Show HN: Family Chess: Play across firewalls and Internet cultures

A real-time online chess game built with Django, designed specifically for users in restrictive network environments with very different Internet culture from the rest-of-world (ROW). Whether you're in a LAN-only setting or behind strict firewalls (e.g., users in China), Family Chess enables instant, seamless chess gameplay across network and cultural boundaries.

Live demo: https://family-chess.quee.org (Small 2GB VPS, please be gentle!)

• No Internet Dependency: All assets (JS, CSS, images, sounds) are hosted locally
• No Login Required: Quick access with shareable 8-digit game IDs
• Cross-Network Play: Works reliably in restricted environments and within firewalls
• Mobile-Friendly: Responsive interface with click-to-move system
• Real-time Updates: Using Server-Sent Events (SSE) for instant move synchronization
• Multilingual: Full support for English and Chinese

Both my 10 year old son living in Singapore and my father-in-law living in China loves chess. They would like to play chess, but there is no online chess platform that satisfies all of the following (ranked in terms of importance):

• Reliably accessible from both China and ROW
• Optimised for mobile-first
• No login required

Rest-of-world Internet Users Chinese Internet Users Design

Authentication	Email-based accounts, usernames	WeChat ID, mobile phone numbers	No login required. Uses shareable game IDs (expressed as a 8 digit number) instead
CDN Access	Global CDNs (jsdelivr, cdnjs) work reliably	Western CDNs blocked or unreliable	All assets served locally. No external dependencies
Network Environment	Generally open internet access	Completely blocked or intermittent	Works behind firewalls - Optimized for restricted networks
Device Preference	Desktop and mobile mix	Mobile-first usage patterns	Mobile-optimized UI - Touch-friendly interface design
Real-time Features	WebSockets widely supported	WebSocket connections often blocked	Server-Sent Events (SSE) - More reliable than WebSockets

• chess.js: Core chess logic and move validation
• chessboard.js: Chess board UI and piece movement
• Tailwind CSS: Responsive styling and layout
• Howler.js: Audio handling for game sounds
• jQuery: DOM manipulation and AJAX requests

• Django 5.2: Server-side application framework
• python-chess: Secure chess move validation and game logic
• SQLite: Database for game state storage (PostgreSQL recommended for production)
• Server-Sent Events (SSE): Real-time game state updates with connection cleanup

1. Clone the repository

2. Create and activate a virtual environment

3. Install dependencies

4. Set up environment variables

Edit the .env file with your specific configuration:

• SECRET_KEY: Django secret key
• DEBUG: "True" for development, "False" for production
• ALLOWED_HOSTS: Comma-separated list of allowed hosts
• CSRF_TRUSTED_ORIGINS: Comma-separated list of trusted origins with scheme (http:// or https://)

For production deployment, make sure to:

1. Set DEBUG=False

2. Add your domain to ALLOWED_HOSTS (e.g., family-chess.quee.org)

3. Add your domain with scheme to CSRF_TRUSTED_ORIGINS (e.g., https://family-chess.quee.org)

4. Initialize the database

Important: Always run these migration commands after pulling updates from the repository, as the database schema may have been updated with new features or improvements.

6. Compile translations (optional)

If you get an error here regarding gettext, you need to run:

7. Run the development server

• CSRF Protection: All POST endpoints protected with Django CSRF tokens
• Input Validation: Chess moves validated using python-chess library
• Database Locking: Atomic operations prevent race conditions
• Session Security: Secure session handling with production-grade cookies
• Connection Limits: SSE connections auto-timeout to prevent resource exhaustion
• Security Headers: Comprehensive security headers in production configuration

The game supports multiple languages with Django's translation system:

• English (default)
• Chinese (Simplified)

1. Update translation strings in the code:

2. Edit translation files:

• English: game/locale/en/LC_MESSAGES/django.po
• Chinese: game/locale/zh_Hans/LC_MESSAGES/django.po

3. Compile translations:

If you get an error here regarding gettext, you need to run:

Tested and supported on:

• Chrome/Edge
• Safari
• Mobile browsers: Chrome for Android, Safari for iOS

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; version 2 of the License.