the destination square. In crazyhouse, bughouse or shogi you can
drag and drop pieces to the board from the holdings squares
displayed next to the board.
+
Old behavior, where right-clicking a square brings up a menu
where you can select what piece to drop on it can still be
-selected through a command-line option.
-But only in Edit Position mode right clicking a square is still used to
+selected through the @samp{Drop Menu} option.
+Only in Edit Position mode right and middle clicking a square is still used to
put a piece on it, and the piece to drop is selected by sweeping
the mouse vertically with the button held down.
Lines of play displayed in the engine-output window,
or PGN variations in the comment window can similarly
be played out on the board, by right-clicking on them.
+Only in Analysis mode, when you walk along a PV,
+releasing the mouse button will forward the game upto that point,
+like you entered all previous PV moves.
+As the display of the PV in that case starts after the first move
+a simple right-click will play the move the engine indicates.
+
+In Analysis mode you can also make a move by grabbing the piece
+with a double-click of the left mouse button
+(or while keeping the Ctrl key pressed).
+In this case the move you enter will not be played,
+but will be excluded from the analysis of the current position.
+(Or included if it was already excluded; it is a toggle.)
+This only works for engines that support this feature.
When connected to an ICS, it is possible to call up a graphical
representation of players seeking a game in stead of the chess board,
file like ~/.xboardrc in the user's home directory.
When XBoard is iconized, its graphical icon is a white knight if
-it is White's turn to move, a black knight if it is Black's turn. See
-Iconize in @ref{Keys} below if you have problems getting this
-feature to work.
+it is White's turn to move, a black knight if it is Black's turn.
@node Menus
@chapter Menus, buttons, and keys
Similar to @samp{New Game}, but allows you to specify a particular initial position
(according to a standardized numbering system)
in chess variants which use randomized opening positions (e.g. Chess960).
-The selected opening position will persistently be chosen on any following
-New Game command until you use this menu to select another. Selecting
-position number -1 will produce a newly randomized position on any new game.
+You can also press the @samp{Pick Fixed} button to let XBoard generate
+a random number for you.
+The thus selected opening position will then persistently be chosen on any following
+New Game command until you use this menu to select another.
+Selecting position number -1 (or pushing the @samp{Randomize} button)
+will produce a newly randomized position on any new game.
Using this menu item in variants that normally do not shuffle their opening position
does cause these variants to become shuffle variants until you use the
@samp{New Shuffle Game} menu to explicitly switch the randomization off,
option is true, in which case they are saved in an older,
human-readable format that is specific to XBoard. Both formats
can be read back by the @samp{Load Position} command.
+@item Save Games as Book
+@cindex Save Games as Book, Menu Item
+Creates an opening book from the currently loaded game file.
+The book will be saved on the file specified in the @samp{Common Engine}
+options dialog.
+The value of @samp{Book Depth} specified in that same dialog will
+be used to determine how many moves of each game will be added to
+the internal book buffer.
+This command can take a long time to process,
+and the size of the buffer is currently limited.
+At the end the buffer will be saved as a Polyglot book,
+but the buffer will ot be cleared,
+so that you can continue adding games from other game files.
@item Mail Move
@itemx Reload CMail Message
@cindex Mail Move, Menu Item
@cindex Edit Comment, Menu Item
Adds or modifies a comment on the current position. Comments are
saved by @samp{Save Game} and are displayed by @samp{Load Game},
+PGN variations will also be printed in this window,
+and can be promoted to main line by right-clicking them.
@samp{Forward}, and @samp{Backward}.
+@item Edit Book
+@cindex Edit Book, Menu Item
+Pops up a window listing the moves available in the GUI book
+(specified in the @samp{Common Engine Settings} dialog)
+from the currently displayed position,
+together with their weights and (optionally in braces) learn info.
+You can then edit this list, and the new list will be stored
+back into the book when you press OK.
+Note that the listed percentages are neither used, nor updated when
+you change the weights; they are just there as an optical aid.
@item Revert
@itemx Annotate
@cindex Revert, Menu Item
and it is more convenient for someone analyzing games to see the moves sorted by score.
The order in which the engine found them is only of interest to the engine author,
and can still be deduced from the time or node count printed with the line.
+Right-clicking a line in this window, and then moving the mouse vertically with the
+right button kept down, will make XBoard play through the PV listed there.
+The use of the board window as 'variation board' will normally end when
+you release the right button,
+or when the opponent plays a move.
+But beware: in Analysis mode, moves thus played out will be added to the game.
+The Engine-Output pane for each engine will contain a header displaying the
+multi-PV status and a list of excluded moves in Analysis mode,
+which are also responsive to right-clicking.
@item Show Move History
@cindex Show Move History, Menu Item
Shows or hides a list of moves of the current game.
The input box is especially useful if you want to type in something long or do
some editing on your input, because output from ICS doesn't get mixed
in with your typing as it would in the main terminal window.
+@item Open Chat Window
+@cindex Open Chat Window, Menu Item
+This menu item opens a window in which you can conduct upto 5 chats
+with other ICS users (or channels).
+To use the window, write the name of your chat partner, the channel number,
+or the words 'shouts', 'whispers', 'cshouts' in the upper field
+(closing with <Enter>).
+Everything you type in the lowest field will then automatically be sent to
+the mentioned party, while everything that party sends to you will
+appear in the central text box, rather than appear in the ICS console.
+The row of buttons allow you to choose between chat;
+to start a new chat, just select an empty button,
+and complete the @samp{Chat partner} field.
@item Board
@cindex Board, Menu Item
-Summons a dialog where you can customaize the look of the chess board.
+Summons a dialog where you can customize the look of the chess board.
Here you can specify the directory from which piece images should be taken,
when you don't want to use the built-in piece images
-(see @code{pixmapDirectory} and @code{bitmapDirectory} options),
-an external pixmap to be used for the board squares
+(see @code{pieceImageDirectory} option),
+external images to be used for the board squares
(@code{liteBackTextureFile} and @code{darkBackTextureFile} options),
-and square and piece colors for the built-ins.
+and square and piece colors for the default pieces.
@item Game List Tags
@cindex Game List Tags, Menu Item
a duplicate of the Game List dialog in the Options menu.
The @kbd{Ctrl-T} key is a keyboard equivalent.
@item Analysis Mode
@cindex Analysis Mode, Menu Item
+@cindex null move
XBoard tells the chess engine to start analyzing the current game/position
and shows you the analysis as you move pieces around.
The @kbd{Ctrl-A} key is a keyboard equivalent.
4. Select Analysis Mode from the Mode Menu to start the analysis.
+You can now play legal moves to create follow-up positions for the
+engine to analyze, while the moves will be remembered as a stored game,
+and then step backward through this game to take the moves back.
+Note that you can also click on the clocks to set the opposite
+side to move (adding a so-called @samp{null move} to the game).
+
+You can also tell the engine to exclude some moves from analysis.
+(Engines that do not support the exclude-moves feature will
+ignore this, however.)
+The general way to do this is to play the move you want to exclude
+starting with a double click on the piece.
+When you use drag-drop moving, the piece you grab with a double click
+will also remain on its square, to show you that you are not really
+making the move, but just forbid it from the current position.
+Playing a thus excluded move a second time will include it again.
+Excluded moves will be listed as text in a header line in the
+Engine Output window, and you can also re-include them by
+right-clicking them there.
+This header line will also contain the words 'best' and 'tail';
+right-clicking those will exclude the currently best move,
+or all moves not explicitly listed in the header line.
+Once you leave the current position all memory of excluded
+moves will be lost when you return there.
+
+
+Selecting this menu item while already in @samp{Analysis Mode} will
+toggle the participation of the second engine in the analysis.
+The output of this engine will then be shown in the lower pane
+of the Engine Output window.
The analysis function can also be used when observing games on an ICS
with an engine loaded (zippy mode); the engine then will analyse
the positions as they occur in the observed game.
-@item Analyze File
-@cindex Analyze File, Menu Item
-This option lets you load a game from a file (PGN, XBoard format, etc.)
-and analyze it. The @kbd{Ctrl-F} key is a keyboard equivalent.
-When you select this menu item, a pop-up window appears
-and asks for a file name to load.
-If the file contains multiple games, another pop up appears that lets
-you select which game you wish to analyze.
-After a game is loaded, XBoard will start auto-playing the game,
+
+@item Analyze Game
+@cindex Analyze Game, Menu Item
+This option subjects the currently loaded game to automatic
+analysis by the loaded engine.
+The @kbd{Ctrl-G} key is a keyboard equivalent.
+XBoard will start auto-playing the game from the currently displayed position,
while the engine is analyzing the current position.
The game will be annotated with the results of these analyses.
In particlar, the score and depth will be added as a comment,
and the PV will be added as a variation.
+
+Normally the analysis would stop after reaching the end of the game.
+But when a game is loaded from a multi-game file
+while @samp{Analyze Game} was already switched on,
+the analysis will continue with the next game in the file
+until the end of the file is reached (or you switch to another mode).
+
The time the engine spends on analyzing each move can be controlled
-through the command-line option @samp{-timeDelay}.
+through the command-line option @samp{-timeDelay},
+which can also be set from the @samp{Load Game Options} menu dialog.
Note: Some chess engines do not support Analysis mode.
@item Edit Game
Duplicate of the item in the Edit menu.
Starts a match between two chess programs,
with a number of games and other parameters set through
the @samp{Match Options} menu dialog.
+When a match is already running, selecting this item will make
+XBoard drop out of match mode after the current game finishes.
@item Pause
@cindex Pause, Menu Item
Pauses updates to the board, and if you are playing against a chess engine,
@cindex Engine Menu
@cindex Menu, Engine
@table @asis
+@item Load Engine
+@cindex Load Engine, Menu Item
+Pops up a dialog where you can select or specify an engine to be loaded.
+You will always have to indicate whether you want to load the engine
+as first or second engine, through the ‘Load menitioned engine as’
+drop-down list at the bottom of the dialog.
+You can even replace engines during a game, without disturbing that game.
+(Beware that after loading an engine, XBoard will always be in Edit Game mode,
+so you will have to tell the new engine what to do before it does anything!)
+When you select an already installed engine from the ‘Select Engine from List’
+drop-down list,
+all other fields of the dialog will be ignored.
+In other cases, you have to specify the engine executable,
+possible arguments on the engine command line
+(if the engine docs say the engine needs any),
+and the directory where the engine should look for its files
+(if this cannot be deduced automatically from the specification of the engine executable).
+You will also have to specify (with the aid of checkboxes) if the engine is UCI.
+If ‘Add this engine to the list’ is ticked (which it is by default),
+the engine will be added to the list of installed engines in your settings file,
+(provided you save the settings!),
+so that next time you can select it from the drop-down list.
+You can also specify a ‘nickname’,
+under which the engine will then appear in that drop-down list,
+and even choose to use that nickname for it in PGN files for engine-engine games.
+The info you supply with the checkboxes whether the engine should use GUI book,
+or (for variant engines) automatically switch to the current variant when loaded,
+will also be included in the list.
+For obsolete XBoard engines, which would normally take a long delay to load
+because XBoard is waiting for a response they will not give,
+you can tick ‘WB protocol v1’ to speed up the loading process.
@item Engine #N Settings
@cindex Engine Settings, Menu Item
@cindex Engine #1 Settings, Menu Item
issues the command @samp{takeback 1} or @samp{takeback 2}
depending on whether it is your opponent's move or yours.
The @kbd{Ctrl-X} key is a keyboard equivalent.
+@item Recently Used Engines
+@cindex Recently Used Engines, In Menu
+At the bottom of the engine menu there can be a list of names
+of engines that you recently loaded through the Load Engine menu dialog
+in previous sessions.
+Clicking on such a name will load that engine as first engine,
+so you won't have to search for it in your list of installed engines,
+if that is very long.
+The maximum number of displayed engine names is set by the
+@code{recentEngines}command-line option.
@end table
@node Options Menu
@section Options Menu
@cindex Menu, Options
@cindex Options Menu
-@table @asis
-@item Time Control
-@cindex Time Control, Menu Item
-Pops up a sub-menu where you can set the time-control parameters interactively.
-Allows you to select classical or incremental time controls,
-set the moves per session, session duration, and time increment.
-Also allows specification of time-odds factors for one or both engines.
-If an engine is given a time-odds factor N, all time quota it gets,
-be it at the beginning of a session or through the time increment or
-fixed time per move, will be divided by N.
-The shifted @kbd{Alt+T} key is a keyboard equivalent.
-@item Common Engine
-@cindex Common Engine, Menu Item
-Pops up a sub-menu where you can set some engine parameters common to most engines,
-such as hash-table size, tablebase cache size, maximum number of processors
-that SMP engines can use, and where to find the Polyglot adapter needed
-to run UCI engines under XBoard. The feature that allows setting of these parameters on
-engines is new since XBoard 4.3.15, so not many XBoard/WinBoard engines respond
-to it yet, but UCI engines should.
-
-It is also possible to specify a GUI opening book here, i.e. an opening
-book that XBoard consults for any position a playing engine gets in.
-It then forces the engine to play the book move, rather than to think up its own,
-if that position is found in the book.
-The book can switched on and off independently for either engine.
-The way book moves are chosen can be influenced through the settings of
-book depth and variety.
-After both sides have played more moves than the specified depth,
-the book will no longer be consulted.
-When the variety is set to 50, moves will be played with the probability
-specified in the book.
-When set to 0, only the move(s) with the highest probability will be played.
-When set to 100, all listed moves will be played with equal pobability.
-Other settings interpolate between that.
-The shifted @kbd{Alt+U} key is a keyboard equivalent.
-@item Adjudications
-@cindex Adjudications, Menu Item
-Pops up a sub-menu where you can enable or disable various adjudications
-that XBoard can perform in engine-engine games.
-The shifted @kbd{Alt+J} key is a keyboard equivalent.
-You can instruct XBoard to detect and terminate the game on checkmate
-or stalemate, even if the engines would not do so, to verify engine
-result claims (forfeiting engines that make false claims), rather than
-naively following the engine, to declare draw on positions
-which can never be won for lack of mating material, (e.g. KBK),
-or which are impossible to win unless the opponent seeks its own demise
-(e.g. KBKN).
-For these adjudications to work, @samp{Test Legality} should be switched on.
-It is also possible to instruct XBoard to enforce a 50-move or 3-fold-repeat
-rule and automatically declare draw (after a user-adjustable number of moves
-or repeats) even if the engines are prepared to go on.
-It is also possible to have XBoard declare draw on games that seem to drag on
-forever, or adjudicate a loss if both engines agree (for 3 consecutive moves) that one
-of them is behind more than a user-adjustable score threshold.
-For the latter adjudication to work, XBoard should be able to properly understand
-the engine's scores. To facilitate the latter, you can inform xboard here if
-the engines report scores from the viewpoint of white, or from that of their own color.
-@item Match Game Options
-@cindex Match Game Options, Menu Item
-Summons a dialog where you can set options important for playing automatic
-matches between two chess programs
-(e.g. by using the @samp{Machine Match} menu item in the @samp{Mode} menu).
-You can specify the number of games such a match should last,
-and the duration of the pause between games
-(important for some older engines to not have the last move of a previous
-game be given when the next game has already started).
-You can also specify a file with opening lines, or a file with initial positions
-(the @code{loadGameFile} and @code{loadPositionFile} options),
-and the number of the game or position to use from these files.
-Values -1 and -2 of this 'index' convey a special meaning,
-namely that XBoard should automatically step through all lines or positions
-in these files.
-With -1 such stepping is done every game; with -2 every two games,
-so that each line or position is played with both colors before stepping
-to the next one.
-You can have XBoard automatically rewind to the first line or position
-in the file after the index reaches a certain vaue,
-which you can also specify here.
-@item Load Game Options
-@cindex Load Game Options, Menu Item
-Summons a dialog where you can set the @code{autoDisplayComment} and
-@code{autoDisplayTags} options, (which control popups when viewing loaded games),
-and specify the rate at which loaded games are auto-played,
-in seconds per move (which can be a fractional number, like 1.6).
-@item Save Game Options
-@cindex ave Game Options, Menu Item
-Summons a dialog where you can specify the files on which XBoard should
-automtically save any played or entered games,
-(the @code{saveGameFile} option),
-or the final position of such games (the @code{savePositionfile} option).
-You can also select 'auto-save' without a file name,
-in which case XBoard will prompt the user for a file name after each game.
-You can also set the default value for the PGN Event tag that will
-be used for each new game you start.
-Various options for the format of the game can be specified as well,
-such as whether scores and depths of engine games should be saved as comments,
-and if a tag with info about the score with which the engine came out of book
-should be included.
-For Chess, always set the format to PGN, rather than "old save stye"!
-@item Game List
-@cindex Game List Tags, Menu Item
-Pops up a dialog where you can select the PGN tags that should appear
-on the lines in the game list, and their order.
-@item Sound Options
-@cindex Sound Options, Menu Item
-Summons a dialog where you can specify the sounds that should accompany
-various events that can occur XBoard.
-Most events are only relevant to ICS play,
-but the move sound is an important exception.
-For each event listed in the dialog,
-you can select a standard sound from a menu.
-You can also select a user-supplied sound file,
-by typing its name into the designated text-edit field first,
-and then selecting "Above WAV File" from the menu for the event.
-A dummy event has been provided for trying out the sounds with the
-"play" button next to it.
-The directory with standard sounds, and the external program for playing
-the sounds can be specified too, but normally you would not touch these
-once XBoard is properly installed.
-@itemx Move Sound
-@cindex Move Sound, Menu Item
-When a move sound other than 'None' is selected,
-XBoard alerts you by playing a sound
-after each of your opponent's moves (or after every
-move if you are observing a game on the Internet Chess Server).
-The sound is not played after moves you make or moves read from a
-saved game file.
-If you turn on this option when using XBoard with the Internet
-Chess Server, you will probably want to give the
-@kbd{set bell 0}
-command to the ICS, since otherwise the ICS will ring the terminal bell
-after every move (not just yours). (The @file{.icsrc} file
-is a good place for this; see @ref{ICS options}.)
-@item General Options
+@subsection General Options
@cindex General Options, Menu Item
The following items to set option values appear in the dialog
summoned by the general Options menu item.
-@itemx Almost Always Queen
+@table @asis
+@item Absolute Analysis Scores
+@cindex Absolute Analysis Scores, Menu Item
+Controls if scores on the Engine Output window during analysis
+will be printed from the white or the side-to-move point-of-view.
+@item Almost Always Queen
@cindex Almost Always Queen, Menu Item
If this option is on, 7th-rank pawns automatically change into
Queens when you pick them up,
they will promote to that.
But when you drag such a pawn backwards first,
its identity will start to cycle through the other available pieces.
-This will continue ntil you start to move it forward;
-this will then fix the identity of the piece,
+This will continue until you start to move it forward;
+at which point the identity of the piece will be fixed,
so that you can safely put it down on the promotion square.
If this option is off, what happens depends on the
option @code{alwaysPromoteToQueen},
Otherwise XBoard would bring up a dialog
box whenever you move a pawn to the last rank, asking what piece
you want to promote to.
-@itemx Animate Dragging
+@item Animate Dragging
@cindex Animate Dragging, Menu Item
If Animate Dragging is on, while you are dragging a piece with the
mouse, an image of the piece follows the mouse cursor.
If Animate Dragging is off, there is no visual feedback while you are
dragging a piece, but if Animate Moving is on, the move will be
animated when it is complete.
-@itemx Animate Moving
+@item Animate Moving
@cindex Animate Moving, Menu Item
If Animate Moving is on, all piece moves are animated. An image of the
piece is shown moving from the old square to the new square when the
If Animate Moving is off, a moved piece instantly disappears from its
old square and reappears on its new square when the move is complete.
The shifted @kbd{Ctrl-A} key is a keyboard equivalent.
-@itemx Auto Flag
+@item Auto Flag
@cindex Auto Flag, Menu Item
If this option is on and one player runs out of time
before the other,
insufficient mating material. In local chess engine mode,
XBoard
may call either player's flag and will not take material into account (?).
-@itemx Auto Flip View
+@item Auto Flip View
@cindex Auto Flip View, Menu Item
If the Auto Flip View option is on when you start a game, the board
will be automatically oriented so that your pawns move from the bottom
if it is false (the default), White's pawns move from bottom to top
at the start of each game; if it is true, Black's pawns move from
bottom to top. @xref{User interface options}.
-@itemx Blindfold
+@item Blindfold
@cindex Blindfold, Menu Item
If this option is on, XBoard displays the board as usual but does
not display pieces or move highlights. You can still move in the
usual way (with the mouse or by typing moves in ICS mode), even though
the pieces are invisible.
-@itemx Drop Menu
+@item Drop Menu
@cindex Drop Menu, Menu Item
Controls if right-clicking the board in crazyhouse / bughouse
will pop up a menu to drop a piece on the clicked square
(old, deprecated behavior)
or allow you to step through an engine PV
(new, recommended behavior).
-@itemx Highlight Dragging
-@cindex Highlight Dragging, Menu Item
-If Highlight Dragging is on, and the option -showTargetSquares is also on
-in the settings file, all squares a piece that is 'picked up' with the mouse
-can legally move to are highighted with a fat colored dot in the
-highlightColor (non-captures) or premoveHighlightColor (captures).
-Legality testing must be on for XBoard to know how the piece moves.
-@itemx Highlight Last Move
+@item Enable Variation Trees
+@cindex Enable Variation Trees, Menu Item
+If this option is on, playing a move in Edit Game or Analyze mode
+while keeping the Shift key pressed will start a new variation.
+You can then recall the previous line through the @samp{Revert} menu item.
+When off, playing a move will truncate the game and append the move
+irreversibly.
+@item Hide Thinking
+@cindex Hide Thinking, Menu Item
+If this option is off, the chess engine's notion of the score and best
+line of play from the current position is displayed as it is
+thinking. The score indicates how many pawns ahead (or if negative,
+behind) the chess engine thinks it is. In matches between two
+machines, the score is prefixed by @samp{W} or @samp{B} to indicate
+whether it is showing White's thinking or Black's, and only the thinking
+of the engine that is on move is shown.
+The shifted @kbd{Ctrl-H} key is a keyboard equivalent.
+@item Highlight Last Move
@cindex Highlight Last Move, Menu Item
If Highlight Last Move is on, after a move is made, the starting and
ending squares remain highlighted. In addition, after you use Backward
or Back to Start, the starting and ending squares of the last move to
be unmade are highlighted.
-@itemx Highlight with Arrow
+@item Highlight with Arrow
@cindex Highlight with Arrow, Menu Item
Causes the highlighting described in Highlight Last Move to be done
by drawing an arrow between the highlighted squares,
so that it is visible even when the width of the grid lines is set to zero.
-@itemx One-Click Moving
+@item Move Sound
+@cindex Move Sound, Menu Item
+Enables the sounding of an audible signal when the computer performs a move.
+For the selection of the sound, see @samp{Sound Options}.
+If you turn on this option when using XBoard with the Internet
+Chess Server, you will probably want to give the
+@kbd{set bell 0}
+command to the ICS, since otherwise the ICS will ring the terminal bell
+after every move (not just yours). (The @file{.icsrc} file
+is a good place for this; see @ref{ICS options}.)
+@item One-Click Moving
@cindex One-Click Moving, Menu Item
If this option is on, XBoard does not wait for you to click both the
from- and the to-square, or drag the piece, but performs a move as soon
Promoting a Pawn by clicking its to-square will suppress the promotion
popup or other methods for selecting an under-promotion,
and make it promote to Queen.
-@itemx Periodic Updates
+@item Periodic Updates
@cindex Periodic Updates, Menu Item
If this option is off (or if
you are using a chess engine that does not support periodic updates),
the analysis window
will only be updated when the analysis changes. If this option is
on, the Analysis Window will be updated every two seconds.
-@itemx Ponder Next Move
+@item Play Move(s) of Clicked PV
+@cindex Play Move(s) of Clicked PV, Menu Item
+If this option is on, right-clicking a PV in the Engine Output window
+during Analyze mode will cause the first move of that PV to be played.
+You could also play more than one (or no) PV move by moving the mouse
+to engage in the PV walk such a right-click will start,
+to seek out another position along the PV where you want to continue
+the analysis, before releasing the mouse button.
+@item Ponder Next Move
@cindex Ponder Next Move, Menu Item
If this option is off, the chess engine will think only when it is on
move. If the option is on, the engine will also think while waiting
for you to make your move.
The shifted @kbd{Ctrl-P} key is a keyboard equivalent.
-@itemx Popup Exit Message
+@item Popup Exit Message
@cindex Popup Exit Message, Menu Item
If this option is on, when XBoard wants to display a message just
before exiting, it brings up a modal dialog box and waits for you to
click OK before exiting. If the option is off, XBoard prints the
message to standard error (the terminal) and exits immediately.
-@itemx Popup Move Errors
+@item Popup Move Errors
@cindex Popup Move Errors, Menu Item
If this option is off, when you make an error in moving (such as
attempting an illegal move or moving the wrong color piece), the
on, move errors are displayed in small pop-up windows like other errors.
You can dismiss an error pop-up either by clicking its OK button or by
clicking anywhere on the board, including down-clicking to start a move.
-@itemx Show Coords
+@item Scores in Move List
+@cindex Scores in Move List, Menu Item
+If this option is on, XBoard will display the depth and score
+of engine moves in the Move List, in the format of a PGN comment.
+@item Show Coords
@cindex Show Coords, Menu Item
If this option is on, XBoard displays algebraic coordinates
along the board's left and bottom edges.
-@itemx Hide Thinking
-@cindex Hide Thinking, Menu Item
-If this option is off, the chess engine's notion of the score and best
-line of play from the current position is displayed as it is
-thinking. The score indicates how many pawns ahead (or if negative,
-behind) the chess engine thinks it is. In matches between two
-machines, the score is prefixed by @samp{W} or @samp{B} to indicate
-whether it is showing White's thinking or Black's, and only the thinking
-of the engine that is on move is shown.
-The shifted @kbd{Ctrl-H} key is a keyboard equivalent.
-@itemx Test Legality
+@item Show Target Squares
+@cindex Show Target Squares, Menu Item
+If this option is on, all squares a piece that is 'picked up' with the mouse
+can legally move to are highighted with a fat colored dot in the
+highlightColor (non-captures) or premoveHighlightColor (captures).
+Legality testing must be on for XBoard to know how the piece moves.
+@item Test Legality
@cindex Test Legality, Menu Item
If this option is on, XBoard tests whether the moves you try to make
with the mouse are legal and refuses to let you make an illegal move.
rules that XBoard does not understand. (Bughouse, suicide, and wild
variants where the king may castle after starting on the d file are
generally supported with Test Legality on.)
-@itemx Flash Moves
+@item Flash Moves
@itemx Flash Rate
@cindex Flash Moves, Menu Item
@cindex Flash Rate, Menu Item
If this option is non-zero, whenever a move is completed,
the moved piece flashes the specified number of times.
The flash-rate setting determines how rapidly this flashing occurs.
-@itemx Animation Speed
+@item Animation Speed
@cindex Animation Speed, Menu Item
Determines the duration (in msec) of an animation step,
when @samp{Animate Moving} is swiched on.
+@item Zoom factor in Evaluation Graph
+@cindex Zoom factor in Evaluation Graph, Menu Item
+Sets the valueof the @code{evalZoom} option,
+indicating the factor by which the score interval (-1,1) should be
+blown up on the vertical axis of the Evaluation Graph.
+@end table
+@subsection Time Control
+@cindex Time Control, Menu Item
+Pops up a sub-menu where you can set the time-control parameters interactively.
+Allows you to select classical or incremental time controls,
+set the moves per session, session duration, and time increment.
+Also allows specification of time-odds factors for one or both engines.
+If an engine is given a time-odds factor N, all time quota it gets,
+be it at the beginning of a session or through the time increment or
+fixed time per move, will be divided by N.
+The shifted @kbd{Alt+T} key is a keyboard equivalent.
+
+@subsection Common Engine
+@cindex Common Engine, Menu Item
+Pops up a sub-menu where you can set some engine parameters common to most engines,
+such as hash-table size, tablebase cache size, maximum number of processors
+that SMP engines can use, and where to find the Polyglot adapter needed
+to run UCI engines under XBoard. The feature that allows setting of these parameters on
+engines is new since XBoard 4.3.15, so not many XBoard/WinBoard engines respond
+to it yet, but UCI engines should.
+
+It is also possible to specify a GUI opening book here, i.e. an opening
+book that XBoard consults for any position a playing engine gets in.
+It then forces the engine to play the book move, rather than to think up its own,
+if that position is found in the book.
+The book can switched on and off independently for either engine.
+The way book moves are chosen can be influenced through the settings of
+book depth and variety.
+After both sides have played more moves than the specified depth,
+the book will no longer be consulted.
+When the variety is set to 50, moves will be played with the probability
+specified in the book.
+When set to 0, only the move(s) with the highest probability will be played.
+When set to 100, all listed moves will be played with equal pobability.
+Other settings interpolate between that.
+The shifted @kbd{Alt+U} key is a keyboard equivalent.
+
+@subsection Adjudications
+@cindex Adjudications, Menu Item
+Pops up a sub-menu where you can enable or disable various adjudications
+that XBoard can perform in engine-engine games.
+The shifted @kbd{Alt+J} key is a keyboard equivalent.
+You can instruct XBoard to detect and terminate the game on checkmate
+or stalemate, even if the engines would not do so, to verify engine
+result claims (forfeiting engines that make false claims), rather than
+naively following the engine, to declare draw on positions
+which can never be won for lack of mating material, (e.g. KBK),
+or which are impossible to win unless the opponent seeks its own demise
+(e.g. KBKN).
+For these adjudications to work, @samp{Test Legality} should be switched on.
+It is also possible to instruct XBoard to enforce a 50-move or 3-fold-repeat
+rule and automatically declare draw (after a user-adjustable number of moves
+or repeats) even if the engines are prepared to go on.
+It is also possible to have XBoard declare draw on games that seem to drag on
+forever, or adjudicate a loss if both engines agree (for 3 consecutive moves) that one
+of them is behind more than a user-adjustable score threshold.
+For the latter adjudication to work, XBoard should be able to properly understand
+the engine's scores. To facilitate the latter, you can inform xboard here if
+the engines report scores from the viewpoint of white, or from that of their own color.
-@item ICS Options
+@subsection ICS Options
@cindex ICS Options, Menu Item
The following options occur in a dialog summoned by the
ICS Options menu item.
-@itemx Auto Kibitz
+@table @asis
+@item Auto Kibitz
@cindex Auto Kibitz, Menu Item
-Setting this option when playingwith or aginst a chess program on an ICS
+Setting this option when playing with or aginst a chess program on an ICS
will cause the last line of thinking output of the engine before its move
to be sent to the ICS in a kibitz command.
In addition, any kibitz message received through the ICS from
an opponent chess program will be diverted to the engine-output window,
(and suppressed in the console),
where you can play through its PV by right-clicking it.
-@itemx Auto Comment
+@item Auto Comment
@cindex Auto Comment, Menu Item
If this option is on, any remarks made on ICS while you are observing or
playing a game are recorded as a comment on the current move. This includes
and @kbd{kibitz}.
Limitation: remarks that you type yourself are not recognized;
XBoard scans only the output from ICS, not the input you type to it.
-@itemx Auto Observe
+@item Auto Observe
@cindex Auto Observe, Menu Item
If this option is on and you add a player to your @code{gnotify}
list on ICS, XBoard will automatically observe all of that
variable is set to 0, or if the ICS you are using does not
properly support observing from Black's point of view,
you will see the game from White's point of view.
-@itemx Auto Raise Board
+@item Auto Raise Board
@cindex Auto Raise Board, Menu Item
If this option is on, whenever a new game begins, the chessboard window
is deiconized (if necessary) and raised to the top of the stack of windows.
-@itemx Auto Save
+@item Auto Save
@cindex Auto Save, Menu Item
If this option is true, at the end of every game XBoard prompts
you for a file name and appends a record of the game to the file
Disabled if the @code{saveGameFile} command-line
option is set, as in that case all games are saved to the specified file.
@xref{Load and Save options}.
-@itemx Background Observe
+@item Background Observe
@cindex Background Observe, Menu Item
Setting this option will make XBoard suppress display of any boards
from observed games while you are playing.
and shown to you when you right-click the board.
This allows you to peek at your bughouse partner's game when you want,
without disturbing your own game too much.
-@itemx Dual Board
+@item Dual Board
@cindex Dual Board, Menu Item
Setting this option in combination with @samp{Background Observe}
will display boards of observed games while you are playing
on a second board next to that of your own game.
-@itemx Get Move List
+@item Get Move List
@cindex Get Move List, Menu Item
If this option is on, whenever XBoard
receives the first board of a new ICS game (or a different game from
and over.
When you turn this option on from the menu, XBoard
immediately fetches the move list of the current game (if any).
-@itemx Quiet Play
+@item Quiet Play
@cindex Quiet Play, Menu Item
If this option is on, XBoard will automatically issue an ICS
@kbd{set shout 0}
@kbd{set shout 1}
command whenever you finish one. Thus, you will not be distracted
by shouts from other ICS users while playing.
-@itemx Seek Graph
+@item Seek Graph
@cindex Seek Graph, Menu Item
Setting this option will cause XBoard to display an graph of
currently active seek ads when you left-click the board
while idle and logged on to an ICS.
-@itemx Auto-Refresh Seek Graph
+@item Auto-Refresh Seek Graph
@cindex Auto-Refresh Seek Graph, Menu Item
In combination with the @samp{Seek Graph} option this
will cause automatic update of the seek graph while it is up.
-This only works on FICS and ICS,
+This only works on FICS and ICC,
and requires a lot of bandwidth on a busy server.
-@itemx Premove
+@item Premove
@itemx Premove White
@itemx Premove Black
@itemx First White Move
You can also enter premoves for the first white and black moves
of the game.
-@itemx ICS Alarm
+@item ICS Alarm
@itemx ICS Alarm Time
@cindex ICS Alarm, Menu Item
@cindex ICS Alarm Time, Menu Item
By default, the alarm sound is the terminal bell, but on some systems
you can change it to a sound file using the soundIcsAlarm option; see
below.
-@itemx Colorize Messages
+@item Colorize Messages
@cindex Colorize Messages, Menu Item
Ticking this options causes various types of ICS messages do be
displayed with different foreground or background colors in the console.
The colors can be individually selected for each type,
through the accompanying text edits.
+@end table
+
+@subsection Match Options
+@cindex Match Options, Menu Item
+Summons a dialog where you can set options important for playing automatic
+matches between two chess programs
+(e.g. by using the @samp{Machine Match} menu item in the @samp{Mode} menu).
+@table @asis
+@item Tournament file
+@cindex Tournament file, Menu item
+To run a tournament, XBoard needs a file to record its progress,
+so it can resume the tourney when it is interrupted.
+When you want to conduct anything more complex than a simple
+two-player match with the currently loaded engines,
+(i.e. when you select a list of participants),
+you must not leave this field blank.
+When you enter the name of an existing tournament file,
+XBoard will ignore all other input specified in the dialog,
+and will take them from that tournament file.
+This resumes an interrupted tournament, or adds another XBoard
+agent playing games for it to those that are already doing so.
+Specifying a not-yet-existing file will cause XBoard to create it,
+according to the tournament parameters specified in the rest of the dialog,
+before it starts the tournament on ‘OK’.
+Provided that you specify participants;
+without participants no tournament file will be made, but other entered values
+(e.g. for the file with opening positions) will take effect.
+Default: configured by the @code{defaultTourneyName} option.
+@item Sync after round
+@itemx Sync after cycle
+@cindex Sync after round, Menu Item
+@cindex Sync after cycle, Menu Item
+The sync options, when on, will cause WinBoard to refrain from starting games
+of the next round or cycle before all games of the previous round or cycle are finished.
+This guarantees correct ordering in the games file,
+even when multiple XBoard instances are concurrently playing games for the same tourney.
+Default: sync after cycle, but not after round.
+@item Select Engine
+@itemx Tourney participants
+@cindex Select Engine, Menu Item
+@cindex Tourney participants, Menu Item
+With the Select Engine drop-down list you can pick an engine from your list
+of installed engines in the settings file, to be added to the tournament.
+The engines selected so far will be listed in the ‘Tourney participants’ memo.
+The latter is a normal text edit, so you can use normal text-editing functions
+to delete engines you selected by accident, or change their order.
+Do not type names yourself there, because names that do not exactly match
+one of the names from the drop-down list will lead to undefined behavior.
+@item Tourney type
+@cindex Tourney type, Menu Item
+Here you can specify the type of tournament you want.
+XBoard’s intrinsic tournament manager support round-robins (type = 0),
+where each participant plays every other participant, and (multi-)gauntlets,
+where one (or a few) so-called ‘gauntlet engines’ play an independent set of opponents.
+In the latter case, you specify the number of gauntlet engines.
+E.g. if you specified 10 engines, and tourney type = 2,
+the first 2 engines each play the remaining 8.
+A value of -1 instructs XBoard to play Swiss; for this to work an external
+pairing engine must be specified through the @code{pairingEngine} option.
+Each Swiss round will be considered a tourney cycle in that case.
+Default:0
+@item Number of tourney cycles
+@itemx Default number of Games
+@cindex Number of tourney cycles, Menu Item
+@cindex Default number of Games, Menu Item
+You can specify tourneys where every two opponents play each other multiple times.
+Such multiple games can be played in a row,
+as specified by the ‘number of games per pairing’,
+or by repeating the entire tournament schedule a number of times
+(specified by the ‘number of tourney cycles’).
+The total number of times two engine meet will be the product of these two.
+Default is 1 cycle;
+the number of games per pairing is the same as the default number of match games,
+stored in your settings file through the @code{defaultMatchGames} option.
+@item Save Tourney Games
+@cindex Save Tourney Games, Menu Item
+File where the tournament games are saved
+(duplicate of the item in the @samp{Save Game Options}).
+@item Game File with Opening Lines
+@itemx File with Start Positions
+@itemx Game Number
+@itemx Position Number
+@itemx Rewind Index after
+@cindex Game File with Opening Lines, Menu Item
+@cindex File with Start Positions, Menu Item
+@cindex Game Number, Menu Item
+@cindex Position Number, Menu Item
+@cindex Rewind Index after, Menu Item
+These items optionally specify the file with move sequences or board positions the tourney
+games should start from.
+The corresponding numbers specify the number of the game or position in the file.
+Here a value -1 means automatic stepping through all games on the file,
+-2 automatic stepping every two games.
+The Rewind-Index parameter causes a stepping index to reset to one after reaching
+a specified value.
+A setting of -2 for the game number will also be effective in a tournament without
+specifying a game file, but playing from the GUI book instead.
+In this case the first (odd) games will randomly select from the book,
+but the second (even) games will select the same moves from the book as the previous game.
+(Note this leads to the same opening only if both engines use the GUI book!)
+Default: No game or position file will be used. The default index if such a file is used is 1.
+@item Disable own engine bools be default
+@cindex Disable own engine bools be default, Menu Item
+Setting this option reverses the default situation for use of the GUI opening book
+in tournaments from what it normally is, namely not using it.
+So unless the engine is installed with an option to explicitly specify it should
+not use the GUI book (i.e. @code{-firstHasOwnBookUCI true}),
+it will be made to use the GUI book.
+@item Replace Engine
+@itemx Upgrade Engine
+@cindex Replace Engine, Menu Item
+@cindex Upgrade Engine, Menu Item
+With these two buttons you can alter the participants of an already running tournament.
+After opening the Match Options dialog on an XBoard that is playing for the tourney,
+you will see all the tourney parameters in the dialog fields.
+You can then replace the name of one engine by that of another
+by editing the @samp{participants} field.
+(But preserve the order of the others!)
+Pressing the button after that will cause the substitution.
+With the @samp{Upgrade Engine} button the substitution will only affect future games.
+With @samp{Replace Engine} all games the substituted engine has already played will
+be invalidated, and they will be replayed with the substitute engine.
+In this latter case the engine must not be playing when you do this,
+but otherwise there is no need to pause the tournament play
+for making a substitution.
+@item Clone Tourney
+@cindex CloneTourney, Menu Item
+Pressing this button after you have specified an existing tournament file
+will copy the contents of the latter to the dialog,
+and then puts the originally proposed name for the tourney file back.
+You can then run a tourney with the same parameters
+(possibly after changing the proposed name of the tourney file for the new tourney)
+by pressing 'OK'.
+@end table
+
+@subsection Load Game Options
+@cindex Load Game Options, Menu Item
+Summons a dialog where you can set the @code{autoDisplayComment} and
+@code{autoDisplayTags} options, (which control popups when viewing loaded games),
+and specify the rate at which loaded games are auto-played,
+in seconds per move (which can be a fractional number, like 1.6).
+You can also set search criteria for determining which games
+will be displayed in the Game List for a multi-game file,
+and thus be eligible for loading:
+@table @asis
+@item Elo of strongest player
+@itemx Elo of weakest player
+@itemx year
+@cindex Elo of strongest player, Menu Item
+@cindex Elo of weakest player, Menu Item
+@cindex year, Menu Item
+These numeric fields set thresholds (lower limits) on the Elo rating of the mentioned player,
+or the date the game was played.
+Defaults: 0
+@item Search mode
+@cindex Search mode, Menu Item
+@cindex find position, Menu Item
+@cindex narrow, Menu Item
+This setting determines which positions in a game will be considered a match
+to the position currently displayed in the board window
+when you press the @samp{find position} button in the Game List.
+You can search for an exact match,
+a position that has all shown material in the same place,
+but might contain additional material,
+a position that has all Pawns in the same place,
+but can have the shown material anywhere,
+a position that can have all shown material anywhere,
+or a position that has material between certain limits anywhere.
+For the latter you have to place the material that must be present
+in the four lowest ranks of the board,
+and optional additional material in the four highest ranks of the board.
+You can request the optional material to be balanced.
+The @samp{narrow} button is similar in fuction to the @samp{find position} button,
+but only searches in the already selected games,
+rather than the complete game file,
+and can thus be used to refine a search based on multiple criteria.
+@item number of consecutive positions
+@cindex number of consecutive positions, Menu Item
+When you are searching by material, rather than for an exact match,
+this parameter indicates forhowmany consecutive game positions
+the same amount of material must be on the board before it is
+considered a match.
+@item Also match reversed colors
+@itemx Also match left-right flipped position
+@cindex Also match reversed colors, Menu Item
+@cindex Also match left-right flipped position, Menu Item
+When looking for matching positions rather than by material,
+these settings determine whether mirror images
+(in case of a vertical flip in combination with color reversal)
+will be also considered a match.
+The left-right flipping is only useful after all castling rights
+have expired (or in Xiangqi).
+@end table
+
+@subsection Save Game Options
+@cindex Save Game Options, Menu Item
+Summons a dialog where you can specify the files on which XBoard should
+automatically save any played or entered games,
+(the @code{saveGameFile} option),
+or the final position of such games (the @code{savePositionfile} option).
+You can also select 'auto-save' without a file name,
+in which case XBoard will prompt the user for a file name after each game.
+In ICS mode you can limit the auto-saving to your own games
+(i.e. suppress saving of observed games).
+You can also set the default value for the PGN Event tag that will
+be used for each new game you start.
+Various options for the format of the game can be specified as well,
+such as whether scores and depths of engine games should be saved as comments,
+and if a tag with info about the score with which the engine came out of book
+should be included.
+For Chess, always set the format to PGN, rather than "old save stye"!
+
+@subsection Game List
+@cindex Game List Tags, Menu Item
+Pops up a dialog where you can select the PGN tags that should appear
+on the lines in the game list, and their order.
-@item Save Settings Now
+@subsection Sound Options
+@cindex Sound Options, Menu Item
+Summons a dialog where you can specify the sounds that should accompany
+various events that can occur XBoard.
+Most events are only relevant to ICS play,
+but the move sound is an important exception.
+For each event listed in the dialog,
+you can select a standard sound from a menu.
+You can also select a user-supplied sound file,
+by typing its name into the designated text-edit field first,
+and then selecting "Above WAV File" from the menu for the event.
+A dummy event has been provided for trying out the sounds with the
+"play" button next to it.
+The directory with standard sounds, and the external program for playing
+the sounds can be specified too, but normally you would not touch these
+once XBoard is properly installed.
+When a move sound other than 'None' is selected,
+XBoard alerts you by playing that sound
+after each of your opponent's moves (or after every
+move if you are observing a game on the Internet Chess Server).
+The sound is not played after moves you make or moves read from a
+saved game file.
+
+@subsection Save Settings Now
@cindex Save Settings Now, Menu Item
Selecting this menu item causes the current XBoard settings to be
written to the settings file, so they will also apply in future sessions.
Such options would still be understood when they appear in the settings
file in case they were put there with the aid of a text editor, but they
would disappear from the file as soon as you save the settings.
-@item Save Settings on Exit
+
+Note that XBoard no longer pays attention to options values specified
+in the .Xresources file.
+(Specifying key bindings there will still work, though.)
+To alter the default of volatile options, you can use the following method:
+Rename your ~/.xboardrc settings file (to ~/.yboardrc, say), and create
+a new file ~/.xboardrc, which only contains the options
+
+@example
+-settingsFile ~/.yboardrc
+-saveSettingsFile ~/.yboardrc
+@end example
+
+@noindent
+This will cause your settings to be saved on ~/.yboardrc in the future,
+so that ~/.xboardrc is no longer overwritten.
+You can then safely specify volatile options in ~/.xboardrc, either
+before or after the settingsFile options.
+Note that when you specify persistent options after the settingsFile options
+in ~/.xboardrc, you will essentially turn them into volatile options
+with the specified value as default, because that value will overrule
+the value loaded from the settings file (being read later).
+
+@subsection Save Settings on Exit
@cindex Save Settings on Exit, Menu Item
Setting this option has no immediate effect, but causes the settings
to be saved when you quit XBoard. What happens then is otherwise
identical to what happens when you use select "Save Settings Now",
see there.
-@end table
@node Help Menu
@section Help Menu
@cindex Keys
@cindex Shortcut keys
@table @asis
-@item Iconize
-Pressing the @kbd{-} key iconizes XBoard. The graphical
-icon displays a white knight if it is White's move, or a black knight
-if it is Black's move. If your X window manager displays only text
-icons, not graphical ones, check its documentation; there is probably
-a way to enable graphical icons. If you get black and white reversed,
-we would like to hear about it; see @ref{Problems} below for
-instructions on how to report this problem.
+@item Show Last Move
+@cindex Show Last Move, Shortcut Key
+By hitting @kbd{Enter} the last move will be re-animated.
@item Load Next Game
@cindex Load Next Game, Menu Item
Loads the next game from the last game record file you loaded.
-The @kbd{Alt+PgDn} key is a keyboard equivalent.
+The @kbd{Alt+PgDn} key triggers this action.
@item Load Previous Game
@cindex Load Previous Game, Menu Item
Loads the previous game from the last game record file you
-loaded. The @kbd{Alt+PgUp} key is a keyboard equivalent.
+loaded. The @kbd{Alt+PgUp} key triggers this action.
Not available if the last game was loaded from a pipe.
@item Reload Same Game
@cindex Reload Same Game, Menu Item
Reloads the last game you loaded.
Not available if the last game was loaded from a pipe.
+Currently no keystroke is assigned to this ReloadGameProc.
@item Reload Same Position
@cindex Reload Same Position, Menu Item
Reloads the last position you loaded.
Not available if the last position was loaded from a pipe.
+Currently no keystroke is assigned to this ReloadPositionProc.
@end table
You can add or remove shortcut keys using the X resources
DebugProc, DeclineProc, DrawProc, EditCommentProc, EditGameProc,
EditPositionProc, EditTagsProc, EnterKeyProc, FlashMovesProc,
FlipViewProc, ForwardProc, GetMoveListProc, HighlightLastMoveProc,
-HintProc, Iconify, IcsAlarmProc, IcsClientProc, IcsInputBoxProc,
+HintProc, IcsAlarmProc, IcsClientProc, IcsInputBoxProc,
InfoProc, LoadGameProc, LoadNextGameProc, LoadNextPositionProc,
LoadPositionProc, LoadPrevGameProc, LoadPrevPositionProc,
LoadSelectedProc, MachineBlackProc, MachineWhiteProc, MailMoveProc,
This section documents the command-line options to XBoard. You can
set these options in two ways: by typing them on the shell command
-line you use to start XBoard, or by setting them as X resources
-(typically in your @file{.Xresources} file). Many of the options
+line you use to start XBoard, or by editing the settings file
+(usually ~/.xboardrc) to alter the value of the setting that was
+saved there. Some of the options
cannot be changed while XBoard is running; others set the initial
state of items that can be changed with the @ref{Options} menu.
numbers as values, you can use the long or short option names
interchangeably.
-Each option corresponds to an X resource with the same name, so
-if you like, you can set options in your @file{.Xresources} file
-or in a file named @file{XBoard} in your home directory.
-For options that have two names, the longer one is the name of
-the corresponding X resource; the short name is not recognized.
-To turn a boolean option on or off as an
-X resource, give its long name followed by the value
-true or false (@samp{XBoard*longOptionName: true}).
-
@menu
* Chess engine options:: Controlling the chess engine.
* UCI + WB Engine Settings:: Setting some very common engine parameters
+* Tournament options:: Running tournaments and matches between engines.
* ICS options:: Connecting to and using ICS.
* Load and Save options:: Input/output options.
* User interface options:: Look and feel options.
Name of second chess engine, if needed.
A second chess engine is started only in Two Machines (match) mode.
Default: @file{Fairy-Max}.
+@item -fe or -firstEngine nickname
+@cindex fe, option
+@cindex firstEngine, option
+This is an alternative to the @code{fcp} option for specifying the first engine,
+for engines that were already configured (using the @samp{Load Engine} dialog)
+in XBoard's settings file.
+It will not only retrieve the real name of the engine,
+but also all options configured with it.
+(E.g. if it is UCI, whether it should use book.)
+@item -se or -secondEngine nickname
+@cindex se, option
+@cindex secondEngine, option
+As @code{fe}, but for the second engine.
@item -fb/-xfb or -firstPlaysBlack true/false
@cindex fb, option
@cindex firstPlaysBlack, option
This option is effective only when the chess engine is being run
on the local host; it does not work if the engine is run remotely
using the -fh or -sh option.
-@item -initString string
+@item -initString string or -firstInitString
@itemx -secondInitString string
@cindex initString, option
+@cindex firstInitString, option
@cindex secondInitString, option
The string that is sent to initialize each chess engine for a new game.
Default:
Setting this option from the command line is tricky, because you must
type in real newline characters, including one at the very end.
In most shells you can do this by
-entering a @samp{\} character followed by a newline. It is easier to set
-the option from your @file{.Xresources} file; in that case you can
-include the character sequence @samp{\n} in the string, and it will
-be converted to a newline.
+entering a @samp{\} character followed by a newline.
+Using the character sequence @samp{\n} in the string should work too, though.
If you change this option, don't remove the @samp{new}
command; it is required by all chess engines to
Indicates if the mentioned engine executable file is an UCI engine,
and should be run with the aid of the Polyglot adapter rather than directly.
Xboard will then pass the other UCI options and engine name to Polyglot
-through a .ini temporary file created for the purpose.
+on its command line, according to the option @code{adapterCommand}.
+@item -fUCCI
+@itemx -sUCCI
+@itemx -fUSI
+@itemx -sUSI
+@cindex fUCCI, option
+@cindex sUCCI, option
+@cindex fUSI, option
+@cindex sUSI, option
+Options similar to @code{fUCI} and @code{sUCI}, except that they
+use the indicated engine with the protocol adapter specified in
+the @samp{uxiAdapter} option.
+This can then be configured for running an UCCI or USI adapter,
+as the need arises.
+@item -adapterCommand string
+@cindex adapterCommand, option
+The string conatins the command that should be issued by XBoard
+to start an engine that is accompanied by the @code{fUCI} option.
+Any identifier following a percent sign in the command (e.g. %fcp)
+will be considered the name of an XBoard option, and be replaced
+by the value of that option at the time the engine is started.
+For starting the second engine, any leading "f" or "first" in
+the option name will first be replaced by "s" or "second",
+before finding its value.
+Default: 'polyglot -noini -ec "%fcp" -ed "%fd"'
+@item -uxiAdapter string
+@cindex uxiAdapter, option
+Similar to @code{adapterCommand}, but used for engines accompanied
+by the @code{fUCCI} or @code{fUSI} option, so you can configure
+XBoard to be ready to handle more than one flavor of non-native protocols.
+Default: ""
@item -polyglotDir filename
@cindex polyglotDir, option
Gives the name of the directory in which the Polyglot adapter for UCI engines resides.
Default: "".
@item -usePolyglotBook true/false
@cindex usePolyglotBook, option
-Specifies if the Polyglot book should be used.
+Specifies if the Polyglot book should be used as GUI book.
@item -polyglotBook filename
@cindex polyglotBook, option
-Gives the filename of the opening book that Polyglot should use.
-From XBoard 4.3.15 on, native XBoard/WinBoard engines will also use the opening book specified here,
-provided the @code{usePolyglotBook} option is set to true,
-and the option @code{firstHasOwnBookUCI} or @code{secondHasOwnBookUCI} applying to the engine
-is set to false.
+Gives the filename of the opening book.
+The book is only used when the @code{usePolyglotBook} option is set to true,
+and the option @code{firstHasOwnBookUCI} or @code{secondHasOwnBookUCI}
+applying to the engine is set to false.
The engine will be kept in force mode as long as the current position is in book,
and XBoard will select the book moves for it. Default: "".
@item -fNoOwnBookUCI or -firstXBook or -firstHasOwnBookUCI true/false
@cindex firstXBook, option
@cindex secondXBook, option
Indicates if the mentioned engine has its own opening book it should play from,
-rather than using the external book through XBoard. Default: false.
+rather than using the external book through XBoard.
+Default: depends on setting of the option @code{discourageOwnBooks}.
+@item -discourageOwnBooks true/false
+@cindex discourageOwnBooks, option
+When set, newly loaded engines will be assumed to use the GUI book,
+unless they explicitly specify differently.
+Otherwise they will be assumed to not use the GUI book,
+unless the specify differently (e.g. with @code{firstXBook}).
+Default: false.
+@item -bookDepth n
+@cindex bookDepth, option
+Limits the use of the GUI book to the first n moves of each side.
+Default: 12.
+@item -bookVariation n
+@cindex bookVariation, option
+A value n from 0 to 100 tunes the choice of moves from the GUI books
+from totally random to best-only. Default: 50
+@item -mcBookMode
+@cindex mcBookMode, option
+When this volatile option is specified, the probing algorithm of the
+GUI book is altered to always select the move that is most under-represented
+based on its performance.
+When all moves are played in approximately the right proportion,
+a book miss will be reported, to give the engine opportunity to
+explore a new move.
+In addition score of the moves will be kept track of during the session
+in a book buffer.
+By playing an match in this mode, a book will be built from scratch.
+The only output are the saved games, which can be converted to an
+actual book later, with the @samp{Save Games as Book} command.
+This command can also be used to pre-fill the book buffer
+before adding new games based on the probing algorithm.
+@item -fn string or -firstPgnName string
+@itemx -sn string or -secondPgnName string
+@cindex firstPgnName, option
+@cindex secondPgnName, option
+@cindex fn, option
+@cindex sn, option
+Indicates the name that should be used for the engine in PGN tags of
+engine-engine games.
+Intended to allow you to install verions of the same engine with different settings,
+and still distinguish them.
+Default: "".
@item -defaultHashSize n
@cindex defaultHashSize, option
Sets the size of the hash table to n MegaBytes. Together with the EGTB cache size
One egtpath command for each matching format will be sent.
Popular formats are "nalimov" DTM tablebases and "scorpio" bitbases.
Default: "".
+@item -firstChessProgramNames=@{names@}
+This option lets you customize the drop-down list of chess engine names
+that appears in the @samp{Load Engine} and @samp{Match Options} dialog.
+It consists of a list of strings, one per line.
+When an engine is loaded, the corresponding line is prefixed with "-fcp ",
+and processed like it appeared on the command line.
+That means that apart from the engine command,
+it can contain any list of XBoard options you want to use with this engine.
+(Commonly used options here are -fd, -firstXBook, -fUCI, -variant.)
+
+The value of this option is gradually built as you load new engines
+through the @samp{Load Engine} menu dialog, with @samp{Add to list} ticked.
+To change it, edit your settings file with a plain text editor.
+@end table
+
+@node Tournament options
+@section Tournament options
+@cindex Tournament Options
+@cindex Options, Tournament
+@table @asis
+@item -defaultMatchGames n
+@cindex defaultMatchGames, option
+Sets the number of games that will be used for a match between two engines
+started from the menu to n. Also used as games per pairing in other tournament
+formats. Default: 10.
+@item -matchPause n
+@cindex matchPause, option
+Specifies the duration of the pause between two games of a match or tournament
+between engines as n milliseconds.
+Especially engines that do not support ping need this option,
+to prevent that the move they are thinking on when an opponent unexpectedly
+resigns will be counted for the next game, (leading to illegal moves there).
+Default: 10000.
+@item -tf filename or -tourneyFile filename
+@cindex tf, option
+@cindex tourneyFile, option
+Specifies the name of the tournament file used in match mode
+to conduct a multi-player tournament.
+This file is a special settings file,
+which stores the description of the tournament (including progress info),
+through normal options (e.g. for time control, load and save files),
+and through some special-purpose options listed below.
+@item -tt number or -tourneyType number
+@cindex tt, option
+@cindex tourneyType, option
+Specifies the type of tourney: 0 = round-robin,
+N>0 = (multi-)gauntlet with N gauntlet engines,
+-1 = Swiss through external pairing engine.
+Volatile option, but stored in tourney file.
+@item -cy number or -tourneyCycles number
+@cindex cy, option
+@cindex tourneyCycles, option
+Specifies the number of cycles in a tourney.
+Volatile option, but stored in tourney file.
+@item -participants list
+@cindex participants, option
+The list is a multi-line text string that specifies engines
+occurring in the @code{firstChesProgramNames} list
+in the settings file by their (implied or explicitly given) nicknames,
+one engine per line.
+The mentioned engines will play in the tourney.
+Volatile option, but stored in tourney file.
+@item -results string
+@cindex results, option
+The string of +=- characters lists the result of all played games in a toruney.
+Games currently playing are listed as *,
+while a space indicates a game that is not yet played or playing .
+Volatile option, but stored in tourney file.
+@item -defaultTourneyName string
+@cindex defaultTourneyName, option
+Specifies the name of the tournament file XBoard should propose
+when the @samp{Match Options} dialog is opened.
+Any %y, %M, %d, %h, %m, %s in the string are replaced by the current
+year, month, day of the month, hours, minutes, seconds of the current time,
+respectively, as two-digit number.
+A %Y would be replaced by the year as 4-digit number. Default: empty string.
+@item -pairingEngine filename
+@cindex pairingEngine, option
+Specifies the external program to be used to pair the participants in Swiss tourneys.
+XBoard communicates with this engine in the same way as it communicates with Chess engines.
+The only commands sent to the pairing engine are “results N string”,
+(where N is the number of participants,
+and string the results so far in the format of the results option),
+and “pairing N”, (where N is the number of the tourney game).
+To the latter the pairing engine should answer with “A-B”,
+where A and B are participant numbers (in the range 1-N).
+(There should be no reply to the results command.) Default: empty string.
+@item -afterGame string
+@itemx -afterTourney string
+@cindex afterGame, option
+@cindex afterTourney, option
+When non-empty, the given string will be executed as a system command
+after each tournament game, orafterthe tourney completes, respectively.
+This can be used, for example, to autmatically run a cross-table generator
+on the PGN file where games are saved, to update the tourney standings.
+Default: ""
+@item -syncAfterRound true/false
+@itemx -syncAfterCycle true/false
+@cindex syncAfterRound, option
+@cindex syncAfterCycle, option
+Controls whether different instances of XBoard concurrently running the
+same tournament will wait for each other.
+Defaults: sync after cycle, but not after round.
+@item -seedBase number
+@cindex seedBase, option
+Used to store the seed of the pseudo-random-number generator in the
+tourneyFile, so that separate instances of XBoard working on the same
+tourney can take coherent 'random' decisions, such as picking an
+opening for a given game number.
@end table
@node ICS options
This feature is still experimental and largely unfinished.
There is no animation or highlighting of moves on the secondary board.
Default: false.
-@item -oneClickMove true/false
-@cindex oneClickMove, option
-When set, this option allows you to enter moves by only clicking the to-
-or from-square, when only a single legal move to or from that square
-is possible.
-Double-clicking a piece (or clicking an already selected piece)
-will instruct that piece to make the only capture it can legally do.
-Default: false.
+@item -disguisePromotedPieces true/false
+@cindex disguisePromotedPieces, option
+When set promoted Pawns in crazyhouse/bughouse are displayed identical
+to primordial pieces of the same type, rather than distinguishable.
+Default: true.
@item -moves/-xmoves or -getMoveList true/false
@cindex moves, option
@cindex getMoveList, option
@cindex pre, option
@cindex premove, option
Sets the Premove menu option. @xref{Options Menu}. Default: true.
+@item -prewhite/-xprewhite or -premoveWhite
+@itemx -preblack/-xpreblack or -premoveBlack
+@itemx -premoveWhiteText string
+@itemx -premoveBlackText string
+@cindex prewhite, option
+@cindex premoveWhite, option
+@cindex preblack, option
+@cindex premoveBlack, option
+@cindex premoveWhiteText, option
+@cindex premoveBlackText, option
+Set the menu options for specifying the first move for either color.
+@xref{Options Menu}. Defaults: false and empty strings, so no pre-moves.
@item -quiet/-xquiet or -quietPlay true/false
@cindex quiet, option
@cindex quietPlay, option
Sets the Quiet Play menu option. @xref{Options Menu}. Default: false.
-@item -colorizeMessages or -colorize
+@item -colorizeMessages or -colorize/-xcolorize
@cindex Colors
@cindex colorize, option
+@cindex colorizeMessages, option
Setting colorizeMessages
to true tells XBoard to colorize the messages received from
the ICS. Colorization works only if your xterm
supports ISO 6429 escape sequences for changing text colors.
+Default: true.
@item -colorShout foreground,background,bold
@itemx -colorSShout foreground,background,bold
+@itemx -colorCShout foreground,background,bold
@itemx -colorChannel1 foreground,background,bold
@itemx -colorChannel foreground,background,bold
@itemx -colorKibitz foreground,background,bold
@cindex Colors
@cindex colorShout, option
@cindex colorSShout, option
+@cindex colorCShout, option
@cindex colorChannel1, option
@cindex colorChannel, option
@cindex colorKibitz, option
your xterm. Bold can be 1 or 0. If background is omitted, ``default''
is assumed; if bold is omitted, 0 is assumed.
-Here is an example of how to set the colors in your @file{.Xresources} file.
-The colors shown here are the default values; you will get
-them if you turn @code{-colorize} on without specifying your own colors.
-
-@example
-xboard*colorizeMessages: true
-xboard*colorShout: green
-xboard*colorSShout: green, black, 1
-xboard*colorChannel1: cyan
-xboard*colorChannel: cyan, black, 1
-xboard*colorKibitz: magenta, black, 1
-xboard*colorTell: yellow, black, 1
-xboard*colorChallenge: red, black, 1
-xboard*colorRequest: red
-xboard*colorSeek: blue
-xboard*colorNormal: default
-@end example
@item -soundProgram progname
@cindex soundProgram, option
@cindex Sounds
when these are not given as an absolute path name.
@item -soundShout filename
@itemx -soundSShout filename
+@itemx -soundCShout filename
@itemx -soundChannel filename
+@itemx -soundChannel1 filename
@itemx -soundKibitz filename
@itemx -soundTell filename
@itemx -soundChallenge filename
@itemx -soundSeek filename
@cindex soundShout, option
@cindex soundSShout, option
+@cindex soundCShout, option
@cindex soundChannel, option
+@cindex soundChannel1, option
@cindex soundKibitz, option
@cindex soundTell, option
@cindex soundChallenge, option
These sounds are triggered in the same way as the colorization events
described above. They all default to "", no sound. They are played
only if the colorizeMessages is on.
+CShout is synonymous with SShout.
@item -soundMove filename
@cindex soundMove, option
This sound is used by the Move Sound menu option. Default: "$".
This sound is played when an ICS game that you are participating in is
aborted, adjourned, or otherwise ends inconclusively. Default: "" (no
sound).
-
-Here is an example of how to set the sounds in your @file{.Xresources} file:
-
-@example
-xboard*soundShout: shout.wav
-xboard*soundSShout: sshout.wav
-xboard*soundChannel1: channel1.wav
-xboard*soundChannel: channel.wav
-xboard*soundKibitz: kibitz.wav
-xboard*soundTell: tell.wav
-xboard*soundChallenge: challenge.wav
-xboard*soundRequest: request.wav
-xboard*soundSeek: seek.wav
-xboard*soundMove: move.wav
-xboard*soundIcsWin: win.wav
-xboard*soundIcsLoss: lose.wav
-xboard*soundIcsDraw: draw.wav
-xboard*soundIcsUnfinished: unfinished.wav
-xboard*soundIcsAlarm: alarm.wav
-@end example
-@item -dropMenu true|false
-@cindex dropMenu, option
-This option allows you to emulate old behavior,
-where the right mouse button brings up the (now deprecated) drop menu
-rather than displaying the position at the end of the principal variation.
-Default: False.
-@item -pieceMenu true|false
-@cindex pieceMenu, option
-This option allows you to emulate old behavior,
-where the right mouse button brings up the (now deprecated) piece menu
-in Edit Position mode.
-From this menu you can select the piece to put on the square you
-clicked to bring up the menu,
-or select items such as @kbd{clear board}.
-You can also @kbd{promote} or @kbd{demote} a clicked piece to convert
-it into an unorthodox piece that is not directly in the menu,
-or give the move to @kbd{black} or @kbd{white}.
-@item -variations true|false
-@cindex variations, option
-When this option is on, you can start new variations in Edit Game or
-Analyze mode by holding the Shift key down while entering a move.
-When it is off, the Shift key will be ignored.
-Default: False.
@end table
@node Load and Save options
@cindex autoSaveGames, option
Sets the Auto Save menu option. @xref{Options Menu}. Default: false.
Ignored if @code{saveGameFile} is set.
+@item -onlyOwnGames true/false
+@cindex onlyOwnGames, option
+Suppresses auto-saving of ICS observed games. Default: false.
@item -lpf or -loadPositionFile file
@itemx -lpi or -loadPositionIndex index
@cindex lpf, option
in every game played to the specified file. The file name @file{-}
specifies the standard output.
@item -pgnExtendedInfo true/false
-@cindex pgnExtendedInfo, option`
+@cindex pgnExtendedInfo, option
If this option is set, XBoard saves depth, score and time used for each
move that the engine found as a comment in the PGN file.
Default: false.
@item -pgnEventHeader string
-@cindex pgnEventHeader, option`
+@cindex pgnEventHeader, option
Sets the name used in the PGN event tag to string.
Default: "Computer Chess Game".
+@item -pgnNumberTag true/false
+@cindex pgnNumberTag, option
+Include the (unique) sequence number of a tournament game into the saved
+PGN file as a 'number' tag.
+Default: false.
@item -saveOutOfBookInfo true/false
-@cindex saveOutOfBookInfo, option`
+@cindex saveOutOfBookInfo, option
Include the information on how the engine(s) game out of its opening book
in a special 'annotator' tag with the PGN file.
+Default: true.
@item -oldsave/-xoldsave or -oldSaveStyle true/false
@cindex oldsave, option
@cindex oldSaveStyle, option
a -saveSettingsFile and -settingsFile options to specify a settings file
accessible to the individual user, such as ~/.xboardrc in the user's
home directory.
+@item -saveSettingsOnExit true/false
+@cindex saveSettingsOnExit, option
+Controls saving of options on the settings file. @xref{Options Menu}.
+Default: true.
@end table
@node User interface options
@item -display
@itemx -geometry
@itemx -iconic
+@itemx -name
@cindex display, option
@cindex geometry, option
@cindex iconic, option
+@cindex resource name, option
These and most other standard Xt options are accepted.
@item -noGUI
@cindex noGUI, option
Suppresses all GUI functions of XBoard
-(to speed up automated ultra-fast engine-engine games, which you dont want to watch).
+(to speed up automated ultra-fast engine-engine games, which you don't want to watch).
There will be no board or clock updates, no printing of moves,
and no update of the icon on the task bar in this mode.
+@item -logoSize N
+@cindex logoSize, option
+This option controls the drawing of player logos next to the clocks.
+The integer N specifies the width of the logo in pixels;
+the logo height will always be half the width.
+When N = 0, no logos will be diplayed.
+Default: 0.
+@item -firstLogo imagefile
+@itemx -secondLogo imagefile
+@cindex firstLogo, option
+@cindex secondLogo, option
+Specify the images to be used as player logos when @code{logoSize}
+is non-zero, next to the white and black clocks, respectively.
+@item -autoLogo true/false
+@item -logoDir filename
+@cindex autoLogo, option
+@cindex logoDir, option
+When @code{autoLogo} is set, XBoard will search for a PNG image file
+with the name of the engine or ICS in the directory specified
+by @code{logoDir}.
+@item -recentEngines number
+@itemx -recentEngineList list
+@cindex recentEngines, option
+@cindex recentEngineList, option
+When the number is larger than zero, it determines how many recently
+used engines will be appended at the bottom of the @samp{Engines} menu.
+The engines will be saved in your settings file as the option
+@code{recentEngineList}, by their nicknames,
+and the most recently used one will always be sorted to the top.
+If the list after that is longer than the specified number,
+the last one is discarded.
+Changes in the list will only become visible the next session,
+provided you saved the settings.
+Default: 6.
+@item -oneClickMove true/false
+@cindex oneClickMove, option
+When set, this option allows you to enter moves by only clicking the to-
+or from-square, when only a single legal move to or from that square
+is possible.
+Double-clicking a piece (or clicking an already selected piece)
+will instruct that piece to make the only capture it can legally do.
+Default: false.
@item -movesound/-xmovesound or -ringBellAfterMoves true/false
@cindex movesound, option
@cindex bell, option
Sets the Always Queen menu option. @xref{Options Menu}. Default: false.
@item -sweepPromotions true/false
@cindex sweepPromotion, option
-Sets the Almost Always Promote to Queen menu option.
+Sets the @samp{Almost Always Promote to Queen} menu option.
@xref{Options Menu}. Default: false.
@item -legal/-xlegal or -testLegality true/false
@cindex legal, option
Medium 64x64, Moderate 58x58, Average 54x54, Middling 49x49, Mediocre
45x45, Small 40x40, Slim 37x37, Petite 33x33, Dinky 29x29, Teeny 25x25,
or Tiny 21x21.
-Orthodox pieces of all these sizes are built into XBoard.
-Other sizes can
-be used if you have them; see the pixmapDirectory and bitmapDirectory
-options.
-Complete sets of un-orthodox pieces are only provided in sizes
-Bulky, Middling and (to a lesser extent) Petite;
-Archbishop, Marshall and Amazon are also available in all sizes between
-Bulky and Petite.
-When no bitmap is available, the piece will be displayed as Amazon or King.
+Xboard installs with a set of scalable (svg) piece images,
+which it scales to any of the requested sizes.
+The square size can further be continuously scaled by sizing the board window,
+but this only adapts the size of the pieces,
+and has no effect on the width of the grid lines or the font choice
+(both of which would depend on he selected boardSize).
The default depends on the size of your screen; it is approximately the
largest size that will fit without clipping.
the window layout is rearranged to make more room for the title.
If tinyLayout is 1, the labels on the menu bar are abbreviated
to one character each and the buttons in the button bar are made narrower.
+@item -overrideLineGap n
+@cindex overrideLineGap, option
+When n >= 0, this forces the width of the black border between squares
+to n pixels for any board size. Mostly used to suppress the grid
+entirely by setting n = 0, e.g. in xiangqi or just getting a prettier
+picture. When n < 0 this the size-dependent width of the grid lines
+is used. Default: -1.
@item -coords/-xcoords or -showCoords true/false
@cindex coords, option
@cindex showCoords, option
bar from the window, allowing the message line to be wider. You can
still get the functions of these buttons using the menus or their keyboard
shortcuts. Default: true.
+@item -evalZoom factor
+@cindex evalZoom, option
+The score interval (-1,1) is blown up on the vertical axis of
+the Evaluation Graph by the given factor.
+Default: 1
+@item -evalThreshold n
+@cindex evalThreshold, option
+Score below n (centiPawn) are plotted as 0 in the Evaluation Graph.
+Default: 25
@item -mono/-xmono or -monoMode true/false
@cindex mono, option
@cindex monoMode, option
@cindex showTargetSquares, option
Determines whether XBoard can highlight the squares a piece has
legal moves to, when you grab that piece with the mouse.
-If this option is set, this feature can be controlled through
-the Highlight Dragging menu item.
+Default: false.
@item -flashCount count
@itemx -flashRate rate
@itemx -flash/-xflash
@cindex blind, option
@cindex blindfold, option
Sets the Blindfold menu option. @xref{Options Menu}. Default: false.
+@item -periodic/-xperiodic or -periodicUpdates true/false
+@cindex periodic, option
+@cindex periodicUpdates, option
+Controls updating of current move andnode counts in analysis mode. Default: true.
+@item -fSAN
+@itemx -sSAN
+@cindex fSAN, option
+@cindex sSAN, option
+Causes the PV in thinking output of the mentioned engine to be converted
+to SAN before it is further processed.
+Warning: this might lose engine output not understood by the parser,
+and uses a lot of CPU power.
+Default: the PV is displayed exactly as the engine produced it.
+@item -showEvalInMoveHistory true/false
+@cindex showEvalInMoveHistory, option
+Controls whether the evaluation scores and search depth of engine moves
+are displayed with the move in the move-history window.
+Default: true.
@item -clockFont font
@cindex clockFont, option
@cindex Font, clock
use a nonscalable font only if it is exactly the right size;
a large value (say 1000) will force a nonscalable font to always be
used if available. Default: 4.
-@item -bm or -bitmapDirectory dir
-@itemx -pixmap or -pixmapDirectory dir
-@cindex bm, option
-@cindex bitmapDirectory, option
-@cindex pixmap, option
-@cindex pixmapDirectory, option
-These options control what piece images xboard uses. The XBoard
-distribution includes one set of pixmap pieces in xpm format, in the
-directory @file{pixmaps}, and one set of bitmap pieces in xbm format,
-in the directory @file{bitmaps}. Pixmap
-pieces give a better appearance on the screen: the white pieces have
-dark borders, and the black pieces have opaque internal details. With
-bitmaps, neither piece color has a border, and the internal details
-are transparent; you see the square color or other background color
-through them.
-
-If XBoard is configured and compiled on a system that includes libXpm,
-the X pixmap library, the xpm pixmap pieces are compiled in as the
-default. A different xpm piece set can be selected at runtime with
-the @code{pixmapDirectory} option, or a bitmap piece set can be selected
-with the @code{bitmapDirectory} option.
-
-If XBoard is configured and compiled on a system that does not include
-libXpm (or the @code{--disable-xpm} option is given to the configure
-program), the bitmap pieces are compiled in as the default. It is not
-possible to use xpm pieces in this case, but pixmap pieces in another
-format called "xim" can be used by giving the @code{pixmapDirectory} option.
-Or again, a different bitmap piece set can be selected with the
-@code{bitmapDirectory} option.
-
-Files in the @code{bitmapDirectory} must be named as follows:
-The first character of a piece bitmap name gives the piece it
-represents (@samp{p}, @samp{n}, @samp{b}, @samp{r}, @samp{q}, or @samp{k}),
-the next characters give the size in pixels, the
-following character indicates whether the piece is
-solid or outline (@samp{s} or @samp{o}),
-and the extension is @samp{.bm}.
-For example, a solid 80x80 knight would be named @file{n80s.bm}.
-The outline bitmaps are used only in monochrome mode.
-If bitmap pieces are compiled in and the bitmapDirectory is missing
-some files, the compiled in pieces are used instead.
-
-If the bitmapDirectory option is given,
-it is also possible to replace xboard's icons and menu checkmark,
-by supplying files named @file{icon_white.bm}, @file{icon_black.bm}, and
-@file{checkmark.bm}.
-
-For more information about pixmap pieces and how to get additional
-sets, see @ref{zic2xpm} below.
+@item -pid or -pieceImageDirectory dir
+@cindex pid, option
+@cindex pieceImageDirectory, option
+This options control what piece images xboard uses.
+XBoard will look in the specified directory for an image in png
+or svg format for every piece type, with names like BlackQueen.svg,
+WhiteKnight.svg etc.
+When neither of these is found (or no valid directory is specified)
+XBoard will use the svg piece that was installed with it
+(from the source-tree directory @samp{svg}).
+Both svg and png images will be scaled by XBoard to the required size,
+but the png pieces lose much in quality when scaled too much.
+
@item -whitePieceColor color
@itemx -blackPieceColor color
@itemx -lightSquareColor color
@itemx -darkSquareColor color
@itemx -highlightSquareColor color
+@itemx -preoveHighlightColor color
@itemx -lowTimeWarningColor color
@cindex Colors
@cindex whitePieceColor, option
@cindex lightSquareColor, option
@cindex darkSquareColor, option
@cindex highlightSquareColor, option
+@cindex premoveHighlightColor, option
@cindex lowTimeWarningColor, option
Colors to use for the pieces, squares, and square highlights.
Defaults:
-premoveHighlightColor gray70
-lowTimeWarningColor gray70
@end example
+
+The PieceColor options only work properly if the image files
+defining the pieces were pure black & white
+(possibly anti-aliased to produce gray scales
+and semi-transparancy),
+like the pieces images that come with the install.
+Their effect on colored pieces is undefined.
+The SquareColor option only have an effect
+when no board textures are used.
+@item -trueColors true/false
+@cindex trueColors, option
+When set, this option suppresses the effect of the
+PieceColor options mentioned above.
+This is recommended for images that are already colored.
+@item -useBoardTexture true/false
+@itemx -liteBackTextureFile filename
+@itemx -darkBackTextureFile filename
+@cindex useBoardTexture, option
+@cindex liteBackTextureFile, option
+@cindex darkBackTextureFile, option
+Indicate the png image files to be used for drawing the board squares,
+and if they should be used rather than using simple colors.
+The algorithm for cutting squares out of a given bitmap is such that
+the picture is perfectly reproduced when a bitmap the size of
+the complete board is given.
+Default: false and ""
@item -drag/-xdrag or -animateDragging true/false
@cindex drag, option
@cindex animateDragging, option
If this option is set to true, the Paste Position and Paste Game
options paste from the currently selected text. If false, they paste
from the clipboard. Default: false.
+@item -autoCopyPV true|false
+@cindex autoCopyPV, option
+When this option is set, the position displayed on the board when
+you terminate a PV walk
+(initiated by a right-click on board or engine-output window)
+will be automatically put on the clipboard as FEN.
+Default: false.
+@item -dropMenu true|false
+@cindex dropMenu, option
+This option allows you to emulate old behavior,
+where the right mouse button brings up the (now deprecated) drop menu
+rather than displaying the position at the end of the principal variation.
+Default: False.
+@item -pieceMenu true|false
+@cindex pieceMenu, option
+This option allows you to emulate old behavior,
+where the right mouse button brings up the (now deprecated) piece menu
+in Edit Position mode.
+From this menu you can select the piece to put on the square you
+clicked to bring up the menu,
+or select items such as @kbd{clear board}.
+You can also @kbd{promote} or @kbd{demote} a clicked piece to convert
+it into an unorthodox piece that is not directly in the menu,
+or give the move to @kbd{black} or @kbd{white}.
+@item -variations true|false
+@cindex variations, option
+When this option is on, you can start new variations in Edit Game or
+Analyze mode by holding the Shift key down while entering a move.
+When it is off, the Shift key will be ignored.
+Default: False.
+@item -appendPV true|false
+@cindex appendPV, option
+When this option is on, right-clicking a PV in the Engine Output window
+will play the first move of that PV in Analyze mode,
+or as many moves as you walk through by moving the mouse.
+Default: False.
+@item -absoluteAnalysisScores true|false
+@cindex absoluteAnalysisScores, option
+When true, scores on the Engine Output window during analysis
+will be printed from the white point-of-view, rather than the
+side-to-move point-of-view.
+Default: False.
+@item -scoreWhite true|false
+@cindex scoreWhite, option
+When true, scores will always be printed from the white point-of-view,
+rather than the side-to-move point-of-view.
+Default: False.
@end table
@node Adjudication Options
If this option is true, XBoard acts as a passive chessboard; it
does not start a chess engine at all. Turning on this option
also turns off clockMode. Default: false.
+@item -viewer
+@itemx -viewerOptions string
+@cindex viewer, option
+@cindex viewerOptions, option
+Presence of the volatile option @code{viewer} on the command line
+will cause the value of the persistent option @code{viewerOptions}
+as stored in the settings file to be appended to the command line.
+The @code{view} option will be used by desktop associations with
+game or position file types, so that @code{viewerOptions} can be
+used to configure the exact mode XBoard will start in when it
+should act on such a file (e.g. in -ncp mode, or analyzing
+with your favorite engine). The options are also automatically
+appended when Board is invoked with a single argument not being
+an option name, which is then assumed to be the name of a
+@code{loadGameFile} or (when the name ends in .fen) a
+@code{loadPositionFile}.
+Default: "-ncp -engineOutputUp false -saveSettingsOnExit false".
+@item -tourneyOptions string
+@cindex tourneyOptions, option
+When XBoard is invoked with a single argument that is a file
+with .trn extension, it will assume this argument to be the value
+of a @code{tourneyFile} option,
+and apped the value of the persistent option @code{tourneyOptions}
+as stored in the settings file to the command line.
+Thus the value of @code{tourneyOptions} can be
+used to configure XBoard to automatically start running a
+tournament when it should act on such a file.
+Default: "-ncp -mm -saveSettingsOnExit false".
@item -mode or -initialMode modename
@cindex mode, option
@cindex initalMode, option
knightmate King moves as Knight, and vice versa
super Superchess (shuffle variant with 4 exo-pieces)
makruk Thai Chess (shatranj-like, P promotes on 6th rank)
+asean ASEAN Chess (a modernized version of Makruk)
spartan Spartan Chess (black has unorthodox pieces)
fairy A catchall variant in which all piece types
known to XBoard can participate (8x8)
A value of -1 means the position is randomly generated by XBoard
at the beginning of every game.
Default: -1
-@item -pieceToSquareTable string
-@cindex pieceToSquareTable, option
+@item -pieceToCharTable string
+@cindex pieceToCharTable, option
The characters that are used to represent the piece types XBoard knows in FEN
diagrams and SAN moves. The string argument has to have an even length
(or it will be ignored), as white and black pieces have to be given separately
You should not have to use this option often: each variant has its own default
setting for the piece representation in FEN, which should be sufficient in normal use.
Default: ""
+@item -pieceNickNames string
+@cindex pieceNickNames, option
+The characters in the string are interpreted the same way as in the
+@code{pieceToCharTable} option. But on input, piece-ID letters are
+first looked up in the nicknames, and only if not defined there,
+in the normal pieceToCharTable. This allows you to have two letters
+designate the same piece, (e.g. N as an alternative to H for Horse
+in Xiangqi), to make reading of non-compliant notations easier.
+Default: ""
+@item -colorNickNames string
+@cindex colorNickNames, option
+The side-to-move field in a FEN will be first matched against the letters
+in the string (first character for white, second for black),
+before it is matched to the regular 'w' and 'b'.
+This makes it easier to read non-compliant FENs,
+which, say, use 'r' for white.
+Default: ""
@item -debug/-xdebug or -debugMode true/false
@cindex debug, option
@cindex debugMode, option
@cindex nameOfDebugFile, option
Sets the name of the file to which XBoard saves debug information
(including all communication to and from the engines).
+A @kbd{%d} in the given file name (e.g. game%d.debug) will be replaced
+by the unique sequence number of a tournament game,
+so that the debug output of each game will be written on a separate file.
@item -engineDebugOutput number
@cindex engineDebugOutput, option
Specifies how XBoard should handle unsolicited output from the engine,
@cindex delayBeforeQuit, option
@cindex delayAfterQuit, option
These options specify how long XBoard has to wait before sending a termination signal to rogue engine processes, that do not want to react to the 'quit' command. The second one determines the pause after killing the engine, to make sure it dies.
+@item -searchMode n
+@cindex searchMode, option
+The integer n encodes the mode for the @samp{find position} function.
+Default: 1 (= Exact position match)
+@item -eloThresholdBoth elo
+@itemx -eloThresholdAny elo
+@cindex eloThresholdBoth, option
+@cindex eloThresholdAny, option
+Defines a lower limit for the Elo rating, which has to be surpassed
+before a game will be considered when searching for a board position.
+Default: 0
+@item -dateThreshold year
+@cindex dateThreshold, option
+Only games not played before the given year will be considered when
+searching for a board position
+
@end table
xboard -ics -icshost firewall.example.com -icsport 23
@end example
@noindent
-Or in your @file{.Xresources} file:
-
-@example
-XBoard*internetChessServerHost: firewall.example.com
-XBoard*internetChessServerPort: 23
-@end example
-@noindent
Then when you run XBoard in ICS mode, you will be prompted
to log in to the firewall host. This works because port 23 is the
standard telnet login service. Do so, then telnet to ICS, using a
@end example
@noindent
-Or in your @file{.Xresources} file:
-
-@example
-XBoard*gateway: rsh.example.com
-XBoard*internetChessServerHost: chessclub.com
-@end example
-
Then when you run XBoard in ICS mode, it will connect to
the ICS by using @file{rsh} to run the command
@samp{telnet chessclub.com 5000} on host @samp{rsh.example.com}.
@end example
@noindent
-Or in your @file{.Xresources} file:
-
-@example
-XBoard*useTelnet: true
-XBoard*telnetProgram: ptelnet
-@end example
-
-@noindent
Then when you run XBoard in ICS mode, it will issue the
command @samp{ptelnet chessclub.com 5000} to connect to the ICS.
that is, your @file{ptelnet} program doesn't let you connect to
alternative ports. As noted above, your chess server may allow you to
connect on port 23 instead. In that case, just add the option
-@samp{-icsport ""} to the above command, or add
-@samp{XBoard*internetChessServerPort:} to your @file{.Xresources} file.
+@samp{-icsport ""} to the above command.
But if your chess server doesn't let you connect on port 23, you will have
to find some other host outside the firewall and hop through it. For
instance, suppose you have a shell account at @samp{foo.edu}. Set
@end example
@noindent
-Or in your @file{.Xresources} file:
-
-@example
-XBoard*useTelnet: true
-XBoard*telnetProgram: ptelnet
-XBoard*internetChessServerHost: foo.edu
-XBoard*internetChessServerPort:
-@end example
-
-@noindent
Then when you run XBoard in ICS mode, it will issue the
command @samp{ptelnet foo.edu} to connect to your account at
@samp{foo.edu}. Log in there, then type @samp{telnet chessclub.com 5000}.
A one-word alias for yourself or your opponent.
@item -wname <full name>
@itemx -bname <full name>
-@itemx -name <full name>
+@itemx -myname <full name>
@itemx -oppname <full name>
The full name of White, Black, yourself or your opponent.
@item -wna <net address>
@example
xboard -pixmap ~/fritz4
@end example
-
-Alternatively, you can add this line to your @file{.Xresources} file:
-
-@example
-xboard*pixmapDirectory: ~/fritz4
-@end example
@end table
(*) ZIICS is a separate copyrighted work of Andy McFarland.
projects / xboard.git / blobdiff