Can We Get Excel To Play Chess With Excel VBA? (INFINITY PROJECT)

Can We Get Excel To Play Chess With Excel VBA? (INFINITY PROJECT)

 
It’s simple – an Excel VBA infinity project is a project you’ll never complete.  It’s so ambitious, it’s basically impossible!
 
Ok, so there’s no real output?  So what’s the point?  Well, if you don’t have an Excel VBA infinity project, you’re missing out on an important learning opportunity.
 
Let me tell you about my Excel VBA infinity project.  In 2018, I got the idea I might be able to programme Excel to play chess.  This grand idea seemed strangely simple in my head: we can easily describe the logic of chess moves, so it’s just a case of translating logic into Excel VBA.  It’s translation, right?
 
So, I got started.  Oh, and I filmed it.  Then I stopped filming the sessions … and started streaming them live.  They’re available to view on the channel if you’re in the mood!
 
‘Wow, so you built a chess computer in Excel!’
 
 
Well, not quite.  In fact, in one sense at least, the project was an abject failure.  In the sense that our Excel chess computer … couldn’t play chess.  And the fact that there are plenty of chess-playing Excel files out there (try a Google search) made it worse.  It’s entirely possible.
 
 
But, that’s rather missing the point.  An Excel VBA infinity project should be just that … infinite.  It shouldn’t be ‘complete-able’.  Perhaps that ‘punch-the-air’ moment never comes.
 
An infinity project stretches you to your maximum.  It forces you to learn VBA techniques, Excel vocabulary, to engage with Excel functions you have shied away from (we all have those!) and to push your programming capability to new heights.
 
The secret: your infinity project is your ‘safe space’.  The fact it’s impossible is its real power: you can’t complete it, so no pressure!  This can liberate you and engender an energy, creativity and resourcefulness you may not have experienced before.  Fail again.  Fail better.
 
So, although I’ll never be paid to create a chess computer, the confidence the project gave me is reflected daily, at some level, in my Excel work.
So, what’s your Excel VBA infinity project?  And do you want to see the return of the chess series?!  Let me know in the YouTube comments.