[levesque]

What would make it easier IMHO is to make it a top-down version only. Take a photo from the top, then the program breaks down the board into 8x8 squares, feeds each square into a classification algorithm that you will train on a bunch of hand labeled images. Fine tune the model as you gather more data.

[dmurray]

The pieces look more similar from the top, though. With bad enough contrast everything is just a circle. So you need some kind of angle.

[codetrotter]

> With bad enough contrast everything is just a circle.

Yes but does real world photos ever have that poor contrast? IMO, top down photo is worth exploring.