X-Git-Url: http://winboard.nl/cgi-bin?a=blobdiff_plain;f=NEWS;h=679a66fde0968ff8fd2bb93d6446b11415b9f152;hb=033764676b5c267041295a9d94188e37e262b0dd;hp=5be55a67c4fa3b9fbff74c63b6c71c3b5db22318;hpb=94a0b32d0e66365ad23f99e1a6e162b0168b9e2a;p=xboard.git diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS index 5be55a6..679a66f 100644 --- a/NEWS +++ b/NEWS @@ -192,6 +192,66 @@ the hep-file from an executabl distribution there. Maefiles for other compilers since 4.2.7, as I do not have those compilers. +** Version 4.3.14 ** + +This relaese was not made by the GNU xboard team, but by H.G.Muller. +It mainly contains developments on WinBoard. Nevertheless, an attempt +has been started to back-port the enormous number of improvements that +have been made to WinBoard since the Linux and Windows developments branched +to xboard. This is reflected by the source tree now having the same format +as that of xboard 4.2.7, including all the xboard sources. + +An enormous amount of work still has to be done to make the xboard version +fully equivalent to WinBoard, especially on user-interface side. As a modest +beginning, the xboard source files have been patched to allow their compilation +with the newer back-end files from WinBoard. To this end, the number of piece +types in xboard has been increased from 6 to 22, and the WinBoard bitmaps +have been converted to xboard source format (.bm) and are included in the +xboard bitmaps directory. Other quick patches include the coloring of the +board squares (for xiangqi and holdings), and some code in the user-move +handling to suppress all moves into or out of the area between board and +holdings in crazyhouse, and the treatment of king-captures-own-piece +as a possibly valid move (for FRC castling). This should make it possible +to run xboard with the new back-end files without too much inconvenience. + +New xboard command-line options have been added to make the added back-end +features available. The include the new variants (as argument of the old +-variant option), -boardWidth, -boardHeight and -holdingsSize. Be sure +to call xboard with "-boardSize middling" or "-boardSize bulky" if you +want to play with fairy pieces, or xboard might crash due to unavailability +of bitmaps. Other added xboard options are: + +ADJUDICATION OPTIONS: +-checkMates +-testClaims +-materialDraws +-trivialDraws +-ruleMoves +-repeatsToDraw +-adjudicateLossThreshold +-firstScoreAbsolute +-secondScoreAbsolute + +TIME-CONTROL OPTIONS +-firstTimeOdds +-secondTimeOdds +-timeOddsMode +-firstNPS +-secondNPS + +GENERAL OPTIONS +-matchPause +-engineDebugOutput +-userName +-pgnExtendedInfo +-pgnEventHeader +-hideThinkingFromHuman + +This is all completely untested, but as the options merely switch on well-tested +code in the back-end, there should not be too many problems with them. +Bugs can be reported in the WinBoard forum. + + ** Version 4.3.14k ** Compared to version 4.3.13 described below, this version features @@ -255,63 +315,696 @@ Bugfixes include: - Some draw adjudications (QRKR was mistaken for KRKR, and KBKB with like Bishops is now recognized) - time info in the PGN is now correct - - -** Version 4.3.14 ** - -This relaese was not made by the GNU xboard team, but by H.G.Muller. -It mainly contains developments on WinBoard. Nevertheless, an attempt -has been started to back-port the enormous number of improvements that -have been made to WinBoard since the Linux and Windows developments branched -to xboard. This is reflected by the source tree now having the same format -as that of xboard 4.2.7, including all the xboard sources. - -An enormous amount of work still has to be done to make the xboard version -fully equivalent to WinBoard, especially on user-interface side. As a modest -beginning, the xboard source files have been patched to allow their compilation -with the newer back-end files from WinBoard. To this end, the number of piece -types in xboard has been increased from 6 to 22, and the WinBoard bitmaps -have been converted to xboard source format (.bm) and are included in the -xboard bitmaps directory. Other quick patches include the coloring of the -board squares (for xiangqi and holdings), and some code in the user-move -handling to suppress all moves into or out of the area between board and -holdings in crazyhouse, and the treatment of king-captures-own-piece -as a possibly valid move (for FRC castling). This should make it possible -to run xboard with the new back-end files without too much inconvenience. - -New xboard command-line options have been added to make the added back-end -features available. The include the new variants (as argument of the old --variant option), -boardWidth, -boardHeight and -holdingsSize. Be sure -to call xboard with "-boardSize middling" or "-boardSize bulky" if you -want to play with fairy pieces, or xboard might crash due to unavailability -of bitmaps. Other added xboard options are: - -ADJUDICATION OPTIONS: --checkMates --testClaims --materialDraws --trivialDraws --ruleMoves --repeatsToDraw --adjudicateLossThreshold --firstScoreAbsolute --secondScoreAbsolute - -TIME-CONTROL OPTIONS --firstTimeOdds --secondTimeOdds --timeOddsMode --firstNPS --secondNPS - -GENERAL OPTIONS --matchPause --engineDebugOutput --userName --pgnExtendedInfo --pgnEventHeader --hideThinkingFromHuman - -This is all completely untested, but as the options merely switch on well-tested -code in the back-end, there should not be too many problems with them. -Bugs can be reported in the WinBoard forum. +** Winboard_F.4.3.12 release notes + +This WinBoard (beta-)version is derived from Allessandro Scotti's +Winboard_x, and supports the following new options, mainly in the area +of adjudication of engine-engine games, improved Crazyhouse support, +and allowing variants with non-conventional pieces and or board +sizes. (All option are shown here with their default values): + +/variant=normal +This (already existing) option has been expanded with +several new variants, involving non-conventional pieces and deviating +board sizes. The board size is automatically adapted to the selected +variant, unless explicitly overruled (see below). The new variants are +(with default board size, files x ranks, in parentheses): + +variant name Game board description +knightmate Knightmate (8x8) Variant where the King moves as a Knight, and vice versa +capablanca Capablanca Chess (10x8) Variant featuring Archbishop and Chancellor as new pieces +gothic Gothic Chess (10x8) Same as Capablanca, with a more interesting opening position +courier Courier Chess (12x8) a Medieval form that combines elements of Shatranj and modern Chess +shogi Shogi (9x9) Japanese Chess +xiangqi Xiangqi (9x10) Chinese Chess +fairy Fairy Chess (8x8) Variant were you can use all pieces of other variants together + +The variant can be set from the newly added "File -> New Variant..." +sub-menu. Extra board files are indicated by the letters i, j, k, l, +... For boards with more than 9 ranks, the counting starts at zero! +More than 10 ranks is not tested and unlikely to work in the area of +PGN saving / reading. Non-FIDE pieces will be referred to in FENs and +PGN by letters that depend on the variant, and might collide with +piece designators in other variants. E.g. in Xiangqi 'C' is a Cannon, +in Capablanca Chess it is a Chancellor. Pieces that do not belong in a +variant cannot be addressed in FEN and PGN either, for as long as that +variant is selected, unless the letter assignment is overruled with +the aid of the /pieceToCharTable option. The variant is not saved in +the winboard.ini file; on start-up we always get variant "normal" +unless we use the command-line option, or have added the option to the +winboard.ini file manually (in which case it will disappear when this +file is overwritten by WinBoard saving its options). WinBoard_F knows +the movement of all pieces occurring in Capablanca Chess (of which +FIDE Chess is a subset), Shatranj, Courier, Xiangqi and 9x9 Shogi, so +that these games can be played with legality testing enabled. + +/pieceToCharTable="PNBRQFWEMOUHACGSKpnbrqfwemouhacgsk" +Each piece that WinBoard knows (in its legality test) has a letter +associated with it, by which it will be referred to in FEN or PGN. The +default assignment can be overruled with this option. The value has to +be a string of even length, with at least 12 characters. The first +half of the string designates the white pieces, the second half the +black. The last letter for each color will be assigned to the +King. (This is the piece that moves as an orthodox King; note that +Nightmate and Xiangqi have a different royal piece.) All letters +before it will be assigned to the other pieces in the order: + +P Pawn (move often depends on variant) +N Knight (move subtly different in Xiangqi (where it is written as H) or Shogi) +B Bishop +R Rook +Q Queen (Lance L in Shogi) +F Ferz/General (The Shatranj 'Queen' and Xiangqi 'Adviser', used for Silver General S in Shogi.) +W Wazir/GrandVizer (Gold General G in Shogi, in Xiangqi it is royal and denoted by K) +E Alfil/Elephant (Moves subtly different in Xiangqi vs Shatranj/Courier) +M Commoner/Man +O Cannon/Pao +U Unicorn (representation of Royal Knight in Knightmate, used as promoted Pawn in Shogi) +H Nightrider (Promoted Knight in Shogi and CrazyHouse) +A Archbishop/Cardinal (Promoted Bishop in Shogi and CrazyHouse) +C Chancellor/Marshall (Promoted Rook in Shogi and CrazyHouse) +G Grasshopper (Promoted Queen in Crazyhouse, promoted Lance in Shogi) +S (Promoted Silver in Shogi) +K King + +Pieces that are not mentioned (because the argument has less than 34 +characters) will remain disabled. Mentioned pieces can be disabled by +assigning them a '.' (period). They are then not recognized in FEN or +PGN input. Non-FIDE pieces that are not assigned a letter will also +not appear on the promotion menu. It is not advisable to disable a +piece that is present in the opening position of the selected variant, +though. +Promoted pieces that need to be distinguished from original pieces of +the same type (because of demotion on capture and transfer to the +holdings) will be indicated by the letter for the unpromoted piece +with a '+' in front of it (Shogi), or by the letter of the promoted +piece with a '~' after it (Crazyhouse, Bughouse, in general everything +with holdings that is not Shogi). To achieve this, they should be +assigned the characters '+' or '~', respectively. +All the new pieces have a native bitmap representation in the board +sizes 'bulky' and 'middling'. For all window sizes that do not support +such fairy bitmaps, promoted NBRQ are represented as a 2-sizes-smaller +normal piece symbol, so that Crazyhouse can be played at any +size. People disliking the fairy representations might even prefer +this. +There is an enhanced 'Edit Position' menu popup (right-clicking on the +squares after selecting this mode in the main menu), featuring some +common non-FIDE pieces, and 'promote' and 'demote' options to make +those not directly in the menu. The promotion popup shows ArchBishop +and Chancellor in Capablanca and Gothic, (or in fact in any game where +this piece is not disabled or a promoted version of a normal piece), +and leaves only the options YES / NO in Shogi. In Xiangqi there are no +promotions. + +/fontPieceToCharTable="PNBRQFWEMOUHACGSKpnbrqfwemouhacgsk" +This option is similar to /pieceToCharTable, but sets the font +character that is used to display the piece on the screen (when +font-based rendering is in use), rather than in the FEN or PGN. The +default setting should work with George Tsavdaris' WinboardF font, +which uses the 'intuitive' mapping of font characters to symbols. With +font-based rendering the fairy pieces can be used at any board size. +Note that UHACGS are also used to represent the promoted versions of +PNBRQF, in games like Crazyhouse and Shogi, where the promotion has to +be undone on capture. In such games you are likely to prefer a +different representation of those pieces then when they represent true +fairy pieces. + +/flipBlack=FALSE +Traditional Shogi bitmaps are only included for size "moderate". For +other sizes you must depend on font-based rendering. + +/detectMate=TRUE +/testClaim=TRUE +/materialDraws=TRUE +/trivialDraws=FALSE +/ruleMoves=51 +/repeatsToDraw=6 +The option /materialDraws=TRUE causes games with insufficient mating +material to be adjudicated immediately as draws, in case the engines +would not claim these draws. This applies to KK, KNK and KBK. The +option /trivialDraws adjudicates KNNK, KBKB, KNKN, KBKN, KRKR and KQKQ +to draws after 3 moves (to allow for a quick tactical win). Note that +in KQKQ this might not be sound, but that problem would disappear once +bitbase probing is implemented. + +Clocks +The flag-fell condition is now indicated as '(!)' behind the displayed +time, to eliminate the necessity for overwriting the message in the +title bar (which might contain indispensible information in match +mode). + +Other improvements / changes +Castling rights and e.p. rights are now fully maintained, and +considered in legality testing. They are imported from and written to +FEN, as is the 50-move counter. (When reading an incomplete FEN they +are still guessed, though.) The time (in sec, or min:sec) is now +always stored together with the PV information to the PGN, if storing +the latter was requested (through ticking "extended PGN info" in +"Options -> General..."). The saved time is the WinBoard clock time +(as opposed to the time reported by the engine). + +** Winboard_F.4.3.8 release notes + +This Winboard supports the following new options (shown here with their default values): + +/variant=normal +This (already existing) option has been expanded with several new +variants, involving non-conventional pieces and deviating board +sizes. The board size is automatically adapted to the selected +variant, unless explicitly overruled (see below). The new variants are +(with default board size, files x ranks, in parentheses): + +variant name Game board description +knightmate Knightmate (8x8) Variant where the King moves as a Knight, and vice versa +capablanca Capablanca Chess (10x8) Variant featuring Archbishop and Chancellor as new pieces +gothic Gothic Chess (10x8) Same as Capablanca, with a more interesting opening position +courier Courier Chess (12x8) a Medieval form that combines elements of Shatranj and modern Chess +shogi Shogi (9x9) Japanese Chess +xiangqi Xiangqi (9x10) Chinese Chess +fairy Fairy Chess (8x8) Variant were you can use all pieces of other variants together + +The variant can be set from the newly added "File -> New Variant..." sub-menu. +Extra board files are indicated by the letters i, j, k, l, ... For +boards with more than 9 ranks, the counting starts at zero! Non-FIDE +pieces will be referred to in FENs and PGN by letters that depend on +the variant, and might collide with piece designators in other +variants. E.g. in Xiangqi 'C' is a Cannon, in Capablanca Chess it is a +Chancellor. Pieces that do not belong in a variant cannot be addressed +in FEN and PGN either as long as that variant is selected, unless the +letter assignment is overruled by the /pieceToCharTable option. The +variant is not saved in the winboard.ini file; on start-up we always +get variant "normal" unless we use the command-line opton, or have +added the option to the winboard.ini file manually (in which case it +will disappear when this file is overwritten). WinBoard_F knows the +movement of all pieces occurring in Capablanca Chess (of which FIDE +Chess is a subset), Shatranj, Courier, Xiangqi and 9x9 Shogi, so that +these games can be played with legality testing enabled. + +/pieceToCharTable="PNBRQFWEMOUHACGSKpnbrqfwemouhacgsk" +Each piece that WinBoard knows (in its legality test) has a letter +associated with it, by which it will be referred to in FEN or PGN. The +default assignment can be overruled with this option. The value has to +be a string of even length, with at least 12 characters. The first +half of the string designates the white pieces, the second half the +black. The last letter for each color will be assigned to the +King. (This is the piece that moves as an orthodox King; note that +Nightmate and Xiangqi have a different royal piece.) All letters +before it will be assigned to the other pieces in the order: + +P Pawn (move often depends on variant) +N Knight (move subtly different in Xiangqi (where it is written as H) or Shogi) +B Bishop +R Rook +Q Queen (Lance L in Shogi) +F Ferz/General (Silver General S in Shogi) +W Wazir/GrandVizer (Gold General G in Shogi, in Xiangqi it is royal and denoted by K) +E Alfil/Elephant (Moves subtly different in Xiangqi vs Shatranj/Courier) +M Commoner/Man +O Cannon/Pao +U Unicorn (representation of Royal Knight in Knightmate, used as promoted Pawn in Shogi) +H Nightrider (Promoted Knight in Shogi and CrazyHouse) +A Archbishop/Cardinal (Promoted Bishop in Shogi and CrazyHouse) +C Chancellor/Marshall (Promoted Rook in Shogi and CrazyHouse) +G Grasshopper (Promoted Queen in Crazyhouse, promoted Lance in Shogi) +S (Promoted Silver in Shogi) +K King + +Pieces that are not mentioned (because the argument has less than 34 +characters) will remain disabled. Mentioned pieces can be disabled by +assigning them a '.' (period). They are then not recognized in FEN or +PGN input. It is not advisable to disable a piece that is present in +the opening position of the selected variant, though. +Promoted pieces that need to be distinguished from original pieces of +the same type (because of demotion on capture and transfer to the +holdings) will be indicated by the letter for the unpromoted piece +with a '+' in front of it (Shogi), or by the letter of the promoted +piece with a '~' after it (Crazyhouse, Bughouse, in general everything +with holdings that is not Shogi). +All the new pieces have a native biytmap representation in the board +sizes 'bulky' and 'middling'. For all window sizes that do not support +such fairy bitmaps, promoted NBRQ are represented as a 2-sizes-smaller +normal piece symbol, so that Crazyhouse can be played at any +size. People disliking the fairy representations might even prefer +that. +There is an enhanced 'Edit Position' menu popup (right-clicking on the +squares after selecting this mode in the main menu), featuring some +common non-FIDE pieces, and 'promote' and 'demote' options to make +those not directly in the menu. The promotion popup shows ArchBishop +and Chancellor in Capablanca and Gothic, (or in fact in any game where +this piece is not disabled), and leaves only the options YES / NO in +Shogi. In Xiangqi there are no promotions. + +/alphaRank=FALSE +This option does not seem to work for reading PGN files. Saving works +fine. For now, using it is not recommended. In the future it might be +redefined as only affecting engine-engine communication, . + +/flipBlack=FALSE +Setting this option will cause upside-down display of the native piece +bitmaps used to represent the pieces of the side that plays black, as +would be needed for a traditional representation of Shogi pieces. It +can be set from the "Options -> Board..." sub-menu, and it is saved in +the winboard.ini file. For now, traditional Shogi bitmaps are not +included, though. + +Other improvements / changes +Castling rights and e.p. rights are now fully maintained, and +considered in legality testing. They are imported from and written to +FEN, as is the 50-move counter. The time (in sec, or min:sec) is now +always stored together with the PV information to the PGN, if storing +the latter was requested (through ticking 'extended PGN info' in +"Options -> General..."). The saved time is the Winboard clock time +(as opposed to the time reported by the engine). + +** Winboard_F.4.3.7 release notes + +This Winboard supports the following new options (shown here with +their default values): + +/variant=normal +This (already existing) option has been expanded with several new +variants, involving non-conventional pieces and deviating board +sizes. The board size is automatically adapted to the selected +variant, unless explicitly overruled (see below). The new variants are +(with default board size, files x ranks, in parentheses): + +variant name Game board description +knightmate Knightmate (8x8) Variant where the King moves as a Knight, and vice versa +capablanca Capablanca Chess (10x8) Variant featuring Archbishop and Chancellor as new pieces +gothic Gothic Chess (10x8) Same as Capablanca, with a more interesting opening position +courier Courier Chess (12x8) a Medieval form that combines elements of Shatranj and modern Chess +shogi Shogi (9x9) Japanese Chess +xiangqi Xiangqi (9x10) Chinese Chess +fairy Fairy Chess (8x8) Variant were you can use all pieces of other variants together + +The variant can be set from the newly added "File -> New Variant..." sub-menu. +Extra board files are indicated by the letters i, j, k, l, ... For +boards with more than 9 ranks, the counting starts at zero! Non-FIDE +pieces will be referred to in FENs and PGN by letters that depend on +the variant, and might collide with piece designators in other +variants. E.g. in Xiangqi 'C' is a Cannon, in Capablanca Chess it is a +Chancellor. Pieces that do not belong in a variant cannot be addressed +in FEN and PGN either as long as that variant is selected, unless the +letter assignment is overruled by the /pieceToCharTable option. The +variant is not saved in the winboard.ini file; on start-up we always +get variant "normal" unless we use the command-line opton, or have +added the option to the winboard.ini file manually (in which case it +will disappear when this file is overwritten). WinBoard_F knows the +movement of all pieces occurring in Capablanca Chess (of which FIDE +Chess is a subset), Shatranj, Courier, Xiangqi and 9x9 Shogi, so that +these games can be played with legality testing enabled. + +/pieceToCharTable="PNBRQFWEMOUHACGSKpnbrqfwemouhacgsk" +Each piece that WinBoard knows (in its legality test) has a letter +associated with it, by which it will be referred to in FEN or PGN. The +default assignment can be overruled with this option. The value has to +be a string of even length, with at least 12 characters. The first +half of the string designates the white pieces, the second half the +black. The last letter for each color will be assigned to the +King. (This is the piece that moves as an orthodox King; note that +Nightmate and Xiangqi have a different royal piece.) All letters +before it will be assigned to the other pieces in the order: + +P Pawn (move often depends on variant) +N Knight (move subtly different in Xiangqi (where it is written as H) or Shogi) +B Bishop +R Rook +Q Queen (Lance L in Shogi) +F Ferz/General (Silver General S in Shogi) +W Wazir/GrandVizer (Gold General G in Shogi, in Xiangqi it is royal and denoted by K) +E Alfil/Elephant (Moves subtly different in Xiangqi vs Shatranj/Courier) +M Commoner/Man +O Cannon/Pao +U Unicorn (representation of Royal Knight in Knightmate, used as promoted Pawn in Shogi) +H Nightrider (Promoted Knight in Shogi and CrazyHouse) +A Archbishop/Cardinal (Promoted Bishop in Shogi and CrazyHouse) +C Chancellor/Marshall (Promoted Rook in Shogi and CrazyHouse) +G Grasshopper (Promoted Queen in Crazyhouse, promoted Lance in Shogi) +S (Promoted Silver in Shogi) +K King + +Pieces that are not mentioned (because the argument has less than 34 +characters) will remain disabled. Mentioned pieces can be disabled by +assigning them a '.' (period). They are then not recognized in FEN or +PGN input. It is not advisable to disable a piece that is present in +the opening position of the selected variant, though. +Promoted pieces that need to be distinguished from original pieces of +the same type (because of demotion on capture and transfer to the +holdings) will be indicated by the letter for the unpromoted piece +with a '+' in front of it (Shogi), or by the letter of the promoted +piece with a '~' after it (Crazyhouse, Bughouse, in general everything +with holdings that is not Shogi). +All the new pieces have a native biytmap representation in the board +sizes 'bulky' and 'middling'. For all window sizes that do not support +such fairy bitmaps, promoted NBRQ are represented as a 2-sizes-smaller +normal piece symbol, so that Crazyhouse can be played at any +size. People disliking the fairy representations might even prefer +that. +There is an enhanced 'Edit Position' menu popup (right-clicking on the +squares after selecting this mode in the main menu), featuring some +common non-FIDE pieces, and 'promote' and 'demote' options to make +those not directly in the menu. The promotion popup shows ArchBishop +and Chancellor in Capablanca and Gothic, (or in fact in any game where +this piece is not disabled), and leaves only the options YES / NO in +Shogi. In Xiangqi there are no promotions. + +/fontPieceToCharTable="PNBRQFWEMOUHACGSKpnbrqfwemouhacgsk" +This option is similar to /pieceToCharTable, but sets the font +character that is used to display the piece on the screen (when +font-based rendering is in use), rather than in the FEN or PGN. The +default setting should work with the WinboardF font, which uses the +'intuitive' mapping of font characters to symbols. Note that UHACGS +are also used to represent the promoted versions of PNBRQF, in games +like Crazyhouse and Shogi, where the promotion has to be undone on +capture. + +/boardWidth=-1 /boardHeight=-1 +Set a number of files and ranks of the playing board to a value that +will override the defaults for the variant that is selected. A value +of -1 means the variant default board size will be used for the +corresponding parameter (and is itself the default value of these +options). These parameters can be set in the "Files -> New Variant..." +sub-menu, where they are reset to the default -1 is you OK the chosen +variant without typing something to overrule it. These parameters are +saved in the winboard.ini file. (But unless you saved while a variant +with board-size override was selected, they will always be saved as +-1.) +A variant with a non-standard board size will be communicated to the +engine(s) with the board size prefixed to the variant name, +e.g. "variant 12x8_capablanca". In protocol 2 the engine must first +enable this feature by sending "boardsizeFxR" amongst the accepted +variants, where F is the maximum number of files, and R the maximum +number of ranks, as decimal numbers. + +/holdingsSize=-1 +Set the size of the holdings for dropable pieces to a value that will +override the default for the variant that is selected. A value of -1 +means the variant default holdings size will be used for that +parameter (and is itself the default value of this options). This +parameter can be set in the Files -> New Variant... sub-menu, where it +is reset to the default -1 is you OK the chosen variant without typing +something to overrule it. This parameters is saved in the winboard.ini +file. To disable holdings, set their size to 0. They will then not be +displayed. For non-zero holding size N, the holdings are displayed +left and right of the board, and piece drops can be effected by +dragging pieces from the holdings to the drop square. In bughouse, the +holdings will be filled by the ICS. In all other variants, captured +pieces will go into the holdings (after reversing their color). Only +the first N pieces of the /pieceToCharTable argument will go into the +holdings. All other pieces will be converted to Pawns. (In Shogi, +however they will be demoted in the regular way before determining if +they fit.) Pieces that are disabled (per default and per +/pieceToCharTable option) might not be counted when determining what +are the first N pieces. Non-standard holdingsize will be communicated +to the engine by prefixing it (together with the board size, even if +this is standard) to the variant name, e.g. "variant 7x7+5_shogi". In +protocol 2 the engine should enable this feature by sending +"holdingsH" amongst the variant names, where H is the maximum +acceptable holdings size as a decimal number. + +/alphaRank=FALSE +When this parameter is true, a-h are converted to 1-9, and vice versa, +in all move output and input (to PGN files or SAN move display as well +as in communication with the engine). This might be useful for Shogi, +where conventionally one uses letters to designate ranks, and digits +to designate files. Engines that want to use this option must make +sure pieces are never represented by lower case! This option can be +set from the Files -> New Variant... menu, where it defaults to FALSE +unless you explicitly set it. It is not saved in the winboard.ini +file. Note that the PGN format in Shogi also leaves out the trailing +'+' as check indicator: In Shogi such a trailing '+' means promotion, +while a trailing '=' means defer promotion. Prefix '+' signs are used +on moves with promoted pieces, disambiguation is done western SAN +style. + +/allWhite=FALSE +Causes the outline of the 'white' pieces to be superimposed onto the +'black' piece symbols as well (as a black outline) when native bitmaps +are used (as opposed to font-based rendering). This is useful if we +choose a very light color to represent the 'black' pieces. It might be +particularly useful in Shogi, where the conventional representation of +the 'black' pieces is as upside-down white pieces, so that both colors +would be white. This option is saved in the winboard.ini file, and can +be set in the "Options -> Board..." sub-menu. + +/flipBlack=FALSE +This option is reserved for future use. It will cause upside-down +display of the 'black' native piece bitmaps, as would be needed for +Shogi. For now it can be set from the "Options -> Board..." sub-menu, +and it is saved in the winboard.ini file, but it is ignored. + +/detectMate=TRUE +/testClaim=TRUE +/materialDraws=TRUE +/trivialDraws=FALSE +/ruleMoves=51 +/repeatsToDraw=6 +These are all options that only affect engine-engine play, and can be +set from the "Options -> Engine..." sub-menu. They are all related to +adjudication of games by the GUI. Legality checking must be switched +on for them to work. If /detectMate is TRUE, the GUI recognizes +checkmate and stalemate (but not in games with holdings!), and ends +the game accordingly before the engines can claim. This is convenient +for play with engines that fail to claim, and just exit. With +/testClaim set, all result and illegal-move claims by engines that +claim more than their own loss are scrutinized for validity, and false +claims result in forfeit of the game. Useful with buggy engines. The +option /materialDraws=TRUE causes games with insufficient mating +material to be adjudicated immediately as draws, in case the engines +would not claim them. The option /trivialDraws adjudicates KNNK, +KBKB, KNKN, KBKN, KRKR and KQKQ to draws after 3 moves (to allow for a +quick tactical win. Note that in KQKQ this might not be sound, but +that problem would disappear once bitbase probing is added). The +/ruleMoves determine after how many reversible moves the game is +adjudicated as a draw. Setting this to 0 turns this option off. Draw +claims by the engine are still accepted (by /testClaim) after 50 +reversible moves, even if /ruleMoves species a larger number. Note +that it is perfectly legal according to FIDE rules to play on after 50 +reversible moves, but in tournaments having two engines that want to +play on forever is a nuisance in endings like KBNKR, where one of the +engines thinks it is ahead and can avoids repeats virtually forever. +The option /repeatsToDraw makes the GUI adjudicate a game as draw +after the same position has occurred the specified number of times. If +it is set to a value > 3, engines can still claim the draw after +3-fold repeat. All these options are saved in the winboard.ini file. + +Clocks +There is an "Options -> flip Clocks" command, that swaps the position +of white and black clocks (convenient in over-the-board matches, where +the screen is next to the board, and you want your own time to be +displayed on your side of the screen). The clocks can be adjusted in +"edit game" mode: right-clicking them adds one minute, left-clicking +subtracts one minute. (Also for OTB matches, to keep them synchronized +with the official match clock.) The flag-fell condition is now +indicated as (!) behind the time. + +Other improvements +Castling rights and e.p. rights are now fully maintained, and +considered in legality testing. They are imported from and written to +FEN, as is the 50-move counter. + +** Winboard_F 4.3.2 + +These are the release notes of Winboard_F 4.3.2, which is released +under the GPL. This version was derived from Allessandro Scotti's +Winboard_x 4.2.7 source files. It only includes the files that were +changed: + +config.h +common.h +parser.h +moves.h +resource.h + +winboard.c +backend.c +moves.c + +parser.l +winboard.rc + +and some bitmaps for piece symbols + +I made modifications in the following areas: + +1) Adjudication and claim verification +2) Fairy pieces and board sizes other than 8x8 +3) Miscellaneous + +Miscellaneous + +/matchPause=10000 +is an option to set the length of the pause between two games of a +match. The value is in msec, default value is 10000 (I will present +all newly implemented options with their default value as example). Be +aware that some engines might not be stopped yet if you make the pause +too small, but might still be puking output, which then will interfere +with the next game. But the fixed value of 10 sec of the old Winboard +seemed like overdoing it. + +Time info in PGN +When you ask for the PV-info to be stored in the PGN (a Winboard_x +option), it now also stores the time spent on the move with it. + +Flag fell +In engine-engine games the messge "white/black/both" flag(s) fell" no +longer appears in the window caption, but as an exclamation point +behind the clock time. (To prevent the annoying overwriting of the +normal header line). + +Adjudications and Claim verification. + +These functions are only present in engine-engine games, and only if +legality-testing is switched on. (The latter will be typically +switched off in games with bizarre rules, which the GUI doesn't know, +and in that case the GUI can never have an opinion on the outcome of a +game.) + +Illegal-move forfeit +As soon as one of the engines plays an illegal move, it forfeits the +game. This feature was already present, but it should be 100% reliable +now, as it also takes e.p. and castling rights into account, rather +than erring on the safe side. + +Illegal-move claim +From the above, it follows that any illegal-move claims by an engine +must be false, and will result in forfeiting the game. (In Winboard_x +this message is ignored, causing the game or match to hang.) + +Checkmate adjudication +As soon as one of the engines does a move that results in checkmate, +the GUI declares the game won, without waiting for the engine to claim +it. + +Insufficient mating material +As soon as the material on the board has shrunk to KK, KNK or KBK, the +game is declared draw. + +/adjudicateLossThreshold=0 +This option was already present in Winboard_x, (to declare a game lost +for which both engines agree for 3 moves that the score is below the +given threshold), but a non-zero value is now also used to enable the +following adjudications. If you only want the latter, just make the +threshold impossibly low (-40000 will usually do the trick). + +Trivial draws +If we are 3 moves into a KQKQ, KRKR, KBKB KBKN or KNKN end-game, the +game is adjudicated as draw. + +/repeatsToDraw=6 +When the specified number of repeats occurs, the game is adjudicated +draw. Should keep track of e.p. and castling rights. This does not +require legality-testing to be switched on. The engines retain the +legal right to claim after a 3-fold repetition, though. If you set +this parameter to 3 or less, they will never get the chance. Better +not set it to 1 or less. + +/ruleMoves=51 +After the given number of full moves without capture or Pawn move, the +game is adjudicated draw. Even without legality testing. The engines +retain the legal right to claim after 50 moves. + +/testClaims=FALSE +When enabled, this option verifies all result claims made by the +engines, and overrules the claim if it is false (forfeiting the game +for the claimer). An engine can still safely claim a win for its +opponent on a nonsense reason, though; this is taken to be the +equivalent of 'resign'. Draw claims (made before a draw adjudication) +are checked against the 50-move, 3-fold-repetition or +insufficient-material rules. Win claims are always considered false, +as the GUI adjudicates checkmates (and stalemates) before any engine +can claim them. + +Fairy-Chess support + +/boardWidth=8 +Sets the number of files on the board. The additional files are named +i, j, k, l... in PGN, and should be indicated this way in +communicating moves to and from the engine. Currently works upto +12. No guarantees on how the rest of the display (clocks, etc.) looks +if you make this number < 8. + +/boardHeight=8 +Sets the number of ranks. Extra ranks are numbered 9, 10, 11... in +PGN. This is so far largely untested, and unlikely to work for +double-digit ranks. Displaying boards with upto 12 ranks seems to +work, though, but double-digit ranks might cause all kind of unforseen +problems in PGN file and move parser, or in communication with the +engine. To avoid such problems as much as possible, in boards with +more than 9 ranks the counting of ranks will start at zero rather than +one! + +/fontPieceToCharTable="......." +This paramater, controlling the mapping of font symbols to piece +types, was already present in Winboard_x. The default is dependent on +the font selected with the /renderPiecesWithFont option. It can now +accept upto 32 pieces, but the length should always be even. The first +half designates the white pieces, the second half the black, both in +the order PNBRACHFEWDOGMQK. (The letters mentioned here are the +letters by which the pieces will be indicated in PGN and FEN notation, +what you have to give as argument depends on the font you use. A black +king might be 'l', for instance). If you give fewer then 32 pieces, +this will go at the expense of what is just before Queen. So the last +two symbols you give for each color are always Queen and King, the +others are assigned in the order Pawn, Knight, ... Pieces that do not +get a symbol assigned will remain invisible. + +fairy-FEN support +The letters ACDEFGHMOW are accepted in FENs in addition to the regular +PNBRQK,(and of course the lower case versions for black), and are +passed to the engine in a setboard or edit menu. Double-digit skips +are acceptable in FENs. 'x' is interpreted as a skip of 10. Castling +rights should no longer be ignored. (Doesn't work for FRC yet, +though.) The 50-move-plies field should also be meaningful now. + +Legality testing for Fairy pieces +There is a build in notion of what some of the new pieces can do, according to +A = Archbishop (aka Cardinal) = N+B +C = Chancellor (aka Marshall) = N+R +F = Ferz (aka General), moves 1 step diagonal +W = Wazir (aka Grand Vizer), moves 1 step orthogonal +E = Elephant (aka Alfil), jumps 2 steps diagonal +D = Dabbabah (aka War Machine), jumps 2 steps orthogonal +M = Man (aka Commoner), moves as King, but is not a royal piece +O = Cannon, moves along Rook lines, but cannot capture unless it jumps over + exactly one piece (friend or foe), and captures the first piece + it encounters thereafter. It can only jump if it captures something. + The piece jumped over (the 'platform') is not affected. +The other pieces have not yet any moves implemented: +H = Nightrider +G = Grasshopper +In games that use the mentioned pieces as described (Shatranj, +Courier, Capablanca Chess) you can leave legality testing on. If you +use them to represent pieces that move differently, you should switch +legality testing off. + +Pawn moves +Pawn motion is made dependent on the variant played: in Shatranj and +Courier the double move is forbidden. In those games promotions are +always to Ferz. In Capablanca Chess the ArchBishop and Chancellor also +appear as choices in the promotion popup box. + + +/variant="normal" +Several new variants names are added (replacing "variant31" upto +"variant36"). They affect the initial position. (Board size has to be +set separately.) They are: courier (a Medieval predecessor of modern +Chess, played on a 12x8 board) capablanca (on a 10x8 board, featuring +Archbishop and Chancellor) gothic (as Capablanca, but with a more +exciting initial setup) xiangqi (Chinese Chess) shogi (Japanese Chess, +no support yet) fairy (This variant plays on 8x8 with HEW in stead of +NBR on the Queen side, so that all back-rank pieces are (potentially) +different) Make sure the selected board size matches the variant; this +is not automatic + +Xiangqi and Shogi support (or lack thereof) +Xiangqi is only partially supported. The board display is +western-style (the pieces play on squares, rather than grid +intersections). The legality testing uses the Shatranj Knight and +Elephant, that cannot be blocked, and thus allows some moves that +should be illegal in Xiangqi. The Palace region is indicated on the +board, but there is no testing if the King or Mandarins (implemented +as ordinary Ferzes) leave the Palace. SAN might be non-standard, as it +uses O to indicate Cannon. Most of this will be fixed in a future +version. Shogi is not yet supported at all, first the shaky +implementation of Crazyhouse will have to be beefed up.