'r' });
+    expect(p.h7).toEqual({ color: 'b', type: 'p' });
+  });
+
+  it('seeds 16 white pieces on ranks 1-2', () => {
+    const p = opponentStartPosition('w');
+    expect(Object.keys(p).length).toBe(16);
+    expect(p.e1).toEqual({ color: 'w', type: 'k' });
+    expect(p.a2).toEqual({ color: 'w', type: 'p' });
+  });
+});
+
+describe('deserializePhantoms', () => {
+  it('returns {} for null or invalid JSON', () => {
+    expect(deserializePhantoms(null)).toEqual({});
+    expect(deserializePhantoms('not json')).toEqual({});
+    expect(deserializePhantoms('[]')).toEqual({});
+  });
+
+  it('keeps valid entries and drops invalid ones', () => {
+    const raw = JSON.stringify({
+      e5: { color: 'b', type: 'n' },
+      zz: { color: 'b', type: 'p' },  // invalid square
+      a1: { color: 'x', type: 'p' },  // invalid colour
+      b2: { color: 'b', type: 'z' },  // invalid type
+      d3: null,                       // valid square, null value
+    });
+    expect(deserializePhantoms(raw)).toEqual({ e5: { color: 'b', type: 'n' } });
+  });
+});
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest';
+import { isPromotionMove } from '../src/promotion.js';
+import type { Piece } from '../src/types.js';
+
+const wp: Piece = { color: 'w', type: 'p' };
+const bp: Piece = { color: 'b', type: 'p' };
+const wn: Piece = { color: 'w', type: 'n' };
+
+describe('isPromotionMove', () => {
+  it('white pawn from the 7th rank to the 8th is a promotion', () => {
+    expect(isPromotionMove(wp, 'e7', 'e8')).toBe(true);
+    expect(isPromotionMove(wp, 'd7', 'e8')).toBe(true); // capture-promotion
+  });
+
+  it('black pawn from the 2nd rank to the 1st is a promotion', () => {
+    expect(isPromotionMove(bp, 'e2', 'e1')).toBe(true);
+    expect(isPromotionMove(bp, 'd2', 'c1')).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it('a pawn NOT on the rank adjacent to promotion is not a promotion', () => {
+    expect(isPromotionMove(wp, 'e2', 'e8')).toBe(false); // the reported bug
+    expect(isPromotionMove(wp, 'e5', 'e8')).toBe(false);
+    expect(isPromotionMove(bp, 'e7', 'e1')).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it('an ordinary pawn move is not a promotion', () => {
+    expect(isPromotionMove(wp, 'e2', 'e4')).toBe(false);
+    expect(isPromotionMove(bp, 'e7', 'e5')).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it('a non-pawn reaching the last rank is not a promotion', () => {
+    expect(isPromotionMove(wn, 'g6', 'e8')).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it('a pawn move spanning more than one file is not a promotion', () => {
+    expect(isPromotionMove(wp, 'a7', 'h8')).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it('an undefined piece is not a promotion', () => {
+    expect(isPromotionMove(undefined, 'e7', 'e8')).toBe(false);
+  });
+});
@@ -8,6 +8,9 @@ importers:

  .:
    devDependencies:
+      tsx:
+        specifier: ^4.21.0
+        version: 4.21.0
      typescript:
        specifier: ^5.6.0
        version: 5.9.3
@@ -54,6 +57,9 @@ importers:
      fastify:
        specifier: ^5.2.0
        version: 5.8.5
+      js-chess-engine:
+        specifier: ^2.4.6
+        version: 2.4.6
      pino:
        specifier: ^9.5.0
        version: 9.14.0
@@ -933,6 +939,10 @@ packages:
    resolution: {integrity: sha512-34wB/Y7MW7bzjKRjUKTa46I2Z7eV62Rkhva+KkopW7Qvv/OSWBqvkSY7vusOPrNuZcUG3tApvdVgNB8POj3SPw==}
    engines: {node: '>=10'}

+  js-chess-engine@2.4.6:
+    resolution: {integrity: sha512-OKvWKICifXLjUilGzT5RstUv9iGpk04PjGpTyVT0lMlxX2HptoXZ2Q9hNicidnYjFcR7FHpnXFVwreDSF6a5Ng==}
+    engines: {node: '>=24'}
+
  js-tokens@9.0.1:
    resolution: {integrity: sha512-mxa9E9ITFOt0ban3j6L5MpjwegGz6lBQmM1IJkWeBZGcMxto50+eWdjC/52xDbS2vy0k7vIMK0Fe2wfL9OQSpQ==}

@@ -2075,6 +2085,8 @@ snapshots:

  joycon@3.1.1: {}

+  js-chess-engine@2.4.6: {}
+
  js-tokens@9.0.1: {}

  json-schema-ref-resolver@3.0.0:
@@ -0,0 +1,195 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env tsx
+/**
+ * Self-play harness for the Casual bot.
+ *
+ * Runs N games in-process (no HTTP). Reports stats and optionally writes a
+ * transcript per game. Supports CasualBrain on either color and a
+ * RandomBrain baseline for measuring Casual's strength.
+ *
+ * Usage:
+ *   pnpm selfplay --games 100 --mode vanilla
+ *   pnpm selfplay --white casual --black random --games 100 --mode vanilla
+ *   pnpm selfplay --white random --black casual --games 100 --mode vanilla
+ *   pnpm selfplay --games 50 --mode blind --transcripts
+ *   pnpm selfplay --games 10 --seed 42
+ */
+import { mkdirSync, writeFileSync } from 'node:fs';
+import { resolve } from 'node:path';
+import { CasualBrain, BotDriver } from '../packages/server/src/bot/index.js';
+import type { Brain, BrainAction, BrainInitArgs, BrainInput }
+  from '../packages/server/src/bot/brain.js';
+import { createGame } from '../packages/server/src/games.js';
+
+interface Args {
+  white: 'casual' | 'random';
+  black: 'casual' | 'random';
+  games: number;
+  mode: 'blind' | 'vanilla';
+  seed: number;
+  transcripts: boolean;
+  maxPly: number;
+}
+
+function parseArgs(): Args {
+  const args: Args = {
+    white: 'casual', black: 'casual',
+    games: 10, mode: 'blind', seed: 1, transcripts: false, maxPly: 400,
+  };
+  const a = process.argv.slice(2);
+  for (let i = 0; i < a.length; i++) {
+    const k = a[i]!;
+    const v = a[i + 1]!;
+    if (k === '--white') { args.white = v as 'casual' | 'random'; i++; }
+    else if (k === '--black') { args.black = v as 'casual' | 'random'; i++; }
+    else if (k === '--games') { args.games = parseInt(v, 10); i++; }
+    else if (k === '--mode') { args.mode = v as 'blind' | 'vanilla'; i++; }
+    else if (k === '--seed') { args.seed = parseInt(v, 10); i++; }
+    else if (k === '--max-ply') { args.maxPly = parseInt(v, 10); i++; }
+    else if (k === '--transcripts') { args.transcripts = true; }
+    else if (k === '--help' || k === '-h') {
+      console.log('Usage: pnpm selfplay [--white casual|random] [--black casual|random]');
+      console.log('                     [--games N] [--mode blind|vanilla]');
+      console.log('                     [--seed N] [--max-ply N] [--transcripts]');
+      process.exit(0);
+    }
+  }
+  return args;
+}
+
+class RandomBrain implements Brain {
+  private rng: () => number;
+  constructor(seed: number) {
+    let a = seed >>> 0;
+    this.rng = () => {
+      a = (a + 0x6d2b79f5) >>> 0;
+      let t = a;
+      t = Math.imul(t ^ (t >>> 15), t | 1);
+      t ^= t + Math.imul(t ^ (t >>> 7), t | 61);
+      return ((t ^ (t >>> 14)) >>> 0) / 4294967296;
+    };
+  }
+  async init(_args: BrainInitArgs): Promise<void> {}
+  async decide(input: BrainInput): Promise<BrainAction> {
+    const cs = input.legalCandidates;
+    if (cs.length === 0) throw new Error('no candidates');
+    const i = Math.floor(this.rng() * cs.length);
+    const c = cs[i]!;
+    return { type: 'commit', from: c.from, to: c.to, promotion: c.promotion };
+  }
+}
+
+function makeBrain(kind: 'casual' | 'random', seed: number): Brain {
+  return kind === 'casual' ? new CasualBrain({ seed }) : new RandomBrain(seed);
+}
+
+interface GameResult {
+  result: 'w' | 'b' | 'draw' | 'maxply' | 'error';
+  endReason: string;
+  ply: number;
+  ms: number;
+  transcript: string[];
+}
+
+async function runOneGame(args: Args, gameIdx: number): Promise<GameResult> {
+  const startMs = Date.now();
+  const transcript: string[] = [];
+
+  const { game } = createGame({
+    mode: args.mode, creatorSide: 'w', highlightingEnabled: false,
+    vsAi: { brain: 'casual' },
+  });
+  // createGame already filled both slots when vsAi is set. Clear the
+  // aiOpponent tag (this is a self-play game, not a vs-AI game) and flip
+  // status to 'active' (no hello will arrive in self-play).
+  game.aiOpponent = undefined;
+  game.status = 'active';
+
+  const wBrain = makeBrain(args.white, args.seed + gameIdx * 2);
+  const bBrain = makeBrain(args.black, args.seed + gameIdx * 2 + 1);
+  const wDriver = new BotDriver({ game, brain: wBrain, color: 'w' });
+  const bDriver = new BotDriver({ game, brain: bBrain, color: 'b' });
+  await wDriver.init();
+  await bDriver.init();
+
+  let ply = 0;
+  while (game.status === 'active' && ply < args.maxPly) {
+    const turn = game.chess.turn() as 'w' | 'b';
+    const driver = turn === 'w' ? wDriver : bDriver;
+    try {
+      await driver.onStateChange();
+    } catch (err) {
+      transcript.push(`!! error at ply ${ply}: ${(err as Error).message}`);
+      return { result: 'error', endReason: (err as Error).message,
+               ply, ms: Date.now() - startMs, transcript };
+    }
+    const newPly = game.chess.history().length;
+    if (newPly === ply && game.status === 'active') {
+      // Driver didn't move and game didn't end — defensive break.
+      transcript.push(`!! stuck at ply ${ply} (${turn} to move)`);
+      return { result: 'error', endReason: 'stuck',
+               ply, ms: Date.now() - startMs, transcript };
+    }
+    if (newPly > ply) {
+      const lastSan = game.chess.history()[newPly - 1];
+      transcript.push(`${newPly}. ${turn === 'w' ? 'W' : 'B'}: ${lastSan}`);
+    }
+    ply = newPly;
+  }
+
+  const ms = Date.now() - startMs;
+  if (game.status !== 'finished') {
+    return { result: 'maxply', endReason: 'max_ply', ply, ms, transcript };
+  }
+  const result: 'w' | 'b' | 'draw' = game.winner ?? 'draw';
+  return { result, endReason: game.endReason ?? 'unknown', ply, ms, transcript };
+}
+
+function summarize(rs: GameResult[]): string {
+  const w = rs.filter((r) => r.result === 'w').length;
+  const b = rs.filter((r) => r.result === 'b').length;
+  const d = rs.filter((r) => r.result === 'draw').length;
+  const mp = rs.filter((r) => r.result === 'maxply').length;
+  const er = rs.filter((r) => r.result === 'error').length;
+  const avgPly = rs.reduce((s, r) => s + r.ply, 0) / Math.max(rs.length, 1);
+  const avgMs = rs.reduce((s, r) => s + r.ms, 0) / Math.max(rs.length, 1);
+  return `W=${w} B=${b} D=${d} MaxPly=${mp} Err=${er} avgPly=${avgPly.toFixed(0)} avgMs=${avgMs.toFixed(0)}`;
+}
+
+async function main(): Promise<void> {
+  const args = parseArgs();
+  console.log(`selfplay: ${args.games} game(s), mode=${args.mode}, white=${args.white}, black=${args.black}, seed=${args.seed}`);
+  const results: GameResult[] = [];
+
+  let outDir: string | null = null;
+  if (args.transcripts) {
+    outDir = resolve('tmp', 'selfplay-runs', String(Date.now()));
+    mkdirSync(outDir, { recursive: true });
+    console.log(`transcripts -> ${outDir}`);
+  }
+
+  for (let i = 0; i < args.games; i++) {
+    const r = await runOneGame(args, i);
+    results.push(r);
+    if (outDir) {
+      writeFileSync(
+        resolve(outDir, `game-${String(i + 1).padStart(4, '0')}.txt`),
+        `result=${r.result} reason=${r.endReason} ply=${r.ply} ms=${r.ms}\n${r.transcript.join('\n')}\n`,
+      );
+    }
+    if ((i + 1) % 10 === 0 || i === args.games - 1) {
+      console.log(`[${i + 1}/${args.games}] ${summarize(results)}`);
+    }
+  }
+
+  console.log('\n=== summary ===');
+  console.log(summarize(results));
+  const reasons = new Map<string, number>();
+  for (const r of results) reasons.set(r.endReason, (reasons.get(r.endReason) ?? 0) + 1);
+  console.log('end reasons:');
+  for (const [k, v] of [...reasons.entries()].sort((a, b) => b[1] - a[1])) {
+    console.log(`  ${k}: ${v}`);
+  }
+  console.log('errors: ' + results.filter((r) => r.result === 'error').length);
+}
+
+main().catch((err) => { console.error(err); process.exit(1); });
Author	SHA1	Message	Date
claude (blind_chess)	5d3ac69cbb	docs: session handoff — duplicate-chess landing card and cross-repo deploy	2026-05-19 18:16:09 -04:00
claude (blind_chess)	33a7cef656	docs: record duplicate-chess sub-app sharing the chess.sethpc.xyz origin The Caddy block for chess.sethpc.xyz now has a handle_path /duplicate/* that serves the duplicate_chess static bundle from /var/www/duplicate-chess on CT 600. The new 3rd landing card surfaces it as "under development".	2026-05-19 18:11:55 -04:00
claude (blind_chess)	fef6dcf095	feat(client): third landing card linking to duplicate chess Adds a "Duplicate Chess (under development)" card below the friend/AI cards, pointing at /duplicate/ — a sibling sandbox (Andrew Freiberg's four-player variant) served as a static sub-app at chess.sethpc.xyz/duplicate/ via a separate Caddy handler. The card is a plain anchor so it survives through any future static-fallback rewriting.	2026-05-19 18:08:11 -04:00
claude (blind_chess)	d95ab2abf1	docs: refresh handoff — promotion fix shipped, both fixes deployed Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-05-18 21:53:23 -04:00
claude (blind_chess)	c01244c850	fix: promotion dialog only fires for genuine pawn promotions The "Promote pawn" dialog popped for any pawn "moved" toward the last rank: the commit paths checked piece type + destination rank but never the pawn's SOURCE rank. With the phantom layer now filling ranks 7-8 with tappable phantom pieces, tapping one (which falls through to the real-move handler) while a real pawn was armed triggered the dialog for a move no pawn could make — and for any phantom type, not just pawns. Root cause: incomplete promotion detection, duplicated in Game.svelte `onCommit` and the server's `isPromotionRequired`. Replaced with one shared `isPromotionMove(piece, from, to)` — pawn, from the rank adjacent to promotion, to the promotion rank, at most one file over — used by both. 7 unit tests in packages/shared. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-05-18 21:45:42 -04:00
claude (blind_chess)	5d995eb428	docs: update handoff — deployed, test pass underway, contrast fix pending deploy Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-05-18 21:33:46 -04:00
claude (blind_chess)	d10e581243	fix(client): light outline on dark phantom glyphs for panel contrast Opponent (black) phantom pieces rendered near-invisible on the dark --panel background in the palette and Captures panel, and the black drag-ghost was low-contrast over dark areas. Black piece glyphs in those three spots now get a light text-shadow outline. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-05-18 21:22:50 -04:00
claude (blind_chess)	077330054b	docs: table-fidelity batch deployed to both instances Deployed 2026-05-18 to CT 690 (chess.sethpc.xyz) and chess.local (VDJ-RIG); both verified serving the new client build. CLAUDE.md and the handoff updated to deployed state. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-05-18 21:09:02 -04:00
claude (blind_chess)	0c0e739bd3	docs: session handoff — table-fidelity batch code-complete Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-05-18 21:00:20 -04:00
claude (blind_chess)	2e808008b1	docs: record table-fidelity feature batch as code-complete - DECISIONS.md: new "Table-fidelity features" section + deferred items (smart-tracker rejected, highlight/phantom coupling deferred, abandoned-game localStorage cleanup deferred). - CLAUDE.md: current state, test count 78->87, key files, known gaps. - spec: record that the driver unit test covers the bot-suppression path in place of the considered-and-dropped ai-game-casual integration test (resolves a spec/implementation drift the final review flagged). Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-05-18 20:57:02 -04:00
claude (blind_chess)	59717b3b5b	docs: amend plan to reflect code-review fixes Tasks 8/10/11 received review fixes during execution; the plan's code blocks are updated to match what shipped: - Task 8: drag controller handles pointercancel + idempotent start. - Task 10: palette pieces are plain spans + svelte-ignore (no focusable-but-not-operable role/tabindex). - Task 11: phantom-load effect keyed on gameId; drag ghost gated. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-05-18 20:51:37 -04:00
claude (blind_chess)	82a69d8812	fix(client): key phantom-load effect on gameId, gate the drag ghost Re-key the phantom-load effect on `loadedFor` (tracks gameId) so it reloads if the same <Game> instance is reused for a different game without a remount. Also gate the drag-ghost block behind `phantomLayerEnabled` for consistency with all other phantom UI. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-05-18 20:50:13 -04:00
claude (blind_chess)	313837eb21	feat(client): wire the phantom opponent-model layer into the game view Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-05-18 20:45:40 -04:00
claude (blind_chess)	816f89be36	feat(client): phantom-piece palette component Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-05-18 20:41:43 -04:00
claude (blind_chess)	c65db03cfa	chore(client): suppress phantom-span a11y warning with documented svelte-ignore Phantom pieces are a pointer-only overlay; adding role/tabindex would create a focusable element with no keyboard equivalent (worse a11y, not better). The real game remains fully keyboard-operable via the square <button>. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-05-18 20:39:37 -04:00
claude (blind_chess)	599dc17f44	feat(client): render and drag phantom pieces on the board Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-05-18 20:35:58 -04:00
claude (blind_chess)	4b3e587f6c	fix(client): handle pointercancel and make drag-start idempotent Add onCancel handler for browser/OS gesture takeover (scroll, palm rejection) that previously leaked window listeners and left drag stuck. Extract detach() helper called by onUp, onCancel, and start() for idempotency. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-05-18 20:32:20 -04:00
claude (blind_chess)	f52f7dbb8f	feat(client): pointer-event drag controller for the phantom layer Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-05-18 20:28:37 -04:00
claude (blind_chess)	bd98315fe3	fix(client): guard phantom-store mutations against unset game and no-op move Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-05-18 20:27:25 -04:00
claude (blind_chess)	0583984723	feat(client): local-only phantom-layer store Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-05-18 20:24:13 -04:00
claude (blind_chess)	2ae2c8013c	test(shared): cover null-valued entry in deserializePhantoms Adds a null-valued entry under a valid square key (d3) to the 'keeps valid entries and drops invalid ones' fixture, proving the typeof/null guard branch in deserializePhantoms is exercised. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-05-18 20:23:17 -04:00
claude (blind_chess)	a574100e25	feat(shared): pure phantom-model helpers (seed positions, deserialize) Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-05-18 20:20:46 -04:00
claude (blind_chess)	783d85a40c	feat(client): capture-tally panel Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-05-18 20:16:18 -04:00
claude (blind_chess)	3169995d7f	refactor(server): type captureTally accumulators as PieceTally Tighten the local byYou/byOpponent accumulators from the wider Record<string, number> to PieceTally, matching the return type's fields and preventing silent invalid-key writes. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-05-18 20:14:26 -04:00
claude (blind_chess)	ce36755a89	feat(server): per-viewer capture tally on joined and update messages Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-05-18 20:09:26 -04:00
claude (blind_chess)	0498f1de43	feat(client): label attempted-move announcements by player Attempted-move lines (no_such_piece, no_legal_moves, wont_help, illegal_move) now show "White — " or "Black — " prefix derived from ply parity. Removed alarm-red err styling; replaced with neutral dim+italic via .entry.attempt. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-05-18 20:04:49 -04:00
claude (blind_chess)	5282237027	refactor(bot): hoist the rejection announcement to a single local Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-05-18 20:03:37 -04:00
claude (blind_chess)	558891ed37	feat(bot): suppress bot retry-search churn from the moderator log Pop intermediate wont_help/illegal_move/no_such_piece/no_legal_moves announcements produced during the bot's decision cycle before any broadcast reaches the human opponent. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-05-18 20:00:25 -04:00
claude (blind_chess)	76717cf52e	docs(server): correct translateMove audience docs after the 'both' change Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-05-18 19:58:48 -04:00
claude (blind_chess)	41b3ab93bb	feat(server): moderator announces every move and attempt to both players All move-event announcements in translator.ts and all attempted-move announcements in commit.ts now use audience 'both' so the moderator panel is a complete shared transcript for both players. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-05-18 19:54:34 -04:00
claude (blind_chess)	be8ecd96b6	docs: implementation plan for table-fidelity feature batch 12-task TDD plan in two increments: - Increment 1 (Tasks 1-5): announce-all-to-both + capture tally. - Increment 2 (Tasks 6-11): client-local phantom opponent-piece layer. Each task has exact files, complete code, and verification commands. Server/shared tasks are TDD'd with vitest; client tasks use svelte-check plus manual verification (no client test harness, by design). Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-05-18 19:17:23 -04:00
claude (blind_chess)	f8faa11b6d	docs: design spec for table-fidelity feature batch Three features requested by Andrew Freiberg (physical-game player) and refined by Seth, bringing digital blind chess closer to the physical table: 1. Moderator announces every move and attempted move to both players (widen announcement audience to 'both'; suppress bot retry churn). 2. Running capture tally (server-derived per-viewer protocol field). 3. Phantom opponent pieces — a client-local, drag-and-drop opponent-model overlay, blind mode only, never sent to the server. Spec only; no implementation. Phased: F1+F2 then F3. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-05-18 18:52:00 -04:00
claude (blind_chess)	b01f324c3b	feat(deploy): local chess.local instance for VDJ-RIG A second, LAN-only deploy alongside the CT 690 / chess.sethpc.xyz instance. Runs on VDJ-RIG as a persistent systemd daemon, served on port 80 and reachable at http://chess.local via an mDNS alias. - blind-chess-local.service: server unit; binds port 80 as the non-root blindchess user via CAP_NET_BIND_SERVICE. - chess-mdns-alias{,.service}: publishes the chess.local mDNS name with avahi-publish -a -R (-R skips the reverse PTR, which would otherwise collide with the host's own <hostname>.local record). - install-local.sh: idempotent root-side installer (Node 22 via NodeSource, avahi-utils, blindchess user, /opt/blind-chess, units). - CLAUDE.md: documents the local instance under Operations. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-05-18 18:40:02 -04:00
claude (blind_chess)	e75f5fff7b	docs: CLAUDE.md current state reflects blind-Casual check fix Phase line gains the 2026-04-29 fix; test count 75→78; observability gap narrowed to note `[bot resign]` is now grep-able while metrics/tracing remain deferred. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-04-29 15:41:42 -04:00
claude (blind_chess)	04494fcdee	docs: handoff for blind Casual check-resolution fix Captures session state: root cause, fix, verification numbers (blind 100% -> 17% resignation, avg ply 26 -> 90), preserved view-filter invariant, deferred Phase 2 work. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-04-29 06:05:21 -04:00
claude (blind_chess)	f00164ebbb	chore: gitignore tmp/ for self-play transcripts Self-play transcripts produced by `pnpm selfplay --transcripts` land in `tmp/selfplay-runs/<timestamp>/` — operator scratch, not part of source. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-04-29 05:56:14 -04:00
claude (blind_chess)	dc7f8adcdf	fix(bot): blind Casual no longer resigns prematurely under check The blind-mode CasualBrain heuristic ignored the moderator's '<own>_in_check' announcement and scored moves on capture/advance/development signals uncorrelated with check resolution. chess.js rejected every non-resolving attempt, BotDriver's RETRY_CAP=5 fired, and the bot resigned. 100-game blind self-play: 100% resignations at avg ply 26. Fix: - CasualBrain.detectOwnCheck() scans newAnnouncements for the own-color in_check tag; when set, heuristicPick() applies a +5000 boost to king moves so they're tried first. Information stays within the public moderator vocabulary — no oracle access, view-filter invariant intact. - RETRY_CAP raised 5 -> 25. Vanilla never hits the cap (chess.js verbose moves are guaranteed legal); blind needs more budget to find a legal move through pseudo-legal candidates. - BotDriver.botResign() now logs '[bot resign]' with gameId/color/mode/ply/ reason/detail. Previously silent — operator had no signal in journald. Verification (100-game blind Casual-vs-Casual self-play): - avgPly: 26 -> 90 (3.5x) - Resignations: 100% -> 17% - Checkmates: 0% -> 42% - Threefold draws: 0% -> 41% Vanilla regression check (80 games combined): 0 resigns either way, strength unchanged (Casual still wins 98% vs random). 78 tests pass (was 75; +2 new check-resolution tests, +1 retry-cap test updated to match new cap). Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-04-29 05:56:02 -04:00
claude (blind_chess)	1213ec8fb1	docs: handoff reflects final merged state	2026-04-28 15:25:03 -04:00
claude (blind_chess)	1674695eef	docs: AI Phase 1 shipped — context, decisions, handoff - CLAUDE.md: phase line moved to "Phase 1 deployed"; key files lists the new bot module, game-end extraction, and selfplay harness. - DECISIONS.md: new "Phase 1 implementation outcomes" subsection records the CasualBrain-engine reversal, the FEN-vanilla-only invariant, why blind keeps heuristic, and the bot-slot token randomization. The earlier "Stockfish deferred" entry is partially superseded. - .claude/handoffs/: handoff document for the next session.	2026-04-28 15:20:24 -04:00
claude (blind_chess)	7c18725586	feat(bot): vanilla CasualBrain delegates to js-chess-engine The hand-rolled scoring heuristic lost to a random-move baseline 7-7 in self-play — far below the spec's >=80% acceptance bar. Swap in a real chess engine (js-chess-engine, MIT, ~400KB, no native deps) for vanilla mode at level 2 with randomness=30 to break threefold cycles. - BrainInput.fen added; driver populates it ONLY in vanilla mode. Blind mode omits the FEN so the engine path can't smuggle opponent positions past the view filter. - CasualBrain in vanilla: convert FEN -> EngineGame -> ai({level: 2}); validate the engine's move is in legalCandidates; fall back to heuristic on miss. - Blind mode unchanged (engine isn't useful when only own pieces are visible — that's Phase 2 Recon's territory). Self-play vs RandomBrain (100 games each direction, vanilla): - Casual(W) vs Random(B): W=97% - Random(W) vs Casual(B): B=96% Casual-vs-Casual vanilla balanced, ~5-30ms/move. All 54 tests still pass. Refresh .secrets.baseline (stale) to allow new pnpm-lock.yaml hashes.	2026-04-28 15:14:12 -04:00
claude (blind_chess)	dc5e6678b9	feat(bot): self-play harness with Casual and random baselines Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-04-28 14:52:10 -04:00
claude (blind_chess)	06bd144f7c	feat(client): AI badge and bot-moving turn indicator Track aiOpponent in game store; show a pill badge in the topbar for AI games, update turn label to "<Brain> is moving…" on the bot's turn, and suppress the disconnected-opponent banner when the opponent is a bot. Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-04-28 14:26:25 -04:00
claude (blind_chess)	31f68db654	feat(client): two-section landing — friend vs Casual bot	2026-04-28 14:24:06 -04:00
claude (blind_chess)	cb8e017792	fix(bot): wire aiOpponent into joined and update server messages	2026-04-28 14:22:41 -04:00
claude (blind_chess)	73d5d0cb93	test(bot): integration tests for Casual vs human	2026-04-28 14:21:27 -04:00
claude (blind_chess)	88bc23b0d0	fix(bot): harden ws.ts integration seam - maybeAbandon Promise no longer floats from setTimeout - broadcastSinceLast loses dead extra parameter - bot-slot token is randomized so a third party can't hijack the bot's color by guessing a fixed placeholder	2026-04-28 14:17:46 -04:00
claude (blind_chess)	a9660c0694	feat(bot): pokeBot + broadcastSinceLast hooks into ws.ts handlers Replace broadcastNewAnnouncements/broadcastUpdate with watermark-based broadcastSinceLast; add pokeBot helper; make all state-mutating handlers async; hook pokeBot after every mutation so the CasualBrain fires on each turn without oracle access. Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-04-28 14:13:24 -04:00
claude (blind_chess)	58e1fc5bd8	feat(bot): POST /api/games instantiates CasualBrain + BotDriver	2026-04-28 14:10:19 -04:00
claude (blind_chess)	9a837ec319	feat(bot): vsAi/aiOpponent protocol fields and bot-driver registry	2026-04-28 14:07:01 -04:00
claude (blind_chess)	4407110147	fix(bot): finalize game on bot checkmate; harden driver dispatch Extract endGame/finalizeIfEnded to game-end.ts so driver.ts can call finalizeIfEnded after an applied move (fix: bot checkmate was not setting game.status='finished'). Wrap entire dispatch() call in try/catch for exception safety. Move lastSeenAnnouncementCount advance to after successful dispatch so retry attempts see FSM rejection announcements. Add checkmate-finalize test; lock retry-cap at 5 calls. Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-04-28 14:04:22 -04:00
claude (blind_chess)	3798b9c00d	feat(bot): BotDriver with mutex, retry cap, and dispatch Wires Brain to Game: init/onStateChange/dispose lifecycle, in-flight mutex, 5-attempt retry loop with attemptHistory, resign-on-cap. Also adds Game.aiOpponent? field to state.ts for Task 5. Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>	2026-04-28 13:56:28 -04:00
claude (blind_chess)	ebd1463b0a	docs(bot): clarify when scoreMove early-return fires	2026-04-28 13:52:22 -04:00
claude (blind_chess)	aa7bc30ee1	feat(bot): CasualBrain with capture/development/center heuristics	2026-04-28 13:48:34 -04:00
claude (blind_chess)	f48e0a9cdf	feat(bot): legalCandidates for vanilla and blind modes	2026-04-28 13:42:37 -04:00
claude (blind_chess)	bc954f4748	feat(bot): scaffold Brain interface and types	2026-04-28 13:38:16 -04:00