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35 <h3 class="section">3.7 Options Menu</h3>
37 <p><a name="index-Menu_002c-Options-95"></a><a name="index-Options-Menu-96"></a>
39 <h4 class="subsection">3.7.1 General Options</h4>
41 <p><a name="index-General-Options_002c-Menu-Item-97"></a>The following items to set option values appear in the dialog
42 summoned by the general Options menu item.
44 <dt>Absolute Analysis Scores<dd><a name="index-Absolute-Analysis-Scores_002c-Menu-Item-98"></a>Controls if scores on the Engine Output window during analysis
45 will be printed from the white or the side-to-move point-of-view.
46 <br><dt>Almost Always Queen<dd><a name="index-Almost-Always-Queen_002c-Menu-Item-99"></a>If this option is on, 7th-rank pawns automatically change into
47 Queens when you pick them up,
48 and when you drag them to the promotion square and release them there,
49 they will promote to that.
50 But when you drag such a pawn backwards first,
51 its identity will start to cycle through the other available pieces.
52 This will continue until you start to move it forward;
53 at which point the identity of the piece will be fixed,
54 so that you can safely put it down on the promotion square.
55 If this option is off, what happens depends on the
56 option <code>alwaysPromoteToQueen</code>,
57 which would force promotion to Queen when true.
58 Otherwise XBoard would bring up a dialog
59 box whenever you move a pawn to the last rank, asking what piece
60 you want to promote to.
61 <br><dt>Animate Dragging<dd><a name="index-Animate-Dragging_002c-Menu-Item-100"></a>If Animate Dragging is on, while you are dragging a piece with the
62 mouse, an image of the piece follows the mouse cursor.
63 If Animate Dragging is off, there is no visual feedback while you are
64 dragging a piece, but if Animate Moving is on, the move will be
65 animated when it is complete.
66 <br><dt>Animate Moving<dd><a name="index-Animate-Moving_002c-Menu-Item-101"></a>If Animate Moving is on, all piece moves are animated. An image of the
67 piece is shown moving from the old square to the new square when the
68 move is completed (unless the move was already animated by Animate Dragging).
69 If Animate Moving is off, a moved piece instantly disappears from its
70 old square and reappears on its new square when the move is complete.
71 The shifted <kbd>Ctrl-A</kbd> key is a keyboard equivalent.
72 <br><dt>Auto Flag<dd><a name="index-Auto-Flag_002c-Menu-Item-102"></a>If this option is on and one player runs out of time
75 will automatically call his flag, claiming a win on time.
76 The shifted <kbd>Ctrl-F</kbd> key is a keyboard equivalent.
77 In ICS mode, Auto Flag will only call your opponent's flag, not yours,
78 and the ICS may award you a draw instead of a win if you have
79 insufficient mating material. In local chess engine mode,
81 may call either player's flag and will not take material into account (?).
82 <br><dt>Auto Flip View<dd><a name="index-Auto-Flip-View_002c-Menu-Item-103"></a>If the Auto Flip View option is on when you start a game, the board
83 will be automatically oriented so that your pawns move from the bottom
84 of the window towards the top.
86 <p>If you are playing a game on an ICS, the board is always
87 oriented at the start of the game so that your pawns move from
88 the bottom of the window towards the top. Otherwise, the starting
89 orientation is determined by the <code>flipView</code> command line option;
90 if it is false (the default), White's pawns move from bottom to top
91 at the start of each game; if it is true, Black's pawns move from
92 bottom to top. See <a href="User-interface-options.html#User-interface-options">User interface options</a>.
93 <br><dt>Blindfold<dd><a name="index-Blindfold_002c-Menu-Item-104"></a>If this option is on, XBoard displays the board as usual but does
94 not display pieces or move highlights. You can still move in the
95 usual way (with the mouse or by typing moves in ICS mode), even though
96 the pieces are invisible.
97 <br><dt>Drop Menu<dd><a name="index-Drop-Menu_002c-Menu-Item-105"></a>Controls if right-clicking the board in crazyhouse / bughouse
98 will pop up a menu to drop a piece on the clicked square
99 (old, deprecated behavior)
100 or allow you to step through an engine PV
101 (new, recommended behavior).
102 <br><dt>Enable Variation Trees<dd><a name="index-Enable-Variation-Trees_002c-Menu-Item-106"></a>If this option is on, playing a move in Edit Game or Analyze mode
103 while keeping the Shift key pressed will start a new variation.
104 You can then recall the previous line through the ‘<samp><span class="samp">Revert</span></samp>’ menu item.
105 When off, playing a move will truncate the game and append the move
107 <br><dt>Hide Thinking<dd><a name="index-Hide-Thinking_002c-Menu-Item-107"></a>If this option is off, the chess engine's notion of the score and best
108 line of play from the current position is displayed as it is
109 thinking. The score indicates how many pawns ahead (or if negative,
110 behind) the chess engine thinks it is. In matches between two
111 machines, the score is prefixed by ‘<samp><span class="samp">W</span></samp>’ or ‘<samp><span class="samp">B</span></samp>’ to indicate
112 whether it is showing White's thinking or Black's, and only the thinking
113 of the engine that is on move is shown.
114 The shifted <kbd>Ctrl-H</kbd> key is a keyboard equivalent.
115 <br><dt>Highlight Last Move<dd><a name="index-Highlight-Last-Move_002c-Menu-Item-108"></a>If Highlight Last Move is on, after a move is made, the starting and
116 ending squares remain highlighted. In addition, after you use Backward
117 or Back to Start, the starting and ending squares of the last move to
118 be unmade are highlighted.
119 <br><dt>Highlight with Arrow<dd><a name="index-Highlight-with-Arrow_002c-Menu-Item-109"></a>Causes the highlighting described in Highlight Last Move to be done
120 by drawing an arrow between the highlighted squares,
121 so that it is visible even when the width of the grid lines is set to zero.
122 <br><dt>Move Sound<dd><a name="index-Move-Sound_002c-Menu-Item-110"></a>Enables the sounding of an audible signal when the computer performs a move.
123 For the selection of the sound, see ‘<samp><span class="samp">Sound Options</span></samp>’.
124 If you turn on this option when using XBoard with the Internet
125 Chess Server, you will probably want to give the
126 <kbd>set bell 0</kbd>
127 command to the ICS, since otherwise the ICS will ring the terminal bell
128 after every move (not just yours). (The <samp><span class="file">.icsrc</span></samp> file
129 is a good place for this; see <a href="ICS-options.html#ICS-options">ICS options</a>.)
130 <br><dt>One-Click Moving<dd><a name="index-One_002dClick-Moving_002c-Menu-Item-111"></a>If this option is on, XBoard does not wait for you to click both the
131 from- and the to-square, or drag the piece, but performs a move as soon
132 as it is uniqely specified.
133 This applies to clicking an own piece that only has a single legal move,
134 clicking an empty square or opponent piece where only one of your pieces
135 can move (or capture) to.
136 Furthermore, a double-click on a piece that can only make a single capture
137 will cause that capture to be made.
138 Promoting a Pawn by clicking its to-square will suppress the promotion
139 popup or other methods for selecting an under-promotion,
140 and make it promote to Queen.
141 <br><dt>Periodic Updates<dd><a name="index-Periodic-Updates_002c-Menu-Item-112"></a>If this option is off (or if
142 you are using a chess engine that does not support periodic updates),
144 will only be updated when the analysis changes. If this option is
145 on, the Analysis Window will be updated every two seconds.
146 <br><dt>Play Move(s) of Clicked PV<dd><a name="index-Play-Move_0028s_0029-of-Clicked-PV_002c-Menu-Item-113"></a>If this option is on, right-clicking a PV in the Engine Output window
147 during Analyze mode will cause the first move of that PV to be played.
148 You could also play more than one (or no) PV move by moving the mouse
149 to engage in the PV walk such a right-click will start,
150 to seek out another position along the PV where you want to continue
151 the analysis, before releasing the mouse button.
152 <br><dt>Ponder Next Move<dd><a name="index-Ponder-Next-Move_002c-Menu-Item-114"></a>If this option is off, the chess engine will think only when it is on
153 move. If the option is on, the engine will also think while waiting
154 for you to make your move.
155 The shifted <kbd>Ctrl-P</kbd> key is a keyboard equivalent.
156 <br><dt>Popup Exit Message<dd><a name="index-Popup-Exit-Message_002c-Menu-Item-115"></a>If this option is on, when XBoard wants to display a message just
157 before exiting, it brings up a modal dialog box and waits for you to
158 click OK before exiting. If the option is off, XBoard prints the
159 message to standard error (the terminal) and exits immediately.
160 <br><dt>Popup Move Errors<dd><a name="index-Popup-Move-Errors_002c-Menu-Item-116"></a>If this option is off, when you make an error in moving (such as
161 attempting an illegal move or moving the wrong color piece), the
162 error message is displayed in the message area. If the option is
163 on, move errors are displayed in small pop-up windows like other errors.
164 You can dismiss an error pop-up either by clicking its OK button or by
165 clicking anywhere on the board, including down-clicking to start a move.
166 <br><dt>Scores in Move List<dd><a name="index-Scores-in-Move-List_002c-Menu-Item-117"></a>If this option is on, XBoard will display the depth and score
167 of engine moves in the Move List, in the format of a PGN comment.
168 <br><dt>Show Coords<dd><a name="index-Show-Coords_002c-Menu-Item-118"></a>If this option is on, XBoard displays algebraic coordinates
169 along the board's left and bottom edges.
170 <br><dt>Show Target Squares<dd><a name="index-Show-Target-Squares_002c-Menu-Item-119"></a>If this option is on, all squares a piece that is 'picked up' with the mouse
171 can legally move to are highighted with a fat colored dot in the
172 highlightColor (non-captures) or premoveHighlightColor (captures).
173 Legality testing must be on for XBoard to know how the piece moves.
174 <br><dt>Test Legality<dd><a name="index-Test-Legality_002c-Menu-Item-120"></a>If this option is on, XBoard tests whether the moves you try to make
175 with the mouse are legal and refuses to let you make an illegal move.
176 The shifted <kbd>Ctrl-L</kbd> key is a keyboard equivalent.
177 Moves loaded from a file with ‘<samp><span class="samp">Load Game</span></samp>’ are also checked. If
178 the option is off, all moves are accepted, but if a local chess engine
179 or the ICS is active, they will still reject illegal moves. Turning
180 off this option is useful if you are playing a chess variant with
181 rules that XBoard does not understand. (Bughouse, suicide, and wild
182 variants where the king may castle after starting on the d file are
183 generally supported with Test Legality on.)
184 <br><dt>Flash Moves<dt>Flash Rate<dd><a name="index-Flash-Moves_002c-Menu-Item-121"></a><a name="index-Flash-Rate_002c-Menu-Item-122"></a>If this option is non-zero, whenever a move is completed,
185 the moved piece flashes the specified number of times.
186 The flash-rate setting determines how rapidly this flashing occurs.
187 <br><dt>Animation Speed<dd><a name="index-Animation-Speed_002c-Menu-Item-123"></a>Determines the duration (in msec) of an animation step,
188 when ‘<samp><span class="samp">Animate Moving</span></samp>’ is swiched on.
189 <br><dt>Zoom factor in Evaluation Graph<dd><a name="index-Zoom-factor-in-Evaluation-Graph_002c-Menu-Item-124"></a>Sets the valueof the <code>evalZoom</code> option,
190 indicating the factor by which the score interval (-1,1) should be
191 blown up on the vertical axis of the Evaluation Graph.
194 <h4 class="subsection">3.7.2 Time Control</h4>
196 <p><a name="index-Time-Control_002c-Menu-Item-125"></a>Pops up a sub-menu where you can set the time-control parameters interactively.
197 Allows you to select classical or incremental time controls,
198 set the moves per session, session duration, and time increment.
199 Also allows specification of time-odds factors for one or both engines.
200 If an engine is given a time-odds factor N, all time quota it gets,
201 be it at the beginning of a session or through the time increment or
202 fixed time per move, will be divided by N.
203 The shifted <kbd>Alt+T</kbd> key is a keyboard equivalent.
205 <h4 class="subsection">3.7.3 Common Engine</h4>
207 <p><a name="index-Common-Engine_002c-Menu-Item-126"></a>Pops up a sub-menu where you can set some engine parameters common to most engines,
208 such as hash-table size, tablebase cache size, maximum number of processors
209 that SMP engines can use, and where to find the Polyglot adapter needed
210 to run UCI engines under XBoard. The feature that allows setting of these parameters on
211 engines is new since XBoard 4.3.15, so not many XBoard/WinBoard engines respond
212 to it yet, but UCI engines should.
214 <p>It is also possible to specify a GUI opening book here, i.e. an opening
215 book that XBoard consults for any position a playing engine gets in.
216 It then forces the engine to play the book move, rather than to think up its own,
217 if that position is found in the book.
218 The book can switched on and off independently for either engine.
219 The way book moves are chosen can be influenced through the settings of
220 book depth and variety.
221 After both sides have played more moves than the specified depth,
222 the book will no longer be consulted.
223 When the variety is set to 50, moves will be played with the probability
224 specified in the book.
225 When set to 0, only the move(s) with the highest probability will be played.
226 When set to 100, all listed moves will be played with equal pobability.
227 Other settings interpolate between that.
228 The shifted <kbd>Alt+U</kbd> key is a keyboard equivalent.
230 <h4 class="subsection">3.7.4 Adjudications</h4>
232 <p><a name="index-Adjudications_002c-Menu-Item-127"></a>Pops up a sub-menu where you can enable or disable various adjudications
233 that XBoard can perform in engine-engine games.
234 The shifted <kbd>Alt+J</kbd> key is a keyboard equivalent.
235 You can instruct XBoard to detect and terminate the game on checkmate
236 or stalemate, even if the engines would not do so, to verify engine
237 result claims (forfeiting engines that make false claims), rather than
238 naively following the engine, to declare draw on positions
239 which can never be won for lack of mating material, (e.g. KBK),
240 or which are impossible to win unless the opponent seeks its own demise
242 For these adjudications to work, ‘<samp><span class="samp">Test Legality</span></samp>’ should be switched on.
243 It is also possible to instruct XBoard to enforce a 50-move or 3-fold-repeat
244 rule and automatically declare draw (after a user-adjustable number of moves
245 or repeats) even if the engines are prepared to go on.
246 It is also possible to have XBoard declare draw on games that seem to drag on
247 forever, or adjudicate a loss if both engines agree (for 3 consecutive moves) that one
248 of them is behind more than a user-adjustable score threshold.
249 For the latter adjudication to work, XBoard should be able to properly understand
250 the engine's scores. To facilitate the latter, you can inform xboard here if
251 the engines report scores from the viewpoint of white, or from that of their own color.
253 <h4 class="subsection">3.7.5 ICS Options</h4>
255 <p><a name="index-ICS-Options_002c-Menu-Item-128"></a>The following options occur in a dialog summoned by the
256 ICS Options menu item.
258 <dt>Auto Kibitz<dd><a name="index-Auto-Kibitz_002c-Menu-Item-129"></a>Setting this option when playing with or aginst a chess program on an ICS
259 will cause the last line of thinking output of the engine before its move
260 to be sent to the ICS in a kibitz command.
261 In addition, any kibitz message received through the ICS from
262 an opponent chess program will be diverted to the engine-output window,
263 (and suppressed in the console),
264 where you can play through its PV by right-clicking it.
265 <br><dt>Auto Comment<dd><a name="index-Auto-Comment_002c-Menu-Item-130"></a>If this option is on, any remarks made on ICS while you are observing or
266 playing a game are recorded as a comment on the current move. This includes
267 remarks made with the ICS commands <kbd>say</kbd>, <kbd>tell</kbd>, <kbd>whisper</kbd>,
268 and <kbd>kibitz</kbd>.
269 Limitation: remarks that you type yourself are not recognized;
270 XBoard scans only the output from ICS, not the input you type to it.
271 <br><dt>Auto Observe<dd><a name="index-Auto-Observe_002c-Menu-Item-131"></a>If this option is on and you add a player to your <code>gnotify</code>
272 list on ICS, XBoard will automatically observe all of that
273 player's games, unless you are doing something else (such as
274 observing or playing a game of your own) when one starts.
275 The games are displayed
276 from the point of view of the player on your gnotify list; that is, his
277 pawns move from the bottom of the window towards the top.
278 Exceptions: If both players in a game are on your gnotify list, if
280 <code>highlight</code>
281 variable is set to 0, or if the ICS you are using does not
282 properly support observing from Black's point of view,
283 you will see the game from White's point of view.
284 <br><dt>Auto Raise Board<dd><a name="index-Auto-Raise-Board_002c-Menu-Item-132"></a>If this option is on, whenever a new game begins, the chessboard window
285 is deiconized (if necessary) and raised to the top of the stack of windows.
286 <br><dt>Auto Save<dd><a name="index-Auto-Save_002c-Menu-Item-133"></a>If this option is true, at the end of every game XBoard prompts
287 you for a file name and appends a record of the game to the file
289 Disabled if the <code>saveGameFile</code> command-line
290 option is set, as in that case all games are saved to the specified file.
291 See <a href="Load-and-Save-options.html#Load-and-Save-options">Load and Save options</a>.
292 <br><dt>Background Observe<dd><a name="index-Background-Observe_002c-Menu-Item-134"></a>Setting this option will make XBoard suppress display of any boards
293 from observed games while you are playing.
294 In stead the last such board will be remembered,
295 and shown to you when you right-click the board.
296 This allows you to peek at your bughouse partner's game when you want,
297 without disturbing your own game too much.
298 <br><dt>Dual Board<dd><a name="index-Dual-Board_002c-Menu-Item-135"></a>Setting this option in combination with ‘<samp><span class="samp">Background Observe</span></samp>’
299 will display boards of observed games while you are playing
300 on a second board next to that of your own game.
301 <br><dt>Get Move List<dd><a name="index-Get-Move-List_002c-Menu-Item-136"></a>If this option is on, whenever XBoard
302 receives the first board of a new ICS game (or a different game from
303 the one it is currently displaying), it
304 retrieves the list of past moves from the ICS.
305 You can then review the moves with the ‘<samp><span class="samp">Forward</span></samp>’ and ‘<samp><span class="samp">Backward</span></samp>’
307 or save them with ‘<samp><span class="samp">Save Game</span></samp>’. You might want to
308 turn off this option if you are observing several blitz games at once,
309 to keep from wasting time and network bandwidth fetching the move lists over
311 When you turn this option on from the menu, XBoard
312 immediately fetches the move list of the current game (if any).
313 <br><dt>Quiet Play<dd><a name="index-Quiet-Play_002c-Menu-Item-137"></a>If this option is on, XBoard will automatically issue an ICS
314 <kbd>set shout 0</kbd>
315 command whenever you start a game and a
316 <kbd>set shout 1</kbd>
317 command whenever you finish one. Thus, you will not be distracted
318 by shouts from other ICS users while playing.
319 <br><dt>Seek Graph<dd><a name="index-Seek-Graph_002c-Menu-Item-138"></a>Setting this option will cause XBoard to display an graph of
320 currently active seek ads when you left-click the board
321 while idle and logged on to an ICS.
322 <br><dt>Auto-Refresh Seek Graph<dd><a name="index-Auto_002dRefresh-Seek-Graph_002c-Menu-Item-139"></a>In combination with the ‘<samp><span class="samp">Seek Graph</span></samp>’ option this
323 will cause automatic update of the seek graph while it is up.
324 This only works on FICS and ICC,
325 and requires a lot of bandwidth on a busy server.
326 <br><dt>Premove<dt>Premove White<dt>Premove Black<dt>First White Move<dt>First Black Move<dd><a name="index-Premove_002c-Menu-Item-140"></a><a name="index-Premove-White_002c-Menu-Item-141"></a><a name="index-Premove-Black_002c-Menu-Item-142"></a><a name="index-First-White-Move_002c-Menu-Item-143"></a><a name="index-First-Black-Move_002c-Menu-Item-144"></a>If this option is on while playing a game on an ICS, you can register
327 your next planned move before it is your turn. Move the piece with
328 the mouse in the ordinary way, and the starting and ending squares
329 will be highlighted with a special color (red by default). When it is
330 your turn, if your registered move is legal, XBoard will send it to
331 ICS immediately; if not, it will be ignored and you can make a
332 different move. If you change your mind about your premove, either
333 make a different move, or double-click on any piece to cancel the move
336 <p>You can also enter premoves for the first white and black moves
338 <br><dt>ICS Alarm<dt>ICS Alarm Time<dd><a name="index-ICS-Alarm_002c-Menu-Item-145"></a><a name="index-ICS-Alarm-Time_002c-Menu-Item-146"></a>When this option is on, an alarm sound is played when your clock
339 counts down to the icsAlarmTime in an ICS game.
340 (By default, the time is 5 seconds, but you can pecify other values
341 with the Alarm Time spin control.)
342 For games with time controls that include an increment, the
343 alarm will sound each time the clock counts down to the icsAlarmTime.
344 By default, the alarm sound is the terminal bell, but on some systems
345 you can change it to a sound file using the soundIcsAlarm option; see
347 <br><dt>Colorize Messages<dd><a name="index-Colorize-Messages_002c-Menu-Item-147"></a>Ticking this options causes various types of ICS messages do be
348 displayed with different foreground or background colors in the console.
349 The colors can be individually selected for each type,
350 through the accompanying text edits.
353 <h4 class="subsection">3.7.6 Match Options</h4>
355 <p><a name="index-Match-Options_002c-Menu-Item-148"></a>Summons a dialog where you can set options important for playing automatic
356 matches between two chess programs
357 (e.g. by using the ‘<samp><span class="samp">Machine Match</span></samp>’ menu item in the ‘<samp><span class="samp">Mode</span></samp>’ menu).
359 <dt>Tournament file<dd><a name="index-Tournament-file_002c-Menu-item-149"></a>To run a tournament, XBoard needs a file to record its progress,
360 so it can resume the tourney when it is interrupted.
361 When you want to conduct anything more complex than a simple
362 two-player match with the currently loaded engines,
363 (i.e. when you select a list of participants),
364 you must not leave this field blank.
365 When you enter the name of an existing tournament file,
366 XBoard will ignore all other input specified in the dialog,
367 and will take them from that tournament file.
368 This resumes an interrupted tournament, or adds another XBoard
369 agent playing games for it to those that are already doing so.
370 Specifying a not-yet-existing file will cause XBoard to create it,
371 according to the tournament parameters specified in the rest of the dialog,
372 before it starts the tournament on ‘OK’.
373 Provided that you specify participants;
374 without participants no tournament file will be made, but other entered values
375 (e.g. for the file with opening positions) will take effect.
376 Default: configured by the <code>defaultTourneyName</code> option.
377 <br><dt>Sync after round<dt>Sync after cycle<dd><a name="index-Sync-after-round_002c-Menu-Item-150"></a><a name="index-Sync-after-cycle_002c-Menu-Item-151"></a>The sync options, when on, will cause WinBoard to refrain from starting games
378 of the next round or cycle before all games of the previous round or cycle are finished.
379 This guarantees correct ordering in the games file,
380 even when multiple XBoard instances are concurrently playing games for the same tourney.
381 Default: sync after cycle, but not after round.
382 <br><dt>Select Engine<dt>Tourney participants<dd><a name="index-Select-Engine_002c-Menu-Item-152"></a><a name="index-Tourney-participants_002c-Menu-Item-153"></a>With the Select Engine drop-down list you can pick an engine from your list
383 of installed engines in the settings file, to be added to the tournament.
384 The engines selected so far will be listed in the ‘Tourney participants’ memo.
385 The latter is a normal text edit, so you can use normal text-editing functions
386 to delete engines you selected by accident, or change their order.
387 Do not type names yourself there, because names that do not exactly match
388 one of the names from the drop-down list will lead to undefined behavior.
389 <br><dt>Tourney type<dd><a name="index-Tourney-type_002c-Menu-Item-154"></a>Here you can specify the type of tournament you want.
390 XBoard’s intrinsic tournament manager support round-robins (type = 0),
391 where each participant plays every other participant, and (multi-)gauntlets,
392 where one (or a few) so-called ‘gauntlet engines’ play an independent set of opponents.
393 In the latter case, you specify the number of gauntlet engines.
394 E.g. if you specified 10 engines, and tourney type = 2,
395 the first 2 engines each play the remaining 8.
396 A value of -1 instructs XBoard to play Swiss; for this to work an external
397 pairing engine must be specified through the <code>pairingEngine</code> option.
398 Each Swiss round will be considered a tourney cycle in that case.
400 <br><dt>Number of tourney cycles<dt>Default number of Games<dd><a name="index-Number-of-tourney-cycles_002c-Menu-Item-155"></a><a name="index-Default-number-of-Games_002c-Menu-Item-156"></a>You can specify tourneys where every two opponents play each other multiple times.
401 Such multiple games can be played in a row,
402 as specified by the ‘number of games per pairing’,
403 or by repeating the entire tournament schedule a number of times
404 (specified by the ‘number of tourney cycles’).
405 The total number of times two engine meet will be the product of these two.
407 the number of games per pairing is the same as the default number of match games,
408 stored in your settings file through the <code>defaultMatchGames</code> option.
409 <br><dt>Save Tourney Games<dd><a name="index-Save-Tourney-Games_002c-Menu-Item-157"></a>File where the tournament games are saved
410 (duplicate of the item in the ‘<samp><span class="samp">Save Game Options</span></samp>’).
411 <br><dt>Game File with Opening Lines<dt>File with Start Positions<dt>Game Number<dt>Position Number<dt>Rewind Index after<dd><a name="index-Game-File-with-Opening-Lines_002c-Menu-Item-158"></a><a name="index-File-with-Start-Positions_002c-Menu-Item-159"></a><a name="index-Game-Number_002c-Menu-Item-160"></a><a name="index-Position-Number_002c-Menu-Item-161"></a><a name="index-Rewind-Index-after_002c-Menu-Item-162"></a>These items optionally specify the file with move sequences or board positions the tourney
412 games should start from.
413 The corresponding numbers specify the number of the game or position in the file.
414 Here a value -1 means automatic stepping through all games on the file,
415 -2 automatic stepping every two games.
416 The Rewind-Index parameter causes a stepping index to reset to one after reaching
418 A setting of -2 for the game number will also be effective in a tournament without
419 specifying a game file, but playing from the GUI book instead.
420 In this case the first (odd) games will randomly select from the book,
421 but the second (even) games will select the same moves from the book as the previous game.
422 (Note this leads to the same opening only if both engines use the GUI book!)
423 Default: No game or position file will be used. The default index if such a file is used is 1.
424 <br><dt>Disable own engine bools be default<dd><a name="index-Disable-own-engine-bools-be-default_002c-Menu-Item-163"></a>Setting this option reverses the default situation for use of the GUI opening book
425 in tournaments from what it normally is, namely not using it.
426 So unless the engine is installed with an option to explicitly specify it should
427 not use the GUI book (i.e. <code>-firstHasOwnBookUCI true</code>),
428 it will be made to use the GUI book.
429 <br><dt>Replace Engine<dt>Upgrade Engine<dd><a name="index-Replace-Engine_002c-Menu-Item-164"></a><a name="index-Upgrade-Engine_002c-Menu-Item-165"></a>With these two buttons you can alter the participants of an already running tournament.
430 After opening the Match Options dialog on an XBoard that is playing for the tourney,
431 you will see all the tourney parameters in the dialog fields.
432 You can then replace the name of one engine by that of another
433 by editing the ‘<samp><span class="samp">participants</span></samp>’ field.
434 (But preserve the order of the others!)
435 Pressing the button after that will cause the substitution.
436 With the ‘<samp><span class="samp">Upgrade Engine</span></samp>’ button the substitution will only affect future games.
437 With ‘<samp><span class="samp">Replace Engine</span></samp>’ all games the substituted engine has already played will
438 be invalidated, and they will be replayed with the substitute engine.
439 In this latter case the engine must not be playing when you do this,
440 but otherwise there is no need to pause the tournament play
441 for making a substitution.
442 <br><dt>Clone Tourney<dd><a name="index-CloneTourney_002c-Menu-Item-166"></a>Pressing this button after you have specified an existing tournament file
443 will copy the contents of the latter to the dialog,
444 and then puts the originally proposed name for the tourney file back.
445 You can then run a tourney with the same parameters
446 (possibly after changing the proposed name of the tourney file for the new tourney)
450 <h4 class="subsection">3.7.7 Load Game Options</h4>
452 <p><a name="index-Load-Game-Options_002c-Menu-Item-167"></a>Summons a dialog where you can set the <code>autoDisplayComment</code> and
453 <code>autoDisplayTags</code> options, (which control popups when viewing loaded games),
454 and specify the rate at which loaded games are auto-played,
455 in seconds per move (which can be a fractional number, like 1.6).
456 You can also set search criteria for determining which games
457 will be displayed in the Game List for a multi-game file,
458 and thus be eligible for loading:
460 <dt>Elo of strongest player<dt>Elo of weakest player<dt>year<dd><a name="index-Elo-of-strongest-player_002c-Menu-Item-168"></a><a name="index-Elo-of-weakest-player_002c-Menu-Item-169"></a><a name="index-year_002c-Menu-Item-170"></a>These numeric fields set thresholds (lower limits) on the Elo rating of the mentioned player,
461 or the date the game was played.
463 <br><dt>Search mode<dd><a name="index-Search-mode_002c-Menu-Item-171"></a><a name="index-find-position_002c-Menu-Item-172"></a><a name="index-narrow_002c-Menu-Item-173"></a>This setting determines which positions in a game will be considered a match
464 to the position currently displayed in the board window
465 when you press the ‘<samp><span class="samp">find position</span></samp>’ button in the Game List.
466 You can search for an exact match,
467 a position that has all shown material in the same place,
468 but might contain additional material,
469 a position that has all Pawns in the same place,
470 but can have the shown material anywhere,
471 a position that can have all shown material anywhere,
472 or a position that has material between certain limits anywhere.
473 For the latter you have to place the material that must be present
474 in the four lowest ranks of the board,
475 and optional additional material in the four highest ranks of the board.
476 You can request the optional material to be balanced.
477 The ‘<samp><span class="samp">narrow</span></samp>’ button is similar in fuction to the ‘<samp><span class="samp">find position</span></samp>’ button,
478 but only searches in the already selected games,
479 rather than the complete game file,
480 and can thus be used to refine a search based on multiple criteria.
481 <br><dt>number of consecutive positions<dd><a name="index-number-of-consecutive-positions_002c-Menu-Item-174"></a>When you are searching by material, rather than for an exact match,
482 this parameter indicates forhowmany consecutive game positions
483 the same amount of material must be on the board before it is
485 <br><dt>Also match reversed colors<dt>Also match left-right flipped position<dd><a name="index-Also-match-reversed-colors_002c-Menu-Item-175"></a><a name="index-Also-match-left_002dright-flipped-position_002c-Menu-Item-176"></a>When looking for matching positions rather than by material,
486 these settings determine whether mirror images
487 (in case of a vertical flip in combination with color reversal)
488 will be also considered a match.
489 The left-right flipping is only useful after all castling rights
490 have expired (or in Xiangqi).
493 <h4 class="subsection">3.7.8 Save Game Options</h4>
495 <p><a name="index-Save-Game-Options_002c-Menu-Item-177"></a>Summons a dialog where you can specify the files on which XBoard should
496 automatically save any played or entered games,
497 (the <code>saveGameFile</code> option),
498 or the final position of such games (the <code>savePositionfile</code> option).
499 You can also select 'auto-save' without a file name,
500 in which case XBoard will prompt the user for a file name after each game.
501 In ICS mode you can limit the auto-saving to your own games
502 (i.e. suppress saving of observed games).
503 You can also set the default value for the PGN Event tag that will
504 be used for each new game you start.
505 Various options for the format of the game can be specified as well,
506 such as whether scores and depths of engine games should be saved as comments,
507 and if a tag with info about the score with which the engine came out of book
509 For Chess, always set the format to PGN, rather than "old save stye"!
511 <h4 class="subsection">3.7.9 Game List</h4>
513 <p><a name="index-Game-List-Tags_002c-Menu-Item-178"></a>Pops up a dialog where you can select the PGN tags that should appear
514 on the lines in the game list, and their order.
516 <h4 class="subsection">3.7.10 Sound Options</h4>
518 <p><a name="index-Sound-Options_002c-Menu-Item-179"></a>Summons a dialog where you can specify the sounds that should accompany
519 various events that can occur XBoard.
520 Most events are only relevant to ICS play,
521 but the move sound is an important exception.
522 For each event listed in the dialog,
523 you can select a standard sound from a menu.
524 You can also select a user-supplied sound file,
525 by typing its name into the designated text-edit field first,
526 and then selecting "Above WAV File" from the menu for the event.
527 A dummy event has been provided for trying out the sounds with the
528 "play" button next to it.
529 The directory with standard sounds, and the external program for playing
530 the sounds can be specified too, but normally you would not touch these
531 once XBoard is properly installed.
532 When a move sound other than 'None' is selected,
533 XBoard alerts you by playing that sound
534 after each of your opponent's moves (or after every
535 move if you are observing a game on the Internet Chess Server).
536 The sound is not played after moves you make or moves read from a
539 <h4 class="subsection">3.7.11 Save Settings Now</h4>
541 <p><a name="index-Save-Settings-Now_002c-Menu-Item-180"></a>Selecting this menu item causes the current XBoard settings to be
542 written to the settings file, so they will also apply in future sessions.
543 Note that some settings are 'volatile', and are not saved,
544 because XBoard considers it too unlikely that you want those to apply
546 In particular this applies to the Chess program names, and all options
547 giving information on those Chess programs (such as their directory,
548 if they have their own opening book, if they are UCI or native XBoard),
549 or the variant you are playing.
550 Such options would still be understood when they appear in the settings
551 file in case they were put there with the aid of a text editor, but they
552 would disappear from the file as soon as you save the settings.
554 <p>Note that XBoard no longer pays attention to options values specified
555 in the .Xresources file.
556 (Specifying key bindings there will still work, though.)
557 To alter the default of volatile options, you can use the following method:
558 Rename your ~/.xboardrc settings file (to ~/.yboardrc, say), and create
559 a new file ~/.xboardrc, which only contains the options
561 <pre class="example"> -settingsFile ~/.yboardrc
562 -saveSettingsFile ~/.yboardrc
564 <p class="noindent">This will cause your settings to be saved on ~/.yboardrc in the future,
565 so that ~/.xboardrc is no longer overwritten.
566 You can then safely specify volatile options in ~/.xboardrc, either
567 before or after the settingsFile options.
568 Note that when you specify persistent options after the settingsFile options
569 in ~/.xboardrc, you will essentially turn them into volatile options
570 with the specified value as default, because that value will overrule
571 the value loaded from the settings file (being read later).
573 <h4 class="subsection">3.7.12 Save Settings on Exit</h4>
575 <p><a name="index-Save-Settings-on-Exit_002c-Menu-Item-181"></a>Setting this option has no immediate effect, but causes the settings
576 to be saved when you quit XBoard. What happens then is otherwise
577 identical to what happens when you use select "Save Settings Now",
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