Didn't update this for a while now but that doesn't mean the project is dead.
I've released two versions by now that are completely viable chess engines. Just that they aren't very strong.
Version 0.2 plays at a little above 1000 ELO.
Version 0.3 plays is probably 500 ELO points stronger.
https://github.com/lithander/MinimalChessEngineTurns out chess programming is actually quite fun. You have clear defined goals and metrics at hand to measure your progress and each new feature is an interesting gamble: Will it's usefulness outweigh it's performance cost? Will the engine get strong from it? How much?
Programming a chess engine is almost like playing a puzzle game. I like to solve toy programming problems in Zachtronics' games and this is not too far off, either!