> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.chesshacks.dev/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Games

> Understanding how games work on the ChessHacks platform

## Slots & Deployments

**Slots** represent different versions of your bot. Each team has multiple slots available.

* One deployment per slot
* One slot = one version of your bot
* Your bot keeps playing games until you deploy a new version to that slot

## ELO System

Each slot has its own independent ELO rating:

* ELO resets when you deploy a new bot to that slot
* Your **best ELO from your best slot** at the end of the hackathon determines your ranking
* This lets you experiment with different strategies across slots

## Game Format

**Input:** PGN (Portable Game Notation) string\
**Output:** UCI (Universal Chess Interface) format

Examples: `e2e4`, `e1g1` (castle), `e7e8q` (promotion)

## Watching Games

Use the platform dashboard to:

* Watch live games
* Review game history and PGNs
* Analyze your bot's performance
* Debug runtime errors

## Performance Optimization

* Profile code to find bottlenecks
* Optimize move generation
* Implement alpha-beta pruning
* Use move ordering
* Add transposition tables