2.4 Step Menu

Backward

Steps backward through a series of remembered moves. The ‘[<]’ button and the b key are equivalents, as is turning the mouse wheel towards you. In addition, pressing the Control key steps back one move, and releasing it steps forward again.

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 a chess engine, playing or observing a game on an ICS, or loading a game. If you select ‘Backward’ in any of these situations, 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 an ICS game, the behavior of ‘Backward’ depends on whether XBoard is in Pause mode. If Pause mode is off, ‘Backward’ issues the ICS backward 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, as is turning the mouse wheel away from you.

If you are examining an ICS game, the behavior of Forward depends on whether XBoard is in Pause mode. If Pause mode is off, ‘Forward’ issues the ICS forward 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 a local chess engine, playing or observing a game on a chess server, or loading a game. If you select ‘Back to Start’ in any of these situations, you will not be allowed to make different moves. Use ‘Retract Move’ or ‘Edit Game’ if you want to change past moves; or use Reset to start a new game.

If you are examining an ICS game, the behavior of ‘Back to Start’ depends on whether XBoard is in Pause mode. If Pause mode is off, ‘Back to Start’ issues the ICS ‘backward 999999’ 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 an ICS game, the behavior of ‘Forward to End’ depends on whether XBoard is in Pause mode. If Pause mode is off, ‘Forward to End’ issues the ICS ‘forward 999999’ command, which moves everyone's view of the game forward to the end of 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 an ICS game and Pause mode is off, issues the ICS command ‘revert’.

Truncate Game

Discards all remembered moves of the game beyond the current position. Puts XBoard into ‘Edit Game’ mode if it was not there already.

Move Now

Forces the chess engine to move immediately. Chess engine mode only.

Retract Move

Retracts your last move. In chess engine mode, you can do this only after the chess engine has replied to your move; if the chess engine is still thinking, use ‘Move Now’ first. In ICS mode, ‘Retract Move’ issues the command ‘takeback 1’ or ‘takeback 2’ depending on whether it is your opponent's move or yours.