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 the @samp{Drop Menu} option.
-But only in Edit Position mode right clicking a square is still used to
+Only in Edit Position mode right and middle 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.
Similar to @samp{New Game}, but allows you to specify a particular initial position
(according to a standardized numbering system)
in chess variants which use randomized opening positions (e.g. Chess960).
-The selected opening position will persistently be chosen on any following
-New Game command until you use this menu to select another. Selecting
-position number -1 will produce a newly randomized position on any new game.
+You can also press the @samp{Pick Fixed} button to let XBoard generate
+a random number for you.
+The thus selected opening position will then persistently be chosen on any following
+New Game command until you use this menu to select another.
+Selecting position number -1 (or pushing the @samp{Randomize} button)
+will produce a newly randomized position on any new game.
Using this menu item in variants that normally do not shuffle their opening position
does cause these variants to become shuffle variants until you use the
@samp{New Shuffle Game} menu to explicitly switch the randomization off,
the positions as they occur in the observed game.
@item Analyze Game
@cindex Analyze Game, Menu Item
-This option subjects the currently loaded game to aoutomatic
+This option subjects the currently loaded game to automatic
analysis by the loaded engine.
The @kbd{Ctrl-G} key is a keyboard equivalent.
XBoard will start auto-playing the game from the currently displayed position,
issues the command @samp{takeback 1} or @samp{takeback 2}
depending on whether it is your opponent's move or yours.
The @kbd{Ctrl-X} key is a keyboard equivalent.
+@item Recently Used Engines
+@cindex Recently Used Engines, In Menu
+At the bottom of the engine menu there can be a list of names
+of engines that you recently loaded through the Load Engine menu dialog
+in previous sessions.
+Clicking on such a name will load that engine as first engine,
+so you won't have to search for it in your list of installed engines,
+if that is very long.
+The maximum number of displayed engine names is set by the
+@code{recentEngines}command-line option.
@end table
@node Options Menu
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.
-@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.
@itemx Highlight Last Move
@cindex Highlight Last Move, Menu Item
If Highlight Last Move is on, after a move is made, the starting and
along the board's left and bottom edges.
@itemx Show Target Squares
@cindex Show Target Squares, Menu Item
-This option must be on for the @samp{Highlight Dragging} described
-above to work.
+If this option is on, 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.
@itemx Test Legality
@cindex Test Legality, Menu Item
If this option is on, XBoard tests whether the moves you try to make
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
+Setting this option when playing with 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
@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,
+This only works on FICS and ICC,
and requires a lot of bandwidth on a busy server.
@itemx Premove
@itemx Premove White
where each participant plays every other participant, and (multi-)gauntlets,
where one (or a few) so-called ‘gauntlet engines’ play an independent set of opponents.
In the latter case, you specify the number of gauntlet engines.
-E.g. if you specified 10 engine, and tourney type = 2,
+E.g. if you specified 10 engines, and tourney type = 2,
the first 2 engines each play the remaining 8.
A value of -1 instructs XBoard to play Swiss; for this to work an external
pairing engine must be specified through the @code{pairingEngine} option.
@itemx Rewind Index after
@cindex Game File with Opening Lines, Menu Item
@cindex File with Start Positions, Menu Item
-@itemx Game Number, Menu Item
-@itemx Position Number, Menu Item
-@itemx Rewind Index after, Menu Item
+@cindex Game Number, Menu Item
+@cindex Position Number, Menu Item
+@cindex Rewind Index after, Menu Item
These items optionally specify the file with move sequences or board positions the tourney
games should start from.
The corresponding numbers specify the number of the game or position in the file.
but the second (even) games will select the same moves from the book as the previous game.
(Note this leads to the same opening only if both engines use the GUI book!)
Default: No game or position file will be used. The default index if such a file is used is 1.
+@itemx Disable own engine bools be default
+@cindex Disable own engine bools be default, Menu Item
+Setting this option reverses the default situation for use of the GUI opening book
+in tournaments from what it normally is, namely not using it.
+So unless the engine is installed with an option to explicitly specify it should
+not use the GUI book (i.e. @code{-firstHasOwnBookUCI true}),
+it will be made to use the GUI book.
@itemx Replace Engine
@itemx Upgrade Engine
@cindex Replace Engine, Menu Item
@cindex Upgrade Engine, Menu Item
With these two buttons you can alter the participants of an already running tournament.
-After opening the Match Options dialog on an XBoard that iw playing fo the tourney,
+After opening the Match Options dialog on an XBoard that is playing for the tourney,
you will see all the tourney parameters in the dialog fields.
You can then replace the name of one engine by that of another
by editing the @samp{participants} field.
In this latter case the engine must not be playing when you do this,
but otherwise there is no need to pause the tournament play
for making a substitution.
+@itemx Clone Tourney
+@cindex CloneTourney, Menu Item
+Pressing this button after you have specified an existing tournament file
+will copy the contents of the latter to the dialog,
+and then puts the originally proposed name for the tourney file back.
+You can then run a tourney with the same parameters
+(possibly after changing the proposed name of the tourney file for the new tourney)
+by pressing 'OK'.
@item Load Game Options
@cindex Load Game Options, Menu Item
@cindex Keys
@cindex Shortcut keys
@table @asis
+@item Show Last Move
+@cindex Show Last Move, Shortcut Key
+By hitting @kbd{Enter} the last move will be re-animated.
@item Load Next Game
@cindex Load Next Game, Menu Item
Loads the next game from the last game record file you loaded.
-The @kbd{Alt+PgDn} key is a keyboard equivalent.
+The @kbd{Alt+PgDn} key triggers this action.
@item Load Previous Game
@cindex Load Previous Game, Menu Item
Loads the previous game from the last game record file you
-loaded. The @kbd{Alt+PgUp} key is a keyboard equivalent.
+loaded. The @kbd{Alt+PgUp} key triggers this action.
Not available if the last game was loaded from a pipe.
@item Reload Same Game
@cindex Reload Same Game, Menu Item
Reloads the last game you loaded.
Not available if the last game was loaded from a pipe.
+Currently no keystroke is assigned to this ReloadGameProc.
@item Reload Same Position
@cindex Reload Same Position, Menu Item
Reloads the last position you loaded.
Not available if the last position was loaded from a pipe.
+Currently no keystroke is assigned to this ReloadPositionProc.
@end table
You can add or remove shortcut keys using the X resources
This option is effective only when the chess engine is being run
on the local host; it does not work if the engine is run remotely
using the -fh or -sh option.
-@item -initString string
+@item -initString string or -firstInitString
@itemx -secondInitString string
@cindex initString, option
+@cindex firstInitString, option
@cindex secondInitString, option
The string that is sent to initialize each chess engine for a new game.
Default:
@cindex firstXBook, option
@cindex secondXBook, option
Indicates if the mentioned engine has its own opening book it should play from,
-rather than using the external book through XBoard. Default: false.
+rather than using the external book through XBoard.
+Default: depends on setting of the option @code{discourageOwnBooks}.
+@item -discourageOwnBooks true/false
+@cindex discourageOwnBooks, option
+When set, newly loaded engines will be assumed to use the GUI book,
+unless they explicitly specify differently.
+Otherwise they will be assumed to not use the GUI book,
+unless the specify differently (e.g. with @code{firstXBook}).
+Default: false.
+@item -bookDepth n
+@cindex bookDepth, option
+Limits the use of the GUI book to the first n moves of each side.
+Default: 12.
+@item -bookVariation n
+@cindex bookVariation, option
+A value n from 0 to 100 tunes the choice of moves from the GUI books
+from totally random to best-only. Default: 50
@item -fn string or -firstPgnName string
@itemx -sn string or -secondPgnName string
@cindex firstPgnName, option
@cindex Tournament Options
@cindex Options, Tournament
@table @asis
+@item -defaultMatchGames n
+@cindex defaultMatchGames, option
+Sets the number of games that will be used for a match between two engines
+started from the menu to n. Also used as games per pairing in other tournament
+formats. Default: 10.
+@item -matchPause n
+@cindex matchPause, option
+Specifies the duration of the pause between two games of a match or tournament
+between engines as n milliseconds.
+Especially engines that do not support ping need this option,
+to prevent that the move they are thinking on when an opponent unexpectedly
+resigns will be counted for the next game, (leading to illegal moves there).
+Default: 10000.
@item -tf filename or -tourneyFile filename
@cindex tf, option
@cindex tourneyFile, option
where A and B are participant numbers (in the range 1-N).
(There should be no reply to the results command.) Default: empty string.
@item -afterGame string
+@itemx -afterTourney string
@cindex afterGame, option
+@cindex afterTourney, option
When non-empty, the given string will be executed as a system command
-after each tournament game.
+after each tournament game, orafterthe tourney completes, respectively.
This can be used, for example, to autmatically run a cross-table generator
on the PGN file where games are saved, to update the tourney standings.
Default: ""
+@item -syncAfterRound true/false
+@itemx -syncAfterCycle true/false
+@cindex syncAfterRound, option
+@cindex syncAfterCycle, option
+Controls whether different instances of XBoard concurrently running the
+same tournament will wait for each other.
+Defaults: sync after cycle, but not after round.
@item -seedBase number
@cindex seedBase, option
Used to store the seed of the pseudo-random-number generator in the
This feature is still experimental and largely unfinished.
There is no animation or highlighting of moves on the secondary board.
Default: false.
-@item -oneClickMove true/false
-@cindex oneClickMove, option
-When set, this option allows you to enter moves by only clicking the to-
-or from-square, when only a single legal move to or from that square
-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.
-Default: false.
+@item -disguisePromotedPieces true/false
+@cindex disguisePromotedPieces, option
+When set promoted Pawns in crazyhouse/bughouse are displayed identical
+to primordial pieces of the same type, rather than distinguishable.
+Default: true.
@item -moves/-xmoves or -getMoveList true/false
@cindex moves, option
@cindex getMoveList, option
@cindex pre, option
@cindex premove, option
Sets the Premove menu option. @xref{Options Menu}. Default: true.
+@item -prewhite/-xprewhite or -premoveWhite
+@itemx -preblack/-xpreblack or -premoveBlack
+@itemx -premoveWhiteText string
+@itemx -premoveBlackText string
+@cindex prewhite, option
+@cindex premoveWhite, option
+@cindex preblack, option
+@cindex premoveBlack, option
+@cindex premoveWhiteText, option
+@cindex premoveBlackText, option
+Set the menu options for specifying the first move for either color.
+@xref{Options Menu}. Defaults: false and empty strings, so no pre-moves.
@item -quiet/-xquiet or -quietPlay true/false
@cindex quiet, option
@cindex quietPlay, option
Sets the Quiet Play menu option. @xref{Options Menu}. Default: false.
-@item -colorizeMessages or -colorize
+@item -colorizeMessages or -colorize/-xcolorize
@cindex Colors
@cindex colorize, option
+@cindex colorizeMessages, option
Setting colorizeMessages
to true tells XBoard to colorize the messages received from
the ICS. Colorization works only if your xterm
supports ISO 6429 escape sequences for changing text colors.
+Default: true.
@item -colorShout foreground,background,bold
@itemx -colorSShout foreground,background,bold
+@itemx -colorCShout foreground,background,bold
@itemx -colorChannel1 foreground,background,bold
@itemx -colorChannel foreground,background,bold
@itemx -colorKibitz foreground,background,bold
@cindex Colors
@cindex colorShout, option
@cindex colorSShout, option
+@cindex colorCShout, option
@cindex colorChannel1, option
@cindex colorChannel, option
@cindex colorKibitz, option
Here is an example of how to set the colors in your @file{.Xresources} file.
The colors shown here are the default values; you will get
them if you turn @code{-colorize} on without specifying your own colors.
+CShout is synonymous with SShout.
@example
xboard*colorizeMessages: true
when these are not given as an absolute path name.
@item -soundShout filename
@itemx -soundSShout filename
+@itemx -soundCShout filename
@itemx -soundChannel filename
+@itemx -soundChannel1 filename
@itemx -soundKibitz filename
@itemx -soundTell filename
@itemx -soundChallenge filename
@itemx -soundSeek filename
@cindex soundShout, option
@cindex soundSShout, option
+@cindex soundCShout, option
@cindex soundChannel, option
+@cindex soundChannel1, option
@cindex soundKibitz, option
@cindex soundTell, option
@cindex soundChallenge, option
These sounds are triggered in the same way as the colorization events
described above. They all default to "", no sound. They are played
only if the colorizeMessages is on.
+CShout is synonymous with SShout.
@item -soundMove filename
@cindex soundMove, option
This sound is used by the Move Sound menu option. Default: "$".
in every game played to the specified file. The file name @file{-}
specifies the standard output.
@item -pgnExtendedInfo true/false
-@cindex pgnExtendedInfo, option`
+@cindex pgnExtendedInfo, option
If this option is set, XBoard saves depth, score and time used for each
move that the engine found as a comment in the PGN file.
Default: false.
@item -pgnEventHeader string
-@cindex pgnEventHeader, option`
+@cindex pgnEventHeader, option
Sets the name used in the PGN event tag to string.
Default: "Computer Chess Game".
+@item -pgnNumberTag true/false
+@cindex pgnNumberTag, option
+Include the (unique) sequence number of a tournament game into the saved
+PGN file as a 'number' tag.
+Default: false.
@item -saveOutOfBookInfo true/false
-@cindex saveOutOfBookInfo, option`
+@cindex saveOutOfBookInfo, option
Include the information on how the engine(s) game out of its opening book
in a special 'annotator' tag with the PGN file.
+Default: true.
@item -oldsave/-xoldsave or -oldSaveStyle true/false
@cindex oldsave, option
@cindex oldSaveStyle, option
a -saveSettingsFile and -settingsFile options to specify a settings file
accessible to the individual user, such as ~/.xboardrc in the user's
home directory.
+@item -saveSettingsOnExit true/false
+@cindex saveSettingsOnExit, option
+Controls saving of options on the settings file. @xref{Options Menu}.
+Default: true.
@end table
@node User interface options
@item -noGUI
@cindex noGUI, option
Suppresses all GUI functions of XBoard
-(to speed up automated ultra-fast engine-engine games, which you don\92t want to watch).
+(to speed up automated ultra-fast engine-engine games, which you don't want to watch).
There will be no board or clock updates, no printing of moves,
and no update of the icon on the task bar in this mode.
+@item -recentEngines number
+@itemx -recentEngineList list
+@cindex recentEngines, option
+@cindex recentEngineList, option
+When the number is larger than zero, it determines how many recently
+used engines will be appended at the bottom of the @samp{Engines} menu.
+The engines will be saved in your settings file as the option
+@code{recentEngineList}, by their nicknames,
+and the most recently used one will always be sorted to the top.
+If the list after that is longer than the specified number,
+the last one is discarded.
+Changes in the list will only become visible the next session,
+provided you saved the settings.
+Default: 6.
+@item -oneClickMove true/false
+@cindex oneClickMove, option
+When set, this option allows you to enter moves by only clicking the to-
+or from-square, when only a single legal move to or from that square
+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.
+Default: false.
@item -movesound/-xmovesound or -ringBellAfterMoves true/false
@cindex movesound, option
@cindex bell, option
the window layout is rearranged to make more room for the title.
If tinyLayout is 1, the labels on the menu bar are abbreviated
to one character each and the buttons in the button bar are made narrower.
+@item -overrideLineGap n
+@cindex overrideLineGap, option
+When n >= 0, this forces the width of the black border between squares
+to n pixels for any board size. Mostly used to suppress the grid
+entirely by setting n = 0, e.g. in xiangqi or just getting a prettier
+picture. When n < 0 this the size-dependent width of the grid lines
+is used. Default: -1.
@item -coords/-xcoords or -showCoords true/false
@cindex coords, option
@cindex showCoords, option
@cindex showTargetSquares, option
Determines whether XBoard can highlight the squares a piece has
legal moves to, when you grab that piece with the mouse.
-If this option is set, this feature can be controlled through
-the Highlight Dragging menu item.
+Default: false.
@item -flashCount count
@itemx -flashRate rate
@itemx -flash/-xflash
@cindex blind, option
@cindex blindfold, option
Sets the Blindfold menu option. @xref{Options Menu}. Default: false.
-@item fSAN
-@itemx sSAN
+@item -periodic/-xperiodic or -periodicUpdates true/false
+@cindex periodic, option
+@cindex periodicUpdates, option
+Controls updating of current move andnode counts in analysis mode. Default: true.
+@item -fSAN
+@itemx -sSAN
@cindex fSAN, option
@cindex sSAN, option
Causes the PV in thinking output of the mentioned engine to be converted
Warning: this might lose engine output not understood by the parser,
and uses a lot of CPU power.
Default: the PV is displayed exactly as the engine produced it.
+@item -showEvalInMoveHistory true/false
+@cindex showEvalInMoveHistory, option
+Controls whether the evaluation scores and search depth of engine moves
+are displayed with the move in the move-history window.
+Default: true.
@item -clockFont font
@cindex clockFont, option
@cindex Font, clock
@itemx -lightSquareColor color
@itemx -darkSquareColor color
@itemx -highlightSquareColor color
+@itemx -preoveHighlightColor color
@itemx -lowTimeWarningColor color
@cindex Colors
@cindex whitePieceColor, option
@cindex lightSquareColor, option
@cindex darkSquareColor, option
@cindex highlightSquareColor, option
+@cindex premoveHighlightColor, option
@cindex lowTimeWarningColor, option
Colors to use for the pieces, squares, and square highlights.
Defaults:
If this option is set to true, the Paste Position and Paste Game
options paste from the currently selected text. If false, they paste
from the clipboard. Default: false.
+@item -autoCopyPV true|false
+@cindex autoCopyPV, option
+When this option is set, the position displayed on the board when
+you terminate a PV walk
+(initiated by a right-click on board or engine-output window)
+will be automatically put on the clipboard as FEN.
+Default: false.
@item -dropMenu true|false
@cindex dropMenu, option
This option allows you to emulate old behavior,
A value of -1 means the position is randomly generated by XBoard
at the beginning of every game.
Default: -1
-@item -pieceToSquareTable string
-@cindex pieceToSquareTable, option
+@item -pieceToCharTable string
+@cindex pieceToCharTable, option
The characters that are used to represent the piece types XBoard knows in FEN
diagrams and SAN moves. The string argument has to have an even length
(or it will be ignored), as white and black pieces have to be given separately
You should not have to use this option often: each variant has its own default
setting for the piece representation in FEN, which should be sufficient in normal use.
Default: ""
+@item -pieceNickNames string
+@cindex pieceNickNames, option
+The characters in the string are interpreted the same way as in the
+@code{pieceToCharTable} option. But on input, piece-ID letters are
+first looked up in the nicknames, and only if not defined there,
+in the normal pieceToCharTable. This allows you to have two letters
+designate the same piece, (e.g. N as an alternative to H for Horse
+in Xiangqi), to make reading of non-compliant notations easier.
+Default: ""
+@item -colorNickNames string
+@cindex colorNickNames, option
+The side-to-move field in a FEN will be first matched against the letters
+in the string (first character for white, second for black),
+before it is matched to the regular 'w' and 'b'.
+This makes it easier to read non-compliant FENs,
+which, say, use 'r' for white.
+Default: ""
@item -debug/-xdebug or -debugMode true/false
@cindex debug, option
@cindex debugMode, option
@cindex nameOfDebugFile, option
Sets the name of the file to which XBoard saves debug information
(including all communication to and from the engines).
+A @kbd{%d} in the given file name (e.g. game%d.debug) will be replaced
+by the unique sequence number of a tournament game,
+so that the debug output of each game will be written on a separate file.
@item -engineDebugOutput number
@cindex engineDebugOutput, option
Specifies how XBoard should handle unsolicited output from the engine,
projects / xboard.git / blobdiff