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35 <h3 class="section">3.7 Options Menu</h3>
37 <p><a name="index-Menu_002c-Options-94"></a><a name="index-Options-Menu-95"></a>
39 <dt>General Options<dd><a name="index-General-Options_002c-Menu-Item-96"></a>The following items to set option values appear in the dialog
40 summoned by the general Options menu item.
41 <dt>Absolute Analysis Scores<dd><a name="index-Absolute-Analysis-Scores_002c-Menu-Item-97"></a>Controls if scores on the Engine Output window during analysis
42 will be printed from the white or the side-to-move point-of-view.
43 <dt>Almost Always Queen<dd><a name="index-Almost-Always-Queen_002c-Menu-Item-98"></a>If this option is on, 7th-rank pawns automatically change into
44 Queens when you pick them up,
45 and when you drag them to the promotion square and release them there,
46 they will promote to that.
47 But when you drag such a pawn backwards first,
48 its identity will start to cycle through the other available pieces.
49 This will continue until you start to move it forward;
50 at which point the identity of the piece will be fixed,
51 so that you can safely put it down on the promotion square.
52 If this option is off, what happens depends on the
53 option <code>alwaysPromoteToQueen</code>,
54 which would force promotion to Queen when true.
55 Otherwise XBoard would bring up a dialog
56 box whenever you move a pawn to the last rank, asking what piece
57 you want to promote to.
58 <dt>Animate Dragging<dd><a name="index-Animate-Dragging_002c-Menu-Item-99"></a>If Animate Dragging is on, while you are dragging a piece with the
59 mouse, an image of the piece follows the mouse cursor.
60 If Animate Dragging is off, there is no visual feedback while you are
61 dragging a piece, but if Animate Moving is on, the move will be
62 animated when it is complete.
63 <dt>Animate Moving<dd><a name="index-Animate-Moving_002c-Menu-Item-100"></a>If Animate Moving is on, all piece moves are animated. An image of the
64 piece is shown moving from the old square to the new square when the
65 move is completed (unless the move was already animated by Animate Dragging).
66 If Animate Moving is off, a moved piece instantly disappears from its
67 old square and reappears on its new square when the move is complete.
68 The shifted <kbd>Ctrl-A</kbd> key is a keyboard equivalent.
69 <dt>Auto Flag<dd><a name="index-Auto-Flag_002c-Menu-Item-101"></a>If this option is on and one player runs out of time
72 will automatically call his flag, claiming a win on time.
73 The shifted <kbd>Ctrl-F</kbd> key is a keyboard equivalent.
74 In ICS mode, Auto Flag will only call your opponent's flag, not yours,
75 and the ICS may award you a draw instead of a win if you have
76 insufficient mating material. In local chess engine mode,
78 may call either player's flag and will not take material into account (?).
79 <dt>Auto Flip View<dd><a name="index-Auto-Flip-View_002c-Menu-Item-102"></a>If the Auto Flip View option is on when you start a game, the board
80 will be automatically oriented so that your pawns move from the bottom
81 of the window towards the top.
83 <p>If you are playing a game on an ICS, the board is always
84 oriented at the start of the game so that your pawns move from
85 the bottom of the window towards the top. Otherwise, the starting
86 orientation is determined by the <code>flipView</code> command line option;
87 if it is false (the default), White's pawns move from bottom to top
88 at the start of each game; if it is true, Black's pawns move from
89 bottom to top. See <a href="User-interface-options.html#User-interface-options">User interface options</a>.
90 <dt>Blindfold<dd><a name="index-Blindfold_002c-Menu-Item-103"></a>If this option is on, XBoard displays the board as usual but does
91 not display pieces or move highlights. You can still move in the
92 usual way (with the mouse or by typing moves in ICS mode), even though
93 the pieces are invisible.
94 <dt>Drop Menu<dd><a name="index-Drop-Menu_002c-Menu-Item-104"></a>Controls if right-clicking the board in crazyhouse / bughouse
95 will pop up a menu to drop a piece on the clicked square
96 (old, deprecated behavior)
97 or allow you to step through an engine PV
98 (new, recommended behavior).
99 <dt>Enable Variation Trees<dd><a name="index-Enable-Variation-Trees_002c-Menu-Item-105"></a>If this option is on, playing a move in Edit Game or Analyze mode
100 while keeping the Shift key pressed will start a new variation.
101 You can then recall the previous line through the ‘<samp><span class="samp">Revert</span></samp>’ menu item.
102 When off, playing a move will truncate the game and append the move
104 <dt>Hide Thinking<dd><a name="index-Hide-Thinking_002c-Menu-Item-106"></a>If this option is off, the chess engine's notion of the score and best
105 line of play from the current position is displayed as it is
106 thinking. The score indicates how many pawns ahead (or if negative,
107 behind) the chess engine thinks it is. In matches between two
108 machines, the score is prefixed by ‘<samp><span class="samp">W</span></samp>’ or ‘<samp><span class="samp">B</span></samp>’ to indicate
109 whether it is showing White's thinking or Black's, and only the thinking
110 of the engine that is on move is shown.
111 The shifted <kbd>Ctrl-H</kbd> key is a keyboard equivalent.
112 <dt>Highlight Last Move<dd><a name="index-Highlight-Last-Move_002c-Menu-Item-107"></a>If Highlight Last Move is on, after a move is made, the starting and
113 ending squares remain highlighted. In addition, after you use Backward
114 or Back to Start, the starting and ending squares of the last move to
115 be unmade are highlighted.
116 <dt>Highlight with Arrow<dd><a name="index-Highlight-with-Arrow_002c-Menu-Item-108"></a>Causes the highlighting described in Highlight Last Move to be done
117 by drawing an arrow between the highlighted squares,
118 so that it is visible even when the width of the grid lines is set to zero.
119 <dt>Move Sound<dd><a name="index-Move-Sound_002c-Menu-Item-109"></a>Enables the sounding of an audible signal when the computer performs a move.
120 For the selection of the sound, see ‘<samp><span class="samp">Sound Options</span></samp>’.
121 If you turn on this option when using XBoard with the Internet
122 Chess Server, you will probably want to give the
123 <kbd>set bell 0</kbd>
124 command to the ICS, since otherwise the ICS will ring the terminal bell
125 after every move (not just yours). (The <samp><span class="file">.icsrc</span></samp> file
126 is a good place for this; see <a href="ICS-options.html#ICS-options">ICS options</a>.)
127 <dt>One-Click Moving<dd><a name="index-One_002dClick-Moving_002c-Menu-Item-110"></a>If this option is on, XBoard does not wait for you to click both the
128 from- and the to-square, or drag the piece, but performs a move as soon
129 as it is uniqely specified.
130 This applies to clicking an own piece that only has a single legal move,
131 clicking an empty square or opponent piece where only one of your pieces
132 can move (or capture) to.
133 Furthermore, a double-click on a piece that can only make a single capture
134 will cause that capture to be made.
135 Promoting a Pawn by clicking its to-square will suppress the promotion
136 popup or other methods for selecting an under-promotion,
137 and make it promote to Queen.
138 <dt>Periodic Updates<dd><a name="index-Periodic-Updates_002c-Menu-Item-111"></a>If this option is off (or if
139 you are using a chess engine that does not support periodic updates),
141 will only be updated when the analysis changes. If this option is
142 on, the Analysis Window will be updated every two seconds.
143 <dt>Play Move(s) of Clicked PV<dd><a name="index-Play-Move_0028s_0029-of-Clicked-PV_002c-Menu-Item-112"></a>If this option is on, right-clicking a PV in the Engine Output window
144 during Analyze mode will cause the first move of that PV to be played.
145 You could also play more than one (or no) PV move by moving the mouse
146 to engage in the PV walk such a right-click will start,
147 to seek out another position along the PV where you want to continue
148 the analysis, before releasing the mouse button.
149 <dt>Ponder Next Move<dd><a name="index-Ponder-Next-Move_002c-Menu-Item-113"></a>If this option is off, the chess engine will think only when it is on
150 move. If the option is on, the engine will also think while waiting
151 for you to make your move.
152 The shifted <kbd>Ctrl-P</kbd> key is a keyboard equivalent.
153 <dt>Popup Exit Message<dd><a name="index-Popup-Exit-Message_002c-Menu-Item-114"></a>If this option is on, when XBoard wants to display a message just
154 before exiting, it brings up a modal dialog box and waits for you to
155 click OK before exiting. If the option is off, XBoard prints the
156 message to standard error (the terminal) and exits immediately.
157 <dt>Popup Move Errors<dd><a name="index-Popup-Move-Errors_002c-Menu-Item-115"></a>If this option is off, when you make an error in moving (such as
158 attempting an illegal move or moving the wrong color piece), the
159 error message is displayed in the message area. If the option is
160 on, move errors are displayed in small pop-up windows like other errors.
161 You can dismiss an error pop-up either by clicking its OK button or by
162 clicking anywhere on the board, including down-clicking to start a move.
163 <dt>Scores in Move List<dd><a name="index-Scores-in-Move-List_002c-Menu-Item-116"></a>If this option is on, XBoard will display the depth and score
164 of engine moves in the Move List, in the format of a PGN comment.
165 <dt>Show Coords<dd><a name="index-Show-Coords_002c-Menu-Item-117"></a>If this option is on, XBoard displays algebraic coordinates
166 along the board's left and bottom edges.
167 <dt>Show Target Squares<dd><a name="index-Show-Target-Squares_002c-Menu-Item-118"></a>If this option is on, all squares a piece that is 'picked up' with the mouse
168 can legally move to are highighted with a fat colored dot in the
169 highlightColor (non-captures) or premoveHighlightColor (captures).
170 Legality testing must be on for XBoard to know how the piece moves.
171 <dt>Test Legality<dd><a name="index-Test-Legality_002c-Menu-Item-119"></a>If this option is on, XBoard tests whether the moves you try to make
172 with the mouse are legal and refuses to let you make an illegal move.
173 The shifted <kbd>Ctrl-L</kbd> key is a keyboard equivalent.
174 Moves loaded from a file with ‘<samp><span class="samp">Load Game</span></samp>’ are also checked. If
175 the option is off, all moves are accepted, but if a local chess engine
176 or the ICS is active, they will still reject illegal moves. Turning
177 off this option is useful if you are playing a chess variant with
178 rules that XBoard does not understand. (Bughouse, suicide, and wild
179 variants where the king may castle after starting on the d file are
180 generally supported with Test Legality on.)
181 <dt>Flash Moves<dt>Flash Rate<dd><a name="index-Flash-Moves_002c-Menu-Item-120"></a><a name="index-Flash-Rate_002c-Menu-Item-121"></a>If this option is non-zero, whenever a move is completed,
182 the moved piece flashes the specified number of times.
183 The flash-rate setting determines how rapidly this flashing occurs.
184 <dt>Animation Speed<dd><a name="index-Animation-Speed_002c-Menu-Item-122"></a>Determines the duration (in msec) of an animation step,
185 when ‘<samp><span class="samp">Animate Moving</span></samp>’ is swiched on.
186 <dt>Zoom factor in Evaluation Graph<dd><a name="index-Zoom-factor-in-Evaluation-Graph_002c-Menu-Item-123"></a>Sets the valueof the <code>evalZoom</code> option,
187 indicating the factor by which the score interval (-1,1) should be
188 blown up on the vertical axis of the Evaluation Graph.
189 <br><dt>Time Control<dd><a name="index-Time-Control_002c-Menu-Item-124"></a>Pops up a sub-menu where you can set the time-control parameters interactively.
190 Allows you to select classical or incremental time controls,
191 set the moves per session, session duration, and time increment.
192 Also allows specification of time-odds factors for one or both engines.
193 If an engine is given a time-odds factor N, all time quota it gets,
194 be it at the beginning of a session or through the time increment or
195 fixed time per move, will be divided by N.
196 The shifted <kbd>Alt+T</kbd> key is a keyboard equivalent.
197 <br><dt>Common Engine<dd><a name="index-Common-Engine_002c-Menu-Item-125"></a>Pops up a sub-menu where you can set some engine parameters common to most engines,
198 such as hash-table size, tablebase cache size, maximum number of processors
199 that SMP engines can use, and where to find the Polyglot adapter needed
200 to run UCI engines under XBoard. The feature that allows setting of these parameters on
201 engines is new since XBoard 4.3.15, so not many XBoard/WinBoard engines respond
202 to it yet, but UCI engines should.
204 <p>It is also possible to specify a GUI opening book here, i.e. an opening
205 book that XBoard consults for any position a playing engine gets in.
206 It then forces the engine to play the book move, rather than to think up its own,
207 if that position is found in the book.
208 The book can switched on and off independently for either engine.
209 The way book moves are chosen can be influenced through the settings of
210 book depth and variety.
211 After both sides have played more moves than the specified depth,
212 the book will no longer be consulted.
213 When the variety is set to 50, moves will be played with the probability
214 specified in the book.
215 When set to 0, only the move(s) with the highest probability will be played.
216 When set to 100, all listed moves will be played with equal pobability.
217 Other settings interpolate between that.
218 The shifted <kbd>Alt+U</kbd> key is a keyboard equivalent.
219 <br><dt>Adjudications<dd><a name="index-Adjudications_002c-Menu-Item-126"></a>Pops up a sub-menu where you can enable or disable various adjudications
220 that XBoard can perform in engine-engine games.
221 The shifted <kbd>Alt+J</kbd> key is a keyboard equivalent.
222 You can instruct XBoard to detect and terminate the game on checkmate
223 or stalemate, even if the engines would not do so, to verify engine
224 result claims (forfeiting engines that make false claims), rather than
225 naively following the engine, to declare draw on positions
226 which can never be won for lack of mating material, (e.g. KBK),
227 or which are impossible to win unless the opponent seeks its own demise
229 For these adjudications to work, ‘<samp><span class="samp">Test Legality</span></samp>’ should be switched on.
230 It is also possible to instruct XBoard to enforce a 50-move or 3-fold-repeat
231 rule and automatically declare draw (after a user-adjustable number of moves
232 or repeats) even if the engines are prepared to go on.
233 It is also possible to have XBoard declare draw on games that seem to drag on
234 forever, or adjudicate a loss if both engines agree (for 3 consecutive moves) that one
235 of them is behind more than a user-adjustable score threshold.
236 For the latter adjudication to work, XBoard should be able to properly understand
237 the engine's scores. To facilitate the latter, you can inform xboard here if
238 the engines report scores from the viewpoint of white, or from that of their own color.
240 <br><dt>ICS Options<dd><a name="index-ICS-Options_002c-Menu-Item-127"></a>The following options occur in a dialog summoned by the
241 ICS Options menu item.
242 <dt>Auto Kibitz<dd><a name="index-Auto-Kibitz_002c-Menu-Item-128"></a>Setting this option when playing with or aginst a chess program on an ICS
243 will cause the last line of thinking output of the engine before its move
244 to be sent to the ICS in a kibitz command.
245 In addition, any kibitz message received through the ICS from
246 an opponent chess program will be diverted to the engine-output window,
247 (and suppressed in the console),
248 where you can play through its PV by right-clicking it.
249 <dt>Auto Comment<dd><a name="index-Auto-Comment_002c-Menu-Item-129"></a>If this option is on, any remarks made on ICS while you are observing or
250 playing a game are recorded as a comment on the current move. This includes
251 remarks made with the ICS commands <kbd>say</kbd>, <kbd>tell</kbd>, <kbd>whisper</kbd>,
252 and <kbd>kibitz</kbd>.
253 Limitation: remarks that you type yourself are not recognized;
254 XBoard scans only the output from ICS, not the input you type to it.
255 <dt>Auto Observe<dd><a name="index-Auto-Observe_002c-Menu-Item-130"></a>If this option is on and you add a player to your <code>gnotify</code>
256 list on ICS, XBoard will automatically observe all of that
257 player's games, unless you are doing something else (such as
258 observing or playing a game of your own) when one starts.
259 The games are displayed
260 from the point of view of the player on your gnotify list; that is, his
261 pawns move from the bottom of the window towards the top.
262 Exceptions: If both players in a game are on your gnotify list, if
264 <code>highlight</code>
265 variable is set to 0, or if the ICS you are using does not
266 properly support observing from Black's point of view,
267 you will see the game from White's point of view.
268 <dt>Auto Raise Board<dd><a name="index-Auto-Raise-Board_002c-Menu-Item-131"></a>If this option is on, whenever a new game begins, the chessboard window
269 is deiconized (if necessary) and raised to the top of the stack of windows.
270 <dt>Auto Save<dd><a name="index-Auto-Save_002c-Menu-Item-132"></a>If this option is true, at the end of every game XBoard prompts
271 you for a file name and appends a record of the game to the file
273 Disabled if the <code>saveGameFile</code> command-line
274 option is set, as in that case all games are saved to the specified file.
275 See <a href="Load-and-Save-options.html#Load-and-Save-options">Load and Save options</a>.
276 <dt>Background Observe<dd><a name="index-Background-Observe_002c-Menu-Item-133"></a>Setting this option will make XBoard suppress display of any boards
277 from observed games while you are playing.
278 In stead the last such board will be remembered,
279 and shown to you when you right-click the board.
280 This allows you to peek at your bughouse partner's game when you want,
281 without disturbing your own game too much.
282 <dt>Dual Board<dd><a name="index-Dual-Board_002c-Menu-Item-134"></a>Setting this option in combination with ‘<samp><span class="samp">Background Observe</span></samp>’
283 will display boards of observed games while you are playing
284 on a second board next to that of your own game.
285 <dt>Get Move List<dd><a name="index-Get-Move-List_002c-Menu-Item-135"></a>If this option is on, whenever XBoard
286 receives the first board of a new ICS game (or a different game from
287 the one it is currently displaying), it
288 retrieves the list of past moves from the ICS.
289 You can then review the moves with the ‘<samp><span class="samp">Forward</span></samp>’ and ‘<samp><span class="samp">Backward</span></samp>’
291 or save them with ‘<samp><span class="samp">Save Game</span></samp>’. You might want to
292 turn off this option if you are observing several blitz games at once,
293 to keep from wasting time and network bandwidth fetching the move lists over
295 When you turn this option on from the menu, XBoard
296 immediately fetches the move list of the current game (if any).
297 <dt>Quiet Play<dd><a name="index-Quiet-Play_002c-Menu-Item-136"></a>If this option is on, XBoard will automatically issue an ICS
298 <kbd>set shout 0</kbd>
299 command whenever you start a game and a
300 <kbd>set shout 1</kbd>
301 command whenever you finish one. Thus, you will not be distracted
302 by shouts from other ICS users while playing.
303 <dt>Seek Graph<dd><a name="index-Seek-Graph_002c-Menu-Item-137"></a>Setting this option will cause XBoard to display an graph of
304 currently active seek ads when you left-click the board
305 while idle and logged on to an ICS.
306 <dt>Auto-Refresh Seek Graph<dd><a name="index-Auto_002dRefresh-Seek-Graph_002c-Menu-Item-138"></a>In combination with the ‘<samp><span class="samp">Seek Graph</span></samp>’ option this
307 will cause automatic update of the seek graph while it is up.
308 This only works on FICS and ICC,
309 and requires a lot of bandwidth on a busy server.
310 <dt>Premove<dt>Premove White<dt>Premove Black<dt>First White Move<dt>First Black Move<dd><a name="index-Premove_002c-Menu-Item-139"></a><a name="index-Premove-White_002c-Menu-Item-140"></a><a name="index-Premove-Black_002c-Menu-Item-141"></a><a name="index-First-White-Move_002c-Menu-Item-142"></a><a name="index-First-Black-Move_002c-Menu-Item-143"></a>If this option is on while playing a game on an ICS, you can register
311 your next planned move before it is your turn. Move the piece with
312 the mouse in the ordinary way, and the starting and ending squares
313 will be highlighted with a special color (red by default). When it is
314 your turn, if your registered move is legal, XBoard will send it to
315 ICS immediately; if not, it will be ignored and you can make a
316 different move. If you change your mind about your premove, either
317 make a different move, or double-click on any piece to cancel the move
320 <p>You can also enter premoves for the first white and black moves
322 <dt>ICS Alarm<dt>ICS Alarm Time<dd><a name="index-ICS-Alarm_002c-Menu-Item-144"></a><a name="index-ICS-Alarm-Time_002c-Menu-Item-145"></a>When this option is on, an alarm sound is played when your clock
323 counts down to the icsAlarmTime in an ICS game.
324 (By default, the time is 5 seconds, but you can pecify other values
325 with the Alarm Time spin control.)
326 For games with time controls that include an increment, the
327 alarm will sound each time the clock counts down to the icsAlarmTime.
328 By default, the alarm sound is the terminal bell, but on some systems
329 you can change it to a sound file using the soundIcsAlarm option; see
331 <dt>Colorize Messages<dd><a name="index-Colorize-Messages_002c-Menu-Item-146"></a>Ticking this options causes various types of ICS messages do be
332 displayed with different foreground or background colors in the console.
333 The colors can be individually selected for each type,
334 through the accompanying text edits.
336 <br><dt>Match Options<dd><a name="index-Match-Options_002c-Menu-Item-147"></a>Summons a dialog where you can set options important for playing automatic
337 matches between two chess programs
338 (e.g. by using the ‘<samp><span class="samp">Machine Match</span></samp>’ menu item in the ‘<samp><span class="samp">Mode</span></samp>’ menu).
339 <dt>Tournament file<dd><a name="index-Tournament-file_002c-Menu-item-148"></a>To run a tournament, XBoard needs a file to record its progress,
340 so it can resume the tourney when it is interrupted.
341 When you want to conduct anything more complex than a simple
342 two-player match with the currently loaded engines,
343 (i.e. when you select a list of participants),
344 you must not leave this field blank.
345 When you enter the name of an existing tournament file,
346 XBoard will ignore all other input specified in the dialog,
347 and will take them from that tournament file.
348 This resumes an interrupted tournament, or adds another XBoard
349 agent playing games for it to those that are already doing so.
350 Specifying a not-yet-existing file will cause XBoard to create it,
351 according to the tournament parameters specified in the rest of the dialog,
352 before it starts the tournament on ‘OK’.
353 Provided that you specify participants;
354 without participants no tournament file will be made, but other entered values
355 (e.g. for the file with opening positions) will take effect.
356 Default: configured by the <code>defaultTourneyName</code> option.
357 <dt>Sync after round<dt>Sync after cycle<dd><a name="index-Sync-after-round_002c-Menu-Item-149"></a><a name="index-Sync-after-cycle_002c-Menu-Item-150"></a>The sync options, when on, will cause WinBoard to refrain from starting games
358 of the next round or cycle before all games of the previous round or cycle are finished.
359 This guarantees correct ordering in the games file,
360 even when multiple XBoard instances are concurrently playing games for the same tourney.
361 Default: sync after cycle, but not after round.
362 <dt>Select Engine<dt>Tourney participants<dd><a name="index-Select-Engine_002c-Menu-Item-151"></a><a name="index-Tourney-participants_002c-Menu-Item-152"></a>With the Select Engine drop-down list you can pick an engine from your list
363 of installed engines in the settings file, to be added to the tournament.
364 The engines selected so far will be listed in the ‘Tourney participants’ memo.
365 The latter is a normal text edit, so you can use normal text-editing functions
366 to delete engines you selected by accident, or change their order.
367 Do not type names yourself there, because names that do not exactly match
368 one of the names from the drop-down list will lead to undefined behavior.
369 <dt>Tourney type<dd><a name="index-Tourney-type_002c-Menu-Item-153"></a>Here you can specify the type of tournament you want.
370 XBoard’s intrinsic tournament manager support round-robins (type = 0),
371 where each participant plays every other participant, and (multi-)gauntlets,
372 where one (or a few) so-called ‘gauntlet engines’ play an independent set of opponents.
373 In the latter case, you specify the number of gauntlet engines.
374 E.g. if you specified 10 engines, and tourney type = 2,
375 the first 2 engines each play the remaining 8.
376 A value of -1 instructs XBoard to play Swiss; for this to work an external
377 pairing engine must be specified through the <code>pairingEngine</code> option.
378 Each Swiss round will be considered a tourney cycle in that case.
380 <dt>Number of tourney cycles<dt>Default number of Games<dd><a name="index-Number-of-tourney-cycles_002c-Menu-Item-154"></a><a name="index-Default-number-of-Games_002c-Menu-Item-155"></a>You can specify tourneys where every two opponents play each other multiple times.
381 Such multiple games can be played in a row,
382 as specified by the ‘number of games per pairing’,
383 or by repeating the entire tournament schedule a number of times
384 (specified by the ‘number of tourney cycles’).
385 The total number of times two engine meet will be the product of these two.
387 the number of games per pairing is the same as the default number of match games,
388 stored in your settings file through the <code>defaultMatchGames</code> option.
389 <dt>Save Tourney Games<dd><a name="index-Save-Tourney-Games_002c-Menu-Item-156"></a>File where the tournament games are saved
390 (duplicate of the item in the ‘<samp><span class="samp">Save Game Options</span></samp>’).
391 <dt>Game File with Opening Lines<dt>File with Start Positions<dt>Game Number<dt>Position Number<dt>Rewind Index after<dd><a name="index-Game-File-with-Opening-Lines_002c-Menu-Item-157"></a><a name="index-File-with-Start-Positions_002c-Menu-Item-158"></a><a name="index-Game-Number_002c-Menu-Item-159"></a><a name="index-Position-Number_002c-Menu-Item-160"></a><a name="index-Rewind-Index-after_002c-Menu-Item-161"></a>These items optionally specify the file with move sequences or board positions the tourney
392 games should start from.
393 The corresponding numbers specify the number of the game or position in the file.
394 Here a value -1 means automatic stepping through all games on the file,
395 -2 automatic stepping every two games.
396 The Rewind-Index parameter causes a stepping index to reset to one after reaching
398 A setting of -2 for the game number will also be effective in a tournament without
399 specifying a game file, but playing from the GUI book instead.
400 In this case the first (odd) games will randomly select from the book,
401 but the second (even) games will select the same moves from the book as the previous game.
402 (Note this leads to the same opening only if both engines use the GUI book!)
403 Default: No game or position file will be used. The default index if such a file is used is 1.
404 <dt>Disable own engine bools be default<dd><a name="index-Disable-own-engine-bools-be-default_002c-Menu-Item-162"></a>Setting this option reverses the default situation for use of the GUI opening book
405 in tournaments from what it normally is, namely not using it.
406 So unless the engine is installed with an option to explicitly specify it should
407 not use the GUI book (i.e. <code>-firstHasOwnBookUCI true</code>),
408 it will be made to use the GUI book.
409 <dt>Replace Engine<dt>Upgrade Engine<dd><a name="index-Replace-Engine_002c-Menu-Item-163"></a><a name="index-Upgrade-Engine_002c-Menu-Item-164"></a>With these two buttons you can alter the participants of an already running tournament.
410 After opening the Match Options dialog on an XBoard that is playing for the tourney,
411 you will see all the tourney parameters in the dialog fields.
412 You can then replace the name of one engine by that of another
413 by editing the ‘<samp><span class="samp">participants</span></samp>’ field.
414 (But preserve the order of the others!)
415 Pressing the button after that will cause the substitution.
416 With the ‘<samp><span class="samp">Upgrade Engine</span></samp>’ button the substitution will only affect future games.
417 With ‘<samp><span class="samp">Replace Engine</span></samp>’ all games the substituted engine has already played will
418 be invalidated, and they will be replayed with the substitute engine.
419 In this latter case the engine must not be playing when you do this,
420 but otherwise there is no need to pause the tournament play
421 for making a substitution.
422 <dt>Clone Tourney<dd><a name="index-CloneTourney_002c-Menu-Item-165"></a>Pressing this button after you have specified an existing tournament file
423 will copy the contents of the latter to the dialog,
424 and then puts the originally proposed name for the tourney file back.
425 You can then run a tourney with the same parameters
426 (possibly after changing the proposed name of the tourney file for the new tourney)
429 <br><dt>Load Game Options<dd><a name="index-Load-Game-Options_002c-Menu-Item-166"></a>Summons a dialog where you can set the <code>autoDisplayComment</code> and
430 <code>autoDisplayTags</code> options, (which control popups when viewing loaded games),
431 and specify the rate at which loaded games are auto-played,
432 in seconds per move (which can be a fractional number, like 1.6).
433 You can also set search criteria for determining which games
434 will be displayed in the Game List for a multi-game file,
435 and thus be eligible for loading:
436 <dt>Elo of strongest player<dt>Elo of weakest player<dt>year<dd><a name="index-Elo-of-strongest-player_002c-Menu-Item-167"></a><a name="index-Elo-of-weakest-player_002c-Menu-Item-168"></a><a name="index-year_002c-Menu-Item-169"></a>These numeric fields set thresholds (lower limits) on the Elo rating of the mentioned player,
437 or the date the game was played.
439 <dt>Search mode<dd><a name="index-Search-mode_002c-Menu-Item-170"></a><a name="index-find-position_002c-Menu-Item-171"></a><a name="index-narrow_002c-Menu-Item-172"></a>This setting determines which positions in a game will be considered a match
440 to the position currently displayed in the board window
441 when you press the ‘<samp><span class="samp">find position</span></samp>’ button in the Game List.
442 You can search for an exact match,
443 a position that has all shown material in the same place,
444 but might contain additional material,
445 a position that has all Pawns in the same place,
446 but can have the shown material anywhere,
447 a position that can have all shown material anywhere,
448 or a position that has material between certain limits anywhere.
449 For the latter you have to place the material that must be present
450 in the four lowest ranks of the board,
451 and optional additional material in the four highest ranks of the board.
452 You can request the optional material to be balanced.
453 The ‘<samp><span class="samp">narrow</span></samp>’ button is similar in fuction to the ‘<samp><span class="samp">find position</span></samp>’ button,
454 but only searches in the already selected games,
455 rather than the complete game file,
456 and can thus be used to refine a search based on multiple criteria.
457 <dt>number of consecutive positions<dd><a name="index-number-of-consecutive-positions_002c-Menu-Item-173"></a>When you are searching by material, rather than for an exact match,
458 this parameter indicates forhowmany consecutive game positions
459 the same amount of material must be on the board before it is
461 <dt>Also match reversed colors<dt>Also match left-right flipped position<dd><a name="index-Also-match-reversed-colors_002c-Menu-Item-174"></a><a name="index-Also-match-left_002dright-flipped-position_002c-Menu-Item-175"></a>When looking for matching positions rather than by material,
462 these settings determine whether mirror images
463 (in case of a vertical flip in combination with color reversal)
464 will be also considered a match.
465 The left-right flipping is only useful after all castling rights
466 have expired (or in Xiangqi).
468 <br><dt>Save Game Options<dd><a name="index-Save-Game-Options_002c-Menu-Item-176"></a>Summons a dialog where you can specify the files on which XBoard should
469 automatically save any played or entered games,
470 (the <code>saveGameFile</code> option),
471 or the final position of such games (the <code>savePositionfile</code> option).
472 You can also select 'auto-save' without a file name,
473 in which case XBoard will prompt the user for a file name after each game.
474 In ICS mode you can limit the auto-saving to your own games
475 (i.e. suppress saving of observed games).
476 You can also set the default value for the PGN Event tag that will
477 be used for each new game you start.
478 Various options for the format of the game can be specified as well,
479 such as whether scores and depths of engine games should be saved as comments,
480 and if a tag with info about the score with which the engine came out of book
482 For Chess, always set the format to PGN, rather than "old save stye"!
484 <br><dt>Game List<dd><a name="index-Game-List-Tags_002c-Menu-Item-177"></a>Pops up a dialog where you can select the PGN tags that should appear
485 on the lines in the game list, and their order.
487 <br><dt>Sound Options<dd><a name="index-Sound-Options_002c-Menu-Item-178"></a>Summons a dialog where you can specify the sounds that should accompany
488 various events that can occur XBoard.
489 Most events are only relevant to ICS play,
490 but the move sound is an important exception.
491 For each event listed in the dialog,
492 you can select a standard sound from a menu.
493 You can also select a user-supplied sound file,
494 by typing its name into the designated text-edit field first,
495 and then selecting "Above WAV File" from the menu for the event.
496 A dummy event has been provided for trying out the sounds with the
497 "play" button next to it.
498 The directory with standard sounds, and the external program for playing
499 the sounds can be specified too, but normally you would not touch these
500 once XBoard is properly installed.
501 When a move sound other than 'None' is selected,
502 XBoard alerts you by playing that sound
503 after each of your opponent's moves (or after every
504 move if you are observing a game on the Internet Chess Server).
505 The sound is not played after moves you make or moves read from a
508 <br><dt>Save Settings Now<dd><a name="index-Save-Settings-Now_002c-Menu-Item-179"></a>Selecting this menu item causes the current XBoard settings to be
509 written to the settings file, so they will also apply in future sessions.
510 Note that some settings are 'volatile', and are not saved,
511 because XBoard considers it too unlikely that you want those to apply
513 In particular this applies to the Chess program names, and all options
514 giving information on those Chess programs (such as their directory,
515 if they have their own opening book, if they are UCI or native XBoard),
516 or the variant you are playing.
517 Such options would still be understood when they appear in the settings
518 file in case they were put there with the aid of a text editor, but they
519 would disappear from the file as soon as you save the settings.
521 <p>Note that XBoard no longer pays attention to options values specified
522 in the .Xresources file.
523 (Specifying key bindings there will still work, though.)
524 To alter the default of volatile options, you can use the following method:
525 Rename your ~/.xboardrc settings file (to ~/.yboardrc, say), and create
526 a new file ~/.xboardrc, which only contains the options
528 <pre class="example"> -settingsFile ~/.yboardrc
529 -saveSettingsFile ~/.yboardrc
531 <p class="noindent">This will cause your settings to be saved on ~/.yboardrc in the future,
532 so that ~/.xboardrc is no longer overwritten.
533 You can then safely specify volatile options in ~/.xboardrc, either
534 before or after the settingsFile options.
535 Note that when you specify persistent options after the settingsFile options
536 in ~/.xboardrc, you will essentially turn them into volatile options
537 with the specified value as default, because that value will overrule
538 the value loaded from the settings file (being read later).
539 <br><dt>Save Settings on Exit<dd><a name="index-Save-Settings-on-Exit_002c-Menu-Item-180"></a>Setting this option has no immediate effect, but causes the settings
540 to be saved when you quit XBoard. What happens then is otherwise
541 identical to what happens when you use select "Save Settings Now",
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