Move Generation

Move Generation Move generation is one of the core responsibilities of a chess engine: given a Position, the engine must efficiently produce all possible moves available to the side to move. In Stockfish, move generation is designed to be extremely fast because it is executed millions of times during search. Instead of always generating every legal move, Stockfish generates different categories of moves depending on the search phase (captures only, quiet moves, evasions under check, etc.). ...

February 1, 2026 · 29 min