chess board in java

Question

This is my code below

import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.*;

public class board2 {

JFrame frame;
JPanel squares[][] = new JPanel[8][8];

public board2() {
    frame = new JFrame("Simplified Chess");
    frame.setSize(500, 500);
    frame.setLayout(new GridLayout(8, 8));

    for (int i = 0; i < 8; i++) {
        for (int j = 0; j < 8; j++) {
            squares[i][j] = new JPanel();

            if ((i + j) % 2 == 0) {
                squares[i][j].setBackground(Color.black);
            } else {
                squares[i][j].setBackground(Color.white);
            }   
            frame.add(squares[i][j]);
        }
    }

    squares[0][0].add(new JLabel(new ImageIcon("rookgreen.png")));
    squares[0][2].add(new JLabel(new ImageIcon("bishopgreen.png")));
    squares[0][4].add(new JLabel(new ImageIcon("kinggreen.png")));
    squares[0][5].add(new JLabel(new ImageIcon("bishopgreen.png")));
    squares[0][7].add(new JLabel(new ImageIcon("rookgreen.png")));

    squares[7][0].add(new JLabel(new ImageIcon("rookred.png")));
    squares[7][2].add(new JLabel(new ImageIcon("bishopred.png")));
    squares[7][4].add(new JLabel(new ImageIcon("kingred.png")));
    squares[7][5].add(new JLabel(new ImageIcon("bishopred.png")));
    squares[7][7].add(new JLabel(new ImageIcon("rookred.png")));

    for (int i = 0; i < 8; i++) {
        squares[1][i].add(new JLabel(new ImageIcon("pawngreen.png")));
        squares[6][i].add(new JLabel(new ImageIcon("pawnred.png")));
    }

    frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
    frame.setVisible(true);
}

public static void main(String[] args) {
    new board2();
}
}

I am trying to create a chess game sort of and I need help with putting labels on all sides of the board to label the rows and columns in either A-H or 1-8. I have no idea how to do it. Also later on I'll be adding a feature to drag and drop the pieces. Is it best to use JLabels? Anyways I would I go about putting the labels on the side? Thanks!

Answer 1

I would like submitting a simple chess board drawing example using Unicode characters. There 3 classes involved into this tiny project.

ChessLabel.java

import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Font;
import javax.swing.JLabel;
import javax.swing.SwingConstants;


public class ChessLabel extends JLabel {

    Font font     = new Font("Ariel", Font.PLAIN, 24);
    Color bgLight = new Color(222, 184, 135);
    Color bgDark  = new Color(139, 69, 19);

    ChessLabel(String s)
    {
        super(s);
    }

    void set(int idx, int row)
    {
      setFont(font);
          setOpaque(true);
          setBackground((idx+row)%2 == 0 ? bgDark : bgLight);
          setHorizontalAlignment( SwingConstants.CENTER );
    }

}

Board.java

import java.awt.*;
import javax.swing.JFrame;


public class Board extends JFrame {


   //Initialise arrays to hold panels and images of the board

    private ChessLabel[] labels = new ChessLabel[] {

    // white
    new ChessLabel("\u2656"), new ChessLabel("\u2658"), new ChessLabel("\u2657"), 
    new ChessLabel("\u2655"), new ChessLabel("\u2654"), new ChessLabel("\u2657"), 
    new ChessLabel("\u2658"), new ChessLabel("\u2656"), new ChessLabel("\u2659"), 
    new ChessLabel("\u2659"), new ChessLabel("\u2659"), new ChessLabel("\u2659"),
    new ChessLabel("\u2659"), new ChessLabel("\u2659"), new ChessLabel("\u2659"), 
    new  ChessLabel("\u2659"), 
    // empty
    new ChessLabel(" "), new ChessLabel(" "), new ChessLabel(" "), 
    new ChessLabel(" "), new ChessLabel(" "), new ChessLabel(" "), 
    new ChessLabel(" "), new ChessLabel(" "), new ChessLabel(" "), 
    new ChessLabel(" "), new ChessLabel(" "), new ChessLabel(" "), 
    new ChessLabel(" "), new ChessLabel(" "), new ChessLabel(" "), 
    new ChessLabel(" "), new ChessLabel(" "), new ChessLabel(" "), 
    new ChessLabel(" "), new ChessLabel(" "), new ChessLabel(" "), 
    new ChessLabel(" "), new ChessLabel(" "), new ChessLabel(" "),
    new ChessLabel(" "), new ChessLabel(" "), new ChessLabel(" "), 
    new ChessLabel(" "), new ChessLabel(" "), new ChessLabel(" "), 
    new ChessLabel(" "), new ChessLabel(" "),
    // black
    new ChessLabel("\u265F"), new ChessLabel("\u265F"), new ChessLabel("\u265F"), 
    new ChessLabel("\u265F"), new ChessLabel("\u265F"), new ChessLabel("\u265F"), 
    new ChessLabel("\u265F"), new ChessLabel("\u265F"), new ChessLabel("\u265C"), 
    new ChessLabel("\u265E"), new ChessLabel("\u265D"), new ChessLabel("\u265B"), 
    new ChessLabel("\u265A"), new ChessLabel("\u265D"), new ChessLabel("\u265E"), 
    new ChessLabel("\u265C")
    };

    public Board() 
    {

    } // Board()

    void display()
    {
        setTitle("Chess board with unicode images");

        setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.DISPOSE_ON_CLOSE);

        Container contentPane = getContentPane();
        GridLayout gridLayout = new GridLayout(8, 8);

        contentPane.setLayout(gridLayout);

        int row = -1;
        for (int i = 0; i < labels.length; i++) 
        {
            if(i % 8 == 0) row ++; // increment row number
            labels[i].set(i, row);
            contentPane.add(labels[i]);
        } // i

        setSize(600, 600);
        setLocationRelativeTo(null);
        setVisible(true);
     } // display()

} // class Board

And ChessBoardTest.java

public class ChessBoardTest {

    /**
     * @param args the command line arguments
     */
    public static void main(String[] args) 
    {
        Board board = new Board();

        board.display();
    }

}