Contact person: Interactive Chess Romance Platform Development

Phone:Show

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Location: Huntsville, Canada

Budget: Recommended by industry experts

Time to start: As soon as possible

Project description:
"Project Brief (Developer-Focused): The Queen’s Gambit of the Heart Interactive Chess Romance Platform
1. Background
The Ever After Stories is a Canadian subscription brand delivering story letters by mail. One of our flagship series, The Queen’s Gambit of the Heart, combines romance storytelling with an ongoing chess game that customers actively play.
Each subscriber receives 24 letters per year (two per month). Customers make chess moves (they play White), and we reply with our counter-move in the next letter. The story blends romance and chess strategy until the final letter concludes both the game and the love story.
We need a contractor to design and implement the digital infrastructure and workflow that powers this interactive experience.
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2. Objectives
• Provide a seamless, branded digital interface for subscribers to submit chess moves.
• Automate: move validation, AI counter-move generation, board state rendering.
• Ensure the game always concludes by Letter 24 (using pacing logic).
• Keep branding consistent with The Ever After Stories’ aesthetic: romantic, nostalgic, vintage, literary, but clean.
• Build scalable infrastructure that can handle hundreds or thousands of simultaneous subscribers.
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3. Branding & Design Guidelines
• Colors: Warm cream (#fdf7f0), deep navy (#1d2b4f), muted burgundy (#6a2a2a).
• Accents: Antique gold (#bfa05a), parchment beige (#f2e6d9).
• Typography:
o Headings: elegant serif (Playfair Display).
o Body: readable serif (Georgia, Libre Baskerville).
o Handwriting excerpts: cursive (Dancing Script, Great Vibes).
• Mood: Romantic, vintage WWII-inspired, evokes handwritten letters + strategy.
• Imagery: Chessboard diagrams styled in vintage 1940s print feel.
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4. Functional Requirements
A) Customer Experience
• Customers play White (first move).
• Each letter contains:
o A short URL/QR code to a move submission page.
• Move submission page:
o Chessboard visualization of current position.
o Input box (algebraic notation, e.g., e4, Nf3).
o Validation: illegal moves politely rejected.
o Success message: “Your move has been recorded. Look for our reply in your next letter!”
o Branded to match Ever After Stories style.
B) Backend Logic
• Game state storage: Each subscriber’s game tracked with unique ID.
• Validation: Moves checked against FEN using [login to view URL] or similar.
• AI counter-move:
o Stockfish engine (API or microservice).
o Apply pacing rules to ensure game ends in ≤24 letters.
• Board rendering:
o Generate PNG diagrams (FEN → board image) in vintage style.
o Auto-store for use in letters.
C) Game Pacing (Critical)
• Guarantee conclusion by Letter 24:
o Simplify midgame (encourage trades).
o Force endgame by ~Letter 20.
o If no move is submitted, auto-play a safe/default move.
o Closure: checkmate or symbolic draw in Letters 22–24.
D) Staff Dashboard
• Wix Members-only page.
• Features:
o List of active subscribers & game IDs.
o Current board image + last moves.
o Override buttons: “Force Simplify” / “Force Mate.”
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5. Tech Stack
• Frontend: Wix Velo (submission page, staff dashboard).
• Backend:
o Velo web modules for DB operations + API calls.
o External Stockfish engine (AWS Lambda, Cloudflare Workers, or [login to view URL]).
o Board rendering microservice (Node canvas or QuickChart API).
• Database: Wix Content Manager (Subscribers, Games, Moves).
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6. Deliverables
• Move submission page (front end, styled to branding).
• Backend services: move validation, AI counter-move generation, pacing logic.
• Chessboard rendering service (vintage style diagrams).
• Database setup in Wix (Subscribers, Games, Moves).
• Staff dashboard in Wix for monitoring games.
• Documentation: setup, workflows, troubleshooting.
• Optional stretch: Customer-facing progress dashboard (log in to see their past moves)." (client-provided description)