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xboard(6) GAMES AND DEM$ODSate: 1994/05/22 02:23:03 $ NAME xboard - X user interface for GNU Chess, the Internet Chess Server (ICS), and electronic mail correspondence chess. SYNOPSIS To run with GNU Chess: xboard [options] To run with the ICS: xboard -ics [options] To play email chess: See _c_m_a_i_l(6). To run standalone: xboard -ncp [options] DESCRIPTION _x_b_o_a_r_d is a graphical chessboard that can serve as a user interface for GNU Chess, for the Internet Chess Server, or for electronic mail correspondence chess. _x_b_o_a_r_d can also be used by itself. As an interface to GNU Chess, _x_b_o_a_r_d lets you play a game against the machine, set up arbitrary positions, force vari- ations, or watch a game between two machines. As an interface to the Internet Chess Server (ICS), _x_b_o_a_r_d -_i_c_s lets you play against other ICS users, observe games they are playing, or review games that have recently fin- ished. As an interface to electronic mail correspondence chess, _x_b_o_a_r_d works with the _c_m_a_i_l(6) program. See its manual page for instructions. You can also use _x_b_o_a_r_d as a chessboard to play through games. It will read and write game files and allow you to play through variations manually. You can use it to browse games off the net or review GNU Chess, ICS, and correspon- dence games you have saved. These features are available at all times; even if you do not have access to GNU Chess or the ICS, you can use them by giving the command _x_b_o_a_r_d -_n_c_p. After starting _x_b_o_a_r_d, you make moves by dragging pieces with the mouse. Press mouse button 1 while the cursor is on one of your pieces, then move the cursor to another square and release the button. OPTIONS Most of the _x_b_o_a_r_d options have both a long name and a short name. To turn a boolean option on or off from the command line, either give its long name followed by the value True or False (-_l_o_n_g_O_p_t_i_o_n_N_a_m_e True), or give just the short name to turn the option on (-_o_p_t), or the short name preceded by "x" to turn the option off (-x_o_p_t). For options that take strings or numbers as values, you can use the long or short option names interchangeably. GNU 1 xboard(6) GAMES AND DEM$ODSate: 1994/05/22 02:23:03 $ Each option corresponds to an X resource with the same name, so you can set options in your ._X_d_e_f_a_u_l_t_s file if you like. For options that have two names, the longer one is the name of the corresponding X resource; the short name is not recognized in .Xdefaults. To turn a boolean option on or off in your .Xdefaults file, give its long name followed by the value True or False (XBoard*_l_o_n_g_O_p_t_i_o_n_N_a_m_e: True). GNU Chess Options -tc or -timeControl minutes[:seconds] -mps or -movesPerSession moves Each player begins with the specified amount of time on his clock. If a player makes the specified number of moves before his clock runs out, _x_b_o_a_r_d adds the specified amount of time to his clock. Default: 40 moves in 5 minutes. -clock or -clockMode Determines whether or not to display the chess clocks. If clockMode is False, the clocks are not shown, but the side that is to play next is still highlighted. Also, unless searchTime or searchDepth is set, GNU Chess still keeps track of the clock time and uses it to determine how fast to make its moves. -st or -searchTime minutes[:seconds] Tells GNU Chess to spend at most the given amount of time searching for each of its moves. Without this option, GNU Chess chooses its search time based on the number of moves and amount of time remaining until the next time control. Setting this option also sets clockMode to False. -sd or -searchDepth number Tells GNU Chess to look ahead at most the given number of moves when searching for a move to make. Without this option, GNU Chess chooses its search depth based on the number of moves and amount of time remaining until the next time control. Setting this option also sets clockMode to False. -mm or -matchMode Automatically runs a game between two chess pro- grams. If the loadGameFile or loadPositionFile option is set, _x_b_o_a_r_d starts the game with the given opening moves or the given position; otherwise, the game starts with the standard initial chess posi- tion. If the saveGameFile option is set, a move record for the match is appended to the specified file. If the savePositionFile option is set, the GNU 2 xboard(6) GAMES AND DEM$ODSate: 1994/05/22 02:23:03 $ final position reached in the match is appended to the specified file. When the match is over, _x_b_o_a_r_d exits. Default: False. -fcp or -firstChessProgram program Name of first chess program. In matches between two machines, this program plays black. Default: "gnu- chessx". -scp or -secondChessProgram program Name of second chess program, if needed. In matches between two machines, this program plays white; oth- erwise it is not started. Default: "gnuchessx". -fh or -firstHost host Name of host the first chess program plays on. Default: "localhost". -sh or -secondHost host Name of host the second chess program plays on. Default: "localhost". -rsh or -remoteShell shell-name Some systems do not use rsh as the remote shell. This option allows a user to name the remote shell command. -initString string The string that is sent to initialize the chess pro- gram. Default: "new\nbeep\nrandom\neasy\n". If you change this option, don't remove the "new" and "beep" commands. You can remove the "random" command if you like; including it causes GNU Chess to randomize its move selection slightly so that it doesn't play the same moves in every game. (Even without "random", GNU Chess randomizes its choice of moves from its opening book.) You can also remove "easy" if you like; including it toggles easy mode off, causing GNU Chess to think on your time. That is, if "easy" is _i_n_c_l_u_d_e_d in the initString, GNU Chess thinks on your time; if not, it does not. (Yes, this does seem backwards, doesn't it!) To see what GNU Chess is thinking about, you can add the "post" command and run _x_b_o_a_r_d with debugMode turned on. You can also try adding other commands to the initString; see the GNU Chess documentation for details. -whiteString string -blackString string These options control what is sent when the Machine GNU 3 xboard(6) GAMES AND DEM$ODSate: 1994/05/22 02:23:03 $ White and Machine Black buttons are selected. This is mostly for compatibility with obsolete versions of GNU Chess. Internet Chess Server Options -ics or -internetChessServerMode Connect with an Internet Chess Server to play chess against its other users, observe games they are playing, or review games that have recently fin- ished. Default: False. To use xboard in ICS mode, run it in the foreground, and use the terminal you started it from to type commands and receive text responses from the chess server. Useful ICS commands include _w_h_o to see who is logged on, _g_a_m_e_s to see what games are being played, _m_a_t_c_h to challenge another player to a game, _o_b_s_e_r_v_e to observe an ongoing game, _e_x_a_m_i_n_e or _o_l_d_- _m_o_v_e_s to review a recently completed game, and of course _h_e_l_p. Whenever you ask to observe an ongoing game, review a completed game, or resume an adjourned game, _x_b_o_a_r_d retrieves and parses the list of past moves from the ICS, so you can review them with the Forward and Backward commands or save them with Save Game. You can create a script file containing ICS commands that _x_b_o_a_r_d will type in for you whenever you con- nect to the ICS. See FILES below. -autoflag or -autoCallFlag If autoCallFlag is True and your opponent runs out of time before you do, _x_b_o_a_r_d will automatically call his flag, claiming a win on time (or a draw if you do not have mating material). Default: False. -quiet or -quietPlay If this option is True, _x_b_o_a_r_d will automatically issue a "set shout 0" command whenever you start an ICS game and a "set shout 1" command whenever you finish one. Default: False. -icshost or -internetChessServerHost host The Internet host name or address of the chess server to connect to when in ICS mode. Default: ics.uoknor.edu. Other values to try: anemone.daimi.aau.dk, coot.lcs.mit.edu, chess.pitt.edu. If your site doesn't have a working Internet name server, try specifying the host address in numeric form. The addresses for the hosts given above are GNU 4 xboard(6) GAMES AND DEM$ODSate: 1994/05/22 02:23:03 $ respectively 129.15.10.21, 130.225.18.58, 18.52.0.70, and 136.142.81.40. -icsport or -internetChessServerPort port-number The port number to use when connecting to a chess server in ICS mode. Default: 5000. -gateway If this option is set to a host name, _x_b_o_a_r_d uses _r_s_h to run telnet on the given host to communicate with the Internet Chess Server instead of opening a direct TCP connection. This option is useful if your machine is unable to connect directly to the ICS but is able to rsh to a gateway host that can connect to the ICS. As an example, suppose the gateway host is called gate.wassamatta-u.edu, and you set options as fol- lows: -gateway gate.wassamatta-u.edu -inter- netChessServer ics.uoknor.edu -internetChessServer- Port 5000 Then when you run _x_b_o_a_r_d in ICS mode, it will connect to the ICS by using rsh to run the com- mand "telnet ics.uoknor.edu 5000" on host gate.wassamatta-u.edu. -telnet or -useTelnet If this option set to True, _x_b_o_a_r_d runs the _t_e_l_- _n_e_t(1) program to communicate with the Internet Chess Server instead of opening a direct TCP connec- tion. The default is False. One case where this option is useful is if your machine is unable to connect directly to the ICS but is able to telnet to a gateway host that can connect to the ICS. It is more general than the gateway option, because you may be able to telnet to a host that you cannot rsh to, but it's not as convenient to use. As an example, suppose the gateway host is called gate.wassamatta-u.edu, and you set options as follows: -useTelnet true -internetChessServer gate.wassamatta-u.edu -internetChessServerPort 23 Then when you run _x_b_o_a_r_d in ICS mode, you will get a login prompt from the gateway host. Log in there and run the telnet program (giving a command like "telnet ics.uoknor.edu 5000") to connect to the ICS. This works because giving the option "- internetChessServerPort 23" causes _x_b_o_a_r_d to connect to the gateway host's standard incoming telnet ser- vice instead of trying to connect to a chess server running on the gateway host. GNU 5 xboard(6) GAMES AND DEM$ODSate: 1994/05/22 02:23:03 $ -telnetProgram This option gives the name of the telnet program to be used with the gateway and useTelnet options. The default is "telnet". The telnet program is invoked with the value of internetChessServer as its first argument and the value of internetChessServerPort as its second argument. Load and Save Options -lgf or -loadGameFile file -lgi or -loadGameIndex index If the loadGameFile option is set, _x_b_o_a_r_d loads the specified position file at startup. If the loadGameIndex option is set to N, the _Nth game found in the file is loaded; otherwise the first game is loaded. -td or -timeDelay seconds Time delay between moves during "Load Game". Frac- tional seconds are allowed; try -td 0.4. A time delay value of -1 tells _x_b_o_a_r_d not to step through game files automatically. Default: 1 second. -sgf or -saveGameFile file If this option is set, _x_b_o_a_r_d appends a record of every game played to the specified file. -autosave or -autoSaveGames If this option is True, at the end of every game _x_b_o_a_r_d prompts you for a file name and appends a record of the game to the file you specify. Ignored if autoSaveGames is set. -lpf or -loadPositionFile file -lpi or -loadPositionIndex index If the loadPositionFile option is set, _x_b_o_a_r_d loads the specified position file at startup. If the loadPositionIndex option is set to N, the _Nth posi- tion found in the file is loaded; otherwise the first position is loaded. -spf or -savePositionFile file If this option is set, _x_b_o_a_r_d appends the final position reached in every game played to the speci- fied file. -oldsave or -oldSaveStyle If this option is False (the default), _x_b_o_a_r_d saves games in PGN (portable game notation) and positions in FEN (Forsythe-Edwards notation). If the option is True, a save style that is compatible with older versions of _x_b_o_a_r_d is used instead. GNU 6 xboard(6) GAMES AND DEM$ODSate: 1994/05/22 02:23:03 $ User Interface Options standard Xt options _x_b_o_a_r_d accepts standard Xt options like -display, -geometry, and -iconic. -bell or -ringBellAfterMoves If this option is True, _x_b_o_a_r_d alerts you by ringing the terminal bell after each of your opponent's moves (or after every move if you are observing a game on the Internet Chess Server). The bell is not rung after moves you make or moves read from a saved game file. Default: False. If you turn on this option when using _x_b_o_a_r_d with the Internet Chess Server, you will probably want to give the "set bell 0" command to the ICS, since oth- erwise the ICS will ring the bell itself after every move (not just yours). -queen or -alwaysPromoteToQueen If this option is False (the default), _x_b_o_a_r_d brings up a dialog box whenever you move a pawn to the last rank, asking what piece you want to promote it to. If the option is True, your pawns are always pro- moted to queens. (Your opponent can still underpro- mote, however.) -size or -boardSize (Large | Medium | Small) Determines how large the board will be and what built-in piece bitmaps will be used. On a large board (the default), pieces are 80x80 pixels, on a medium board 64x64 pixels, and on a small board 40x40 pixels. -coords or -showCoords If this option is True, _x_b_o_a_r_d displays algebraic coordinates along the board's left and bottom edges. The default is False. The _c_o_o_r_d_F_o_n_t option speci- fies what font to use. -flip or -flipView If you are playing a game on the ICS, the board is always oriented at the start of the game so that your pawns move from the bottom of the window towards the top. Otherwise, the starting is deter- mined by the flipView option; if it is False (the default), White's pawns move from bottom to top at the start of each game; if it is True, Black's pawns move from bottom to top. -title or -titleInWindow If this option is True, _x_b_o_a_r_d displays player names GNU 7 xboard(6) GAMES AND DEM$ODSate: 1994/05/22 02:23:03 $ (for ICS games) and game file names (for Load Game) inside its main window. If the option is False (the default), this information is displayed only in the window banner. You probably won't want to set this option unless the information is not showing up in the banner, as happens with a few X window managers. -mono or -monoMode Determines whether _x_b_o_a_r_d displays its pieces and squares with two colors (True) or four (False). You shouldn't have to specify monoMode; _x_b_o_a_r_d will determine if it is necessary. -borderXoffset -borderYoffset These options are part of a kludge that helps posi- tion the Comment and Edit Comment windows in the same place on the screen when they are closed and reopened. They should be set equal to the width and height of the borders that your X window manager adds to windows when it displays them. The defaults are correct for _t_v_t_w_m(1). -clockFont The font used for the clocks. If the option value is a pattern that does not specify the font size, _x_b_o_a_r_d tries to choose an appropriate font for the board size being used. Default: -*-helvetica-bold- r-normal--*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*. -coordFont The font used for rank and file coordinate labels if _s_h_o_w_C_o_o_r_d_s is True. If the option value is a pat- tern that does not specify the font size, _x_b_o_a_r_d tries to choose an appropriate font for the board size being used. Default: -*-helvetica-bold-r- normal--*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*. -font The font used for popup dialogs, menus, comments, etc. Default: -*-helvetica-medium-r-normal--*-100- *-*-*-*-*-*. Alternate bitmaps for piece icons can be specified either by choosing one of the built-in sets or with the file name options described below. There are three built-in sets of piece bitmaps available, large (the default), medium, or small. -solidPawnBitmap -solidKnightBitmap -solidBishopBitmap -solidRookBitmap GNU 8 xboard(6) GAMES AND DEM$ODSate: 1994/05/22 02:23:03 $ -solidQueenBitmap -solidKingBitmap Names of the bitmap files for the solid piece icons. -outlinePawnBitmap -outlineKnightBitmap -outlineBishopBitmap -outlineRookBitmap -outlineQueenBitmap -outlineKingBitmap Names of the bitmap files for the outline piece icons. These are used only in monochrome mode. -whitePieceColor Color specification for white pieces, suitable for _X_P_a_r_s_e_C_o_l_o_r(3X11). Default: #FFFFCC. These colors look good on a DEC workstation. If you need dif- ferent colors, try using the _x_c_o_l_o_r_s application. Source for _x_c_o_l_o_r_s can be found in the X11 contrib directory. -blackPieceColor Same for black pieces. Default: #202020. -lightSquareColor Same for light squares. Default: #C8C365. -darkSquareColor Same for dark squares. Default: #77A26D. If you are using a grayscale monitor, try setting the colors to: -whitePieceColor gray100 -blackPieceColor gray0 -lightSquareColor gray80 -darkSquareColor gray60 Other Options -ncp or -noChessProgram If this option is True, _x_b_o_a_r_d acts as a passive chessboard; it does not start a chess program at all. Turning on this option also turns off clock- Mode. Default: False. -debug or -debugMode Turns on debugging printout. MENU COMMANDS, BUTTONS, AND KEYS All _x_b_o_a_r_d commands are available on menus. The most fre- quently used commands also have shortcut keys or on-screen buttons. File Menu Reset Resets _x_b_o_a_r_d and GNU Chess to the beginning of a new chess game. The "r" key is a keyboard GNU 9 xboard(6) GAMES AND DEM$ODSate: 1994/05/22 02:23:03 $ equivalent. In Internet Chess Server mode, clears the current state of _x_b_o_a_r_d, then resynchronizes with ICS by sending a _r_e_f_r_e_s_h command. If you want to stop playing, observing, or examining a game on ICS, use an appropriate command from the Action menu, not Reset. Load Game Plays a game from a record file. A popup dialog prompts you for the file name. If the file contains more than one game, and you want to load the _Nth one, type the number _N after the file name, separated by a space. The "g" key is a keyboard equivalent. The game file parser will accept PGN (portable game notation), or in fact almost any file that contains moves in algebraic notation. If the file includes a PGN position (FEN tag), or an _x_b_o_a_r_d position diagram bracketed by "[--" and "--]" before the first move, the game starts from that position. Text enclosed in parentheses, square brackets, or curly braces is assumed to be commentary and is displayed in a pop-up window. Any other text in the file is ignored. PGN variations (enclosed in parentheses) are treated as comments; _x_b_o_a_r_d is not able to walk variation trees. Load Next Game Loads the next game from the last game record file you loaded. Load Previous Game Loads the previous game from the last game record file you loaded. Reload Same Game Reloads the last game you loaded. Load Position Sets up a position from a position file. A popup dialog prompts you for the file name. If the file contains more than one saved position, and you want to load the _Nth one, type the number _N after the file name, separated by a space. Position files must be in the format that the Save Position command writes. Save Game Appends a record of the current game to a file. A popup dialog prompts you for the file name. If the game did not begin with the standard starting GNU 10 xboard(6) GAMES AND DEM$ODSate: 1994/05/22 02:23:03 $ position, the game file includes the starting posi- tion used. Games are saved in the PGN (portable game notation) format, unless the oldSaveStyle option is True, in which case they are saved in an older format that is specific to _x_b_o_a_r_d. Both for- mats are human-readable, and both can be read back by the Load Game command. Save Position Appends a diagram of the current position to a file. A popup dialog prompts you for the file name. Posi- tions are saved in FEN (Forsythe-Edwards notation) format unless the oldSaveStyle option is True, in which case they are saved in an older, human- readable format that is specific to _x_b_o_a_r_d. Both formats can be read back by the Load Position com- mand. Mail Move Reload CMail Game See the manual page for _c_m_a_i_l(6). Exit Exits from _x_b_o_a_r_d. The "q" key is a keyboard equivalent. Mode Menu Pause Pauses updates to the board, and if you are playing against GNU Chess, also pauses your clock. To con- tinue, select Pause again, and the display will automatically update to the latest position. The [P] button and keyboard "p" key are equivalents. If you select Pause when you are playing against GNU Chess and it is not your move, GNU Chess's clock will continue to run and it will eventually make a move, at which point both clocks will stop. Since board updates are paused, however, you will not see the move until you exit from Pause mode (or select Forward). This behavior is meant to simulate adjournment with a sealed move. If you select Pause while you are in _e_x_a_m_i_n_e mode on ICS, you can step backward and forward in the current history of the examined game without affect- ing the other observers and examiners. Select Pause again to reconnect yourself to the current state of the game on ICS. If you select Pause while you are loading a game, the game stops loading. You can load more moves manually by selecting Forward, or resume automatic loading by selecting Pause again. GNU 11 xboard(6) GAMES AND DEM$ODSate: 1994/05/22 02:23:03 $ Edit Comment Adds or modifies a comment on the current position. Comments are saved by Save Game and are displayed by Load Game, Forward, and Backward. Machine White Forces GNU Chess to play white. GNU Chess mode only. Machine Black Forces GNU Chess to play black. GNU Chess mode only. Two Machines Plays a game between two computer programs. GNU Chess mode only. ICS Client ICS mode only. Takes _x_b_o_a_r_d out of the Edit Game or Edit Position state. Edit Game Allows you to make moves for both black and white, and to change moves after backing up with the Back- ward command. In GNU Chess mode, GNU chess contin- ues to check moves for legality but does not parti- cipate in the game. You can bring GNU Chess back into the game by selecting Machine White, Machine Black, or Two Machines. In ICS mode, the moves are not sent to the ICS. The clocks do not run. Edit Position Lets you set up an arbitrary board position. Use mouse button 1 to drag pieces to new squares, or to delete a piece by dragging it off the board or drag- ging an empty square on top of it. To drop a new piece on a square, press mouse button 2 or 3 over the square. This brings up a menu of white pieces (button 2) or black pieces (button 3). Additional menu choices let you empty the square or clear the board. You can set the side to play next by click- ing on the White or Black indicator at the top of the screen. Action Menu Accept Accepts a pending match offer from your opponent. If there is more than one offer pending, you will have to type in a more specific command instead of using this menu choice. (ICS mode only) Decline Declines a pending offer (match, draw, adjourn, etc.) from your opponent. If there is more than one GNU 12 xboard(6) GAMES AND DEM$ODSate: 1994/05/22 02:23:03 $ offer pending, you will have to type in a more specific command instead of using this menu choice. (ICS mode only) Call Flag Calls your opponent's flag, claiming a win on time, or claiming a draw if you are both out of time. You can also call your opponent's flag by clicking on his clock or by pressing the keyboard "t" key. Draw Offers a draw to your opponent, accepts a pending draw offer from your opponent, or claims a draw by repetition or the 50-move rule, as appropriate. The "d" key is a keyboard equivalent. (ICS mode only) Adjourn Asks your opponent to agree to adjourning the current game, or agrees to a pending adjournment offer from your opponent. (ICS mode only) Abort Asks your opponent to agree to aborting the current game, or agrees to a pending abort offer from your opponent. An aborted game ends immediately without affecting either player's rating. Resign Resigns the game to your opponent. The shifted "R" key is a keyboard equivalent. Stop Observing Ends your participation in observing a game, by issuing the ICS _o_b_s_e_r_v_e command with no arguments. (ICS mode only) Stop Examining Ends your participation in examining a game, by issuing the ICS _u_n_e_x_a_m_i_n_e command. (ICS mode only) Step Menu Backward Steps backward through a series of remembered moves. The [<] button and the "b" key are equivalents. In most modes, Backward only lets you look back at old positions; it does not retract moves. This is the case if you are playing against GNU Chess, play- ing or observing a game on the ICS, or loading a game. If you select Backward in any of these situa- tions, you will not be allowed to make a different move. Use Retract Move or Edit Game if you want to change past moves. If you are examining a game on ICS, the behavior of Backward depends on whether _x_b_o_a_r_d is in Pause mode. GNU 13 xboard(6) GAMES AND DEM$ODSate: 1994/05/22 02:23:03 $ If Pause mode is off, Backward issues the ICS _b_a_c_k_- _w_a_r_d command, which backs up everyone's view of the game and allows you to make a different move. If Pause mode is on, Backward only backs up your local view. Forward Steps forward through a series of remembered moves (undoing the effect of Backward) or forward through a game file. The [>] button and the f key are equivalents. If you are examining a game on ICS, the behavior of Forward depends on whether _x_b_o_a_r_d is in Pause mode. If Pause mode is off, Forward issues the ICS _f_o_r_w_a_r_d command, which moves everyone's view of the game forward along the current line. If Pause mode is on, Forward only moves your local view forward, and it will not go past the position that the game was in when you paused. Back to Start Jumps backward to the first remembered position in the game. The [<<] button and the shifted "B" key are equivalents. In most modes, Back to Start only lets you look back at old positions; it does not retract moves. This is the case if you are playing against GNU chess, playing or observing a game on the ICS, or loading a game. If you select Back to Start in any of these situations, you will not be allowed to make dif- ferent moves. Use Retract Move or Edit Game if you want to change past moves; or start a new game. If you are examining a game on ICS, the behavior of Back to Start depends on whether _x_b_o_a_r_d is in Pause mode. If Pause mode is off, Back to Start issues the ICS _b_a_c_k_w_a_r_d _9_9_9_9_9_9 command, which backs up everyone's view of the game to the start and allows you to make different moves. If Pause mode is on, Back to Start only backs up your local view. Forward to End Jumps forward to the last remembered position in the game. The [>>] button and the shifted "F" key are equivalents. If you are examining a game on ICS, the behavior of Forward to End depends on whether _x_b_o_a_r_d is in Pause mode. If Pause mode is off, Forward to End issues the ICS _f_o_r_w_a_r_d _9_9_9_9_9_9 command, which moves everyone's view of the game forward to the end of GNU 14 xboard(6) GAMES AND DEM$ODSate: 1994/05/22 02:23:03 $ the current line. If Pause mode is on, Forward to End only moves your local view forward, and it will not go past the position that the game was in when you paused. Revert If you are examining a game on ICS and Pause mode is off, issues the ICS command _r_e_v_e_r_t. Truncate Game Discards all remembered moves of the game beyond the current position. Puts _x_b_o_a_r_d into Edit Game mode if it was not there already. Move Now Forces GNU Chess to move immediately. (GNU Chess mode only) Retract Move Retracts your last move. In GNU Chess mode, you can do this only after GNU Chess has replied to your move; if GNU Chess is still thinking, use Move Now first. In ICS mode, Retract Move issues the command _t_a_k_e_b_a_c_k _1 or _t_a_k_e_b_a_c_k _2 depending on whether it is your opponent's move or yours; however, this command currently works only on FICS. Options Menu Always Queen Toggles the alwaysPromoteToQueen option. Autoflag Toggles the autoCallFlag option. Autosave Toggles the autoSaveGames option. Disabled if the saveGameFile option is set, as in that case all games are saved to the specified file. Bell Toggles the ringBellAfterMoves option. Flip View Inverts your view of the chess board for the dura- tion of the current game. Starting a new game returns the board to normal. If you are playing a game on the ICS, the board is always oriented at the start of the game so that your pawns move from the bottom of the window towards the top. Otherwise, the starting orienta- tion is determined by the flipView command line option; if it is False (the default), White's pawns move from bottom to top at the start of each game; GNU 15 xboard(6) GAMES AND DEM$ODSate: 1994/05/22 02:23:03 $ if it is True, Black's pawns move from bottom to top. Old Save Style Toggles the oldSaveStyle option. Quiet Play Toggles the quietPlay option. Show Coords Toggles the showCoords option. Help Menu Hint Displays a move hint from GNU Chess. GNU Chess mode only. About Game Displays information about the current game, in the form of PGN (portable game notation) tags. About XBoard Shows the current _x_b_o_a_r_d version number. Other shortcut keys Iconify Pressing the i or c key iconifies _x_b_o_a_r_d. You can add more shortcut keys to _x_b_o_a_r_d using the X resource _f_o_r_m._t_r_a_n_s_l_a_t_i_o_n_s. Here is an example of what would go in your .Xdefaults file: XBoard*form.translations: Shift<Key>?: AboutGameProc() \n \ <Key>y: AcceptProc() \n \ <Key>n: DeclineProc() The _x_b_o_a_r_d functions that can be bound to keys in this way are: AbortProc, AboutGameProc, AboutProc, AcceptProc, AdjournProc, AlwaysQueenProc, Auto- flagProc, AutosaveProc, BackwardProc, BellProc, CallFlag- Proc, DeclineProc, DrawProc, EditGameProc, EditPositionProc, FlipViewProc, ForwardProc, HintProc, IcsClientProc, LoadGameProc, LoadNextGameProc, LoadPositionProc, Load- PrevGameProc, MachineBlackProc, MachineWhiteProc, MailMo- veProc, MoveNowProc, OldSaveStyleProc, PauseProc, Quiet- PlayProc, QuitProc, ReloadGameProc, ResetProc, ResignProc, RetractMoveProc, RevertProc, SaveGameProc, SavePositionProc, ShowCoordsProc, StopExaminingProc, StopObservingProc, ToEndProc, ToStartProc, TruncateGameProc, and TwoMachinesProc. ENVIRONMENT Game and position files are found in the directory named by the CHESSDIR environment variable. If this variable is not set, the current working directory is used. If CHESSDIR is set, _x_b_o_a_r_d actually changes its working directory to $CHESSDIR, so GNU Chess listing files will be stored there GNU 16 xboard(6) GAMES AND DEM$ODSate: 1994/05/22 02:23:03 $ as well. FILES Whenever _x_b_o_a_r_d connects to the Internet Chess Server, if it finds a file called ".icsrc", it feeds the file's contents to the ICS as commands. Usually the first two lines of the file should be your ICS user name and password. The .icsrc file can be either in $CHESSDIR, in _x_b_o_a_r_d's working direc- tory if CHESSDIR is not set, or in your home directory. SEE ALSO _g_n_u_c_h_e_s_s(6) LIMITATIONS There is no way for two people running copies of _x_b_o_a_r_d to play each other without going through the Internet Chess Server. The game parser recognizes only algebraic notation. The internal move legality tester does not look at the game history, so in some cases it misses illegal castling or en passant captures. However, if you attempt such a move when using GNU Chess (or the ICS), it will reject the move, and _x_b_o_a_r_d will undo it and let you try another. Also, FEN positions saved by _x_b_o_a_r_d do not include correct information about whether castling or en passant are legal. In ICS mode, _x_b_o_a_r_d cannot handle observing (and/or playing) more than one game at a time. It may get confused if you try to do this, though it tries to recover gracefully. Select Reset from the File menu if you have problems. Your password gets echoed when you log on to the ICS. This happens because _x_b_o_a_r_d does not implement the telnet proto- col. Also, if useTelnet mode is set, every line you type to the ICS gets echoed an extra time. This happens because _x_b_o_a_r_d does not put the keyboard into raw mode and let the telnet program do all the echoing. (The details of how to do so vary on different versions of Unix.) The .icsrc file does not work properly when you connect to ICS through a Unix gateway host with useTelnet mode. The Unix login process apparently discards type-ahead. Some _x_b_o_a_r_d functions may not work with versions of GNU Chess earlier than 4.0, patchlevel 52. In particular, with GNU Chess 3.1 the timeControl option can be given only to the nearest minute, restoring a saved position with black to play may not work, and if you use the Backward button after a mate or draw, the clocks are reset (because GNU Chess has exited and must be restarted). GNU 17 xboard(6) GAMES AND DEM$ODSate: 1994/05/22 02:23:03 $ AUTHORS Original authors: Chris Sears and Dan Sears. Enhancements, current maintainer: Tim Mann. Thanks to John Chanak for the initial implementation of ICS mode. Thanks to Evan Welsh for implementing _c_m_a_i_l(6). Send bug reports to <bug-gnu-chess@prep.ai.mit.edu>. COPYRIGHT Copyright 1991 by Digital Equipment Corporation, Maynard, Massachusetts. Enhancements Copyright 1992-94 Free Software Foundation, Inc. XBoard borrows its colors, icon and piece bitmaps from XChess, which was written and is copyrighted by Wayne Chris- topher. The following terms apply to Digital Equipment Corporation's copyright interest in XBoard: All Rights Reserved Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software and its documentation for any purpose and without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above copyright notice appear in all copies and that both that copyright notice and this permission notice appear in supporting documentation, and that the name of Digi- tal not be used in advertising or publicity pertaining to distribution of the software without specific, writ- ten prior permission. DIGITAL DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE, INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHAN- TABILITY AND FITNESS, IN NO EVENT SHALL DIGITAL BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAM- AGES OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE. The following terms apply to the enhanced version of XBoard distributed by the Free Software Foundation: This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foun- dation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version. GNU 18 xboard(6) GAMES AND DEM$ODSate: 1994/05/22 02:23:03 $ This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details. You should have received a copy of the GNU General Pub- lic License along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 675 Mass Ave, Cam- bridge, MA 02139, USA. GNU 19