The Games Room/The Games Room.iso/wingames/chess/wax_win/waxman.doc

Text File | 1980-06-30 | 6KB | 138 lines

    WAXMAN 1.3w ... Pocket Chess for Windows.
    Copyright (C) 1992-93 Check-Tech Software, Inc.
    Box 802411, Chicago, IL 60680.


    RUNNING THE PROGRAM.

    You need WINDOWS 3.1 or later to run WAXMAN. Version 3.0 will
    do, too, but you have to install COMMDLG.DLL (from version 3.1)
    in your WINDOWS system directory.

    To start the program, double-click on its icon. To stop, choose
    EXIT from the GAME menu. Once running, WAXMAN is controlled by
    commands arranged in a series of menus:

    ┌───────┬────────────────┬────────┬─────────────┬────────────┐
    │ GAME    │ EDIT         │ LEVEL  │ OPTIONS    │ PLAY         │
    └─┬─────┴─┬──────────────┴─┬──────┴─┬───────────┴─┬──────────┘
      ├─New   ├─Edit Position  ├─Time   ├─Analysis      ├─Play!
      ├─Load  └─Clear Board    ├─Moves  ├─Flip Board  ├─Take Back
      ├─Save           ├─Easy   └─Sound      └─Forward
      ├─Print           └─Hash
      ├─Replay
      ├─Exit
      └─About..


    GAME.

    When you start WAXMAN, it is ready for a new game. When a game
    is in progress, you can start a new game by selecting NEW from
    the GAME menu. You can also save a game in progress and later
    resume where you left off by using SAVE and LOAD.


    PLAY.

    At the start of a new game, WAXMAN is in its 'referee mode'.
    This means that it only keeps track of whose move it is, makes
    sure all entered moves are legal, announces check, checkmate or
    stalemate, but otherwise stays out of the way. This can be
    useful if you want to practice a particular opening line or
    to play over a game from a newspaper or chess magazine.

    WAXMAN remains passive until invited to play. To do that, choose
    PLAY! from the PLAY menu. WAXMAN will start playing the side
    whose move it is at the time.

    For example, if you want to play White against WAXMAN as Black,
    make the first move and then select PLAY!; if you want to play
    Black, select PLAY! immediately at the start of the game.
    To switch sides, select PLAY! again after WAXMAN made a move.

    To enter a move, click the mouse on the piece you want to move.
    Holding the mouse button down, drag the piece where you want it
    and drop it there by releasing the mouse button.

    To take back a move, select TAKE BACK from the PLAY menu. Note
    that this puts WAXMAN back in its passive mode to allow you
    to undo and re-enter multiple moves. To resume playing, select
    PLAY! again. To undo a take-back, select FORWARD from the PLAY
    menu.


    LEVEL.

    The level, or strength, of WAXMAN's play is controlled by
    the time limit - the amount of time in which it must complete
    a given number of moves. The more time, the stronger its play.

    The possible settings are anywhere between one minute for all
    moves (fastest, weakest play) and five hours for every single
    move (slowest, strongest). The default is ten minutes per game
    - fairly strong play on a fast machine.

    For better search performance, particularly in the endgame,
    WAXMAN uses a hash table in which it stores positions already
    encountered before so that it does not have to examine them
    repeatedly. This feature can be turned on and off by checking
    the HASH box in the LEVEL dialog.

    Normally, WAXMAN is not idle even while it is waiting for your
    move, and if you think long and hard, so does it. Checking the
    EASY box turns this feature off.


    EDIT.

    To set up a position, select EDIT POSITION or CLEAR BOARD from
    the EDIT menu. A checkmark will appear next to the EDIT POSITION
    entry to indicate that the program is in edit mode, and all
    other menu items will be disabled (grayed). A 'drawer' with
    spare chessmen will appear beneath the board.

    Only pieces that can be legally added to the board appear in
    the drawer. Neither side can have two kings, or more than six-
    teen pieces, for example. Likewise, you cannot have two queens
    and eight pawns because the only way to get another queen is
    by promoting a pawn. To see how this works, start a new game
    and then select EDIT POSITION. The drawer will be empty. Grab
    a white pawn and move it off the board. The pawn will appear
    in the drawer, along with all the other white pieces which
    you now can add as if the pawn had been promoted.

    To move a piece during setup, grab it with the mouse and drag
    it where you want it - to another square or off the board.
    Once all the pieces are in place, click on the EDIT POSITION
    item again to remove the checkmark. The rest of the menu items
    will be re-enabled and you can start playing.

    Note that it is always White's move when you set up a position.
    If this is not what you want (a Black-to-move problem), set up
    the position with one white piece on the wrong square and then
    make the first move, moving the piece to its proper square.


    OPTIONS.

    When playing black, you may want to turn the board display
    around so that the black pieces are at the bottom of the board.
    The FLIP BOARD option lets you do this.

    If you want to cheat a little during a game, or when having
    WAXMAN solve a chess problem, choose ANALYSIS from the OPTIONS
    menu. WAXMAN will display, while still thinking, its intended
    move and the move it expects you to make in response to that,
    along with an evaluation of the result.


    EXTRAS.

    In this release of WAXMAN, there are a few extra files. They are
    mate puzzles - some of the positions we use to test the program.
    Use the LOAD GAME option to load them into the program and see
    if you can beat WAXMAN at solving them.