High-Capacity Steganographic Encoding Using Legal Chess PGN
Research Summary
This research proposes a specialized steganographic method to conceal encrypted data within syntactically valid chess notation (PGN). By leveraging the deterministic mapping of large integers to legal moves, the system achieves a high-capacity channel that maintains plausible deniability.
How It Works
Integer-to-Move Mapping
Converts encrypted ciphertext into large integers, which are then mapped to legal chess moves based on lexicographical UCI sorting.
Deterministic Selection
Each board state acts as a base-n number system, where 'n' is the number of available legal moves.
Variation Trees
Extends capacity beyond standard mainline plies by utilizing chess variations, allowing for theoretically unbounded storage within a single PGN.
Standard Validation
Generated PGNs pass all standard chess engine validation checks, appearing as legitimate (though potentially complex) games.
Security Architecture
Authenticated Encryption
The system utilizes AES-256-GCM to provide military-grade confidentiality and built-in integrity verification.
- Tamper Resistance: Decryption fails if PGN moves are altered.
- Key Derivation: PBKDF2 with 100,000 iterations for password security.
Experimental Performance
| Payload Size | Chess Plies | Encoding Time |
|---|---|---|
| 10 bytes | 25 | 15.2 ms |
| 500 bytes | 298 | 1.24 s |
| 4.3 KB | 7,744 | 19.6 s |
| 21.8 KB | 42,416 | 156.2 s |
Experience the Technology
The steganographic engine described in this paper is live. Securely encode and decode high-capacity messages using our official experimental tool.