Unity 2D Themed Chess AI

I’m putting together an offline chess game built entirely in Unity 2D and I need an experienced developer who can handle both a strong AI engine and an eye-catching themed presentation (think fantasy or sci-fi rather than a standard board).

The AI must play at an advanced level, so I’m expecting a solid search implementation—alpha-beta pruning, sensible move ordering, end-game tablebases or comparable techniques—to give the human player a real challenge. The game runs fully offline; no networking, ads, or external calls are required.

Visual style is just as important: pieces, board, and UI should follow a cohesive fantasy or sci-fi aesthetic. If you already have asset ideas or can create original 2D artwork, please let me know; otherwise, I’m open to asset-store suggestions provided the licenses are clear for distribution.

Two quality-of-life features have to be present:
• Toggleable move hints so the player can see a recommended option without dumbing down the AI.
• Save and load so a match can be resumed at any time, ideally using a lightweight format such as JSON or binary serialization.

Deliverables
• Complete Unity 2D project (C# scripts, scenes, assets, plugins).
• Stand-alone build(s) ready to run offline.
• Clear build & setup instructions plus short documentation on the AI approach and how to adjust difficulty settings.

Send a brief outline of your preferred AI strategy, any past Unity chess or board-game examples, and your estimate of development time. If everything lines up, we’ll get started right away.