From: H.G. Muller Date: Wed, 1 Jul 2009 04:16:59 +0000 (-0700) Subject: updated the FAQ X-Git-Tag: v4.4.0.beta1~42 X-Git-Url: http://winboard.nl/cgi-bin?a=commitdiff_plain;h=712ce4fb62a21282db718e04a6ac0092a966585e;p=xboard.git updated the FAQ --- diff --git a/FAQ.html b/FAQ.html index d743875..8f5adee 100644 --- a/FAQ.html +++ b/FAQ.html @@ -1,1659 +1,1841 @@ - - - - - - - - - - -XBoard and WinBoard: Frequently Asked Questions - - - - - - - -

XBoard and WinBoard: Frequently Asked Questions

- -

This document answers some frequently asked questions about the -graphical chess interfaces XBoard and WinBoard. -A hyperlinked version of this FAQ is available on -the Web through the page - -http://www.gnu.org/software/xboard/FAQ.html.

- -

This FAQ is in need of revision. Please contact us if you'd like -to help update it.

- -

Outline

- -

[A] Introduction and hot topics
[B] XBoard and WinBoard
[C] XBoard and WinBoard, bugs and problems
[D] Crafty and other topics

- -

Detailed contents

- -

[A] Introduction and hot topics -
[B] XBoard and WinBoard -
[C] XBoard and WinBoard, bugs and problems -
[D] Crafty and other topics -

- -

[A] Introduction and hot topics

- -

[A.1] What are XBoard and WinBoard?

- -

XBoard and WinBoard are graphical user interfaces for chess. - XBoard runs with the X Window System on Unix systems (including - GNU/Linux); see topic [B.1]. WinBoard runs - on true 32-bit Microsoft Windows operating systems, such as Windows - 95, 98, NT, 2000, ME, XP, and should continue to work on future - 32-bit Windows systems. It does not work on Windows CE (also known - as Pocket PC), nor does it work on 16-bit Windows systems such as - Windows 3.1. See topic [B.2].

- -

[A.2] Where can I get chess information and chess - software?

- -

As a shortcut to most things mentioned in this FAQ, try Tim Mann's - Chess Web page, http://www.tim-mann.org/chess.html. This page page is a good - place to get the latest released versions of XBoard and WinBoard and - the most up-to-date version of this FAQ. Also see our Savannah - project pages at https://savannah.gnu.org/projects/xboard/.

- -

If you have other questions about XBoard/WinBoard that aren't - answered in this FAQ, you can try Aaron Tay's WinBoard and Chess - Engines FAQ, - atdefunct - URL.

- -

For general news and information about chess, try the newsgroup hierarchy -rec.games.chess.*, especially the groups rec.games.chess.misc and -rec.games.chess.computer. Both of the latter groups have very informative -FAQs maintained by Steve Pribut; look for them on the newsgroups or at -defunct URL.

- -

Like other GNU software, you can get XBoard, and WinBoard by anonymous FTP from -ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/ -and its many mirror sites. Look in the subdirectories xboard, and winboard. -The .tar.gz suffix on the files there indicates they were packed with tar -and compressed with gzip. The .exe or .zip suffixes indicate files that -were packed and compressed with zip.

- -

For other chess software, try the Internet Chess Library. Use -anonymous FTP to connect to ftp.freechess.org, or go to the Web page -http://www.freechess.org/. -You can get chess software, game -collections, the FAQ file for rec.games.chess, and other chess-related -material there, in the directory pub/chess. The FTP server can -automatically decompress files for you as you download them, useful if you -don't have gzip.

- -

Here is a sample anonymous ftp session. Some of the ftp server's responses -are abbreviated, but all the commands you must type are included.

- -

-    % ftp ftp.gnu.org
-    Connected to ftp.gnu.org
-    Name: anonymous
-    Password: your-email-address@your-site
-    ftp> binary
-    200 Type set to I.
-    ftp> cd /pub/gnu/xboard
-    ftp> dir
-    -rw-r--r-- 1 14910 wheel  1057625 May 20 00:25 xboard-4.2.7.tar.gz
-    ftp> get xboard-4.2.7.tar.gz
-    150 BINARY connection for xboard-4.2.7.tar.gz (1057625 bytes).
-    226 Transfer complete.
-    ftp> quit
-

- -

[A.3] What are the current version numbers for -XBoard and WinBoard?

- -

At this writing, the current version numbers are:

- -

XBoard 4.2.7
WinBoard 4.2.7

- -

[A.4] Who is working on this project?

- -Please see our Savannah project pages -at https://savannah.gnu.org/projects/xboard/ -for a list of active developers. Many others occasionally contribute -suggestions and snippets of code, for which we are grateful. - -

[A.5] How do I report bugs, offer help, etc.?

- -

Bug reports, suggestions, and offers to help on XBoard -or WinBoard should be sent to bug-xboard@gnu.org.

- -

Beginner questions and discussion about the program may get faster -answers on the WinBoard Forum at http://www.open-aurec.com/wbforum/. -This forum also constains a section dedicated to propose and discuss -new features for WinBoard / XBoard or WinBoard protocol, -and reposrt bugs.

- -

If you are developing a -chess engine that works with XBoard or WinBoard (or an alternative -GUI that works with such engines), see the Chess Engines mailing -list, hosted at -http://groups.yahoo.com/group/chess-engines. -For better response, join the above-mentioned WinBoard forum, -or the CCC forum.

- - -

Any time you want to report a possible bug in XBoard or WinBoard, -we need to know exactly what you did, and exactly what error (or -other) messages you got.

- -

If you are using Unix, run the "script" program, run XBoard with -the -debug flag (if you get as far as running it), do whatever is -necessary to reproduce the problem, type "exit" to the shell, and mail -us the resulting typescript file. We also need to know what -hardware/operating system combination you are using. The command -"uname -a" will usually tell you this; include its output in your -typescript.

- -

If you are using MS Windows, run WinBoard with the -debug flag, and -send us a copy of the WinBoard.debug file. If you aren't sure how to -add command-line flags to WinBoard, you can hit Ctrl+Alt+F12 to create -a WinBoard.debug file after WinBoard starts, but that is not as good, -because a few messages that would have been printed at the start are -lost.

- -

Either way, please send us the exact text of the commands you typed -and the output you got, not just your recollection of approximately -what they were. The messages may seem meaningless to you, but they -are very meaningful to us and essential for diagnosing problems.

- -

[A.6] What are the future plans for XBoard and - WinBoard?

- -

Our plans are always in flux. As with most free software projects, -the next release will happen when it happens -- or it may never -happen. This has always been the policy for XBoard/WinBoard. -Releases have never been promised in specific time frames.

- -

Starting in November 2003, several new developers have joined the -project, and work is now hosted at https://savannah.gnu.org/projects/xboard/. Lots of work is just -getting underway, but nothing is far along yet.

- -

Here is a partial list of items that have a nonzero probability of -happening in finite time.

- -

Small bug fixes. Occasionally someone sends us a fix, or reports -a small bug very clearly so that we're able to fix it in a few minutes -work.
Protocol version 3. The members of the chess engine authors' -mailing list discussed a set of proposed features for the next version -of the XBoard/WinBoard chess engine communication protocol. -The WinBoard 4.3 fork has taken the protocol in a different direction, -though, extending version 2 with new features as they were needed, -rather than upgrading to a new protocol in a single sweep. -It does not seem likely that there will be a v3 protocol in the -foreseeable future. -
Contributed features. Several people have mailed me code to add -various features. Most of this code is available on the -XBoard/WinBoard extensions page -at http://www.tim-mann.org/extensions.html, -but it is not in any official releases yet. We are in the process of -getting folks to formally assign the copyrights on their contributions -to the Free Software Foundation so that we can include it in official -releases in the future.
Internationalization. Several people have expressed interest in -internationalizing XBoard/WinBoard. Version 4.4 implements -internationalization in its XBoard branch, and includes (partial) -Turkish and German translations. For WinBoard a suitable way o -internationalization still has to be found, as all menu strings there -are not in the C code, but in a Windows resource file. In any case, we -will need more translators, to update the existing translations (for -version 4.3.7) to the current version, and to provide translaions for -oter languages. Watch for news on the xboard-devel mailing list on -our Savannah pages.

- -

[B] XBoard and WinBoard

[B.1] What is XBoard?

- -

XBoard is a graphical user interface for chess. It displays a -chessboard on the screen, accepts moves made with the mouse, and loads -and saves games in Portable Game Notation (PGN). XBoard is free software. -It serves as a front-end for many different chess services, including:

- -

Chess engines that will run on your machine and -play a game against you or help you analyze, such as GNU Chess and -Crafty (topic [D.3] below).

- -

Chess servers on the Internet, where you can -connect to play chess with people from all over the world, watch other -users play, or just hang out and chat.

- -

Correspondence chess played by electronic -mail. The cmail program (topic [B.6] below) -automates the tasks of parsing email from your opponent, playing his -moves out on your board, and mailing your reply move after you've -chosen it.

- -

The Web and your own saved games. You can use -XBoard as a helper application to view PGN games in your -Web browser, or to load and save your own PGN files.

- -

XBoard runs under Unix or Unix-compatible systems. It requires the -X Window System, version X11R4 or later. There are also ports of -XBoard to 32-bit Microsoft Windows and to -the Amiga. See topics [B.2] and [B.3] respectively.

- -

[B.2] Is there an XBoard for Microsoft Windows? What is WinBoard? How do I install WinBoard?

- -

WinBoard is a port of XBoard to 32-bit Microsoft Windows systems, such -as Windows 95, 98, NT, 2000, ME, and XP. It uses the same back end -chess code as XBoard, but the front end graphics code is a complete -rewrite. WinBoard is free software.

- -

The WinBoard distribution includes a sample Chess engine.

- -

The WinBoard distribution also includes the ICC timestamp and FICS -timeseal programs (topic [B.12]).

- -

cmail (topic [B.6]) has not been ported to -Windows. All the other XBoard functions are included in WinBoard. -The International Email Chess Group web site at http://www.iecg.org/ recommends -ECTool (http://www.ectool.nu/) -for playing correspondence chess under Windows.

- -

You install WinBoard as follows. Download the WinBoard package to -your PC (see topic [A.2]). It will be a file -with a name like winboard-4_0_0.exe. Double-click on this file -in the Explorer or File Manager to run it. Follow the on-screen -prompts.

- -

[B.3] Is there an XBoard for the Amiga? What is AmyBoard?

- -

AmyBoard is a port of XBoard to the Amiga, by Jochen Wiedmann. -The distribution includes a port of GNU Chess. -AmyBoard is free software.

- -

The current version of AmyBoard is 330.5 (based on XBoard 3.3.0). -No one is currently maintaining it.

- -

System requirements:

- -

An Amiga (obviously :-), running OS 2.04 or later, 2Mb RAM or more.
MUI 2.0 or later.
Workbench or another screen with no less than 640x400 pixels (adjustable - with the MUI-Prefs); this restriction is just because we don't have - bitmaps with less than 40x40 pixels per square. If someone contributes - bitmaps with 20x20 or 20x25, they will work with any Hires mode.

- -

If you would like to use an ICS, you need an Internet connection via either

- -

a telnet-like program, or
a terminal program reading from stdin and writing to stdout.

- -

AmyBoard is available in the Internet Chess Library (topic [A.2]).

- -

[B.4] Is there an XBoard for the Macintosh?

- -

Note: I am not a Mac user and have not tried this myself, so I cannot -answer questions about it.

- -

Because MacOS X has a Unix base, XBoard will compile and run on it. -You do need an X11 (X Window System) server and client libraries. I'm -told that these come standard with MacOS X 10.3 and later. Once you -install the X11 package, XBoard is reported to compile and run without -changes.

- -

You can avoid having to compile XBoard (and GNU Chess) yourself by -using the Fink sofware packaging system. See -http://fink.sourceforge.net/ and -http://finkcommander.sourceforge.net/ for more info on Fink.

- -

There is no version of XBoard or WinBoard that runs with the native -(non-X11) Mac graphical interface, and none that runs on MacOS 9 or -earlier.

- - -

[B.5] Does XBoard run on VMS?

- -

No. This port would probably be a lot easier than the Win32 and Amiga -ports were, because VMS has the X Window system (under the name -DECwindows) and is now POSIX compliant. If you are working on this, -send mail to bug-xboard@gnu.org to let us know.

- - -

[B.6] What is cmail?

- -

cmail is a program that helps you play and keep track of electronic mail -correspondence chess games using XBoard. It is distributed with XBoard and -has its own manual page. cmail is free software. It was written by -Even Welsh. cmail has not been ported to Windows; sorry.

- -

[B.7] How do I build XBoard? Do I need gcc?

- -

The first step to building XBoard is to get the distribution file. See topic -[A.2] for places you can ftp the software from.

- -

Next, decide what directory tree you are going to install XBoard -in. The default is /usr/local, but you probably don't have write -access to that directory unless you are a system administrator. If -you do, type the following to install it there:

- -

-    gzip -cd xboard-*.tar.gz | tar -xvf -
-    cd xboard-*/
-    ./configure
-    make
-    su
-    make install
-

- -

If you want to install xboard in your personal home directory ($HOME/bin), -type this:

- -

-    gzip -cd xboard-*.tar.gz | tar -xvf -
-    cd xboard-*/
-    ./configure --prefix=$HOME
-    make
-    make install
-

- -

If the first step above fails because you don't have gzip, see -topic [A.2], and ask a local Unix expert if you -need more help. If you have any problems with the last two steps, -read the READ_ME and INSTALL files in the xboard-*/ directory. You -will also find this FAQ there.

- -

You don't need to have gcc to build XBoard. Almost any Unix C -compiler should do.

- -

[B.8] Can I use XBoard or WinBoard to play a game - of chess with another human?

- -

The only way for two humans on different machines to play chess in -real time using XBoard/WinBoard is to use an Internet Chess Server -as an intermediary. That is, each player runs his own copy of XBoard -or WinBoard, both of them log into an ICS, and they play a game there. -Two copies of XBoard/WinBoard cannot communicate with each other -directly.

- -

Instructions on how to get started with Internet chess are included -with the XBoard and WinBoard distributions. The network addresses -included in the distribution may not always be current. The oldest -and largest ICS is the Internet Chess Club at chessclub.com, which now -has a fee for registered use, but still allows free unregistered use. -There are also many newer sites with no fees, using the Free Internet -Chess Server implementation (FICS). The most active FICS site is -freechess.org. On these and most other chess servers, -the port number to use is 5000.

- -

If you don't have network connectivity to any ICS site, you -can run your own server using a version of the FICS code, but this -is not easy. See http://www.tim-mann.org/ics.html#ownics for advice and pointers.

- -

The cmail program included with XBoard lets you play email postal games with -another human; see topic [B.6].

- -

Two humans can play chess on the same machine using one copy of -XBoard/WinBoard in -Edit Game mode, but the clocks don't run in this mode, so it's of limited -usefulness.

- -

[B.9] Will WinBoard run on Windows 3.1? - How about Windows CE (also known as Pocket PC)? -

- -

WinBoard does not run on Windows 3.1, Windows for Workgroups 3.11, etc., -not even with the Win32s compatibility package. The main problem is -that Win32s does not have threads or real concurrent processes. A -port of WinBoard to Windows 3.1 is possible in theory, but it would be -difficult and messy, and no one is going to do it.

- -

WinBoard does not run on Windows CE (also -known as Pocket PC). I don't know what would be required to port it.

- -

WinBoard does run well on full 32-bit versions of Windows, such as -Windows 95, 98, NT, 2000, ME, and XP, and should continue to work -on future 32-bit Windows systems.

- -

[B.10] How do I use XBoard or WinBoard as an external viewer for PGN files - with my Web browser?

- -

On Unix systems: -
- Add the following line to the file .mime.types in your home directory. -(Create the file if it doesn't exist already.) -
```
-    application/x-chess-pgn    pgn
-
```
  -
- -Add the following line to the file .mailcap in your home directory. -(Create the file if it doesn't exist already.) -
```
-    application/x-chess-pgn; xboard -ncp -lgf %s
-
```
  -
- - Exit from your Web browser and restart it. -
-
On MS Windows systems: -
The exact procedure depends on which Web browser you are using. -The current version of WinBoard automatically configures itself as -your PGN viewer for local files, Netscape 4.x and later, and Internet -Explorer. This automatic setup probably works for all other current Web -browsers, too.
-

- -

[B.11] How do I use WinBoard as an external viewer - for PGN files with the MS Windows File Manager or Explorer?

- -

WinBoard sets this up automatically when you install it, except on old -versions of Windows NT (prior to 4.0). On Windows NT 3.51 or earlier, -go to the File Manager, click on the File menu, select Associate, -enter "pgn" as the extension, and use the Browse button to find your -copy of WinBoard and set up the association.

- -

[B.12] How do I use ICC timestamp or FICS timeseal -with XBoard?

- -

First, get the appropriate version of timestamp or timeseal for your -machine from ftp.chessclub.com or ftp.freechess.org. -Second, be sure that you can connect using XBoard without -timestamp/timeseal. Third, be sure that you can connect using -timestamp/timeseal without XBoard. See the help files on ICC and FICS -or ask people online if you have problems.

- -

If you are in a completely ordinary situation, where your machine -is directly on the Internet and you can connect to ICC or FICS -without timestamp/timeseal using -just the command "xboard -ics" or "xboard -ics -icshost freechess.org", -change that command to one of the following:

- -

-    xboard -ics -icshost 204.178.125.65 -icshelper timestamp
-
-    xboard -ics -icshost 164.58.253.13 -icshelper timeseal
-

- -

If you have a firewall between your machine and the ICS, see topic -[B.19].

- -

If you normally have to use the "/icscomm" command line option on -xboard to log into a second machine, and then telnet to ICC or FICS -from there, you are going to have to run the Unix version of timestamp -or timeseal on the second machine. (If the second machine is not -running Unix, you are out of luck.) Get the appropriate version of -timestamp or timeseal onto the shell machine via FTP; see the help -files on ICC and FICS for instructions. Then simply run it when you -would normally run telnet. In this configuration you are not -protected against lag between your PC and the shell machine, or for -lag caused by heavy load on the shell machine itself from other users.

- -

For further information on timestamp and timeseal, see the help -files on ICC and FICS.

- -

[B.13] How do I use ICC timestamp or FICS timeseal -with WinBoard?

- -

If you select an ICS from either the WinBoard Startup dialog or the -Windows Start submenu that WinBoard installs, WinBoard automatically -runs timestamp or timeseal if the ICS you chose is known to support it.

- -

If you are constructing a WinBoard command line by hand, add the -option "/icshelper timestamp" or "/icshelper timeseal" to the WinBoard -command line to use timestamp or timeseal. Both timestamp.exe and -timeseal.exe are included in the WinBoard distribution. They both -function identically to the Unix versions, as documented in "help -timestamp" on ICC and "help timeseal" on FICS.

- -

If you have a firewall between your machine and the ICS, see topic -[B.19].

- -

If you normally have to use the "/icscomm" command line option on -WinBoard to log into a shell account, and then telnet to ICC or FICS -from there, you are going to have to run the Unix version of timestamp -or timeseal on the shell machine. (If the shell account is not on a -Unix machine, you are out of luck.) Get the appropriate version of -timestamp or timeseal onto the shell machine via FTP; see the help -files on ICC and FICS for instructions. Then simply run it when you -would normally run telnet. In this configuration you are not protected -against lag between your PC and the shell machine, or for lag caused by -heavy load on the shell machine itself from other users.

- -

For further information on timestamp and timeseal, see the help -files on ICC and FICS.

- -

[B.14] How do I play bughouse with XBoard or WinBoard? -

- -

XBoard and WinBoard have full bughouse support. -Offboard piece holdings are shown next to the board, and -you drop offboard pieces by dragging them with the mouse -(holding the left button down) to their drop square, -or left-click the piece and the drop square, just like when you enter -any ordinary move.

- -

XBoard and WinBoard can display only one board at a time, but you -can observe your partner's game by running a second copy of the -program and logging in as a guest. (Unfortunately, this is not -possible if you are using the /icscomm option.) To observe your -partner's games automatically, use the "follow" or "pfollow" ICS -command; see the ICS online help for details.

- -

[B.16] What is Zippy? How can I interface a -chess program to the Internet Chess Servers?

- -

Zippy is an interface that lets a compatible chess engine (such as GNU -Chess or Crafty) act as a computer -player on an Internet Chess Server. Zippy is included in both the -XBoard and WinBoard distributions. It is implemented as a small -amount of additional code within XBoard or WinBoard. -For documentation, see the file -zippy.README, included in both distributions or available -from my chess Web page, -http://www.tim-mann/chess.html. -The version of zippy.README on my Web page is often more up-to-date -than those in the XBoard/WinBoard distributions. -You'll also find a "biography" of Zippy and pointers to the original -Zippy the Pinhead comic strips on my Web page. -Please read zippy.README carefully before you ask me any questions about Zippy.

- -

Using a computer to choose your moves on a chess server is -considered cheating unless your account is on the computer (C) list. -Read "help computer" on your favorite server for details on their -policy. Most of the servers have plenty of computers running now, so they -will not be excited about having you run a new one unless you have -written your own chess engine. They don't really need yet another -Crafty or GNU Chess clone.

- -

[B.17] How can I interface my own chess program -to XBoard or WinBoard?

- -

This is a non-trivial task. XBoard and WinBoard were not designed -with a clean interface for talking to chess programs; they were -written to work with an existing version of GNU Chess that expects to -be talking to a person. Your program has to emulate GNU Chess's -rather idiosyncratic command structure to work with XBoard and -WinBoard. We are gradually cleaning up, improving, and documenting -the interface as newer versions of XBoard and WinBoard come out, -however.

- -

For documentation, see the file engine-intf.html, included in both -distributions or available from my chess Web page, http://www.tim-mann.org/chess.html. -The version of engine-intf.html on my Web page is often more up-to-date -than those in the XBoard/WinBoard distributions.

- -

[B.18] How can I recompile WinBoard from source?

- -

The source code for WinBoard is available from the author's Web page, -http://www.tim-mann.org/chess.html.

- -

WinBoard is currently developed using Microsoft Visual C++ 5.0. -You can build the program from the MSVC++ GUI by opening the project -file (winboard.dsp) and telling MSVC++ to build the project. You can -also build it from the the command line by using the nmake program -supplied with MSVC++.

- -

To build WinBoard with the free Cygwin tools, available from http://www.cygwin.com/), use the -command "make -f cygwin.mak". WinBoard 4.2.5 was successfully -compiled with the net release of Cygwin as downloaded on 20-March-2001 -(cygwin1.dll 1.1.8, gcc 2.95.2-6, binutils 20001221-1, flex 2.5.4-1), -but exhibits a command-line parsing bug; see item 511 in the ToDo file -that comes with WinBoard. WinBoard 4.1.0 does not compile with -Cygwin. WinBoard 4.0.7 is known to compile with Cygwin BL20.1.

- -

To build WinBoard with Borland C++ 4.5, use "borland.mak", supplied -with the WinBoard sources, as the Makefile. Support for Borland C++ -was contributed by Don Fong and has not been tested by the author of WinBoard.

- -

WinBoard is a Win32 application, so you definitely need a compiler -and tool set that supports Win32. In particular, older versions of -DJGPP can build only 32-bit MSDOS programs; that is, programs that use -a DOS extender to get a 32-bit address space and do not make any -Windows calls. The latest versions of DJGPP are said to be able to -build Win32 programs when used with the proper extension package(s), -but this is not known to work with WinBoard. Use Cygwin instead.

- -

[B.19] -How can I use XBoard or WinBoard to talk -to an Internet Chess Server through a firewall or proxy? -

- -

There is no single answer to this question, because there are many -different kinds of firewalls in use. They work in various different -ways and have various different security policies. This answer can -only provide hints.

- -

Note that you can't access Internet Chess Servers through a Web proxy, -because they are not a Web service. You talk to them through a raw -TCP connection, not an HTTP connection. If you can only access the -Web through a proxy, there may be a firewall that stops you from -making direct TCP connections, but there may also be a way through it. -Read on for hints, and contact your local system administrator if you -need more information about your local configuration.

- -

A helpful user mailed me the following explanation of how to use -WinBoard with WinGate:

-"I have managed to setup WinBoard though my WinGate proxy. I have the -Office version. What I needed to do was to setup the TCP/IP -connection to add the User/Host name and my provider service name for -the DNS, but I had to leave the HOST IP address blank. I have not -played with all the variations, so it may be just that I have the DNS -lookup enabled." -

I hope this helps, though I don't find it very clear. I don't have -a copy of WinGate myself and can't help if you have questions about it.

- -

If you are using some other non-SOCKS firewall, read the FIREWALLS section -in your XBoard or WinBoard documentation (man page, info document, or -Help file). If you can telnet to a chess server in some way, then you -can almost certainly connect to it with xboard/WinBoard, though in -some cases you may not be able to run timestamp or timeseal. The -timestamp and timeseal protocols require a clean, 8-bit wide TCP -connection from your machine to the ICS, which some firewalls do not -provide.

- -

If you have a SOCKS firewall and are using XBoard, -you should be able to SOCKSify xboard and use it. See http://www.socks.nec.com/ for -information about SOCKS and socksification. However, if you do this, -you can't use timestamp or timeseal; what you really need is a -socksified version of timestamp or timeseal. This is hard because the -source code for timestamp and timeseal is proprietary; the folks -running the chess servers don't give it out because that would make it -too easy to cheat. On some versions of Unix, you may be able to -socksify a program that you don't have the source code to by running -it with an appropriate dynamic library; see http://www.socks.nec.com/. For -others, you might be able to get a pre-built socksified version from -the chess server administrators. For timeseal versions, see ftp://ftp.freechess.org/pub/chess/timeseal/. For timestamp -versions, the directory would be ftp://ftp.chessclub.com/pub/icc/timestamp/, but at this writing -there don't seem to be any socksified timestamps there. Once you have -a socksified timestamp or timeseal, simply run it with a normal, -non-socksified xboard in place of the standard timestamp or timeseal.

- -

If you have a SOCKS firewall and you are using -WinBoard, we now know how to make this configuration -work, complete with timestamp or timeseal!

- -

Start by getting SocksCap32. This software is freely available -from http://www.socks.nec.com/. -Install it on your machine, read the documentation, and learn to use -it. You may find it useful with many other programs besides WinBoard.

- -

Next, don't socksify WinBoard. Socksifying -WinBoard itself doesn't let you use it with timestamp or timeseal. -For some reason I don't understand -- something strange that -SocksCap32 does -- the socksified WinBoard runs but does nothing, and -timestamp/timeseal runs all by itself in its own window.

- -

Instead, use the following workaround. Follow the instructions -exactly; don't try to skip steps or simplify things.

- -

First, make SocksCap32 application profiles for timestamp and -timeseal. Use the following command lines in the SocksCap32 -profiles. Name the first profile "timestamp" and the second -"timeseal".

- -

-    "c:\program files\winboard\timestamp.exe" chessclub.com 5000 -p 5000
-    "c:\program files\winboard\timeseal.exe" freechess.org 5000 -p 5000
-

- -

Second, run timestamp or timeseal by itself, socksified, using its -profile. This will open an unneeded, black window that will not -respond to typing. Minimize it to the task bar and ignore it. It will -go away when you exit from WinBoard.

- -

Next, run WinBoard using the following command line. Make a shortcut -or type this command into an MS-DOS Prompt box. Don't run WinBoard -itself socksified, just run it directly.

- -

-    "c:\program files\winboard.exe" /ics /icshost=localhost /icsport=5000
-

- -

After you get this working, you can try getting the timestamp window to -auto-minimize by starting it from a shortcut instead of from the -SocksCap32 control window. As it says in the SocksCap32 help file, put -the following in the Target field of a shortcut's Properties page:

- -

-    "c:\program files\sockscap32\sc32.exe" timestamp
-

- -

Then select "Run: Minimized" on the same page. Do the same for timeseal.

- -

Another method that can work is to use a .bat file to start both -timestamp and WinBoard. It would look something like this:

- -

-    REM --
-    REM -- icc.bat
-    REM -- Start timestamp under SocksCap32 and use WinBoard to connect to it.
-    REM -- The string "timestamp" refers to a SocksCap32 profile for timestamp.
-    REM --  Do not change it to the filename of the timestamp program!
-    REM --
-    start /minimized "c:\program files\sockscap32\sc32.exe" timestamp
-    cd "c:\program files\winboard"
-    winboard /ics /icshost=localhost /icsport=5000
-

- -

This workaround has a problem if you want to run two copies of -WinBoard at once, talking to the same chess server twice (for -bughouse) or to two different chess servers. If you need to do that, -you will need to run a separate copy of timestamp with a different -port number for each connection. You'll need to make a second set of -profile entries with a different value after the -p flag (say, 5001) -and you'll need to change the WinBoard command line /icsport=5000 for -the second WinBoard to match.

- -

[B.20] -How can I use XBoard or WinBoard on chess.net with accuclock? -

- -

I believe chess.net provides a Win32 command-line version of -accuclock that will work with WinBoard. Please see the documentation -on the chess.net server itself; don't ask the author of WinBoard.

- -

I don't know whether chess.net provides versions of accuclock for -Unix at this time. Ask them.

- -

[B.21] - Can I get Zippy to do one or more ICS commands automatically at the - start or end of each game?

- -

By default, Zippy automatically sends the command "gameend" to ICS -at the end of each game. You can alias this command (using the ICS -"alias" feature) to anything you want. On ICC, you can use the -"multi" feature to alias gameend to several commands, but other -servers don't have that feature. Zippy doesn't send anything at the -start of the game by default.

- -

You can get Zippy to send one or more commands of your choosing, at -the start and/or end of each game, by using the -zippyGameStart and --zippyGameEnd command line options, newly added in version 4.0.3. -Both xboard and WinBoard have (somewhat obscure) ways of getting -newlines into this option to send several commands. Here is an -example of one way to do it for each.

- -

-    xboard -ics -zp -xrm '*zippyGameStart: say hi\nsay prepare to die\n'
-
-    WinBoard /ics /zp /zippyGameEnd='say thanks\nseek 5 0\nseek 2 12\n'
-

- -

[B.22] - How do I print from WinBoard? -

- -

WinBoard does not have built-in printing functionality. -If you want to print a picture of the board, press Alt+PrintScrn, run the -standard Windows application Paintbrush, select Paste, and print from there. -If you want to print a list of moves, save your game as a PGN file, -then open the PGN file with Notepad or any other plain text editor and -print it from there.

- -

[B.23] - Can I get Zippy to automatically reconnect to ICS when its connection - breaks?

- -

There isn't a perfect solution to this problem yet, but a pretty -good one is to write a shell script (for xboard) or .bat script (for -WinBoard) that automatically restarts the program whenever it exits. -Use the -xexit flag so that you don't get a popup dialog that must be -dismissed with the OK button before the program will exit. The gap in -this solution is that your connection to ICS can sometimes get into a -state where the program does not notice that the connection is broken -until the next time it tries to send a command. Perhaps some future -version of xboard/WinBoard will have an option to send a harmless -command every five minutes or so.

- -

Anyway, here is a sample Windows .bat file that restarts WinBoard each -time it exits. Thanks to Jason Williamson. It assumes that you have put -your computer account's name and password in a file named logon.ini.

- -

-REM --
-REM -- wbrecon.bat
-REM -- Start WinBoard in Zippy mode, and restart it each time it exits.
-REM -- Add or change parameters as needed for your application.
-REM --
-:loop
-start /w winboard /zp /ics /icslogon logon.ini /xexit /xautoraise
-REM -- The next line is to have a short delay setup for 139 seconds.
-REM -- Leave it out if it doesn't work on the version of Windows you use.
-TYPE NUL | CHOICE.COM /N /CY /TY,99 >NUL
-goto loop
-

- -

Here is a Unix shell script to do the same thing for xboard. -It's a bit more elaborate. It is based on the script I use for the -original Zippy. It logs all ICS output to a file named zippy.out, -and it lets you type commands to Zippy by running "cat > zippy.fifo".

- -

-#! /bin/sh
-host="204.178.125.65 -icsport 5000 -telnet -telnetProgram timestamp"
-#host="164.58.253.13 -icsport 5000 -telnet -telnetProgram timeseal"
-out=zippy.out
-fifo=zippy.fifo
-ZIPPYPASSWORD='something'
-export ZIPPYPASSWORD
-ZIPPYPASSWORD2='orother'
-export ZIPPYPASSWORD2
-ZIPPYLINES=`pwd`/all.lines
-export ZIPPYLINES
-ZIPPYGAMEEND='say Yow, that was FUN!
-gameend'
-export ZIPPYGAMEEND
-zippylogon=`pwd`/logon.ini
-DISPLAY=`hostname`:0.0
-export DISPLAY
-mv -f $out ${out}.old
-rm -f $fifo
-mkfifo $fifo
-pid=$$
-( while [ true ] ; do cat -u $fifo ; done ) | \
-      ( while [ true ] ; do
-          xboard -iconic -ics -icshost $host \
-                 -zt -zp -xbell -xanimate \
-                 -xautosave -xquiet -fcp "gnuchessx -h" \
-                 -icslogon $zippylogon -xexit -autoflag -xautoraise $*
-          sleep 600
-        done ) > $out 2>&1 &
-

- -

[B.24] - The chess engines are too strong and always beat me. How can I adjust - the difficulty level to make them weaker?

- -

The best way is to get a weaker chess engine. -On the ChessWar website -you will find a rating list of virtually all engines that are able to -play under XBoard/WinBoard, from super-humanly strong to ridculously weak. -Most of them can be downloaded for free from the internet.

- -

A way to get that effect is to limit the time the engine can use for -deciding on its move. The time-odds options or menu items in the -time-control dialog) can be used to this end. This is only of limited -help, as engines do not weeken that much at faster time-control, -and there is a practical limit to how fast you can order the engine -to go. Also feel free to use Retract Move if -you make a blunder.

- -

Many chess coaches will let you switch sides after -they get a stronger position so that you can get experience playing -positions where you are winning. You can try this with XBoard/WinBoard -by using the Machine White or Machine Black menu command to make the -machine take over your position.

- -

The -depth command-line option to XBoard/WinBoard can also be used to -weaken the engine (see the man page or Help file). It's a bit of a -nuisance to set command line options in Windows, but see topic [C.7] for instructions.

- -

Other ways of weakening engines are engine-specific. Many of them -let you adjust various parameters, and if you choose bad settings, the -engine will play more poorly. Consult whatever documentation came with -the engine you are using.

- -

[B.25] - May I use the piece bitmaps from XBoard/WinBoard in my own program?

- -

The piece bitmaps used in XBoard and WinBoard were designed by -Elmar Bartel. He released them under the GNU General Public -License. This means that if your program is also free software -distributed under the GPL, you can use them freely. If your program -is distributed under some other license, including commercial, -shareware, or non-GPL freeware, then you cannot use the bitmaps unless -you obtain special permission from Elmar. See the file README.bitmaps -that comes with the XBoard and WinBoard source code for more -information and an email address you can write to.

- -

[C] XBoard and WinBoard, bugs and problems

- -

[C.1] I can't build XBoard -because the X11/Xaw/... include files are not found.

- -

These are the header files for the Athena Widgets library, which XBoard uses -heavily. Some versions of Unix don't supply these files, but they are part of -the standard X distribution, freely available from MIT.

- -

For general information on getting missing X sources, see the FAQ on -comp.windows.x. Note that you may be missing only the header files, or you -may be missing the libraries themselves too.

- -

HP-UX users are missing only the header files. You can get them by -anonymous FTP as follows. (But first check with your system -administrator to see if someone else at your site has already done -this.) Get the archive file /hpux9/X11R5/Core/Xaw-5.00.tar.gz (Xaw -header files) via anonymous FTP from the site hpux.csc.liv.ac.uk -(138.253.42.172), or one of the other official sites---Germany: -hpux.ask.uni-karlsruhe.de (129.13.200.57), US: hpux.cae.wisc.edu -(144.92.4.15), France: hpux.cict.fr (192.70.79.53) or Netherlands: -hpux.ced.tudelft.nl (130.161.140.100). Unpack the archive using gzip -and follow the instructions in its README and/or HPUX.Install files. -Thanks to Richard Lloyd for this information.

- -

If you have the Xaw header files installed in a different place -than the other X11 headers, you may need to configure XBoard with an -extra flag to help it find them. For example, if yours are in -/foo/bar/X11/Xaw, try this:

- -

-    rm config.cache
-    (setenv CFLAGS -I/foo/bar ; configure)
-

- -

Also see topic [C.2].

- -

[C.2] Configuring or building XBoard fails due to -missing header files, missing libraries, or undefined symbols. -

- -

Perhaps you have the X server and client programs installed on your -machine, but not the X header files and link-time libraries. If so, -you can run existing X programs, but you cannot compile a new X -program from source code. In this case the XBoard configure script -will fail and will tell you to look at this question in the FAQ. Many -GNU/Linux distributions put the headers and libraries in a separate -package, which you might not have installed. If you are using RedHat, -install the XFree86-devel package. If you are using some other -kind of Unix, ask your system administrator where to find the X header -files and link-time libraries. If this is not your problem, read on.

- -

The configure script for XBoard looks for X libraries and header -files in some common places. Sometimes it fails: If yours are -installed in an odd place, it may not find them at all. If you have -more than one version of X installed on your system, it may find the -"wrong" one, or occasionally it may find libraries from one version -and incompatible header files from another. You can work around these -problems by telling the configure script where the files are. For -example:

- -

-    configure --x-includes=/odd/place/include \
-              --x-libraries=/odd/place/lib
-

- -

The directory named in the argument to --x-includes must have a -subdirectory "X11" that contains the actual .h files. That is, if -your X.h file has full pathname /odd/place/X11R6/include/X11/X.h, then -you must give the argument --x-includes=/odd/place/X11R6/include.

- -

Some linkers have bugs that cause bogus error messages when you try -to link X programs. The configure script includes a workaround for a -bug of this kind that exists in some SunOS 4.x.x installations. See -the FAQ on comp.windows.x for more information about problems of this -kind.

- -

If all else fails, check whether anyone else at your site has been able to -compile any X programs on your system. Your X installation might be buggy. -If so, the system administrator at your site might know how to fix or work -around the problem.

- -

Also see topic [C.1].

- -

[C.3] I have problems using WinBoard on ICS -with a modem. I'm not running SLIP or PPP, but just dialing in to an -ordinary login account ("shell account").

- -

Here are solutions to some common problems in this area.

- -

Some people want to connect to ICS through HyperTerminal or some other -terminal program first, then run WinBoard. This is not how it works. -WinBoard wants to talk directly with your modem, acting as a terminal program -itself. Start out with the modem "on hook" (not making a call).

- -

Run WinBoard with a command line like this (adding more options if desired):

- -

-    WinBoard /ics /icscom com1
-

- -

Use com2, com3, or com4 in place of com1 if your modem is connected to one of those ports.

- -

After you start WinBoard, you may need to change some of the options in the -Communications dialog (on the Options menu). The dialog has the usual options -for talking to modems: bits per second, bits per byte, parity, number of stop -bits. You will probably want to use Save Settings Now when you're done.

- -

Next, type dialing commands to your modem in the text window that WinBoard -creates. You may need to turn off Local Line Editing on the Options menu -while you are typing commands to your modem. Turn it back on when you're -done. See the WinBoard Help file for instructions if you see your typing -echoed an extra time after you hit Enter.

- -

[C.4] -I have problems using WinBoard on ICS with Windows 95 and SLIP -or PPP. When trying to start up, it gets the error "Address family -not supported by protocol family" (or some equally strange message). -

- -

WinBoard is a 32-bit application, but some Winsock (TCP/IP) implementations -support only 16-bit applications. You get a strange looking error message -if you try to use a 32-bit application because -there is no standard Winsock error code number -for "32-bit application not supported."

- -

Microsoft TCP/IP works with both 16-bit and -32-bit applications, supports SLIP, PPP, Ethernet, etc., and is included -with Windows 95 and later Windows systems. -If possible, I recommend that you uninstall -whatever Winsock you are using and install Microsoft TCP/IP instead. -For more information, see -http://walden.mo.net/~rymabry/95winfaq.html (the Win95-L FAQ).

- -

Trumpet Winsock 2.1 (and earlier) supports only 16-bit -applications, and hence does not work with WinBoard. But there is a -beta-test release available that does support 32-bit applications. -I have not tried it with WinBoard, but it -should work. See Trumpet's Web page -http://www.trumpet.com.au/wsk/winsock.htm -for more information.

- -

The 16-bit versions of America On-Line's software do not support -32-bit Winsock applications. Get the 32-bit version. At one time the -32-bit version was called "AOL for Windows 95," but I imagine that has -changed. Hopefully the current versions are all 32-bit.

- -

A few versions of Winsock may have bugs that prevent -Windows timestamp/timeseal from working with them. I'm not sure if -such bugs exist in any versions that actually have 32-bit support, -so this point might be moot. Again, Microsoft TCP/IP is known to work.

- -

[C.5] When I try to run WinBoard, I get the -message "Failed to start chess program gnuchess on localhost: NO -LANGFILE (file gnuchess.lan not found)".

- -

This message means that WinBoard is trying to run GNU Chess, but -GNU Chess cannot find a file that it needs, named gnuchess.lan. -If you see it, you've probably customized WinBoard's /fcp, /fd, /scp, -and/or /sd options and made a mistake in the process. Review what -you did, and see the WinBoard help file.

- -

[C.6] I want to use XBoard or WinBoard as an Internet -Chess Server interface, but the ICS Client option is grayed out on the -menu.

- -

XBoard and WinBoard have three major modes that can't be changed from the -menus: local chess engine mode, -ICS mode, and standalone mode.

- -

With XBoard, you have to set the mode using command-line options. -Local chess engine mode is the default, -ics selects ICS mode, and --ncp ("no chess program") selects standalone mode.

- -

With WinBoard, if you don't set the mode using command-line -options, you get a dialog box asking which mode you want. To bypass -the dialog box, use -cp ("chess program") for local chess engine mode, -or -ics or -ncp as with XBoard. Also see topic [C.7].

- -

[C.7] How do I give command-line options to -a Windows program like WinBoard?

- -

There are many ways; pick your favorite:

- -

Type the command line into an MS-DOS Prompt box. Example: -"WinBoard -ics".
Make a Windows shortcut for WinBoard. You can do this by -right-dragging WinBoard.exe to the desktop and selecting "Create -Shortcut(s) Here" from the menu that appears. Right-click on the -shortcut, select Properties, and click the Shortcut tab. The -command-line text box is labelled "Target" instead of "Command line" -just to confuse you. Edit the text in this box, adding the command -line options to the end.
Choose Run from the Start menu, or File / Run from the Program -Manager or File Manager, and type the command line into the dialog you -get. You may have to give WinBoard's full drivespec and filename if -it is not in a directory on your search path.
Make a Program Manager icon for WinBoard. You can do this by -dragging WinBoard.exe from the File Manager into the Program Manager, -or by using File / New in the Program Manager. Select the icon and -choose File / Properties. Edit the Command Line text box to add the -command-line options to the end.

- -

[C.9] -When I exit from WinBoard after using it to play against a chess -program on my machine, the chess program keeps running in the background. -

- -

Be sure you have the current versions of WinBoard and the chess -engine you are using. WinBoard 3.4.1 and earlier had a bug that -caused this problem to occur with all chess engines. A buggy chess -engine that does not respond to the "quit" command will also cause -this.

- -

If you still see this problem, you can stop the rogue chess engine -by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del, selecting the chess engine process from the -menu, and pressing the End Task button.

- -

[C.12] -Why do my ICS -opponents often get extra time after they make their moves? -Why do I sometimes lose time off my clock after I make my move? -

- -

If you are playing with the ICS incremental clock, both you and your -opponent get a set amount of extra time after each move.

- -

If your or your opponent has netlag, your opponent might appear to -get extra time, especially if your opponent is using timestamp or -timeseal. The ICS charges each player who is using timestamp or -timeseal only for the time between when the player received his -opponent's move and the time he sent his own move. Thus delays in -network transmission do not count against either player. But WinBoard -counts down the display of your opponent's clock on your screen under -the assumption that there is no netlag. When his move comes in, if -there was netlag, the ICS may not have really charged him for that -much time, and WinBoard corrects the clock to what the ICS says it -should read.

- -

If you are not using timestamp or timeseal, you may appear to lose -time off your clock at some point after you make your move. In this -case, the ICS charges you for the time between when it sent you your -opponent's move and the time it received your move. Thus delays in -network transmission count against you. WinBoard stops counting down -the display of your clock on your screen (and starts your opponent's) -when you make your move. When the ICS echoes your move back to you, it -may have charged you for more time than that, and WinBoard corrects -the clocks to what the ICS says they should read.

- -

See "help lag" and "help timestamp" or "help timeseal" on your ICS for -more detailed information.

- -

[C.13] -I can't run WinBoard unless I delete the WinBoard.ini file each time! -

- -

Most people don't have this problem, but two or three people using -Windows NT 4.0 with Service Pack 3 or 4 have reported it. I have no -idea what causes this problem. Contrary to what was reported in a -previous version of this FAQ, reinstalling the service pack after -installing WinBoard does not seem to solve the problem.

- -

[C.15] -I get errors compiling XBoard's parser.c. -

- -

The file parser.c is automatically generated from parser.l. The -copy included with XBoard 4.0.2 was generated by lex on Tru64 Unix and -has problems compiling and linking on current GNU/Linux versions. The -copy included with XBoard 4.0.3 was generated by flex on a GNU/Linux -machine, but it too won't necessarily work on other versions of Unix. -If you have this problem, you can fix it by deleting parser.c and -letting the Makefile re-create it from parser.l. This will work if -you have either lex or flex on your system. Flex is available in all -GNU/Linux distributions and can be obtained at no charge from the Free -Software Foundation, www.fsf.org.

- -

[C.16] -I get an error building WinBoard from source because "flex" is not found. -

- -

The file parser.c is automatically generated from parser.l. The -Makefile included with the WinBoard source kit has a rule for -generating parser.c using the program "flex", which will fail if you -don't have flex. However, the source kit also includes a ready-made -copy of parser.c, so you don't really need flex unless you have made -changes to parser.l. Check that you still have a copy of parser.c; if -you don't, unpack the WinBoard source zip file again to get one. -Either set the last-modified time of parser.c to be later than that of -parser.l, delete parser.l, or comment out the Makefile rule for -building parser.c from parser.l, and then try building WinBoard again.

- -

If you do want to change parser.l and rebuild parser.c, you can get -flex as part of the free Cygwin kit from -http://sourceware.cygnus.com/cygwin/. You can -probably also get flex for Windows by itself from various other places -around the Internet. It is free software distributed by the Free -Software Foundation, www.fsf.org.

- -

[C.17] - XBoard hangs shortly after connecting to an ICS when used with dxterm, - cmdtool, dtterm, kterm, konsole, or other substitutes for xterm. -

- -

After connecting to a chess server, XBoard 4.0.2 and later sends an -escape sequence to its terminal that is meant to display your handle -and the ICS host name (for example, -"user@chessclub.com") in the -terminal's banner and icon. It seems that several of the alternative -X terminal programs have a bug that makes them hang when sent this -escape sequence.

- -

You can work -around the problem by using xterm, nxterm, rxvt, aterm, xiterm, or -gnome-terminal, all of which seem to work fine. In fact, current -versions of kterm and konsole seem to work fine too, so if you are -having problems with one of them, be sure you are not running an -outdated version.

- -

Alternatively, you can disable this feature by commenting out the -body of DisplayIcsInteractionTitle in xboard.c and recompling xboard.

- -

[C.18] - The WinBoard pieces show up in the wrong colors, appear distorted, - or are not visible at all. -

- -

This can happen if you have a bug in your Windows display driver. -Check with the manufacturer of your display card, the manufacturer of -your computer, or Microsoft to see if there is an updated driver -available. You can usually download updated drivers from the Web.

- -

If you can't find an updated driver, you can try running Windows -using a different number of colors and/or disabling some of the -hardware acceleration features on your display card. To change the -number of colors, go to Windows Start / Settings / Control Panel / -Display / Settings / Color Palette. To disable hardware acceleration -features, go to Windows Start / Settings / Control Panel / Display / -Settings / Advanced Properties / Performance / Hardware Acceleration.

- -

It's also possible that Windows has the right driver for your -hardware already but you are not using it. It may help to reinstall -your driver. Go to Windows Start / Settings / Control Panel / System -and delete your display card (maybe even your monitor too), then -reboot. Windows should automatically re-detect your card and monitor -and re-install the drivers; if it doesn't, run Start / Settings / -Control Panel / Add New Hardware to force it to.

- -

If all else fails, try Monochrome mode. On WinBoard's menus, go -to Options / Color and check Monochrome. WinBoard will display in black -and white.

- -

[C.19] XBoard or WinBoard tells me "Error: first chess - program (...) exited unexpectedly".

- -

This message means that your chess engine crashed, probably due to -a bug in the engine, or because you have it configured incorrectly. -You can try running XBoard or WinBoard again with the "-debug" flag on -the command line. This will print out all the messages received from -the chess engine. (With WinBoard, the messages go into a file called -WinBoard.debug; with XBoard, they go to the xterm that you started -XBoard from.)

- -

If you are using GNU Chess and you see this problem as soon as it -starts up, most likely GNU Chess is exiting with an error message. If -you see the message "NO LANGFILE", it means that you did not install -GNU Chess correctly, and it is unable to find the file gnuchess.lang. -Make sure that you defined LIBDIR in the gnuchess Makefile, and that -gnuchess.lang is in that directory. If gnuchess.lang is not there, -you probably didn't type "make install" in the gnuchess src directory; -you must do this to install gnuchess.lang (and the gnuchess book). If -you defined LIBDIR to something that is not an absolute pathname (that -is, to something that does not start with a "/"), GNU Chess will work -only if you run it from the GNU Chess "src" directory where you built -it.

- -

[C.20] - XBoard tells me "Warning: Cannot allocate colormap entry", or - "too few colors available; trying monochrome mode", or - "XPM pieces cannot be used in monochrome mode". -

- -

You are running your X server with 8-bit color depth, and you are running -some program that has used up all 256 of your colors. Netscape tends -to do this, or maybe you have a background image that uses up all of -your colors.

- -

If you have a modern machine, you probably have enough display -memory to run your X server with 16-, 24-, or 32-bit color depth. If -you're using "startx" to start the X server, try giving the command as -"startx -- -bpp 24" (or 16, or 32). On newer X servers you -may have to use -depth instead of -bpp. Further details on -configuring your X server are beyond the scope of this FAQ.

- -

If you must run in 8-bit mode, try the following: -Avoid background images that use up all your colors. If you -run Netscape, try starting it up with the -install command-line -option; this gives Netscape its own private colormap that X will -switch to when Netscape has the keyboard focus.

- -

If all else fails, another possibility is to run xboard in -monochrome (black and white) mode by giving it the -mono -command-line option. XBoard will try this by itself in some cases. -Monochrome mode works only with bitmap pieces, not pixmap pieces, so -trying to use it may give you the error "XPM pieces cannot be used in -monochrome mode". To get around this, either use the -bitmapDirectory -command line option to point XBoard to the directory containing the -bitmap pieces included with the XBoard source code, or rebuild XBoard -with pixmap support disabled, using "./configure --disable-xpm ; make -clean ; make".

- -

[C.21] - When I log in to freechess.org, the Enter key doesn't work, and I - have to use Ctrl+J instead. But when I use WinBoard, Ctrl+J doesn't - work either, so I'm stuck. -

- -

This is a pretty rare problem. It should only arise if you have to -reach freechess.org by telnetting (or connecting with WinBoard -/icsport=23) from a Windows PC to a Unix box, and then telnetting from -there to freechess.org. The Enter key should always work when -connecting directly from your PC to freechess.org.

- -

The best way to get around the problem is to run timeseal on the -intermediate Unix box instead of telnet. Get the appropriate version -of timeseal for your box from ftp.freechess.org and follow the -directions in the help files on FICS.

- -

If you can't run timeseal for some reason, there are some things -you can do to make telnet stay in line mode instead of going to -character mode. Then the Enter key will work. First, try "telnet -freechess.org 5000" instead of "telnet freechess.org." -If that still doesn't work, then when the Enter key stops working, -type the following. Here < and > surround the -names of keys.

- -

-    <Ctrl+S><Ctrl+]>mode line<Enter>
-

- -

[C.22] - XBoard says, "Failed to start first chess program gnuchessx - on localhost: gnuchessx: No such file or directory." -

- -

XBoard is looking for GNU Chess 4.0. If you didn't want to use -XBoard with GNU Chess, please see topic [C.6]. -If you did want to use GNU Chess 4.0, be sure you have it installed and -that it is on your $PATH. If you wanted to use GNU Chess 5 instead, -see topic [D.6].

- -

[D] Crafty and other topics

[D.1] What is XChess?

- -

XChess is an older chessboard program that is no longer supported. XChess was -written for X version 10, and you may or may not be able to build and run it -on an X11 system.

- -

XChess has only one significant feature that is not present in XBoard: Two -humans can play chess using XChess on different machines, without using the -Internet Chess Server as an intermediary. This feature is of interest only if -you don't have network connectivity to the Internet Chess Server.

- -

Note: There actually have been several different programs called "XChess" in -circulation at various times. The above describes one that was associated -with GNU Chess.

- -

[D.2] What is Winsock Chess?

- -

Winsock Chess is a program that lets two people play chess across a -network. It runs only under Microsoft Windows. Some of the code in -Winsock Chess is derived from GNU Chess, but it is not maintained by -the GNU Chess team. You can get a copy from the Internet Chess -Library; see topic [A.2]. For more information, -contact its author, Donald Munro, -ccahdm@beluga.upe.ac.za.

- -

[D.3] What is Crafty?

- -

Crafty is a freely-available chess program written by Bob Hyatt. -Bob is the main author of the well-known chess program Cray -Blitz. Crafty is a very strong program, its code is available, commented -and fairly readable, and its author is actively working on improvements.

- -

You can download Crafty from ftp://ftp.cis.uab.edu/pub/hyatt/. Start by getting the read.me file and -reading it. Among other things, this file contains instructions on -how to install Crafty as a command-line application on your machine.

- -

There is a Crafty mailing list. -To subscribe, send email to -majordomo@cis.uab.edu, with -"subscribe crafty-list" in the body.

- -

[D.4] How do I use Crafty with XBoard?

- -

First, you need to get Crafty and install it as a command-line -application on your machine. See topic [D.3].

- -

To use Crafty with XBoard, give the -fcp -parameter like this:

- -

-    xboard -fcp "./crafty" -fd crafty_directory
-

- -

Here crafty_directory is the directory where you installed Crafty. -You can add more xboard options at the end of the command line.

- -

Crafty 15.14 or later is required to work properly with XBoard -4.0.0 or later. We generally recommend using the latest versions of -both XBoard and Crafty.

- -

[D.5] How do I use Crafty with WinBoard?

- -

First, you need to get Crafty and install it as a command-line -application on your machine. See topic [D.3]. -It is best to use the latest version of Crafty with the latest version -of WinBoard to make sure all features are compatible and function -correctly. You can install Crafty in any directory you like.

- -

You also need to get WinBoard and install it in the normal way -using its built-in installer. You can do that either before or after -you install Crafty.

- -

After both Crafty and WinBoard are installed separately, follow the -directions in the WinBoard Help file (included with WinBoard) for -connecting new chess engines to WinBoard.

- -

If you want to have Crafty act as an automated computer player on a -chess server, see topic [B.16]. Before you try -to get that working, be sure you can play against Crafty locally, -first without WinBoard, then with it. Also be sure you can use -WinBoard to play on the chess server yourself, without having Crafty -connected to it. You have to crawl before you can walk!

- -

[D.6] How do I use GNU Chess 5 with XBoard?

- -

By default, XBoard still tries to use GNU Chess 4 by running the -command "gnuchessx". That's why if you don't have GNU Chess 4, you -get the error message "Failed to start first chess program gnuchessx -on localhost: gnuchessx: No such file or directory."

- -

If you have GNU Chess 5, the command should be "gnuchess xboard" -instead. To make XBoard use this command, give the -fcp parameter -like this:

- -

-    xboard -fd gnuchess_directory -fcp "./gnuchess xboard" 
-

- -

Here gnuchess_directory is the directory where you installed -GNU Chess 5 and its book. You can add more xboard options at the -end of the command line.

- -

-** End of XBoard/WinBoard FAQ ** - + + + + + + + + + + +XBoard and WinBoard: Frequently Asked Questions + + + + + + + +

XBoard and WinBoard: Frequently Asked Questions

+ +

This document answers some frequently asked questions about the +graphical chess interfaces XBoard and WinBoard. +A hyperlinked version of this FAQ is available on +the Web through the page + +http://www.gnu.org/software/xboard/FAQ.html.

+ +

This FAQ is in need of revision. Please contact us if you'd like +to help update it.

+ +

Outline

+ +

[A] Introduction and hot topics
[B] XBoard and WinBoard
[C] XBoard and WinBoard, bugs and problems
[D] Crafty and other topics

+ +

Detailed contents

+ +

[A] Introduction and hot topics +
[B] XBoard and WinBoard +
[C] XBoard and WinBoard, bugs and problems +
[D] Crafty and other topics +

+ +

[A] Introduction and hot topics

+ +

[A.1] What are XBoard and WinBoard?

+ +

XBoard and WinBoard are graphical user interfaces for chess. + XBoard runs with the X Window System on Unix systems (including + GNU/Linux); see topic [B.1]. WinBoard runs + on true 32-bit Microsoft Windows operating systems, such as Windows + 95, 98, NT, 2000, ME, XP, Vista, and should continue to work on future + 32-bit Windows systems. It does not work on Windows CE (also known + as Pocket PC), nor does it work on 16-bit Windows systems such as + Windows 3.1. See topic [B.2].

+ +

[A.2] Where can I get chess information and chess + software?

+ +

As a shortcut to most things mentioned in this FAQ, try Tim Mann's + Chess Web page, http://www.tim-mann.org/chess.html. + This page page is currently a very bad place to get the latest released + versions of XBoard and WinBoard and the most up-to-date version of this + FAQ, though. A better place is the + WinBoard forum. + Also see our Savannah + project pages at https://savannah.gnu.org/projects/xboard/.

+ +

If you have other questions about XBoard/WinBoard that aren't + answered in this FAQ, you can try Aaron Tay's WinBoard and Chess + Engines FAQ, + atdefunct + URL.

+ +

For general news and information about chess, try the +CCC forum +or the + WinBoard forum. +Anothe possibility is the newsgroup hierarchy +rec.games.chess.*, especially the groups rec.games.chess.misc and +rec.games.chess.computer. Both of the latter groups have very informative +FAQs maintained by Steve Pribut; look for them on the newsgroups or at +defunct URL.

+ +

Like other GNU software, you can get XBoard, and WinBoard by anonymous FTP from +ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/ +and its many mirror sites. Look in the subdirectories xboard, and winboard. +The .tar.gz suffix on the files there indicates they were packed with tar +and compressed with gzip. The .exe or .zip suffixes indicate files that +were packed and compressed with zip.

+ +

For other chess software, try the Internet Chess Library. Use +anonymous FTP to connect to ftp.freechess.org, or go to the Web page +http://www.freechess.org/. +You can get chess software, game +collections, the FAQ file for rec.games.chess, and other chess-related +material there, in the directory pub/chess. The FTP server can +automatically decompress files for you as you download them, useful if you +don't have gzip.

+ +

Here is a sample anonymous ftp session. Some of the ftp server's responses +are abbreviated, but all the commands you must type are included.

+ +

+    % ftp ftp.gnu.org
+    Connected to ftp.gnu.org
+    Name: anonymous
+    Password: your-email-address@your-site
+    ftp> binary
+    200 Type set to I.
+    ftp> cd /pub/gnu/xboard
+    ftp> dir
+    -rw-r--r-- 1 14910 wheel  1057625 May 20 00:25 xboard-4.2.7.tar.gz
+    ftp> get xboard-4.2.7.tar.gz
+    150 BINARY connection for xboard-4.2.7.tar.gz (1057625 bytes).
+    226 Transfer complete.
+    ftp> quit
+

+ +

[A.3] What are the current version numbers for +XBoard and WinBoard?

+ +

At this writing, the current version numbers are:

+ +

XBoard 4.4.0
WinBoard 4.4.0

+ +

[A.4] Who is working on this project?

+ +Please see our Savannah project pages +at https://savannah.gnu.org/projects/xboard/ +for a list of active developers. Many others occasionally contribute +suggestions and snippets of code, for which we are grateful. + +

[A.5] How do I report bugs, offer help, etc.?

+ +

Bug reports, suggestions, and offers to help on XBoard +or WinBoard should be sent to bug-xboard@gnu.org.

+ +

Beginner questions and discussion about the program may get faster +answers on the WinBoard Forum at http://www.open-aurec.com/wbforum/. +This forum also constains a section dedicated to propose and discuss +new features for WinBoard / XBoard or WinBoard protocol, +and reposrt bugs, +and offers downloads of pre-installed packages of WinBoard +bundled with other software, +useful for conducting computer-computer tournaments.

+ +

If you are developing a +chess engine that works with XBoard or WinBoard (or an alternative +GUI that works with such engines), see the Chess Engines mailing +list, hosted at +http://groups.yahoo.com/group/chess-engines. +For better response, join the above-mentioned WinBoard forum, +or the CCC forum.

+ + +

Any time you want to report a possible bug in XBoard or WinBoard, +we need to know exactly what you did, and exactly what error (or +other) messages you got.

+ +

If you are using Unix, run the "script" program, run XBoard with +the -debug flag (if you get as far as running it), do whatever is +necessary to reproduce the problem, type "exit" to the shell, and mail +us the resulting typescript file. We also need to know what +hardware/operating system combination you are using. The command +"uname -a" will usually tell you this; include its output in your +typescript.

+ +

If you are using MS Windows, run WinBoard with the -debug flag, and +send us a copy of the WinBoard.debug file. If you aren't sure how to +add command-line flags to WinBoard, you can hit Ctrl+Alt+F12 to create +a WinBoard.debug file after WinBoard starts, but that is not as good, +because a few messages that would have been printed at the start are +lost.

+ +

Either way, please send us the exact text of the commands you typed +and the output you got, not just your recollection of approximately +what they were. The messages may seem meaningless to you, but they +are very meaningful to us and essential for diagnosing problems.

+ +

[A.6] What are the future plans for XBoard and + WinBoard?

+ +

Our plans are always in flux. As with most free software projects, +the next release will happen when it happens -- or it may never +happen. This has always been the policy for XBoard/WinBoard. +Releases have never been promised in specific time frames.

+ +

Starting in November 2003, several new developers have joined the +project, and work is now hosted at https://savannah.gnu.org/projects/xboard/. Lots of work is just +getting underway, but nothing is far along yet.

+ +

Here is a partial list of items that have a nonzero probability of +happening in finite time.

+ +

Small bug fixes. Occasionally someone sends us a fix, or reports +a small bug very clearly so that we're able to fix it in a few minutes +work.
Protocol version 3. The members of the chess engine authors' +mailing list discussed a set of proposed features for the next version +of the XBoard/WinBoard chess engine communication protocol. +The WinBoard 4.3 fork has taken the protocol in a different direction, +though, extending version 2 with new features as they were needed, +rather than upgrading to a new protocol in a single sweep. +It does not seem likely that there will be a v3 protocol in the +foreseeable future. +
Contributed features. Several people have mailed me code to add +various features. Most of this code is available on the +XBoard/WinBoard extensions page +at +http://www.tim-mann.org/extensions.html, +but it is not in any official releases yet. We are in the process of +getting folks to formally assign the copyrights on their contributions +to the Free Software Foundation so that we can include it in official +releases in the future.
Internationalization. Several people have expressed interest in +internationalizing XBoard/WinBoard. Version 4.4 implements +internationalization in its XBoard branch, and includes (partial) +Turkish and German translations. For WinBoard a suitable way for +internationalization still has to be found, as all menu strings there +are not in the C code, but in a Windows resource file. In any case, we +will need more translators, to update the existing translations (for +version 4.2.7) to the current version, and to provide translaions for +oter languages. Watch for news on the xboard-devel mailing list on +our Savannah pages.

+ +

[B] XBoard and WinBoard

[B.1] What is XBoard?

+ +

XBoard is a graphical user interface for chess. It displays a +chessboard on the screen, accepts moves made with the mouse, and loads +and saves games in Portable Game Notation (PGN). XBoard is free software. +It serves as a front-end for many different chess services, including:

+ +

Chess engines that will run on your machine and +play a game against you or help you analyze, such as GNU Chess and +Crafty (topic [D.3] below).

+ +

Chess servers on the Internet, where you can +connect to play chess with people from all over the world, watch other +users play, or just hang out and chat.

+ +

Correspondence chess played by electronic +mail. The cmail program (topic [B.6] below) +automates the tasks of parsing email from your opponent, playing his +moves out on your board, and mailing your reply move after you've +chosen it.

+ +

The Web and your own saved games. You can use +XBoard as a helper application to view PGN games in your +Web browser, or to load and save your own PGN files.

+ +

XBoard runs under Unix or Unix-compatible systems. It requires the +X Window System, version X11R4 or later. There are also ports of +XBoard to 32-bit Microsoft Windows and to +the Amiga. See topics [B.2] and [B.3] respectively.

+ +

[B.2] Is there an XBoard for Microsoft Windows? What is WinBoard? How do I install WinBoard?

+ +

WinBoard is a port of XBoard to 32-bit Microsoft Windows systems, such +as Windows 95, 98, NT, 2000, ME, and XP. It uses the same back end +chess code as XBoard, but the front end graphics code is a complete +rewrite. WinBoard is free software.

+ +

The WinBoard distribution includes a sample Chess engine.

+ +

The WinBoard distribution also includes the ICC timestamp and FICS +timeseal programs (topic [B.12]).

+ +

cmail (topic [B.6]) has not been ported to +Windows. All the other XBoard functions are included in WinBoard. +The International Email Chess Group web site at http://www.iecg.org/ recommends +ECTool (http://www.ectool.nu/) +for playing correspondence chess under Windows.

+ +

You install WinBoard as follows. Download the WinBoard package to +your PC (see topic [A.2]). It will be a file +with a name like winboard-4_0_0.exe. Double-click on this file +in the Explorer or File Manager to run it. Follow the on-screen +prompts.

+ +

[B.3] Is there an XBoard for the Amiga? What is AmyBoard?

+ +

AmyBoard is a port of XBoard to the Amiga, by Jochen Wiedmann. +The distribution includes a port of GNU Chess. +AmyBoard is free software.

+ +

The current version of AmyBoard is 330.5 (based on XBoard 3.3.0). +No one is currently maintaining it.

+ +

System requirements:

+ +

An Amiga (obviously :-), running OS 2.04 or later, 2Mb RAM or more.
MUI 2.0 or later.
Workbench or another screen with no less than 640x400 pixels (adjustable + with the MUI-Prefs); this restriction is just because we don't have + bitmaps with less than 40x40 pixels per square. If someone contributes + bitmaps with 20x20 or 20x25, they will work with any Hires mode.

+ +

If you would like to use an ICS, you need an Internet connection via either

+ +

a telnet-like program, or
a terminal program reading from stdin and writing to stdout.

+ +

AmyBoard is available in the Internet Chess Library (topic [A.2]).

+ +

[B.4] Is there an XBoard for the Macintosh?

+ +

Note: I am not a Mac user and have not tried this myself, so I cannot +answer questions about it.

+ +

Because MacOS X has a Unix base, XBoard will compile and run on it. +You do need an X11 (X Window System) server and client libraries. I'm +told that these come standard with MacOS X 10.3 and later. Once you +install the X11 package, XBoard is reported to compile and run without +changes.

+ +

You can avoid having to compile XBoard (and GNU Chess) yourself by +using the Fink sofware packaging system. See +http://fink.sourceforge.net/ and +http://finkcommander.sourceforge.net/ for more info on Fink.

+ +

There is no version of XBoard or WinBoard that runs with the native +(non-X11) Mac graphical interface, and none that runs on MacOS 9 or +earlier.

+ + +

[B.5] Does XBoard run on VMS?

+ +

No. This port would probably be a lot easier than the Win32 and Amiga +ports were, because VMS has the X Window system (under the name +DECwindows) and is now POSIX compliant. If you are working on this, +send mail to bug-xboard@gnu.org to let us know.

+ + +

[B.6] What is cmail?

+ +

cmail is a program that helps you play and keep track of electronic mail +correspondence chess games using XBoard. It is distributed with XBoard and +has its own manual page. cmail is free software. It was written by +Even Welsh. cmail has not been ported to Windows; sorry.

+ +

[B.7] How do I build XBoard? Do I need gcc?

+ +

The first step to building XBoard is to get the distribution file. See topic +[A.2] for places you can ftp the software from.

+ +

Next, decide what directory tree you are going to install XBoard +in. The default is /usr/local, but you probably don't have write +access to that directory unless you are a system administrator. If +you do, type the following to install it there:

+ +

+    gzip -cd xboard-*.tar.gz | tar -xvf -
+    cd xboard-*/
+    ./configure
+    make
+    su
+    make install
+

+ +

If you want to install xboard in your personal home directory ($HOME/bin), +type this:

+ +

+    gzip -cd xboard-*.tar.gz | tar -xvf -
+    cd xboard-*/
+    ./configure --prefix=$HOME
+    make
+    make install
+

+ +

If the first step above fails because you don't have gzip, see +topic [A.2], and ask a local Unix expert if you +need more help. If you have any problems with the last two steps, +read the READ_ME and INSTALL files in the xboard-*/ directory. You +will also find this FAQ there.

+ +

You don't need to have gcc to build XBoard. Almost any Unix C +compiler should do.

+ +

[B.8] Can I use XBoard or WinBoard to play a game + of chess with another human?

+ +

The only way for two humans on different machines to play chess in +real time using XBoard/WinBoard is to use an Internet Chess Server +as an intermediary. That is, each player runs his own copy of XBoard +or WinBoard, both of them log into an ICS, and they play a game there. +Two copies of XBoard/WinBoard cannot communicate with each other +directly.

+ +

Instructions on how to get started with Internet chess are included +with the XBoard and WinBoard distributions. The network addresses +included in the distribution may not always be current. The oldest +and largest ICS is the Internet Chess Club at chessclub.com, which now +has a fee for registered use, but still allows free unregistered use. +There are also many newer sites with no fees, using the Free Internet +Chess Server implementation (FICS). The most active FICS site is +freechess.org. On these and most other chess servers, +the port number to use is 5000.

+ +

If you don't have network connectivity to any ICS site, you +can run your own server using a version of the FICS code, but this +is not easy. See http://www.tim-mann.org/ics.html#ownics for advice and pointers.

+ +

The cmail program included with XBoard lets you play email postal games with +another human; see topic [B.6].

+ +

Two humans can play chess on the same machine using one copy of +XBoard/WinBoard in +Edit Game mode, but the clocks don't run in this mode, so it's of limited +usefulness.

+ +

[B.9] Will WinBoard run on Windows 3.1? + How about Windows CE (also known as Pocket PC)? +

+ +

WinBoard does not run on Windows 3.1, Windows for Workgroups 3.11, etc., +not even with the Win32s compatibility package. The main problem is +that Win32s does not have threads or real concurrent processes. A +port of WinBoard to Windows 3.1 is possible in theory, but it would be +difficult and messy, and no one is going to do it.

+ +

WinBoard does not run on Windows CE (also +known as Pocket PC). I don't know what would be required to port it.

+ +

WinBoard does run well on full 32-bit versions of Windows, such as +Windows 95, 98, NT, 2000, ME, XP, and Vista, and should continue to work +on future 32-bit Windows systems. +To use the help files in Vista, you will need to install the WinHlp32.exe +from MicroSoft on your Vista system. +

+ +

[B.10] How do I use XBoard or WinBoard as an external viewer for PGN files + with my Web browser?

+ +

On Unix systems: +
- Add the following line to the file .mime.types in your home directory. +(Create the file if it doesn't exist already.) +
```
+    application/x-chess-pgn    pgn
+
```
  +
- +Add the following line to the file .mailcap in your home directory. +(Create the file if it doesn't exist already.) +
```
+    application/x-chess-pgn; xboard -ncp -lgf %s
+
```
  +
- + Exit from your Web browser and restart it. +
+
On MS Windows systems: +
The exact procedure depends on which Web browser you are using. +The current version of WinBoard automatically configures itself as +your PGN viewer for local files, Netscape 4.x and later, and Internet +Explorer. This automatic setup probably works for all other current Web +browsers, too.
+

+ +

[B.11] How do I use WinBoard as an external viewer + for PGN files with the MS Windows File Manager or Explorer?

+ +

WinBoard sets this up automatically when you install it, except on old +versions of Windows NT (prior to 4.0). On Windows NT 3.51 or earlier, +go to the File Manager, click on the File menu, select Associate, +enter "pgn" as the extension, and use the Browse button to find your +copy of WinBoard and set up the association.

+ +

[B.12] How do I use ICC timestamp or FICS timeseal +with XBoard?

+ +

First, get the appropriate version of timestamp or timeseal for your +machine from ftp.chessclub.com or ftp.freechess.org. +Second, be sure that you can connect using XBoard without +timestamp/timeseal. Third, be sure that you can connect using +timestamp/timeseal without XBoard. See the help files on ICC and FICS +or ask people online if you have problems.

+ +

If you are in a completely ordinary situation, where your machine +is directly on the Internet and you can connect to ICC or FICS +without timestamp/timeseal using +just the command "xboard -ics" or "xboard -ics -icshost freechess.org", +change that command to one of the following:

+ +

+    xboard -ics -icshost chessclub.com -icshelper timestamp
+
+    xboard -ics -icshost freechess.org -icshelper timeseal
+

+ +

If you have a firewall between your machine and the ICS, see topic +[B.19].

+ +

If you normally have to use the "/icscomm" command line option on +xboard to log into a second machine, and then telnet to ICC or FICS +from there, you are going to have to run the Unix version of timestamp +or timeseal on the second machine. (If the second machine is not +running Unix, you are out of luck.) Get the appropriate version of +timestamp or timeseal onto the shell machine via FTP; see the help +files on ICC and FICS for instructions. Then simply run it when you +would normally run telnet. In this configuration you are not +protected against lag between your PC and the shell machine, or for +lag caused by heavy load on the shell machine itself from other users.

+ +

For further information on timestamp and timeseal, see the help +files on ICC and FICS.

+ +

[B.13] How do I use ICC timestamp or FICS timeseal +with WinBoard?

+ +

If you select an ICS from either the WinBoard Startup dialog or the +Windows Start submenu that WinBoard installs, WinBoard automatically +runs timestamp or timeseal if the ICS you chose is known to support it.

+ +

If you are constructing a WinBoard command line by hand, add the +option "/icshelper timestamp" or "/icshelper timeseal" to the WinBoard +command line to use timestamp or timeseal. Both timestamp.exe and +timeseal.exe are included in the WinBoard distribution. They both +function identically to the Unix versions, as documented in "help +timestamp" on ICC and "help timeseal" on FICS.

+ +

If you have a firewall between your machine and the ICS, see topic +[B.19].

+ +

If you normally have to use the "/icscomm" command line option on +WinBoard to log into a shell account, and then telnet to ICC or FICS +from there, you are going to have to run the Unix version of timestamp +or timeseal on the shell machine. (If the shell account is not on a +Unix machine, you are out of luck.) Get the appropriate version of +timestamp or timeseal onto the shell machine via FTP; see the help +files on ICC and FICS for instructions. Then simply run it when you +would normally run telnet. In this configuration you are not protected +against lag between your PC and the shell machine, or for lag caused by +heavy load on the shell machine itself from other users.

+ +

For further information on timestamp and timeseal, see the help +files on ICC and FICS.

+ +

[B.14] How do I play bughouse with XBoard or WinBoard? +

+ +

XBoard and WinBoard have full bughouse support. +Offboard piece holdings are shown next to the board, and +you drop offboard pieces by dragging them with the mouse +(holding the left button down) to their drop square, +or left-click the piece and the drop square, just like when you enter +any ordinary move.

+ +

XBoard and WinBoard can display only one board at a time, but you +can observe your partner's game by running a second copy of the +program and logging in as a guest. (Unfortunately, this is not +possible if you are using the /icscomm option.) To observe your +partner's games automatically, use the "follow" or "pfollow" ICS +command; see the ICS online help for details.

+ +

[B.16] What is Zippy? How can I interface a +chess program to the Internet Chess Servers?

+ +

Zippy is an interface that lets a compatible chess engine (such as GNU +Chess or Crafty) act as a computer +player on an Internet Chess Server. Zippy is included in both the +XBoard and WinBoard distributions. It is implemented as a small +amount of additional code within XBoard or WinBoard. +For documentation, see the file +zippy.README, included in both distributions or available +from my chess Web page, +http://www.tim-mann/chess.html. +The version of zippy.README on my Web page is often more up-to-date +than those in the XBoard/WinBoard distributions. +You'll also find a "biography" of Zippy and pointers to the original +Zippy the Pinhead comic strips on my Web page. +Please read zippy.README carefully before you ask me any questions about Zippy.

+ +

Using a computer to choose your moves on a chess server is +considered cheating unless your account is on the computer (C) list. +Read "help computer" on your favorite server for details on their +policy. Most of the servers have plenty of computers running now, so they +will not be excited about having you run a new one unless you have +written your own chess engine. They don't really need yet another +Crafty or GNU Chess clone.

+ +

[B.17] How can I interface my own chess program +to XBoard or WinBoard?

+ +

This is a non-trivial task. XBoard and WinBoard were not designed +with a clean interface for talking to chess programs; they were +written to work with an existing version of GNU Chess that expects to +be talking to a person. Your program has to emulate GNU Chess's +rather idiosyncratic command structure to work with XBoard and +WinBoard. We are gradually cleaning up, improving, and documenting +the interface as newer versions of XBoard and WinBoard come out, +however.

+ +

For documentation, see the file engine-intf.html, included in both +distributions or available from Tim Mann's chess Web page, http://www.tim-mann.org/chess.html. +The version of engine-intf.html on Tim's Web page might totally obsolete, +though. +To know how the current WinBoard or XBoard version communicate with their +engines, use the documentation in the XBoard/WinBoard distributions, +or on the WinBoard forum.

+ +

[B.18] How can I recompile WinBoard from source?

+ +

The source code for WinBoard is available from the author's Web page, +http://www.tim-mann.org/chess.html.

+ +

WinBoard is currently developed using gcc under Cygwin. +To build WinBoard with the free Cygwin tools, available from http://www.cygwin.com/), use the +command "make -f makefile.gcc" from the winboard directory of the +source distribution.

You can build the program from the MSVC++ GUI by opening the project +file (winboard.dsp) and telling MSVC++ to build the project. You can +also build it from the the command line by using the nmake program +supplied with MSVC++. +The makefile for MSVC is makefile.ms in the winboard directory.

+ +

WinBoard 4.2.5 was successfully +compiled with the net release of Cygwin as downloaded on 20-March-2001 +(cygwin1.dll 1.1.8, gcc 2.95.2-6, binutils 20001221-1, flex 2.5.4-1), +but exhibits a command-line parsing bug; see item 511 in the ToDo file +that comes with WinBoard. WinBoard 4.1.0 does not compile with +Cygwin. WinBoard 4.0.7 is known to compile with Cygwin BL20.1.

+ +

To build WinBoard with Borland C++ 4.5, use "borland.mak", supplied +with the WinBoard sources, as the Makefile. Support for Borland C++ +was contributed by Don Fong and has not been tested by the author of WinBoard.

+ +

WinBoard is a Win32 application, so you definitely need a compiler +and tool set that supports Win32. In particular, older versions of +DJGPP can build only 32-bit MSDOS programs; that is, programs that use +a DOS extender to get a 32-bit address space and do not make any +Windows calls. The latest versions of DJGPP are said to be able to +build Win32 programs when used with the proper extension package(s), +but this is not known to work with WinBoard. Use Cygwin instead.

+ +

[B.19] +How can I use XBoard or WinBoard to talk +to an Internet Chess Server through a firewall or proxy? +

+ +

There is no single answer to this question, because there are many +different kinds of firewalls in use. They work in various different +ways and have various different security policies. This answer can +only provide hints.

+ +

Note that you can't access Internet Chess Servers through a Web proxy, +because they are not a Web service. You talk to them through a raw +TCP connection, not an HTTP connection. If you can only access the +Web through a proxy, there may be a firewall that stops you from +making direct TCP connections, but there may also be a way through it. +Read on for hints, and contact your local system administrator if you +need more information about your local configuration.

+ +

A helpful user mailed me the following explanation of how to use +WinBoard with WinGate:

+"I have managed to setup WinBoard though my WinGate proxy. I have the +Office version. What I needed to do was to setup the TCP/IP +connection to add the User/Host name and my provider service name for +the DNS, but I had to leave the HOST IP address blank. I have not +played with all the variations, so it may be just that I have the DNS +lookup enabled." +

I hope this helps, though I don't find it very clear. I don't have +a copy of WinGate myself and can't help if you have questions about it.

+ +

If you are using some other non-SOCKS firewall, read the FIREWALLS section +in your XBoard or WinBoard documentation (man page, info document, or +Help file). If you can telnet to a chess server in some way, then you +can almost certainly connect to it with xboard/WinBoard, though in +some cases you may not be able to run timestamp or timeseal. The +timestamp and timeseal protocols require a clean, 8-bit wide TCP +connection from your machine to the ICS, which some firewalls do not +provide.

+ +

If you have a SOCKS firewall and are using XBoard, +you should be able to SOCKSify xboard and use it. See http://www.socks.nec.com/ for +information about SOCKS and socksification. However, if you do this, +you can't use timestamp or timeseal; what you really need is a +socksified version of timestamp or timeseal. This is hard because the +source code for timestamp and timeseal is proprietary; the folks +running the chess servers don't give it out because that would make it +too easy to cheat. On some versions of Unix, you may be able to +socksify a program that you don't have the source code to by running +it with an appropriate dynamic library; see http://www.socks.nec.com/. For +others, you might be able to get a pre-built socksified version from +the chess server administrators. For timeseal versions, see ftp://ftp.freechess.org/pub/chess/timeseal/. For timestamp +versions, the directory would be ftp://ftp.chessclub.com/pub/icc/timestamp/, but at this writing +there don't seem to be any socksified timestamps there. Once you have +a socksified timestamp or timeseal, simply run it with a normal, +non-socksified xboard in place of the standard timestamp or timeseal.

+ +

If you have a SOCKS firewall and you are using +WinBoard, we now know how to make this configuration +work, complete with timestamp or timeseal!

+ +

Start by getting SocksCap32. This software is freely available +from http://www.socks.nec.com/. +Install it on your machine, read the documentation, and learn to use +it. You may find it useful with many other programs besides WinBoard.

+ +

Next, don't socksify WinBoard. Socksifying +WinBoard itself doesn't let you use it with timestamp or timeseal. +For some reason I don't understand -- something strange that +SocksCap32 does -- the socksified WinBoard runs but does nothing, and +timestamp/timeseal runs all by itself in its own window.

+ +

Instead, use the following workaround. Follow the instructions +exactly; don't try to skip steps or simplify things.

+ +

First, make SocksCap32 application profiles for timestamp and +timeseal. Use the following command lines in the SocksCap32 +profiles. Name the first profile "timestamp" and the second +"timeseal".

+ +

+    "c:\program files\winboard\timestamp.exe" chessclub.com 5000 -p 5000
+    "c:\program files\winboard\timeseal.exe" freechess.org 5000 -p 5000
+

+ +

Second, run timestamp or timeseal by itself, socksified, using its +profile. This will open an unneeded, black window that will not +respond to typing. Minimize it to the task bar and ignore it. It will +go away when you exit from WinBoard.

+ +

Next, run WinBoard using the following command line. Make a shortcut +or type this command into an MS-DOS Prompt box. Don't run WinBoard +itself socksified, just run it directly.

+ +

+    "c:\program files\winboard.exe" /ics /icshost=localhost /icsport=5000
+

+ +

After you get this working, you can try getting the timestamp window to +auto-minimize by starting it from a shortcut instead of from the +SocksCap32 control window. As it says in the SocksCap32 help file, put +the following in the Target field of a shortcut's Properties page:

+ +

+    "c:\program files\sockscap32\sc32.exe" timestamp
+

+ +

Then select "Run: Minimized" on the same page. Do the same for timeseal.

+ +

Another method that can work is to use a .bat file to start both +timestamp and WinBoard. It would look something like this:

+ +

+    REM --
+    REM -- icc.bat
+    REM -- Start timestamp under SocksCap32 and use WinBoard to connect to it.
+    REM -- The string "timestamp" refers to a SocksCap32 profile for timestamp.
+    REM --  Do not change it to the filename of the timestamp program!
+    REM --
+    start /minimized "c:\program files\sockscap32\sc32.exe" timestamp
+    cd "c:\program files\winboard"
+    winboard /ics /icshost=localhost /icsport=5000
+

+ +

This workaround has a problem if you want to run two copies of +WinBoard at once, talking to the same chess server twice (for +bughouse) or to two different chess servers. If you need to do that, +you will need to run a separate copy of timestamp with a different +port number for each connection. You'll need to make a second set of +profile entries with a different value after the -p flag (say, 5001) +and you'll need to change the WinBoard command line /icsport=5000 for +the second WinBoard to match.

+ +

[B.20] +How can I use XBoard or WinBoard on chess.net with accuclock? +

+ +

I believe chess.net provides a Win32 command-line version of +accuclock that will work with WinBoard. Please see the documentation +on the chess.net server itself; don't ask the author of WinBoard.

+ +

I don't know whether chess.net provides versions of accuclock for +Unix at this time. Ask them.

+ +

[B.21] + Can I get Zippy to do one or more ICS commands automatically at the + start or end of each game?

+ +

By default, Zippy automatically sends the command "gameend" to ICS +at the end of each game. You can alias this command (using the ICS +"alias" feature) to anything you want. On ICC, you can use the +"multi" feature to alias gameend to several commands, but other +servers don't have that feature. Zippy doesn't send anything at the +start of the game by default.

+ +

You can get Zippy to send one or more commands of your choosing, at +the start and/or end of each game, by using the -zippyGameStart and +-zippyGameEnd command line options, newly added in version 4.0.3. +Both xboard and WinBoard have (somewhat obscure) ways of getting +newlines into this option to send several commands. Here is an +example of one way to do it for each.

+ +

+    xboard -ics -zp -xrm '*zippyGameStart: say hi\nsay prepare to die\n'
+
+    WinBoard /ics /zp /zippyGameEnd='say thanks\nseek 5 0\nseek 2 12\n'
+

+ +

[B.22] + How do I print from WinBoard? +

+ +

WinBoard does not have built-in printing functionality. +If you want to print a picture of the board, press Alt+PrintScrn, run the +standard Windows application Paintbrush, select Paste, and print from there. +If you want to print a list of moves, save your game as a PGN file, +then open the PGN file with Notepad or any other plain text editor and +print it from there.

+ +

WinBoard 4.4 has a menu item "Save Diagram..." in the file menu, +which saves the board part of the display as a Windows .bmp file, +but only if the board size is not too big.

+ +

[B.23] + Can I get Zippy to automatically reconnect to ICS when its connection + breaks?

+ +

There isn't a perfect solution to this problem yet, but a pretty +good one is to write a shell script (for xboard) or .bat script (for +WinBoard) that automatically restarts the program whenever it exits. +Use the -xexit flag so that you don't get a popup dialog that must be +dismissed with the OK button before the program will exit. The gap in +this solution is that your connection to ICS can sometimes get into a +state where the program does not notice that the connection is broken +until the next time it tries to send a command. Perhaps some future +version of xboard/WinBoard will have an option to send a harmless +command every five minutes or so.

+ +

Anyway, here is a sample Windows .bat file that restarts WinBoard each +time it exits. Thanks to Jason Williamson. It assumes that you have put +your computer account's name and password in a file named logon.ini.

+ +

+REM --
+REM -- wbrecon.bat
+REM -- Start WinBoard in Zippy mode, and restart it each time it exits.
+REM -- Add or change parameters as needed for your application.
+REM --
+:loop
+start /w winboard /zp /ics /icslogon logon.ini /xexit /xautoraise
+REM -- The next line is to have a short delay setup for 139 seconds.
+REM -- Leave it out if it doesn't work on the version of Windows you use.
+TYPE NUL | CHOICE.COM /N /CY /TY,99 >NUL
+goto loop
+

+ +

Here is a Unix shell script to do the same thing for xboard. +It's a bit more elaborate. It is based on the script I use for the +original Zippy. It logs all ICS output to a file named zippy.out, +and it lets you type commands to Zippy by running "cat > zippy.fifo".

+ +

+#! /bin/sh
+host="204.178.125.65 -icsport 5000 -telnet -telnetProgram timestamp"
+#host="164.58.253.13 -icsport 5000 -telnet -telnetProgram timeseal"
+out=zippy.out
+fifo=zippy.fifo
+ZIPPYPASSWORD='something'
+export ZIPPYPASSWORD
+ZIPPYPASSWORD2='orother'
+export ZIPPYPASSWORD2
+ZIPPYLINES=`pwd`/all.lines
+export ZIPPYLINES
+ZIPPYGAMEEND='say Yow, that was FUN!
+gameend'
+export ZIPPYGAMEEND
+zippylogon=`pwd`/logon.ini
+DISPLAY=`hostname`:0.0
+export DISPLAY
+mv -f $out ${out}.old
+rm -f $fifo
+mkfifo $fifo
+pid=$$
+( while [ true ] ; do cat -u $fifo ; done ) | \
+      ( while [ true ] ; do
+          xboard -iconic -ics -icshost $host \
+                 -zt -zp -xbell -xanimate \
+                 -xautosave -xquiet -fcp "gnuchessx -h" \
+                 -icslogon $zippylogon -xexit -autoflag -xautoraise $*
+          sleep 600
+        done ) > $out 2>&1 &
+

+ +

[B.24] + The chess engines are too strong and always beat me. How can I adjust + the difficulty level to make them weaker?

+ +

The best way is to get a weaker chess engine. +On the ChessWar website +you will find a rating list of virtually all engines that are able to +play under XBoard/WinBoard, from super-humanly strong to ridculously weak. +Most of them can be downloaded for free from the internet.

+ +

A way to get that effect is to limit the time the engine can use for +deciding on its move. The time-odds options or menu items in the +time-control dialog) can be used to this end. This is only of limited +help, as engines do not weeken that much at faster time-control, +and there is a practical limit to how fast you can order the engine +to go. Also feel free to use Retract Move if +you make a blunder.

+ +

Many chess coaches will let you switch sides after +they get a stronger position so that you can get experience playing +positions where you are winning. You can try this with XBoard/WinBoard +by using the Machine White or Machine Black menu command to make the +machine take over your position.

+ +

The -depth command-line option to XBoard/WinBoard can also be used to +weaken the engine (see the man page or Help file). It's a bit of a +nuisance to set command line options in Windows, but see topic [C.7] for instructions.

+ +

Other ways of weakening engines are engine-specific. Many of them +let you adjust various parameters, and if you choose bad settings, the +engine will play more poorly. Consult whatever documentation came with +the engine you are using.

+ +

[B.25] + May I use the piece bitmaps from XBoard/WinBoard in my own program?

+ +

The piece bitmaps used in XBoard and WinBoard were designed by +Elmar Bartel. He released them under the GNU General Public +License. This means that if your program is also free software +distributed under the GPL, you can use them freely. If your program +is distributed under some other license, including commercial, +shareware, or non-GPL freeware, then you cannot use the bitmaps unless +you obtain special permission from Elmar. See the file README.bitmaps +that comes with the XBoard and WinBoard source code for more +information and an email address you can write to.

+ +

[C] XBoard and WinBoard, bugs and problems

+ +

[C.1] I can't build XBoard +because the X11/Xaw/... include files are not found.

+ +

These are the header files for the Athena Widgets library, which XBoard uses +heavily. Some versions of Unix don't supply these files, but they are part of +the standard X distribution, freely available from MIT.

+ +

For general information on getting missing X sources, see the FAQ on +comp.windows.x. Note that you may be missing only the header files, or you +may be missing the libraries themselves too.

+ +

HP-UX users are missing only the header files. You can get them by +anonymous FTP as follows. (But first check with your system +administrator to see if someone else at your site has already done +this.) Get the archive file /hpux9/X11R5/Core/Xaw-5.00.tar.gz (Xaw +header files) via anonymous FTP from the site hpux.csc.liv.ac.uk +(138.253.42.172), or one of the other official sites---Germany: +hpux.ask.uni-karlsruhe.de (129.13.200.57), US: hpux.cae.wisc.edu +(144.92.4.15), France: hpux.cict.fr (192.70.79.53) or Netherlands: +hpux.ced.tudelft.nl (130.161.140.100). Unpack the archive using gzip +and follow the instructions in its README and/or HPUX.Install files. +Thanks to Richard Lloyd for this information.

+ +

If you have the Xaw header files installed in a different place +than the other X11 headers, you may need to configure XBoard with an +extra flag to help it find them. For example, if yours are in +/foo/bar/X11/Xaw, try this:

+ +

+    rm config.cache
+    (setenv CFLAGS -I/foo/bar ; configure)
+

+ +

Also see topic [C.2].

+ +

[C.2] Configuring or building XBoard fails due to +missing header files, missing libraries, or undefined symbols. +

+ +

Perhaps you have the X server and client programs installed on your +machine, but not the X header files and link-time libraries. If so, +you can run existing X programs, but you cannot compile a new X +program from source code. In this case the XBoard configure script +will fail and will tell you to look at this question in the FAQ. Many +GNU/Linux distributions put the headers and libraries in a separate +package, which you might not have installed. If you are using RedHat, +install the XFree86-devel package. If you are using some other +kind of Unix, ask your system administrator where to find the X header +files and link-time libraries. If this is not your problem, read on.

+ +

The configure script for XBoard looks for X libraries and header +files in some common places. Sometimes it fails: If yours are +installed in an odd place, it may not find them at all. If you have +more than one version of X installed on your system, it may find the +"wrong" one, or occasionally it may find libraries from one version +and incompatible header files from another. You can work around these +problems by telling the configure script where the files are. For +example:

+ +

+    configure --x-includes=/odd/place/include \
+              --x-libraries=/odd/place/lib
+

+ +

The directory named in the argument to --x-includes must have a +subdirectory "X11" that contains the actual .h files. That is, if +your X.h file has full pathname /odd/place/X11R6/include/X11/X.h, then +you must give the argument --x-includes=/odd/place/X11R6/include.

+ +

Some linkers have bugs that cause bogus error messages when you try +to link X programs. The configure script includes a workaround for a +bug of this kind that exists in some SunOS 4.x.x installations. See +the FAQ on comp.windows.x for more information about problems of this +kind.

+ +

If all else fails, check whether anyone else at your site has been able to +compile any X programs on your system. Your X installation might be buggy. +If so, the system administrator at your site might know how to fix or work +around the problem.

+ +

Also see topic [C.1].

+ +

[C.3] I have problems using WinBoard on ICS +with a modem. I'm not running SLIP or PPP, but just dialing in to an +ordinary login account ("shell account").

+ +

Here are solutions to some common problems in this area.

+ +

Some people want to connect to ICS through HyperTerminal or some other +terminal program first, then run WinBoard. This is not how it works. +WinBoard wants to talk directly with your modem, acting as a terminal program +itself. Start out with the modem "on hook" (not making a call).

+ +

Run WinBoard with a command line like this (adding more options if desired):

+ +

+    WinBoard /ics /icscom com1
+

+ +

Use com2, com3, or com4 in place of com1 if your modem is connected to one of those ports.

+ +

After you start WinBoard, you may need to change some of the options in the +Communications dialog (on the Options menu). The dialog has the usual options +for talking to modems: bits per second, bits per byte, parity, number of stop +bits. You will probably want to use Save Settings Now when you're done.

+ +

Next, type dialing commands to your modem in the text window that WinBoard +creates. You may need to turn off Local Line Editing on the Options menu +while you are typing commands to your modem. Turn it back on when you're +done. See the WinBoard Help file for instructions if you see your typing +echoed an extra time after you hit Enter.

+ +

[C.4] +I have problems using WinBoard on ICS with Windows 95 and SLIP +or PPP. When trying to start up, it gets the error "Address family +not supported by protocol family" (or some equally strange message). +

+ +

WinBoard is a 32-bit application, but some Winsock (TCP/IP) implementations +support only 16-bit applications. You get a strange looking error message +if you try to use a 32-bit application because +there is no standard Winsock error code number +for "32-bit application not supported."

+ +

Microsoft TCP/IP works with both 16-bit and +32-bit applications, supports SLIP, PPP, Ethernet, etc., and is included +with Windows 95 and later Windows systems. +If possible, I recommend that you uninstall +whatever Winsock you are using and install Microsoft TCP/IP instead. +For more information, see +http://walden.mo.net/~rymabry/95winfaq.html (the Win95-L FAQ).

+ +

Trumpet Winsock 2.1 (and earlier) supports only 16-bit +applications, and hence does not work with WinBoard. But there is a +beta-test release available that does support 32-bit applications. +I have not tried it with WinBoard, but it +should work. See Trumpet's Web page +http://www.trumpet.com.au/wsk/winsock.htm +for more information.

+ +

The 16-bit versions of America On-Line's software do not support +32-bit Winsock applications. Get the 32-bit version. At one time the +32-bit version was called "AOL for Windows 95," but I imagine that has +changed. Hopefully the current versions are all 32-bit.

+ +

A few versions of Winsock may have bugs that prevent +Windows timestamp/timeseal from working with them. I'm not sure if +such bugs exist in any versions that actually have 32-bit support, +so this point might be moot. Again, Microsoft TCP/IP is known to work.

+ +

[C.5] When I try to run WinBoard, I get the +message "Failed to start chess program gnuchess on localhost: NO +LANGFILE (file gnuchess.lan not found)".

+ +

This message means that WinBoard is trying to run GNU Chess, but +GNU Chess cannot find a file that it needs, named gnuchess.lan. +If you see it, you've probably customized WinBoard's /fcp, /fd, /scp, +and/or /sd options and made a mistake in the process. Review what +you did, and see the WinBoard help file.

+ +

[C.6] I want to use XBoard or WinBoard as an Internet +Chess Server interface, but the ICS Client option is grayed out on the +menu.

+ +

XBoard and WinBoard have three major modes that can't be changed from the +menus: local chess engine mode, +ICS mode, and standalone mode.

+ +

With XBoard, you have to set the mode using command-line options. +Local chess engine mode is the default, -ics selects ICS mode, and +-ncp ("no chess program") selects standalone mode.

+ +

With WinBoard, if you don't set the mode using command-line +options, you get a dialog box asking which mode you want. To bypass +the dialog box, use -cp ("chess program") for local chess engine mode, +or -ics or -ncp as with XBoard. Also see topic [C.7].

+ +

[C.7] How do I give command-line options to +a Windows program like WinBoard?

+ +

There are many ways; pick your favorite:

+ +

Type the command line into an MS-DOS Prompt box. Example: +"WinBoard -ics".
Make a Windows shortcut for WinBoard. You can do this by +right-dragging WinBoard.exe to the desktop and selecting "Create +Shortcut(s) Here" from the menu that appears. Right-click on the +shortcut, select Properties, and click the Shortcut tab. The +command-line text box is labelled "Target" instead of "Command line" +just to confuse you. Edit the text in this box, adding the command +line options to the end.
Choose Run from the Start menu, or File / Run from the Program +Manager or File Manager, and type the command line into the dialog you +get. You may have to give WinBoard's full drivespec and filename if +it is not in a directory on your search path.
Make a Program Manager icon for WinBoard. You can do this by +dragging WinBoard.exe from the File Manager into the Program Manager, +or by using File / New in the Program Manager. Select the icon and +choose File / Properties. Edit the Command Line text box to add the +command-line options to the end.

+ +

[C.9] +When I exit from WinBoard after using it to play against a chess +program on my machine, the chess program keeps running in the background. +

+ +

Be sure you have the current versions of WinBoard and the chess +engine you are using. WinBoard 3.4.1 and earlier had a bug that +caused this problem to occur with all chess engines. A buggy chess +engine that does not respond to the "quit" command will also cause +this.

+ +

If you still see this problem, you can stop the rogue chess engine +by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del, selecting the chess engine process from the +menu, and pressing the End Task button.

+ +

[C.12] +Why do my ICS +opponents often get extra time after they make their moves? +Why do I sometimes lose time off my clock after I make my move? +

+ +

If you are playing with the ICS incremental clock, both you and your +opponent get a set amount of extra time after each move.

+ +

If your or your opponent has netlag, your opponent might appear to +get extra time, especially if your opponent is using timestamp or +timeseal. The ICS charges each player who is using timestamp or +timeseal only for the time between when the player received his +opponent's move and the time he sent his own move. Thus delays in +network transmission do not count against either player. But WinBoard +counts down the display of your opponent's clock on your screen under +the assumption that there is no netlag. When his move comes in, if +there was netlag, the ICS may not have really charged him for that +much time, and WinBoard corrects the clock to what the ICS says it +should read.

+ +

If you are not using timestamp or timeseal, you may appear to lose +time off your clock at some point after you make your move. In this +case, the ICS charges you for the time between when it sent you your +opponent's move and the time it received your move. Thus delays in +network transmission count against you. WinBoard stops counting down +the display of your clock on your screen (and starts your opponent's) +when you make your move. When the ICS echoes your move back to you, it +may have charged you for more time than that, and WinBoard corrects +the clocks to what the ICS says they should read.

+ +

See "help lag" and "help timestamp" or "help timeseal" on your ICS for +more detailed information.

+ +

[C.13] +I can't run WinBoard unless I delete the WinBoard.ini file each time! +

+ +

Most people don't have this problem, but two or three people using +Windows NT 4.0 with Service Pack 3 or 4 have reported it. I have no +idea what causes this problem. Contrary to what was reported in a +previous version of this FAQ, reinstalling the service pack after +installing WinBoard does not seem to solve the problem.

+ +

[C.15] +I get errors compiling XBoard's parser.c. +

+ +

The file parser.c is automatically generated from parser.l. The +copy included with XBoard 4.0.2 was generated by lex on Tru64 Unix and +has problems compiling and linking on current GNU/Linux versions. The +copy included with XBoard 4.0.3 was generated by flex on a GNU/Linux +machine, but it too won't necessarily work on other versions of Unix. +If you have this problem, you can fix it by deleting parser.c and +letting the Makefile re-create it from parser.l. This will work if +you have either lex or flex on your system. Flex is available in all +GNU/Linux distributions and can be obtained at no charge from the Free +Software Foundation, www.fsf.org.

+ +

[C.16] +I get an error building WinBoard from source because "flex" is not found. +

+ +

The file parser.c is automatically generated from parser.l. The +Makefile included with the WinBoard source kit has a rule for +generating parser.c using the program "flex", which will fail if you +don't have flex. However, the source kit also includes a ready-made +copy of parser.c, so you don't really need flex unless you have made +changes to parser.l. Check that you still have a copy of parser.c; if +you don't, unpack the WinBoard source zip file again to get one. +Either set the last-modified time of parser.c to be later than that of +parser.l, delete parser.l, or comment out the Makefile rule for +building parser.c from parser.l, and then try building WinBoard again.

+ +

If you do want to change parser.l and rebuild parser.c, you can get +flex as part of the free Cygwin kit from +http://sourceware.cygnus.com/cygwin/. You can +probably also get flex for Windows by itself from various other places +around the Internet. It is free software distributed by the Free +Software Foundation, www.fsf.org.

+ +

[C.17] + XBoard hangs shortly after connecting to an ICS when used with dxterm, + cmdtool, dtterm, kterm, konsole, or other substitutes for xterm. +

+ +

After connecting to a chess server, XBoard 4.0.2 and later sends an +escape sequence to its terminal that is meant to display your handle +and the ICS host name (for example, +"user@chessclub.com") in the +terminal's banner and icon. It seems that several of the alternative +X terminal programs have a bug that makes them hang when sent this +escape sequence.

+ +

You can work +around the problem by using xterm, nxterm, rxvt, aterm, xiterm, or +gnome-terminal, all of which seem to work fine. In fact, current +versions of kterm and konsole seem to work fine too, so if you are +having problems with one of them, be sure you are not running an +outdated version.

+ +

Alternatively, you can disable this feature by commenting out the +body of DisplayIcsInteractionTitle in xboard.c and recompling xboard.

+ +

[C.18] + The WinBoard pieces show up in the wrong colors, appear distorted, + or are not visible at all. +

+ +

This can happen if you have a bug in your Windows display driver. +Check with the manufacturer of your display card, the manufacturer of +your computer, or Microsoft to see if there is an updated driver +available. You can usually download updated drivers from the Web.

+ +

If you can't find an updated driver, you can try running Windows +using a different number of colors and/or disabling some of the +hardware acceleration features on your display card. To change the +number of colors, go to Windows Start / Settings / Control Panel / +Display / Settings / Color Palette. To disable hardware acceleration +features, go to Windows Start / Settings / Control Panel / Display / +Settings / Advanced Properties / Performance / Hardware Acceleration.

+ +

It's also possible that Windows has the right driver for your +hardware already but you are not using it. It may help to reinstall +your driver. Go to Windows Start / Settings / Control Panel / System +and delete your display card (maybe even your monitor too), then +reboot. Windows should automatically re-detect your card and monitor +and re-install the drivers; if it doesn't, run Start / Settings / +Control Panel / Add New Hardware to force it to.

+ +

If all else fails, try Monochrome mode. On WinBoard's menus, go +to Options / Color and check Monochrome. WinBoard will display in black +and white.

+ +

[C.19] XBoard or WinBoard tells me "Error: first chess + program (...) exited unexpectedly".

+ +

This message means that your chess engine crashed, probably due to +a bug in the engine, or because you have it configured incorrectly. +You can try running XBoard or WinBoard again with the "-debug" flag on +the command line. This will print out all the messages received from +the chess engine. (With WinBoard, the messages go into a file called +WinBoard.debug; with XBoard, they go to the xterm that you started +XBoard from.)

+ +

If you are using GNU Chess and you see this problem as soon as it +starts up, most likely GNU Chess is exiting with an error message. If +you see the message "NO LANGFILE", it means that you did not install +GNU Chess correctly, and it is unable to find the file gnuchess.lang. +Make sure that you defined LIBDIR in the gnuchess Makefile, and that +gnuchess.lang is in that directory. If gnuchess.lang is not there, +you probably didn't type "make install" in the gnuchess src directory; +you must do this to install gnuchess.lang (and the gnuchess book). If +you defined LIBDIR to something that is not an absolute pathname (that +is, to something that does not start with a "/"), GNU Chess will work +only if you run it from the GNU Chess "src" directory where you built +it.

+ +

[C.20] + XBoard tells me "Warning: Cannot allocate colormap entry", or + "too few colors available; trying monochrome mode", or + "XPM pieces cannot be used in monochrome mode". +

+ +

You are running your X server with 8-bit color depth, and you are running +some program that has used up all 256 of your colors. Netscape tends +to do this, or maybe you have a background image that uses up all of +your colors.

+ +

If you have a modern machine, you probably have enough display +memory to run your X server with 16-, 24-, or 32-bit color depth. If +you're using "startx" to start the X server, try giving the command as +"startx -- -bpp 24" (or 16, or 32). On newer X servers you +may have to use -depth instead of -bpp. Further details on +configuring your X server are beyond the scope of this FAQ.

+ +

If you must run in 8-bit mode, try the following: +Avoid background images that use up all your colors. If you +run Netscape, try starting it up with the -install command-line +option; this gives Netscape its own private colormap that X will +switch to when Netscape has the keyboard focus.

+ +

If all else fails, another possibility is to run xboard in +monochrome (black and white) mode by giving it the -mono +command-line option. XBoard will try this by itself in some cases. +Monochrome mode works only with bitmap pieces, not pixmap pieces, so +trying to use it may give you the error "XPM pieces cannot be used in +monochrome mode". To get around this, either use the -bitmapDirectory +command line option to point XBoard to the directory containing the +bitmap pieces included with the XBoard source code, or rebuild XBoard +with pixmap support disabled, using "./configure --disable-xpm ; make +clean ; make".

+ +

[C.21] + When I log in to freechess.org, the Enter key doesn't work, and I + have to use Ctrl+J instead. But when I use WinBoard, Ctrl+J doesn't + work either, so I'm stuck. +

+ +

This is a pretty rare problem. It should only arise if you have to +reach freechess.org by telnetting (or connecting with WinBoard +/icsport=23) from a Windows PC to a Unix box, and then telnetting from +there to freechess.org. The Enter key should always work when +connecting directly from your PC to freechess.org.

+ +

The best way to get around the problem is to run timeseal on the +intermediate Unix box instead of telnet. Get the appropriate version +of timeseal for your box from ftp.freechess.org and follow the +directions in the help files on FICS.

+ +

If you can't run timeseal for some reason, there are some things +you can do to make telnet stay in line mode instead of going to +character mode. Then the Enter key will work. First, try "telnet +freechess.org 5000" instead of "telnet freechess.org." +If that still doesn't work, then when the Enter key stops working, +type the following. Here < and > surround the +names of keys.

+ +

+    <Ctrl+S><Ctrl+]>mode line<Enter>
+

+ +

[C.22] + XBoard says, "Failed to start first chess program fairymax + on localhost: fairymax: No such file or directory." +

+ +

XBoard is looking for the Fairy-Max chess engine. +If you didn't want to use XBoard with Fairy-Max, please see topic +[C.6]. +If you did want to use Fairy-Max, be sure you have it installed and +that it is on your $PATH. If you wanted to use GNU Chess instead, +see topic [D.6].

+ +

[D] Crafty and other topics

[D.1] What is XChess?

+ +

XChess is an older chessboard program that is no longer supported. XChess was +written for X version 10, and you may or may not be able to build and run it +on an X11 system.

+ +

XChess has only one significant feature that is not present in XBoard: Two +humans can play chess using XChess on different machines, without using the +Internet Chess Server as an intermediary. This feature is of interest only if +you don't have network connectivity to the Internet Chess Server.

+ +

Note: There actually have been several different programs called "XChess" in +circulation at various times. The above describes one that was associated +with GNU Chess.

+ +

[D.2] What is Winsock Chess?

+ +

Winsock Chess is a program that lets two people play chess across a +network. It runs only under Microsoft Windows. Some of the code in +Winsock Chess is derived from GNU Chess, but it is not maintained by +the GNU Chess team. You can get a copy from the Internet Chess +Library; see topic [A.2]. For more information, +contact its author, Donald Munro, +ccahdm@beluga.upe.ac.za.

+ +

[D.3] What is Crafty?

+ +

Crafty is a freely-available chess program written by Bob Hyatt. +Bob is the main author of the well-known chess program Cray +Blitz. Crafty is a very strong program, its code is available, commented +and fairly readable, and its author is actively working on improvements.

+ +

You can download Crafty from ftp://ftp.cis.uab.edu/pub/hyatt/. Start by getting the read.me file and +reading it. Among other things, this file contains instructions on +how to install Crafty as a command-line application on your machine.

+ +

There is a Crafty mailing list. +To subscribe, send email to +majordomo@cis.uab.edu, with +"subscribe crafty-list" in the body.

+ +

[D.4] How do I use Crafty with XBoard?

+ +

First, you need to get Crafty and install it as a command-line +application on your machine. See topic [D.3].

+ +

To use Crafty with XBoard, give the -fcp +parameter like this:

+ +

+    xboard -fcp "./crafty" -fd crafty_directory
+

+ +

Here crafty_directory is the directory where you installed Crafty. +You can add more xboard options at the end of the command line.

+ +

Crafty 15.14 or later is required to work properly with XBoard +4.0.0 or later. We generally recommend using the latest versions of +both XBoard and Crafty.

+ +

[D.5] How do I use Crafty with WinBoard?

+ +

First, you need to get Crafty and install it as a command-line +application on your machine. See topic [D.3]. +It is best to use the latest version of Crafty with the latest version +of WinBoard to make sure all features are compatible and function +correctly. You can install Crafty in any directory you like.

+ +

You also need to get WinBoard and install it in the normal way +using its built-in installer. You can do that either before or after +you install Crafty.

+ +

After both Crafty and WinBoard are installed separately, follow the +directions in the WinBoard Help file (included with WinBoard) for +connecting new chess engines to WinBoard.

+ +

If you want to have Crafty act as an automated computer player on a +chess server, see topic [B.16]. Before you try +to get that working, be sure you can play against Crafty locally, +first without WinBoard, then with it. Also be sure you can use +WinBoard to play on the chess server yourself, without having Crafty +connected to it. You have to crawl before you can walk!

+ +

[D.6] How do I use GNU Chess with XBoard?

+ +

By default, XBoard tries to use Fairy-Max by running the +command "fairymax". That's why if you don't have Fairy-Max, you +get the error message "Failed to start first chess program fairymax +on localhost: fairymax: No such file or directory."

+ +

If you have GNU Chess 5, the command should be "gnuchess xboard" +instead. To make XBoard use this command, give the -fcp parameter +like this:

+ +

+    xboard -fcp "gnuchess xboard" 
+

+ +If you instaled GNU Chess as a package, the operating system usually +knows where to find it, and GNU Chess knwos where to find its data +files, such as the opening book. +If GNU Chess is installed in a non-compliant way, e.g. together +with its book file in a user directory, you must use: + +

+    xboard -fd gnuchess_directory -fcp "./gnuchess xboard" 
+

+ +

Here gnuchess_directory is the directory where you installed +GNU Chess 5 and its book. +In all cases you can add more xboard options at the end of the command +line.

+ +

If you want to use GNU Chess 4, the command should be "gnuchessx" +instead. To make XBoard use this command, give the -fcp parameter +like this:

+ +

+    xboard -fcp "gnuchessx" 
+

+ +

The same applies for non-compliant installs as for GNU Chess 5: +the install directory has to be given with the -fd argument.

+ +

[D.7] How do I use GNU Chess with WinBoard?

+ +

Well, why would you want to? If you want a strong free engine, +use Crafty, Glaurung, Fruit or Toga. +If you wnt an engine that plays many variants, use Fairy-Max, +Pulsar or Sjeng. +But the procedure to install and run those is not any different than +for GNU Chess. +

If you want to use a WinBoard-compatible chess engine that is not +automatically installed with the download, +you will have to download it yourself. +Most chess engines are downloaded as a compressed archive (e.g. a .zip file), +and on downloadig it, the decompression software on your Windows system +is automatically invoked when you seected "Open" in the download dialog. +You can then click "extract all files", and you are prompted for a place +to put the unpacked stuff. +The place it proposes is usually no good, so browse to the folder +in which you installed the winBoard download +(where you see the Fairy-Max and WinBoard folders). +

+When the archiv contained a single folder, (with files in it), +unpack it there. +If the archive contained a lot of small files, first create a folder, +and browse there, before you unpack. +(To get all the files in a single place, not mixed with others, +so you can easily delete it again.) +Say you unpacked in a folder named "NewEngine", which now sits +next to your "WinBoard" folder amongst the chess files on your system. +Say there is a file "Engine.exe" in this "NewEngine" folder. +

+Then to run the engine with WinBoard, +you have to enter the command: +

+        winboard /fcp="Engine.exe" /fd="..\NewEngine"
+

+Sometimes engines need parameters on their command line, +e.g. to set the hash-table size, or tell them they have to +deal with WinBoard. +These should then go within the quotes around the Engine.exe file name, +directly behind it, and separated from it (and each other) by spaces. +See any README files that come with the engine to learn how +exactly the engine has to be invoked. +

[D.8] What is Fairy-Max?

+ +

Fairy-Max is a chess engine that plays chess at a level where +you don't need to be a super GM to still have a chance to beat it. +Apart from normal chess it plays many variants as well, +such as Capablanca or Gothic Chess, Knightmate, etc. +Dedicated versions of it are available to play Shatranj and Xiangqi +(Chinese Chess). +

+ +

[D.9] What is UCI? What is Polyglot?

+ +

UCI, or Universal Chess Interface, is a standard for communication +between chess engines and its Graphical User Interface, that was +created as an alternative to the way XBoard / WinBoard does it. +(The latter way having become known as +"WinBoard protocol"). +XBoard / WinBoard do not understand a word of UCI, +so UCI engines cannnot be run directly as engine under them. +

+Polyglot is an adapter that translates WB protocol to UCI. +It bhaves like it is a WB engine, but, without XBoard / WinBoard +knowing about this, it consults an UCI engine for getting the moves. +With the aid of Polyglot, any UCI engine can be run under WinBoard. +Polyglot is available as a Debian package for Linux, and is included +in the WinBoard installation. +Polyglot is open source software released under the GPL. +

+ +

[D.10] How can I run a UCI engine under XBoard / WinBoard?

+ +

First you have to download and install the UCI engine. +This is similar to installing WinBoard engines, +see D.7. +Furthermore, you have to make sure that +Polyglot is nstalled on +your system, in a place where XBoard / WinBoard can find it. +There are then two ways to run the UCI engine: +

+In the first method, the only thing you have to do is add an extra +option to the command that invokes XBoard / WinBoard, +to tell it that the engine is UCI: +

+        xboard -fcp "fruit" -fUCI
+
+        winboard /fcp="Fruit_21.exe" /fd="..\Fruit" /fUCI
+

+The second method is more complicated, but also more versatile. +UCI engines accept many settings from their GUI than XBoard / WinBoard +usually send to a WB engine. +Polyglot can provide such settings from a file dedicated to that engine, +usully referred to as a "polyglot.ini" file (although the actual name +can be different.) +If the engine you downloaded comes with a polyglot.ini file for it, +you can force Polyglot to use this file with engine settings +by invoking it explicitly from XBoard / WinBoard: +

+        xboard -fcp "polyglot INIFILE"
+
+        winboard /fcp="polyglot INIFILE" /fd="POLYGLOTDIR"
+

+INIFILE is the name of the polyglot.ini file (possibly a path name, +such as "PG\fruit.ini", while POLYGLOTDIR should be the directory +(path) name were the Polyglot executable is located. +The directory and name of the actual engine are described in the +polygot.ini file, and XBoard / WinBoard need not be aware of them. +

+If you don't have a polyglot.ini file for the engine, you would +have to make one. +How to do that is beyond the scope of this FAQ. +Refer to the Polyglot documentation for this, +or use method 1. +

+** End of XBoard/WinBoard FAQ ** +