AI from the University of Bologna brings chess strategies to life

It’s called ShashGuru and it explains chess while the game is being played: in real time, it illustrates the players’ strategies and the reasoning behind each move, using clear and accessible language that even non-experts can follow. For the first time, an AI system will also award the prize for the “most beautiful game.”

Developed with the technological support of Intel, ShashGuru is the result of a thesis project by Alessandro Libralesso, a Computer Science student at the University of Bologna. The programme was created within the research group on artificial intelligence applied to games, coordinated by Professor Paolo Ciancarini.

“Traditional chess engines usually suggest what move to play, but they rarely explain why,” says Libralesso. “ShashGuru fills this gap: it interprets the position on the board and explains the underlying strategy in straightforward terms.”

The programme will be used for the first time during the 2025 edition of the University of Bologna Chess Tournament, where eighteen university teams, made up of students and professors from Japan to the United States, from Uzbekistan to across Europe – will compete.

Developed as an open-source web application, ShashGuru brings together two essential elements. On one hand, it combines the precision of modern chess engines – software that analyses the positions of pieces on the board during a game and determines the optimal move. On the other, the explanatory power of AI language models, capable of generating clear, coherent text similar to human reasoning. By bringing these two technologies together, ShashGuru transforms a chess game into a learning opportunity.

“I combined a customised version of the Stockfish chess engine, developed by engineer and International Master Andrea Manzo, with a language AI model,” explains Libralesso. “The result is a system that doesn’t just calculate the best move, but also reasons about it and explains it in simple words – just like a skilled teacher would.”

Tests conducted with players of different levels have confirmed the effectiveness of the programme and its ability to combine deep analysis with immediate, understandable explanations.

ShashGuru will be fully operational during the Alma Mater chess tournament, allowing both the assessment of players’ skills and a clear understanding of their strategic thinking. The AI system will analyse the moves of around seventy participants over the three days of competition.

Its intuitive interface will also allow spectators to ask the AI direct questions about the strategic meaning of the moves on the board. The explanations provided will help viewers follow every detail of the matches and the tactics used.

Finally, ShashGuru will also be the first AI system in the world to award the prize for the “most beautiful game,” a distinction in chess that does not necessarily go to the winner. The award recognises games notable for strategic and tactical quality, often featuring spectacular combinations, bold sacrifices, and exciting finales. Until now, identifying the “most beautiful game” has been the task of professional chess players, as it requires careful evaluation of technical and qualitative aspects, such as the originality of moves, the precision of play, and the level of difficulty of the challenges involved.