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MCP Chess MCP Server

Provides chess capabilities via MCP, including board image rendering, move suggestions, and legality checks.

Installation

Add the following to your MCP client configuration file.

Configuration

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "alexandreroman-mcp-chess": {
      "command": "/path/to/mcp-chess-binary",
      "args": []
    }
  }
}

You can run an MCP server that adds chess capabilities to Claude AI Assistant. It lets you render board images from FEN strings, suggest the next move, and verify move legality, enabling interactive chess tasks within Claude workflows.

How to use

To use the MCP Chess server, install and run the local MCP server binary, then configure your MCP client to connect to it. Once connected, you can ask Claude to render chess boards from FEN strings, request move suggestions, or check whether a move is legal. You can perform actions such as showing the starting position, playing through a game while moves are validated, and evaluating positions by querying the server through your MCP client’s standard integration flow.

How to install

Prerequisites: ensure you have access to a compatible operating system and the ability to run executables. You will download a binary specific to your platform, then make it executable if required by your OS.

1) Download the latest MCP Chess binary for your platform from the Releases area.

- Windows: mcp-chess-windows.exe

- macOS: mcp-chess-darwin

- Linux: mcp-chess-linux

2) Make the file executable (macOS/Linux only):

chmod +x mcp-chess-darwin   # for macOS
chmod +x mcp-chess-linux    # for Linux

3) For macOS users, bypass security warnings if prompted during first run. You can do this by opening the app via the context menu or by clearing the quarantine attribute in Terminal.

xattr -d com.apple.quarantine /path/to/mcp-chess-darwin

4) Configure Claude Client integration: open your MCP client configuration area and add the MCP server configuration. Use the example configuration below as a starting point. Replace the path to the binary with the actual location on your system.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcp_chess": {
      "command": "/path/to/mcp-chess-binary",
      "args": []
    }
  }
}

Additional setup notes

If you run into issues with starting the server, ensure the binary path is correct and that the file has execute permissions. After configuring Claude Client, restart Claude to apply the new MCP server connection.

Available tools

generateImageFromFEN

Render a visual chess board image from a Forsyth-Edwards Notation (FEN) string.

suggestNextMove

Suggest the best or next move in the current chess position.

checkMoveLegality

Check whether a given move is legal from the current position.