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gnuchess(6)							   gnuchess(6)

NAME
       gnuchess - Chess

SYNOPSIS
       gnuchess	 [ [[-|+]a] [-A aging-rate] [-b bookfile] [-B binbookfile] [-C
       cache-table-size] [-c] [[-|+]D ] [[-|+]E ]  [[-|+]e  ]  [[-|+]F	]  [-H
       hash-depth]  [[-|+]h  ]	[-L language] [-l listfile] [[-|+]N] [[-|+]p ]
       [-P plys] [-r length] [-s savefile] [-S binbooksize] [-t] [-c hashfile-
       size]  [-T  transition-table-size]  [[-|+]V] [-v] [-x] [-z search-fuzz]
       arg1 arg2 ]

DESCRIPTION
       Gnuchess plays a game of chess against the user	or  it	plays  against
       itself.

       Gnuchess	 is  an	 updated version of the GNU chess playing program.  It
       has a simple alpha-numeric board display, an IBM PC  compatible	inter‐
       face, or it can be compiled for use with the chesstool program on a SUN
       workstation or with the xboard program under X-windows.	To invoke  the
       program type:

       gnuchess
	      - simple curses based version

       gnuchessn
	      -	 fancy	version using curses and inverse video on UNIX, or IBM
	      PC cursor controls and characters on MSDOS

       gnuchessr
	      - ASCII based version

       gnuchessc
	      - chesstool compatible version

       gnuchessx
	      - xboard compatible version

TIME CONTROLS
       If one argument is given, it is the  search  time  per  move  in	 [min‐
       utes:]seconds.  So gnuchess 30 will generate one move every 30 seconds,
       while gnuchess 5:00 will generate one move every 5 minutes.

       If two or more arguments are given, they will be used to set tournament
       time  controls with the first argument of each pair being the number of
       moves and the second being the total clock time	in  minutes[:seconds].
       Thus,  entering	gnuchess  60  5 will set the clocks for 5 minutes (300
       seconds) for the first 60 moves, and gnuchess 30 3:30 will allow 3 min‐
       utes and 30 seconds for 30 moves.

       gnuchess	 30 5 1 :30 will allow 5 minutes for the first 30 moves and 30
       seconds for each move after that.  Up to 4 pairs	 of  controls  may  be
       specified.

       If  no  argument is given the program will prompt the user for level of
       play.

       For use with chesstool or xboard, see the documentation on  those  pro‐
       grams.

BOOK
       At  startup  Gnuchess  reads the binbook file if it is present. It then
       looks for a book file. If it is present it adds	its  contents  to  the
       binbook	data.  If  the binbook file is writable a new combined binbook
       file is written.

       The book gnuchess.book consists of a sequence of openings.  An  opening
       begins  with  a	line starting with a !	, the rest of the line is com‐
       ments.  Following this is a  series  of	moves  in  algebraic  notation
       alternating white and black separated by white space. A move may have a
       ?  after it indicating this move should never be made in this position.
       Moves  are  stored  as position:move so transpositions between openings
       can take place.

HASHFILE
       The hashfile if created should be  on  the  order  of  4	 megabytes  or
       gnuchess	 -c  22.   This file contains positions and moves learned from
       previous games.	If a hashfile is used the computer makes  use  of  the
       experience it gained in past games. Tests run so far show that it plays
       no worse with the hashfile than	without,  but  it  is  not  clear  yet
       whether it provides a real advantage.

LEGAL MOVES
       Note:  Piece  letters  and legal castling notation is determined by the
       language file.  What is specified here is the default English.

       Once gnuchess is invoked, the program will display the board and prompt
       the  user  for a move. To enter a move, use the notation e2e4 where the
       first letter-number pair indicates the origination square and the  sec‐
       ond  letter-number  pair indicates the destination square.  An alterna‐
       tive is to use the notation nf3 where the first	letter	indicates  the
       piece  type  (p,n,b,r,q,k).  To castle, type the origin and destination
       squares of the king just as you would do for a regular move, or type o-
       o  or  0-0  for kingside castling and o-o-o or 0-0-0 for queenside.  To
       promote a pawn append the type of the new piece	to  the	 move,	as  in
       e7e8q or c7c8r.

FUNCTION LETTERS
       -L lang
	      Use  language  lang  from	 the file gnuchess.lang.  If -L is not
	      specified it defaults to the language used in the first line  in
	      the file.	 gnuchessr -L ger will use the german language.

       -A aging-rate
	      Specify aging rate for hash table entries

       [-]a   Do [do not] search on opponents time.

       -b bookfile
	      Use bookfile for opening book.

       -B binbookfile
	      Use binbookfile for binary opening book.

       -C cache-size
	      Specify evaluation cache table size (in entries).

       -D     Toggle DEEPNULL at runtime.

       -E     Toggle flag.threat.

       -e     Toggle flag.neweval to force evaluations instead of estimates

       -F     Toggle flag.noscore

       -H hash-depth
	      pecify depth in plys for hashing.

       -S size
	      Size of binbookfile for memory based and GDX books. For creating
	      a binbookfile.

       -P plylevels
	      Number of plys to include in the binbookfile. For	 generating  a
	      binbookfile.

       -p     Toggle flag.pvs

       -c size
	      Create  a	 new HASHFILE. File size is 2^size entries of approxi‐
	      mately 65 bytes.

       [-]h   Do [do not] use hashfile.

       -l pathname
	      Pathname of the loadfile use with the get or xget.

       -r length
	      Rehash length times in searching	entries for position in trans‐
	      position table.

       -s pathname
	      Pathname of the save file to use with the save command.

       -t     Show statistics for HASHFILE

       -T size
	      Set  the	transposition  table size to size entries. (minimum is
	      MINTTABLE)

       -v     Show version and patchlevel.

       -x value
	      Use value as the evaluation window xwndw.

COMMANDS
       In addition to legal moves, the following  commands  are	 available  as
       responses.  Note: command names are determined by the language file and
       may vary with the implementation. This is default English.

       alg -- allow algebraic input (not implemented)

       Awindow -- change Alpha window (default score + 90)

       Bwindow -- change Beta window (default score - 90)

       beep -- causes the program to beep after each move.

       bd -- updates the current board position on the display.

       bk -- Print out all moves for this position  from  the  book  as:  move
       response value

       book -- turns off use of the opening library.

       both -- causes the computer to play both sides of a chess game.

       black -- causes the computer to take the black pieces.  If the computer
       is to move first the go command must be given.

       eco -- Print out opening information for this game - lists  ECO	#  and
       variations

       coords -- show coordinates on the display (visual only)

       contempt -- allows the value of contempt to be modified.

       debug  --   asks for a piece as color piece, as wb or bn, and shows its
       calculated value on each square.

       debuglevel --  sets level of debugging output if	 compiled  with	 debug
       options.

       depth  --  allows  the  user to change the search depth of the program.
       The maximum depth is 29 ply.  Normally the depth is set to 29  and  the
       computer terminates its search based on elapsed time rather than depth.
       If depth is set to (say) 4 ply, the program will search until all moves
       have  been examined to a depth of 4 ply (with extensions up to 11 addi‐
       tional ply for sequences of checks and captures).  If you set a maximum
       time  per  move and also use the depth command, the search will stop at
       the specified time or the specified depth, whichever comes first.

       easy -- toggles easy mode (thinking on opponents time) on and off.  The
       default	is  easy  mode	ON.  If easy mode is disabled, the keyboard is
       polled for input every so often and when input is seen  the  search  is
       terminated. It may also be terminated with a sigint.

       edit -- allows the user to set up a board position.

	    # - command will clear the board.

	    c - toggle piece color.

	    .  - command will exit setup mode.

       pb3 - place a pawn on b3

       Pieces  are entered by typing a letter (p,n,b,r,q,k) for the piece fol‐
       lowed by the coordinate.

       The usual warning about the language file applies.

       exit -- exits gnuchess.

       first -- tells the computer to move first.  Computer  begins  searching
       for a move.  (same as "go").

       force -- allows the user to enter moves for both sides. To get the pro‐
       gram to play after a sequence of moves has been entered use the 'white'
       or 'black' command followed by 'go'.

       gamein  --  toggles  game mode time control. Assumes the time specified
       for time control is the time for a complete game. Input with the	 level
       command	should	be the game time and the expected number of moves in a
       game.

       get -- retrieves a game from disk.  The program will  prompt  the  user
       for a file name.

       go -- tells the computer to move first. Computer begins searching for a
       move.  (same as "first").

       hash -- use/don't use hashfile.

       hard -- think on opponents time

       hashdepth -- allows the user to change the minimum depth for using  the
       hashfile	 and  the number of moves from the begining of the game to use
       it.

       help -- displays a short description of the commands  and  the  current
       status of options.

       hint -- causes the program to supply the user with its predicted move.

       level  --  allows  the  user to set time controls such as 60 moves in 5
       minutes etc.  In tournament mode, the program will  vary	 the  time  it
       takes  for  each move depending on the situation.  If easy mode is dis‐
       abled (using the 'easy' command), the program will often	 respond  with
       its move immediately, saving time on its clock for use later on.

       list  --	 writes	 the  game  moves and some statistics on search depth,
       nodes, and time to the file 'chess.lst'.

       material -- toggle material flag - draws on no pawns and both  sides  <
       rook

       Mwpawn,	Mbpawn,	 Mwknight,  Mbknight,  Mwbishop, Mbbishop -- print out
       static position evaluation table

       new -- starts a new game.

       p -- evaluates the board and shows the point score for each piece.  The
       total score for a position is the sum of these individual piece scores.

       post  --	 causes the program to display the principle variation and the
       score during the search.	 A score of 100 is  equivalent	to  a  1  pawn
       advantage for the computer.

       unpost -- turn off the post display.

       quit -- exits the game.

       random -- causes the program to randomize its move selection slightly.

       rcptr -- set recapture mode.

       remove -- backout the last level for both sides. Equal to 2 undo's.

       reverse -- causes the board display to be reversed.  That is, the white
       pieces will now appear at the top of the board.

       rv -- reverse board display.

       setup -- Compatibility with Unix chess and the  nchesstool.  Set	 up  a
       board  position.	 Eight lines of eight characters are used to setup the
       board. a8-h8 is the first  line.	 Black	pieces	are   represented   by
       uppercase characters.

       stars -- (gnuchessn only) add stars (*) to black pieces.

       save  --	 saves a game to disk.	The program will prompt the user for a
       file name.

       switch -- causes the program to switch places  with  the	 opponent  and
       begin searching.

       test  -- performs some speed tests for MoveList and CaptureList genera‐
       tion, and ScorePosition position scoring for the current board.

       time otim -- time set computers time remaining, intended	 for  synchro‐
       nizing  clocks  among  multiple	players.   --  otim set opponents time
       remaining, intended for synchronizing clocks among multiple players.

       undo -- undoes the last move whether  it	 was  the  computer's  or  the
       human's. You may also type "remove". This is equivalent to two "undo's"
       (e.g. retract one move for each side).

       white -- causes the computer to take the white pieces.  If the computer
       is to move first the go command must be given.

       xget -- read an xboard position file.

       xwndw  --  change X window. The window around alpha/beta used to deter‐
       mine whether the position should be scored or just estimated.

BUGS
SEE ALSO
       chesstool(6)
       xboard(6)

								   gnuchess(6)
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