@menu
* Major modes:: The main things XBoard can do.
+* Basic operation:: Mouse and keyboard functions.
* Menus:: Menus, buttons, and keys.
* Options:: Command options supported by XBoard.
* Chess Servers:: Using XBoard with an Internet Chess Server (ICS).
instructions.
@end table
-@node Menus
-@chapter Menus, buttons, and keys
-@cindex Menus
+@node Basic operation
+@chapter Basic operation
+@cindex Basic operation
To move a piece, you can drag it with the left mouse button, or you
can click the left mouse button once on the piece, then once more on
-the destination square. To drop a new piece on a square (when
-applicable), press the middle or the right mouse button over the
-square and select from the pop-up menu. In cases where you can drop
-either a white or black piece, use the middle button (or shift+right)
-for white and the right button (or shift+middle) for black. When you
-are playing a bughouse game on an Internet Chess Server, a list of the
-off-board pieces that each player has available is shown in the window
-title after the player's name; in addition, the piece menus show the
-number of pieces available of each type. From version 4.3.14 on, it is
-also possible in crazyhouse, bughouse or shogi to drag and drop pieces
-to the board from the holdings squares displayed next to the board.
-This latter method for dropping pieces during a game is preferred,
-and the piece-drop menu is now deprecated (except for editing a position).
-Although the old behavior can still be selected through a command-line
-option, the default function of the right mouse button is to display
-the position the chess program thinks it will end up in,
-while moving the mouse vertically with this button pressed will step
-through the principal variation to show how this position will be
-reached.
-Lines of play displayed in the engine-output window an similarly
+the destination square. In crazyhouse, bughouse or shogi you can
+drag and drop pieces to the board from the holdings squares
+displayed next to the board.
+Old behavior, where right-clicking a square brings up a menu
+where you can select what piece to drop on it can still be
+selected through a command-line option.
+But only in Edit Position mode right clicking a square is still used to
+put a piece on it, and the piece to drop is selected by sweeping
+the mouse vertically with the button held down.
+
+The default function of the right mouse button in other modes is
+to display the position the chess program thinks it will end up in.
+While moving the mouse vertically with this button pressed
+XBoard will step through the principal variation to show how
+this position will be reached.
+Lines of play displayed in the engine-output window,
+or PGN variations in the comment window can similarly
be played out on the board, by right-clicking on them.
When connected to an ICS, it is possible to call up a graphical
Iconize in @ref{Keys} below if you have problems getting this
feature to work.
+@node Menus
+@chapter Menus, buttons, and keys
+@cindex Menus
+
@menu
* File Menu:: Accessing external games and positions.
* Edit Menu:: Altering games, positions, PGN tags or comments.
be able to play the selected variant, or the command will be ignored.
XBoard supports all major variants, such as xiangqi, shogi, chess, chess960,
Capablanca Chess, shatranj, crazyhouse, bughouse.
-(But not every board size has built-in bitmaps for un-orthodox pieces!)
+But not every board size has built-in bitmaps for un-orthodox pieces!
+Only sizes bulky (72) and middling (49) have all pieces,
+while size petite (33) has most.
+These sizes would have to be set at startup through the @code{size}
+command-line option when you start up XBoard for such variants to be playable.
+
+You can overrule the default board format of the selected variant,
+(e.g. to play suicide chess on a 6 x 6 board),
+in this dialog, but normally you would not do that,
+and leave them at '-1', which means 'default'.
@item Load Game
@cindex Load Game, Menu Item
Plays a game from a record file. The @kbd{Ctrl-O} key is a keyboard equivalent.
so you can step through it.
You can later revert to the previous line with the @samp{Revert} command.
This way you can walk quite complex varation trees with XBoard.
-(The XBoard PGN parser is currenty limited to three nested levels of variations
-on top of the main game, however.)
The nonstandard PGN tag [Variant "varname"] functions similarly to
the -variant command-line option (see below), allowing games in certain chess
variants to be loaded.
after the file name, separated by a space. Position files must
be in FEN (Forsythe-Edwards notation), or in the format that the
Save Position command writes when oldSaveStyle is turned on.
+@item Load Next Position
+@cindex Load Next Position, Menu Item
+Loads the next position from the last position file you loaded.
+The shifted @kbd{PgDn} key is a keyboard equivalent.
+@item Load Previous Position
+@cindex Load Previous Position, Menu Item
+Loads the previous position from the last position file you
+loaded. The shifted @kbd{PgUp} key is a keyboard equivalent.
+Not available if the last position was loaded from a pipe.
@item Save Game
@cindex Save Game, Menu Item
Appends a record of the current game to a file.
XBoard) using that application's paste command. In many X
applications, such as xterm and emacs, the middle mouse button can be
used for pasting; in XBoard, you must use the Paste Position command.
+@item Copy Game List
+@cindex Copy Game List, Menu Item
+Copies the current game list to the clipboard,
+and sets the X selection to this text.
+A format of comma-separated double-quoted strings is used,
+including all tags,
+so it can be easily imported into spread-sheet programs.
@item Paste Game
@cindex Paste Game, Menu Item
Interprets the current X selection as a game record and loads it, as
Use mouse button 1 to drag pieces to new squares, or to delete a piece
by dragging it off the board or dragging 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
-clicking on the word White or Black at the top of the screen.
+square.
+This puts a white or black pawn in the square, respectively,
+but you can change that to any other piece type by dragging the
+mouse down before you release the button.
+You will then see the piece on the originally clicked square
+cycle through the available pieces
+(including those of opposite color),
+and can release the button when you see the piece you want.
+To alter the side to move, you can click the clock
+(the words White and Black above the board)
+of the side you want to give the move to.
+To clear the board you can click the clock of the side that
+alread has the move (which is highlighted in black).
+The old behavior with a piece menu can still be configured
+with the aid of the @code{pieceMenu} option.
Selecting @samp{Edit Position} causes XBoard to discard
all remembered moves in the current game.
@itemx Annotate
@cindex Revert, Menu Item
@cindex Annotate, Menu Item
-If you are examining an ICS game and Pause mode is off, issues
-the ICS command @samp{revert}.
+If you are examining an ICS game and Pause mode is off,
+Revert issues the ICS command @samp{revert}.
In local mode, when you were editing or analyzing a game,
-and have been entering a number of moves by hand, starting from
-a position not at the end of the game,
-the revert command restores the game to the variation you started from.
+and the @code{-variations} command-line option is switched on,
+you can start a new variation by holding the Shift key down while
+entering a move not at the end of the game.
+Variations can also become the currently displayed line by
+clicking a PGN variation displayed in the Comment window.
This can be applied recursively,
so that you can analyze variations on variations;
-each time you create a new variation by entering an alternative move,
+each time you create a new variation by entering an alternative move
+with Shift pressed, or select a new one from the Comment window,
the current variation will be shelved.
-Revert allows you to return to the most recently shelved variation.
-The difference between Revert and Annotate is that with the latter,
-the variation you had been entering and are now abandoning
-is currently added as a comment
+@samp{Revert} allows you to return to the most recently shelved variation.
+The difference between @samp{Revert} and @samp{Annotate}
+is that with the latter,
+the variation you are now abandoning will be added as a comment
(in PGN variation syntax, i.e. between parentheses)
-to the original move where you deviated.
-Note that such 'variation comments' can be played out on the board again
-(also when they were loaded from file)
-by clicking them in the comment window.
-The @kbd{Home} key is a keyboard equivalent.
+to the original move where you deviated, for later recalling.
+The @kbd{Home} key is a keyboard equivalent to @samp{Revert}.
@item Truncate Game
@cindex Truncate Game, Menu Item
Discards all remembered moves of the game beyond the current
@cindex Show Evaluation Graph, Menu Item
Shows or hides a window which displays a graph of how the engine score(s)
evolved as a function of the move number.
-The shifted @kbd{Alt+G} key is a keyboard equivalent.
+The shifted @kbd{Alt+E} key is a keyboard equivalent.
Clicking on the graph will bring
the corresponding position in the board display.
@item Show Game List
@cindex Show Game List, Menu Item
Shows or hides the list of games generated by the last @samp{Load Game}
-command. The shifted @kbd{Alt+L} key is a keyboard equivalent.
+command. The shifted @kbd{Alt+G} key is a keyboard equivalent.
@item Tags
@cindex Tags, Menu Item
Pops up a window which shows the PGN (portable game notation)
The input box is especially useful if you want to type in something long or do
some editing on your input, because output from ICS doesn't get mixed
in with your typing as it would in the main terminal window.
+@item Board
+@cindex Board, Menu Item
+Summons a dialog where you can customaize the look of the chess board.
+Here you can specify the directory from which piece images should be taken,
+when you don't want to use the built-in piece images
+(see @code{pixmapDirectory} and @code{bitmapDirectory} options),
+an external pixmap to be used for the board squares
+(@code{liteBackTextureFile} and @code{darkBackTextureFile} options),
+and square and piece colors for the built-ins.
+@item Game List Tags
+@cindex Game List Tags, Menu Item
+a duplicate of the Game List dialog in the Options menu.
@end table
@node Mode Menu
do so in @kbd{bsetup} mode on FICS. In addition, the menu commands
@samp{Forward}, @samp{Backward}, @samp{Pause}, and @samp{Stop Examining}
have special functions in this mode; see below.
+@item Machine Match
+@cindex Machine match, Menu Item
+Starts a match between two chess programs,
+with a number of games and other parameters set through
+the @samp{Match Options} menu dialog.
@item Pause
@cindex Pause, Menu Item
Pauses updates to the board, and if you are playing against a chess engine,
to run UCI engines under XBoard. The feature that allows setting of these parameters on
engines is new since XBoard 4.3.15, so not many XBoard/WinBoard engines respond
to it yet, but UCI engines should.
+
It is also possible to specify a GUI opening book here, i.e. an opening
book that XBoard consults for any position a playing engine gets in.
It then forces the engine to play the book move, rather than to think up its own,
if that position is found in the book.
The book can switched on and off independently for either engine.
+The way book moves are chosen can be influenced through the settings of
+book depth and variety.
+After both sides have played more moves than the specified depth,
+the book will no longer be consulted.
+When the variety is set to 50, moves will be played with the probability
+specified in the book.
+When set to 0, only the move(s) with the highest probability will be played.
+When set to 100, all listed moves will be played with equal pobability.
+Other settings interpolate between that.
The shifted @kbd{Alt+U} key is a keyboard equivalent.
@item Adjudications
@cindex Adjudications, Menu Item
For the latter adjudication to work, XBoard should be able to properly understand
the engine's scores. To facilitate the latter, you can inform xboard here if
the engines report scores from the viewpoint of white, or from that of their own color.
+@item Match Game Options
+@cindex Match Game Options, Menu Item
+Summons a dialog where you can set options important for playing automatic
+matches between two chess programs
+(e.g. by using the @samp{Machine Match} menu item in the @samp{Mode} menu).
+You can specify the number of games such a match should last,
+and the duration of the pause between games
+(important for some older engines to not have the last move of a previous
+game be given when the next game has already started).
+You can also specify a file with opening lines, or a file with initial positions
+(the @code{loadGameFile} and @code{loadPositionFile} options),
+and the number of the game or position to use from these files.
+Values -1 and -2 of this 'index' convey a special meaning,
+namely that XBoard should automatically step through all lines or positions
+in these files.
+With -1 such stepping is done every game; with -2 every two games,
+so that each line or position is played with both colors before stepping
+to the next one.
+You can have XBoard automatically rewind to the first line or position
+in the file after the index reaches a certain vaue,
+which you can also specify here.
+@item Load Game Options
+@cindex Load Game Options, Menu Item
+Summons a dialog where you can set the @code{autoDisplayComment} and
+@code{autoDisplayTags} options, (which control popups when viewing loaded games),
+and specify the rate at which loaded games are auto-played,
+in seconds per move (which can be a fractional number, like 1.6).
+@item Save Game Options
+@cindex ave Game Options, Menu Item
+Summons a dialog where you can specify the files on which XBoard should
+automtically save any played or entered games,
+(the @code{saveGameFile} option),
+or the final position of such games (the @code{savePositionfile} option).
+You can also select 'auto-save' without a file name,
+in which case XBoard will prompt the user for a file name after each game.
+You can also set the default value for the PGN Event tag that will
+be used for each new game you start.
+Various options for the format of the game can be specified as well,
+such as whether scores and depths of engine games should be saved as comments,
+and if a tag with info about the score with which the engine came out of book
+should be included.
+For Chess, always set the format to PGN, rather than "old save stye"!
@item Game List
@cindex Game List Tags, Menu Item
Pops up a dialog where you can select the PGN tags that should appear
on the lines in the game list, and their order.
-@item Always Queen
-@cindex Always Queen, Menu Item
-If this option is off, XBoard brings up a dialog
+@item Sound Options
+@cindex Sound Options, Menu Item
+Summons a dialog where you can specify the sounds that should accompany
+various events that can occur XBoard.
+Most events are only relevant to ICS play,
+but the move sound is an important exception.
+For each event listed in the dialog,
+you can select a standard sound from a menu.
+You can also select a user-supplied sound file,
+by typing its name into the designated text-edit field first,
+and then selecting "Above WAV File" from the menu for the event.
+A dummy event has been provided for trying out the sounds with the
+"play" button next to it.
+The directory with standard sounds, and the external program for playing
+the sounds can be specified too, but normally you would not touch these
+once XBoard is properly installed.
+@itemx Move Sound
+@cindex Move Sound, Menu Item
+When a move sound other than 'None' is selected,
+XBoard alerts you by playing a sound
+after each of your opponent's moves (or after every
+move if you are observing a game on the Internet Chess Server).
+The sound is not played after moves you make or moves read from a
+saved game file.
+If you turn on this option when using XBoard with the Internet
+Chess Server, you will probably want to give the
+@kbd{set bell 0}
+command to the ICS, since otherwise the ICS will ring the terminal bell
+after every move (not just yours). (The @file{.icsrc} file
+is a good place for this; see @ref{ICS options}.)
+@item General Options
+@cindex General Options, Menu Item
+The following items to set option values appear in the dialog
+summoned by the general Options menu item.
+@itemx Almost Always Queen
+@cindex Almost Always Queen, Menu Item
+If this option is on, 7th-rank pawns automatically change into
+Queens when you pick them up,
+and when you drag them to the promotion square and release them there,
+they will promote to that.
+But when you drag such a pawn backwards first,
+its identity will start to cycle through the other available pieces.
+This will continue ntil you start to move it forward;
+this will then fix the identity of the piece,
+so that you can safely put it down on the promotion square.
+If this option is off, what happens depends on the
+option @code{alwaysPromoteToQueen},
+which would force promotion to Queen when true.
+Otherwise XBoard would bring 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 promoted to queens. Your opponent can still under-promote.
-The shifted @kbd{Ctrl-Q} key is a keyboard equivalent.
-@item Animate Dragging
+you want to promote to.
+@itemx Animate Dragging
@cindex Animate Dragging, Menu Item
If Animate Dragging is on, while you are dragging a piece with the
mouse, an image of the piece follows the mouse cursor.
If Animate Dragging is off, there is no visual feedback while you are
dragging a piece, but if Animate Moving is on, the move will be
animated when it is complete.
-@item Animate Moving
+@itemx Animate Moving
@cindex Animate Moving, Menu Item
If Animate Moving is on, all piece moves are animated. An image of the
piece is shown moving from the old square to the new square when the
If Animate Moving is off, a moved piece instantly disappears from its
old square and reappears on its new square when the move is complete.
The shifted @kbd{Ctrl-A} key is a keyboard equivalent.
-@item Auto Comment
-@cindex Auto Comment, Menu Item
-If this option is on, any remarks made on ICS while you are observing or
-playing a game are recorded as a comment on the current move. This includes
-remarks made with the ICS commands @kbd{say}, @kbd{tell}, @kbd{whisper},
-and @kbd{kibitz}.
-Limitation: remarks that you type yourself are not recognized;
-XBoard scans only the output from ICS, not the input you type to it.
-@item Auto Flag
+@itemx Auto Flag
@cindex Auto Flag, Menu Item
If this option is on and one player runs out of time
before the other,
insufficient mating material. In local chess engine mode,
XBoard
may call either player's flag and will not take material into account (?).
-@item Auto Flip View
+@itemx Auto Flip View
@cindex Auto Flip View, Menu Item
If the Auto Flip View option is on when you start a game, the board
will be automatically oriented so that your pawns move from the bottom
of the window towards the top.
-@item Auto Observe
-@cindex Auto Observe, Menu Item
-If this option is on and you add a player to your @code{gnotify}
-list on ICS, XBoard will automatically observe all of that
-player's games, unless you are doing something else (such as
-observing or playing a game of your own) when one starts.
-The games are displayed
-from the point of view of the player on your gnotify list; that is, his
-pawns move from the bottom of the window towards the top.
-Exceptions: If both players in a game are on your gnotify list, if
-your ICS
-@code{highlight}
-variable is set to 0, or if the ICS you are using does not
-properly support observing from Black's point of view,
-you will see the game from White's point of view.
-@item Auto Raise Board
-@cindex Auto Raise Board, Menu Item
-If this option is on, whenever a new game begins, the chessboard window
-is deiconized (if necessary) and raised to the top of the stack of windows.
-@item Auto Save
-@cindex Auto Save, Menu Item
-If this option is true, at the end of every game XBoard prompts
-you for a file name and appends a record of the game to the file
-you specify.
-Disabled if the @code{saveGameFile} command-line
-option is set, as in that case all games are saved to the specified file.
-@xref{Load and Save options}.
-@item Blindfold
-@cindex Blindfold, Menu Item
-If this option is on, XBoard displays the board as usual but does
-not display pieces or move highlights. You can still move in the
-usual way (with the mouse or by typing moves in ICS mode), even though
-the pieces are invisible.
-@item Flash Moves
-@cindex Flash Moves, Menu Item
-If this option is on, whenever a move is completed, the moved piece flashes.
-The number of times to flash is set by the flashCount command-line
-option; it defaults to 3 if Flash Moves is first turned on from the menu.
If you are playing a game on an ICS, the board is always
oriented at the start of the game so that your pawns move from
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. @xref{User interface options}.
-@item Get Move List
-@cindex Get Move List, Menu Item
-If this option is on, whenever XBoard
-receives the first board of a new ICS game (or a different game from
-the one it is currently displaying), it
-retrieves the list of past moves from the ICS.
-You can then review the moves with the @samp{Forward} and @samp{Backward}
-commands
-or save them with @samp{Save Game}. You might want to
-turn off this option if you are observing several blitz games at once,
-to keep from wasting time and network bandwidth fetching the move lists over
-and over.
-When you turn this option on from the menu, XBoard
-immediately fetches the move list of the current game (if any).
-@item Highlight Dragging
+@itemx Blindfold
+@cindex Blindfold, Menu Item
+If this option is on, XBoard displays the board as usual but does
+not display pieces or move highlights. You can still move in the
+usual way (with the mouse or by typing moves in ICS mode), even though
+the pieces are invisible.
+@itemx Drop Menu
+@cindex Drop Menu, Menu Item
+Controls if right-clicking the board in crazyhouse / bughouse
+will pop up a menu to drop a piece on the clicked square
+(old, deprecated behavior)
+or allow you to step through an engine PV
+(new, recommended behavior).
+@itemx Highlight Dragging
@cindex Highlight Dragging, Menu Item
If Highlight Dragging is on, and the option -showTargetSquares is also on
in the settings file, all squares a piece that is 'picked up' with the mouse
can legally move to are highighted with a fat colored dot in the
highlightColor (non-captures) or premoveHighlightColor (captures).
Legality testing must be on for XBoard to know how the piece moves.
-@item Highlight Last Move
+@itemx Highlight Last Move
@cindex Highlight Last Move, Menu Item
If Highlight Last Move is on, after a move is made, the starting and
ending squares remain highlighted. In addition, after you use Backward
or Back to Start, the starting and ending squares of the last move to
be unmade are highlighted.
-@item Move Sound
-@cindex Move Sound, Menu Item
-If this option is on, XBoard alerts you by playing a sound
-after each of your opponent's moves (or after every
-move if you are observing a game on the Internet Chess Server).
-The sound is not played after moves you make or moves read from a
-saved game file. By default, the
-sound is the terminal bell, but on some systems you can change it
-to a sound file using the soundMove option; see below.
-
-If you turn on this option when using XBoard with the Internet
-Chess Server, you will probably want to give the
-@kbd{set bell 0}
-command to the ICS, since otherwise the ICS will ring the terminal bell
-after every move (not just yours). (The @file{.icsrc} file
-is a good place for this; see @ref{ICS options}.)
-@item ICS Alarm
-@cindex ICS Alarm, Menu Item
-When this option is on, an alarm sound is played when your clock
-counts down to the icsAlarmTime (by default, 5 seconds) in an ICS
-game. For games with time controls that include an increment, the
-alarm will sound each time the clock counts down to the icsAlarmTime.
-By default, the alarm sound is the terminal bell, but on some systems
-you can change it to a sound file using the soundIcsAlarm option; see
-below.
-@item Old Save Style
-@cindex Old Save Style, Menu Item
-If this option is off, XBoard saves games in PGN
-(portable game notation) and positions in FEN (Forsythe-Edwards
-notation). If the option is on, a save style that is compatible
-with older versions of XBoard is used instead.
-The old position style is more human-readable
-than FEN; the old game style has no particular advantages.
-@item Periodic Updates
+@itemx Highlight with Arrow
+@cindex Highlight with Arrow, Menu Item
+Causes the highlighting described in Highlight Last Move to be done
+by drawing an arrow between the highlighted squares,
+so that it is visible even when the width of the grid lines is set to zero.
+@itemx One-Click Moving
+@cindex One-Click Moving, Menu Item
+If this option is on, XBoard does not wait for you to click both the
+from- and the to-square, or drag the piece, but performs a move as soon
+as it is uniqely specified.
+This applies to clicking an own piece that only has a single legal move,
+clicking an empty square or opponent piece where only one of your pieces
+can move (or capture) to.
+Furthermore, a double-click on a piece that can only make a single capture
+will cause that capture to be made.
+Promoting a Pawn by clicking its to-square will suppress the promotion
+popup or other methods for selecting an under-promotion,
+and make it promote to Queen.
+@itemx Periodic Updates
@cindex Periodic Updates, Menu Item
If this option is off (or if
you are using a chess engine that does not support periodic updates),
the analysis window
will only be updated when the analysis changes. If this option is
on, the Analysis Window will be updated every two seconds.
-@item Ponder Next Move
+@itemx Ponder Next Move
@cindex Ponder Next Move, Menu Item
If this option is off, the chess engine will think only when it is on
move. If the option is on, the engine will also think while waiting
for you to make your move.
The shifted @kbd{Ctrl-P} key is a keyboard equivalent.
-@item Popup Exit Message
+@itemx Popup Exit Message
@cindex Popup Exit Message, Menu Item
If this option is on, when XBoard wants to display a message just
before exiting, it brings up a modal dialog box and waits for you to
click OK before exiting. If the option is off, XBoard prints the
message to standard error (the terminal) and exits immediately.
-@item Popup Move Errors
+@itemx Popup Move Errors
@cindex Popup Move Errors, Menu Item
If this option is off, when you make an error in moving (such as
attempting an illegal move or moving the wrong color piece), the
on, move errors are displayed in small pop-up windows like other errors.
You can dismiss an error pop-up either by clicking its OK button or by
clicking anywhere on the board, including down-clicking to start a move.
-@item Premove
-@cindex Premove, Menu Item
-If this option is on while playing a game on an ICS, you can register
-your next planned move before it is your turn. Move the piece with
-the mouse in the ordinary way, and the starting and ending squares
-will be highlighted with a special color (red by default). When it is
-your turn, if your registered move is legal, XBoard will send it to
-ICS immediately; if not, it will be ignored and you can make a
-different move. If you change your mind about your premove, either
-make a different move, or double-click on any piece to cancel the move
-entirely.
-@item Quiet Play
-@cindex Quiet Play, Menu Item
-If this option is on, XBoard will automatically issue an ICS
-@kbd{set shout 0}
-command whenever you start a game and a
-@kbd{set shout 1}
-command whenever you finish one. Thus, you will not be distracted
-by shouts from other ICS users while playing.
-@item Show Coords
+@itemx Show Coords
@cindex Show Coords, Menu Item
If this option is on, XBoard displays algebraic coordinates
along the board's left and bottom edges.
-@item Hide Thinking
+@itemx Hide Thinking
@cindex Hide Thinking, Menu Item
If this option is off, the chess engine's notion of the score and best
line of play from the current position is displayed as it is
whether it is showing White's thinking or Black's, and only the thinking
of the engine that is on move is shown.
The shifted @kbd{Ctrl-H} key is a keyboard equivalent.
-@item Test Legality
+@itemx Test Legality
@cindex Test Legality, Menu Item
If this option is on, XBoard tests whether the moves you try to make
with the mouse are legal and refuses to let you make an illegal move.
rules that XBoard does not understand. (Bughouse, suicide, and wild
variants where the king may castle after starting on the d file are
generally supported with Test Legality on.)
+@itemx Flash Moves
+@itemx Flash Rate
+@cindex Flash Moves, Menu Item
+@cindex Flash Rate, Menu Item
+If this option is non-zero, whenever a move is completed,
+the moved piece flashes the specified number of times.
+The flash-rate setting determines how rapidly this flashing occurs.
+@itemx Animation Speed
+@cindex Animation Speed, Menu Item
+Determines the duration (in msec) of an animation step,
+when @samp{Animate Moving} is swiched on.
+
+@item ICS Options
+@cindex ICS Options, Menu Item
+The following options occur in a dialog summoned by the
+ICS Options menu item.
+@itemx Auto Kibitz
+@cindex Auto Kibitz, Menu Item
+Setting this option when playingwith or aginst a chess program on an ICS
+will cause the last line of thinking output of the engine before its move
+to be sent to the ICS in a kibitz command.
+In addition, any kibitz message received through the ICS from
+an opponent chess program will be diverted to the engine-output window,
+(and suppressed in the console),
+where you can play through its PV by right-clicking it.
+@itemx Auto Comment
+@cindex Auto Comment, Menu Item
+If this option is on, any remarks made on ICS while you are observing or
+playing a game are recorded as a comment on the current move. This includes
+remarks made with the ICS commands @kbd{say}, @kbd{tell}, @kbd{whisper},
+and @kbd{kibitz}.
+Limitation: remarks that you type yourself are not recognized;
+XBoard scans only the output from ICS, not the input you type to it.
+@itemx Auto Observe
+@cindex Auto Observe, Menu Item
+If this option is on and you add a player to your @code{gnotify}
+list on ICS, XBoard will automatically observe all of that
+player's games, unless you are doing something else (such as
+observing or playing a game of your own) when one starts.
+The games are displayed
+from the point of view of the player on your gnotify list; that is, his
+pawns move from the bottom of the window towards the top.
+Exceptions: If both players in a game are on your gnotify list, if
+your ICS
+@code{highlight}
+variable is set to 0, or if the ICS you are using does not
+properly support observing from Black's point of view,
+you will see the game from White's point of view.
+@itemx Auto Raise Board
+@cindex Auto Raise Board, Menu Item
+If this option is on, whenever a new game begins, the chessboard window
+is deiconized (if necessary) and raised to the top of the stack of windows.
+@itemx Auto Save
+@cindex Auto Save, Menu Item
+If this option is true, at the end of every game XBoard prompts
+you for a file name and appends a record of the game to the file
+you specify.
+Disabled if the @code{saveGameFile} command-line
+option is set, as in that case all games are saved to the specified file.
+@xref{Load and Save options}.
+@itemx Background Observe
+@cindex Background Observe, Menu Item
+Setting this option will make XBoard suppress display of any boards
+from observed games while you are playing.
+In stead the last such board will be remembered,
+and shown to you when you right-click the board.
+This allows you to peek at your bughouse partner's game when you want,
+without disturbing your own game too much.
+@itemx Dual Board
+@cindex Dual Board, Menu Item
+Setting this option in combination with @samp{Background Observe}
+will display boards of observed games while you are playing
+on a second board next to that of your own game.
+@itemx Get Move List
+@cindex Get Move List, Menu Item
+If this option is on, whenever XBoard
+receives the first board of a new ICS game (or a different game from
+the one it is currently displaying), it
+retrieves the list of past moves from the ICS.
+You can then review the moves with the @samp{Forward} and @samp{Backward}
+commands
+or save them with @samp{Save Game}. You might want to
+turn off this option if you are observing several blitz games at once,
+to keep from wasting time and network bandwidth fetching the move lists over
+and over.
+When you turn this option on from the menu, XBoard
+immediately fetches the move list of the current game (if any).
+@itemx Quiet Play
+@cindex Quiet Play, Menu Item
+If this option is on, XBoard will automatically issue an ICS
+@kbd{set shout 0}
+command whenever you start a game and a
+@kbd{set shout 1}
+command whenever you finish one. Thus, you will not be distracted
+by shouts from other ICS users while playing.
+@itemx Seek Graph
+@cindex Seek Graph, Menu Item
+Setting this option will cause XBoard to display an graph of
+currently active seek ads when you left-click the board
+while idle and logged on to an ICS.
+@itemx Auto-Refresh Seek Graph
+@cindex Auto-Refresh Seek Graph, Menu Item
+In combination with the @samp{Seek Graph} option this
+will cause automatic update of the seek graph while it is up.
+This only works on FICS and ICS,
+and requires a lot of bandwidth on a busy server.
+@itemx Premove
+@itemx Premove White
+@itemx Premove Black
+@itemx First White Move
+@itemx First Black Move
+@cindex Premove, Menu Item
+@cindex Premove White, Menu Item
+@cindex Premove Black, Menu Item
+@cindex First White Move, Menu Item
+@cindex First Black Move, Menu Item
+If this option is on while playing a game on an ICS, you can register
+your next planned move before it is your turn. Move the piece with
+the mouse in the ordinary way, and the starting and ending squares
+will be highlighted with a special color (red by default). When it is
+your turn, if your registered move is legal, XBoard will send it to
+ICS immediately; if not, it will be ignored and you can make a
+different move. If you change your mind about your premove, either
+make a different move, or double-click on any piece to cancel the move
+entirely.
+
+You can also enter premoves for the first white and black moves
+of the game.
+@itemx ICS Alarm
+@itemx ICS Alarm Time
+@cindex ICS Alarm, Menu Item
+@cindex ICS Alarm Time, Menu Item
+When this option is on, an alarm sound is played when your clock
+counts down to the icsAlarmTime in an ICS game.
+(By default, the time is 5 seconds, but you can pecify other values
+with the Alarm Time spin control.)
+For games with time controls that include an increment, the
+alarm will sound each time the clock counts down to the icsAlarmTime.
+By default, the alarm sound is the terminal bell, but on some systems
+you can change it to a sound file using the soundIcsAlarm option; see
+below.
+@itemx Colorize Messages
+@cindex Colorize Messages, Menu Item
+Ticking this options causes various types of ICS messages do be
+displayed with different foreground or background colors in the console.
+The colors can be individually selected for each type,
+through the accompanying text edits.
+
@item Save Settings Now
@cindex Save Settings Now, Menu Item
Selecting this menu item causes the current XBoard settings to be
@cindex Reload Same Game, Menu Item
Reloads the last game you loaded.
Not available if the last game was loaded from a pipe.
-@item Load Next Position
-@cindex Load Next Position, Menu Item
-Loads the next position from the last position file you loaded.
-The shifted @kbd{Alt+PgDn} key is a keyboard equivalent.
-@item Load Previous Position
-@cindex Load Previous Position, Menu Item
-Loads the previous position from the last position file you
-loaded. The shifted @kbd{Alt+PgUp} key is a keyboard equivalent.
-Not available if the last position was loaded from a pipe.
@item Reload Same Position
@cindex Reload Same Position, Menu Item
Reloads the last position you loaded.
and should be run with the aid of the Polyglot adapter rather than directly.
Xboard will then pass the other UCI options and engine name to Polyglot
through a .ini temporary file created for the purpose.
-@item -PolyglotDir filename
-@cindex PolyglotDir, option
-Gives the name of the directory in which the Polyglot adapter for UCI engines expects its files.
-Default: "/usr/local/share/polyglot".
+@item -polyglotDir filename
+@cindex polyglotDir, option
+Gives the name of the directory in which the Polyglot adapter for UCI engines resides.
+Default: "".
@item -usePolyglotBook true/false
@cindex usePolyglotBook, option
Specifies if the Polyglot book should be used.
-@item -PolyglotBook filename
-@cindex PolyglotBook, option
+@item -polyglotBook filename
+@cindex polyglotBook, option
Gives the filename of the opening book that Polyglot should use.
From XBoard 4.3.15 on, native XBoard/WinBoard engines will also use the opening book specified here,
provided the @code{usePolyglotBook} option is set to true,
and the option @code{firstHasOwnBookUCI} or @code{secondHasOwnBookUCI} applying to the engine
is set to false.
The engine will be kept in force mode as long as the current position is in book,
-and XBoard will select the book moves for it. Default "".
+and XBoard will select the book moves for it. Default: "".
@item -fNoOwnBookUCI or -firstXBook or -firstHasOwnBookUCI true/false
@itemx -sNoOwnBookUCI or -secondXBook or -secondHasOwnBookUCI true/false
@cindex fNoOwnBookUCI, option
is possible.
Double-clicking a piece (or clicking an already selected piece)
will instruct that piece to make the only capture it can legally do.
-Defaut: false.
+Default: false.
@item -moves/-xmoves or -getMoveList true/false
@cindex moves, option
@cindex getMoveList, option
bell by sending a ^G character to standard output, instead of playing
a sound file. If an option is set to the empty string "", no sound is
played for that event.
+@item -soundDirectory directoryname
+@cindex soundDirectory, option
+@cindex Sounds
+This option specifies where XBoard will look for sound files,
+when these are not given as an absolute path name.
@item -soundShout filename
@itemx -soundSShout filename
@itemx -soundChannel filename
where the right mouse button brings up the (now deprecated) drop menu
rather than displaying the position at the end of the principal variation.
Default: False.
+@item -pieceMenu true|false
+@cindex pieceMenu, option
+This option allows you to emulate old behavior,
+where the right mouse button brings up the (now deprecated) piece menu
+in Edit Position mode.
+From this menu you can select the piece to put on the square you
+clicked to bring up the menu,
+or select items such as @kbd{clear board}.
+You can also @kbd{promote} or @kbd{demote} a clicked piece to convert
+it into an unorthodox piece that is not directly in the menu,
+or give the move to @kbd{black} or @kbd{white}.
+@item -variations true|false
+@cindex variations, option
+When this option is on, you can start new variations in Edit Game or
+Analyze mode by holding the Shift key down while entering a move.
+When it is off, the Shift key will be ignored.
+Default: False.
@end table
@node Load and Save options
@cindex queen, option
@cindex alwaysPromoteToQueen, option
Sets the Always Queen menu option. @xref{Options Menu}. Default: false.
+@item -sweepPromotions true/false
+@cindex sweepPromotion, option
+Sets the Almost Always Promote to Queen menu option.
+@xref{Options Menu}. Default: false.
@item -legal/-xlegal or -testLegality true/false
@cindex legal, option
@cindex testLegality, option
@cindex highlight, option
@cindex highlightLastMove, option
Sets the Highlight Last Move menu option. @xref{Options Menu}. Default: false.
+@item -highlightMoveWithArrow true/false
+@cindex highlight Arrow, option
+@cindex highlightMoveWithArrow, option
+Sets the Highlight with Arrow menu option. @xref{Options Menu}. Default: false.
@item -blind/-xblind or -blindfold true/false
@cindex blind, option
@cindex blindfold, option
knightmate King moves as Knight, and vice versa
super Superchess (shuffle variant with 4 exo-pieces)
makruk Thai Chess (shatranj-like, P promotes on 6th rank)
+spartan Spartan Chess (black has unorthodox pieces)
fairy A catchall variant in which all piece types
known to XBoard can participate (8x8)
unknown Catchall for other unknown variants
You can load and edit games that contain piece drops.
The (obsolete) piece menus are not active,
but you can perform piece drops by dragging pieces from the holdings.
-Edit Position mode does not allow you to edit the crazyhouse holdings properly.
-You cannot drag pieces to the holding, and using the popup menu to put pieces
-there does not adapt the holding counts and leads to an inconsistent state.
-Set up crazyhouse positions by loading / pasting a bFEN, from there you can set the holdings.
Fischer Random castling is fully understood.
You can enter castlings by dragging the King on top of your Rook.
You can probably also play Fischer Random successfully on ICS by typing
projects / xboard.git / blobdiff