diff --git a/rs/src/board.rs b/rs/src/board.rs
index 2e56da2..f365fc8 100644
--- a/rs/src/board.rs
+++ b/rs/src/board.rs
@@ -250,7 +250,11 @@ impl Board {
     fn get_at(&self, position: &Position) -> Option<&Piece> {
         self.state.get(position)
     }
-    fn set_at(&mut self, position: Position, piece_or_empty: Option<Piece>) {
+    pub fn set_at(
+        &mut self,
+        position: Position,
+        piece_or_empty: Option<Piece>,
+    ) {
         match piece_or_empty {
             Some(piece) => self.state.insert(position, piece),
             None => self.state.remove(&position),
diff --git a/rs/src/ui.rs b/rs/src/ui.rs
index 9e18937..ea3a413 100644
--- a/rs/src/ui.rs
+++ b/rs/src/ui.rs
@@ -69,6 +69,41 @@ impl board::Position {
     }
 }
 
+impl board::PieceType {
+    fn parse(c: char) -> Result<Self, ()> {
+        match c {
+            'P' => Ok(board::PieceType::Pawn),
+            _ => Err(()),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl board::Color {
+    fn parse(c: char) -> Result<Self, ()> {
+        match c {
+            'B' => Ok(board::Color::Black),
+            'W' => Ok(board::Color::White),
+            _ => Err(()),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl board::Piece {
+    fn parse(s: &str) -> Result<Self, ()> {
+        let mut chars = s.chars();
+        let piece_type = board::PieceType::parse(chars.next().ok_or(())?)?;
+        let color = board::Color::parse(chars.next().ok_or(())?)?;
+        if chars.next().is_none() {
+            Ok(board::Piece {
+                piece_type,
+                color,
+            })
+        } else {
+            Err(())
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 impl std::fmt::Display for board::Position {
     fn fmt(&self, f: &mut std::fmt::Formatter) -> std::fmt::Result {
         write!(f, "{}{}", self.file, self.rank)
@@ -84,6 +119,26 @@ impl std::fmt::Display for board::Board {
     }
 }
 
+impl board::Board {
+    fn parse(s: &str) -> Result<Self, ()> {
+        if s.chars().all(|c| char::is_ascii_alphanumeric(&c)) {
+            let mut board = board::Board::new();
+            for piece_pos in s.as_bytes().chunks(4) {
+                let position = board::Position::parse(
+                    std::str::from_utf8(&piece_pos[2..]).unwrap(),
+                )?;
+                let piece = board::Piece::parse(
+                    std::str::from_utf8(&piece_pos[..2]).unwrap(),
+                )?;
+                board.set_at(position, Some(piece));
+            }
+            Ok(board)
+        } else {
+            Err(())
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 pub struct Ui {
     board: board::Board,
 }
@@ -104,6 +159,16 @@ impl Ui {
             Err("get_state takes no args".to_owned())
         }
     }
+    fn set_state(&mut self, args: &[&str]) -> Result<String, String> {
+        if let [state_str] = args {
+            self.board = board::Board::parse(state_str)
+                .map_err(|_| format!("Error parsing state {}", state_str))?;
+            let result = format!("{}", self.board);
+            Ok(result)
+        } else {
+            Err("set_state takes 1 arg".to_owned())
+        }
+    }
     fn get_moves(&self, args: &[&str]) -> Result<String, String> {
         if let [position_str] = args {
             let position =
@@ -150,6 +215,7 @@ impl Ui {
             "get_state" => self.get_state(&args),
             "get_moves" => self.get_moves(&args),
             "make_move" => self.make_move(&args),
+            "set_state" => self.set_state(&args),
             "" => Err("No command given".to_owned()),
             _ => Err("Invalid command".to_owned()),
         }