FileMenuNewGame
Resets XBoard and the chess engine to the beginning of a new chess game. The `Ctrl-N' key is a
keyboard equivalent. In Internet Chess Server mode, clears the current state of XBoard, then
resynchronizes with the ICS by sending a refresh command. If you want to stop playing, observing,
or examining an ICS game, use an appropriate command from the Action menu, not `New Game'. See
ActionMenu.
NewShuffleGame
Similar to `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).
shuffle
Ticking `shuffle' will cause the current variant to be played with shuffled initial position.
Shuffling will preserve the possibility to castle in the way allowed by the variant.
Fischercastling
Ticking `Fischer castling' will allow castling with Kings and Rooks that did not start in their
normal place, as in Chess960.
Start-positionnumberrandomizepickfixed
The `Start-position number' selects a particular start position from all allowed shufflings, which
will then be used for every new game. Setting this to -1 (which can be done by pressing the
`randomize' button) will cause a fresh random position to be picked for every new game. Pressing
the `pick fixed' button causes `Start-position number' to be set to a random value, to be used for
all subsequent games.
NewVariant
Allows you to select a new chess variant in non-ICS mode. (In ICS play, the ICS is responsible
for deciding which variant will be played, and XBoard adapts automatically.) The shifted `Alt+V'
key is a keyboard equivalent. If you play with an engine, the engine must be able to play the
selected variant, or the corresponding choice will be disabled. XBoard supports all major
variants, such as xiangqi, shogi, chess, chess960, makruk, Capablanca Chess, shatranj, crazyhouse,
bughouse.
You can overrule the default board format of the selected variant, (e.g. to play suicide chess on
a 6 x 6 board), in this dialog, but normally you would not do that, and leave them at '-1', which
means 'default' for the chosen variant.
LoadGame
Plays a game from a record file. The `Ctrl-O' key is a keyboard equivalent. A pop-up dialog
prompts you for the file name. If the file contains more than one game, a second pop-up dialog
displays a list of games (with information drawn from their PGN tags, if any), and you can select
the one you want. Alternatively, you can load the Nth game in the file directly, by typing the
number `N' after the file name, separated by a space.
The game-file parser will accept PGN (portable game notation), or in fact almost any file that
contains moves in algebraic notation. Notation of the form `P@f7' is accepted for piece-drops in
bughouse games; this is a nonstandard extension to PGN. If the file includes a PGN position (FEN
tag), or an old-style XBoard position diagram bracketed by `[--' and `--]' before the first move,
the game starts from that position. Text enclosed in parentheses, square brackets, or curly braces
is assumed to be commentary and is displayed in a pop-up window. Any other text in the file is
ignored. PGN variations (enclosed in parentheses) also are treated as comments; however, if you
rights-click them in the comment window, XBoard will shelve the current line, and load the the
selected variation, so you can step through it. You can later revert to the previous line with
the `Revert' command. This way you can walk quite complex varation trees with XBoard. The
nonstandard PGN tag [Variant "varname"] functions similarly to the -variant command-line option
(see below), allowing games in certain chess variants to be loaded. Note that it must appear
before any FEN tag for XBoard to recognize variant FENs appropriately. There is also a heuristic
to recognize chess variants from the Event tag, by looking for the strings that the Internet Chess
Servers put there when saving variant ("wild") games.
LoadPosition
Sets up a position from a position file. A pop-up dialog prompts you for the file name. The
shifted `Ctrl-O' key is a keyboard equivalent. If the file contains more than one saved position,
and you want to load the Nth one, type the number N after the file name, separated by a space.
Position files must be in FEN (Forsythe-Edwards notation), or in the format that the Save Position
command writes when oldSaveStyle is turned on.
LoadNextPosition
Loads the next position from the last position file you loaded. The shifted `PgDn' key is a
keyboard equivalent.
LoadPreviousPosition
Loads the previous position from the last position file you loaded. The shifted `PgUp' key is a
keyboard equivalent. Not available if the last position was loaded from a pipe.
SaveGame
Appends a record of the current game to a file. The `Ctrl-S' key is a keyboard equivalent. A
pop-up dialog prompts you for the file name. If the game did not begin with the standard starting
position, the game file includes the starting position used. Games are saved in the PGN (portable
game notation) format, unless the oldSaveStyle option is true, in which case they are saved in an
older format that is specific to XBoard. Both formats are human-readable, and both can be read
back by the `Load Game' command. Notation of the form `P@f7' is accepted for piece-drops in
bughouse games; this is a nonstandard extension to PGN.
SavePosition
Appends a diagram of the current position to a file. The shifted `Ctrl+S' key is a keyboard
equivalent. A pop-up dialog prompts you for the file name. Positions are saved in FEN (Forsythe-
Edwards notation) format unless the `oldSaveStyle' 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
`Load Position' command.
SaveSelectedGames
Will cause all games selected for display in the current Game List to be appended to a file of the
user's choice.
SaveGamesasBook
Creates an opening book from the currently loaded game file, incorporating only the games
currently selected in the Game List. The book will be saved on the file specified in the `Common
Engine' options dialog. The value of `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 not be cleared, so that you can
continue adding games from other game files.
MailMoveReloadCMailMessage
See CMail.
Exit Exits from XBoard. The `Ctrl-Q' key is a keyboard equivalent.
EditMenuCopyGame
Copies a record of the current game to an internal clipboard in PGN format and sets the X
selection to the game text. The `Ctrl-C' key is a keyboard equivalent. The game can be pasted to
another application (such as a text editor or another copy of XBoard) using that application's
paste command. In many X applications, such as xterm and emacs, the middle mouse button can be
used for pasting; in XBoard, you must use the Paste Game command.
CopyPosition
Copies the current position to an internal clipboard in FEN format and sets the X selection to the
position text. The shifted `Ctrl-C' key is a keyboard equivalent. The position can be pasted to
another application (such as a text editor or another copy of XBoard) using that application's
paste command. In many X applications, such as xterm and emacs, the middle mouse button can be
used for pasting; in XBoard, you must use the Paste Position command.
CopyGameList
Copies the current game list to the clipboard, and sets the X selection to this text. A format of
comma-separated double-quoted strings is used, including all tags, so it can be easily imported
into spread-sheet programs.
PasteGame
Interprets the current X selection as a game record and loads it, as with Load Game. The `Ctrl-V'
key is a keyboard equivalent.
PastePosition
Interprets the current X selection as a FEN position and loads it, as with Load Position. The
shifted `Ctrl-V' key is a keyboard equivalent.
EditGame
Allows you to make moves for both Black and White, and to change moves after backing up with the
`Backward' command. The clocks do not run. The `Ctrl-E' key is a keyboard equivalent.
In chess engine mode, the chess engine continues to check moves for legality but does not
participate in the game. You can bring the chess engine into the game by selecting `Machine
White', `Machine Black', or `Two Machines'.
In ICS mode, the moves are not sent to the ICS: `Edit Game' takes XBoard out of ICS Client mode
and lets you edit games locally. If you want to edit games on ICS in a way that other ICS users
can see, use the ICS `examine' command or start an ICS match against yourself.
EditPosition
Lets you set up an arbitrary board position. The shifted `Ctrl-E' key is a keyboard equivalent.
Use mouse button 1 to drag pieces to new squares, or to delete a piece by dragging it off the
board or dragging an empty square on top of it. When you do this keeping the `Ctrl' key pressed,
or start dragging with a double-click, you will move a copy of the piece, leaving the piece itself
where it was. In variants where pieces can promote (such as Shogi), left-clicking an already
selected piece promotes or demotes it. To drop a new piece on a square, press mouse button 2 or 3
over the square. This puts a white or black pawn in the square, respectively, but you can change
that to any other piece type by dragging the mouse down before you release the button. You will
then see the piece on the originally clicked square cycle through the available pieces (including
those of opposite color), and can release the button when you see the piece you want. (Note you
can swap the function of button 2 and 3 by pressing the shift key, and that there is an option
`monoMouse' to combine al functions in one button, which then acts as button 3 over an empty
square, and as button 1 over a piece.) To alter the side to move, you can click the clock (the
words White and Black above the board) of the side you want to give the move to. To clear the
board you can click the clock of the side that already has the move (which is highlighted in
black). If you repeat this the board will cycle from empty to a `pallette board' containing every
piece once to the initial position to the one before clearing. The quickest way to set up a
position is usually to start with the pallette board, and move the pieces to were you want them,
duplicating them where necessary by using the `Ctrl' key, dragging those you don't want off board,
and use static button 2 or 3 clicks to place the Pawns. The old behavior with a piece menu can
still be configured with the aid of the `pieceMenu' option. Dragging empty squares off board can
create boards with holes (inaccessible black squares) in them. Selecting `Edit Position' causes
XBoard to discard all remembered moves in the current game.
In ICS mode, changes made to the position by `Edit Position' are not sent to the ICS: `Edit
Position' takes XBoard out of `ICS Client' mode and lets you edit positions locally. If you want
to edit positions on ICS in a way that other ICS users can see, use the ICS `examine' command, or
start an ICS match against yourself. (See also the ICS Client topic above.)
EditTags
Lets you edit the PGN (portable game notation) tags for the current game. After editing, the tags
must still conform to the PGN tag syntax:
<tag-section> ::= <tag-pair> <tag-section>
<empty>
<tag-pair> ::= [ <tag-name> <tag-value> ]
<tag-name> ::= <identifier>
<tag-value> ::= <string>
See the PGN Standard for full details. Here is an example:
[Event "Portoroz Interzonal"]
[Site "Portoroz, Yugoslavia"]
[Date "1958.08.16"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Robert J. Fischer"]
[Black "Bent Larsen"]
[Result "1-0"]
Any characters that do not match this syntax are silently ignored. Note that the PGN standard
requires all games to have at least the seven tags shown above. Any that you omit will be filled
in by XBoard with `?' (unknown value), or `-' (inapplicable value).
EditComment
Adds or modifies a comment on the current position. Comments are saved by `Save Game' and are
displayed by `Load Game', PGN variations will also be printed in this window, and can be promoted
to main line by right-clicking them. `Forward', and `Backward'.
EditBook
Pops up a window listing the moves available in the GUI book (specified in the `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 'save changes'. When you press the button 'add next move', and
play a move on the board, that move will be added to the list with weight 1. Note that the listed
percentages are neither used, nor updated when you change the weights; they are just there as an
optical aid. When you right-click a move in the list it will be played.
RevertAnnotate
If you are examining an ICS game and Pause mode is off, Revert issues the ICS command `revert'.
In local mode, when you were editing or analyzing a game, and the `-variations' command-line
option is switched on, you can start a new variation by holding the Shift key down while entering
a move not at the end of the game. Variations can also become the currently displayed line by
clicking a PGN variation displayed in the Comment window. This can be applied recursively, so
that you can analyze variations on variations; each time you create a new variation by entering an
alternative move with Shift pressed, or select a new one from the Comment window, the current
variation will be shelved. `Revert' allows you to return to the most recently shelved variation.
The difference between `Revert' and `Annotate' is that with the latter, the variation you are now
abandoning will be added as a comment (in PGN variation syntax, i.e. between parentheses) to the
original move where you deviated, for later recalling. The `Home' key is a keyboard equivalent to
`Revert'.
TruncateGame
Discards all remembered moves of the game beyond the current position. Puts XBoard into `Edit
Game' mode if it was not there already. The `End' key is a keyboard equivalent.
Backward< Steps backward through a series of remembered moves. The `[<]' button and the `Alt+LeftArrow' key
are equivalents, as is turning the mouse wheel towards you. In addition, pressing the ??? key
steps back one move, and releasing it steps forward again.
In most modes, `Backward' only lets you look back at old positions; it does not retract moves.
This is the case if you are playing against a chess engine, playing or observing a game on an ICS,
or loading a game. If you select `Backward' in any of these situations, you will not be allowed
to make a different move. Use `Retract Move' or `Edit Game' if you want to change past moves.
If you are examining an ICS game, the behavior of `Backward' depends on whether XBoard is in Pause
mode. If Pause mode is off, `Backward' issues the ICS backward command, which backs up everyone's
view of the game and allows you to make a different move. If Pause mode is on, `Backward' only
backs up your local view.
Forward> Steps forward through a series of remembered moves (undoing the effect of `Backward') or forward
through a game file. The `[>]' button and the `Alt+RightArrow' key are equivalents, as is turning
the mouse wheel away from you.
If you are examining an ICS game, the behavior of Forward depends on whether XBoard is in Pause
mode. If Pause mode is off, `Forward' issues the ICS forward command, which moves everyone's view
of the game forward along the current line. If Pause mode is on, `Forward' only moves your local
view forward, and it will not go past the position that the game was in when you paused.
BacktoStart<< Jumps backward to the first remembered position in the game. The `[<<]' button and the `Alt+Home'
key are equivalents.
In most modes, Back to Start only lets you look back at old positions; it does not retract moves.
This is the case if you are playing against a local chess engine, playing or observing a game on a
chess server, or loading a game. If you select `Back to Start' in any of these situations, you
will not be allowed to make different moves. Use `Retract Move' or `Edit Game' if you want to
change past moves; or use Reset to start a new game.
If you are examining an ICS game, the behavior of @samp{Back to Start} depends on whether XBoard
is in Pause mode. If Pause mode is off, `Back to Start' issues the ICS `backward 999999' command,
which backs up everyone's view of the game to the start and allows you to make different moves. If
Pause mode is on, @samp{Back to Start} only backs up your local view.
ForwardtoEnd>> Jumps forward to the last remembered position in the game. The `[>>]' button and the `Alt+End' key
are equivalents.
If you are examining an ICS game, the behavior of @samp{Forward to End} depends on whether XBoard
is in Pause mode. If Pause mode is off, `Forward to End' issues the ICS `forward 999999' command,
which moves everyone's view of the game forward to the end of the current line. If Pause mode is
on, `Forward to End' only moves your local view forward, and it will not go past the position that
the game was in when you paused.
ViewMenuFlipView
Inverts your view of the chess board for the duration of the current game. Starting a new game
returns the board to normal. The `F2' key is a keyboard equivalent.
ShowEngineOutput
Shows or hides a window in which the thinking output of any loaded engines is displayed. The
shifted `Alt+O' key is a keyboard equivalent. XBoard will display lines of thinking output of the
same depth ordered by score, (highest score on top), rather than in the order the engine produced
them. Usually this amounts to the same, as a normal engine search will only find new PV (and emit
it as thinking output) when it searches a move with a higher score than the previous variation.
But when the engine is in multi-variation mode this needs not always be true, 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 might be added to the game, depending on the setting of the option 'Play moves of clicked PV',
when you initiate the click left of the PV in the score area. 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: Clicking the words 'fewer' or 'more'
will alter the number of variations shown at each depth, through the engine's MultiPV option,
while clicking in between those and moving the mouse horizontally adjust the option 'Multi-PV
Margin'. (In so far the engines support those.)
ShowMoveHistory
Shows or hides a list of moves of the current game. The shifted `Alt+H' key is a keyboard
equivalent. This list allows you to move the display to any earlier position in the game by
clicking on the corresponding move.
ShowEvaluationGraph
Shows or hides a window which displays a graph of how the engine score(s) evolved as a function of
the move number. The shifted `Alt+E' key is a keyboard equivalent. The title bar shows the score
(and search depth at which it was obtained) of the currently displayed position numerically.
Clicking on the graph will bring the corresponding position in the board display. A button 3
click will toggle the display mode between plain and differential (showing the difference in score
between successive half moves). Using the mouse wheel over the window will change the scale of
the low-score region (from -1 to +1).
ShowGameList
Shows or hides the list of games generated by the last `Load Game' command. The shifted `Alt+G'
key is a keyboard equivalent. The line describing each game is built from a selection of the PGN
tags. Which tags contribute, and in what order, can be changed by the `Game list tags' menu
dialog, which can be popped up through the `Tags' button below the Game List. Display can be
restricted to a sub-set of the games meeting certain criteria. A text entry below the game list
allows you to type a text that the game lines must contain in order to be displayed. Games can
also be selected based on their Elo PGN tag, as set in the `Load Game Options' dialog, which can
be popped up through the `Thresholds' button below the Game List. Finally they can be selected
based on containing a position similar to the one currently displayed in the main window, by
pressing the 'Position' button below the Game List, (which searches the entire list for the
position), or the 'Narrow' button (which only searches the already-selected games). What counts
as similar enough to be selected can also be set in the `Load Game Options' dialog, and ranges
from an exact match to just the same material.
Tags Pops up a window which shows the PGN (portable game notation) tags for the current game. For now
this is a duplicate of the `Edit Tags' item in the `Edit' menu.
Comments
Pops up a window which shows any comments to or variations on the current move. For now this is a
duplicate of the `Edit Comment' item in the `Edit' menu.
ICSInputBox
If this option is set in ICS mode, XBoard creates an extra window that you can use for typing in
ICS commands. 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.
ICS/ChatConsole
This menu item opens a window in which you can interact with the ICS, so you don't have to use the
messy xterm from which you launched XBoard for that. The window has a text entry at the bottom
where you can type your commands and messages unhindered by the stream of ICS output. The latter
will be displayed in a large pane above the input field, the ICS Console. Up and down arrow keys
can be used to recall previous input lines. Typing an <Esc> character in the input field
transfers focus back to the board window (so you could operate the menus there through accelerator
keys). Typing a printable character in the board window transfers focus back to the input field
of the `ICS Chat/Console' window.
Chats There is a row of buttons at the top of the `ICS Chat/Console' dialog, which can be used to
navigate between upto 5 'chats' with other ICS users (or channels). These will switch the window
to 'chat mode', where the ICS output pane is vertically split to divert messages from a specific
user or ICS channel to the lower half. Lines typed in the input field will then be interpreted as
messages to be sent to that user or channel, (automatically prefixed with the apporpriate ICS
command and user name) rather than as commands to the ICS. Chats will keep collecting ICS output
intended for them even when not displayed, and their buttons will turn orange to alert the user
there has been activity. Typing <Tab> in the input field will switch to another active chat,
giving priority to those with content you have not seen yet.
NewChat
Buttons for chats currently not assigned to a user or channel will carry the text `New Chat', and
pressing them will switch to chat mode, enabling you to enter the user name or channel number you
want to use it for. Typing Ctrl-N in the input field is a keyboard equivalent.
Chatpartner
To (re-)assign a chat, write the name of your chat partner, the channel number, or the words
'shouts', 'whispers', 'cshouts' in the `Chat partner' text entry (ending with <Enter>!). Typing
Ctrl-O in the input field at the bottom of the window will open a chat with the person that last
sent you a 'tell' that was printed in the ICS Console output pane. The `ICS text menu' can
contain a button `Open Chat (name)' that can be used to open a chat with as partner the
word/number you right-clicked in the output pane to pop up this menu.
EndChat
This button, only visible when the chat pane is open, will clear the `Chat partner' field, so that
the chat can be assigned to a new user or channel. Typing Ctrl-E in the input field is a keyboard
equivalent.
Hide This button, only visible when the chat pane is open, will close the latter, so you can use the
input field to give commands to the ICS again. Typing Ctrl-H in the input field is a keyboard
equivalent.
ICStextmenu
Brings up a menu that is user-configurable through the `icsMenu' option. Buttons in this menu can
sent pre-configured commands directly to the ICS, or can put partial commands in the input field
of the `ICS Chat/Console' window, so that you can complete those with some text of your own before
sending them to the ICS by pressing Enter. This menu item can also be popped up by right-clicking
in the text memos of the ICS Chat/Console window. In that case the word that was clicked can be
incorporated in the message sent to the ICS. E.g. to challenge a player whose name you click for a
game, or prepare for sending him a message through a 'tell' commands.
EditICSmenu
Brings up an edit box with the definition of the `ICS text menu', so you can adapt its appearance
to your needs. The menu is defined by a semi-colon-separated list, each button through a pair of
items in it. The first item of each pair is the text on the button, the second the text to be
sent when the button is pressed. The word '$input' in the text will put that text in the input
field of the `ICS Chat/Console' with the cursor in that place, the word '$name' will be replaced
by the word right-clicked to pop up the text menu.
EditThemeList
Brings up an edit box with the definitions of the themes shown in the listbox of the `Board'
dialog, so you can delete, re-order or alter themes defined previously.
Board Summons a dialog where you can customize the look of the chess board.
WhitePieceColorBlackPieceColorLightSquareColorDarkSquareColorHighlightColorPremoveHighlightColor
These items set the color of pieces, board squares and move highlights (borders or arrow). Square
colors are only used when the `Use Board Textures' option is off, the piece colors only when `Use
piece bitmaps with their own colors' is off. You can type the color as hexadecimally encoded RGB
value preceded by '#', or adjust it through the R, G, B and D buttons to make it redder, greener,
bluer or darker. A sample of the adjusted color will be displayed behind its text description;
pressing this colored button restores the default value for the color.
FlipPiecesShogiStyle
With this option on XBoard will swap white and black pieces, when you flip the view of the board
to make white play downward. This should be used with piece themes that do not distinguish sides
by color, but by orientation.
MonoMode
This option sets XBoard to pure black-and-white display (no grey scales, and thus no anti-
aliasing).
LogoSize
Specifies the width of the engine logos displayed next to the clocks, in pixels. Setting it to 0
suppresses the display of such logos. The height of the logo will be half its width. In the GTK
build of XBoard any non-zero value is equivalent, and the logos are always sized to 1/4 of the
board width.
LineGap
This option specifies the width of the grid lines that separate the squares, which change color on
highlighting the move. Setting it to 0 suppresses these lines, which in general looks better, but
hides the square-border highlights, so that you would have to rely on other forms of highlighting.
Setting the value to -1 makes XBoard choose a width by itself, depending on the square size.
UseBoardTexturesLight-SquaresTextureFileDark-SquaresTextureFile
When the option `Use Board Textures' is set, the squares will not be drawn as evenly colored
surfaces, but will be cut from a texture image, as specified by the `Texture Files'. Separate
images can be used for light and dark squares. XBoard will try to cut the squares out of the
texture image with as little overlap as possible, so they all look different. The name of the
texture file can contain a size hint, e.g. `xqboard-9x10.png', alerting XBoard to the fact that it
contains a whole-board image, out of which squares have to be cut in register with the nominal
sub-division.
Useexternalpiecebitmapswiththeirowncolor
When this option is on XBoard will ignore the piece-color settings, and draw the piece images in
their original colors. The piece-color settings would only work well for evenly colored pieces,
such as the default theme.
DirectorywithPiecesImages
When a directory is specified here, XBoard will first look for piece images (SVG or PNG files) in
that directory, and fall back on the image from the default theme only for images it cannot find
there. An image file called White/BlackTile in the directory will be prefered as fall-back for
missing pieces over the default image, however.
SelectablethemesNewnameforcurrenttheme
When a theme name is specified while pressing 'OK', the combination of settings specified in the
dialog will be stored in XBoard's list of themes, which will be saved with the other options in
the settings file (as the `themeNames' option). This name will then appear in the selection
listbox next time you open the dialog, so that you can recall the entire combination of settings
by double-clicking it.
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 `pieceImageDirectory' option), external images to be used for
the board squares (`liteBackTextureFile' and `darkBackTextureFile' options), and square and piece
colors for the default pieces. The current combination of these settings can be assigned a
'theme' name by typing one in the text entry in the lower-left of the dialog, and closing the
latter with OK. It will then appear in the themes listbox next time you open the dialog, where
you can recall the complete settings combination with a double-click.
Fonts Pops up a dialog where you can set the fonts used in the main elements of various windows. Pango
font names can be typed for each window type, and behind each text entry there are buttons to
adjust the point size, and toggle the 'bold' or 'italic' attributes of the font.
GameListTags
a duplicate of the Game List dialog in the Options menu.
ModeMenuMachineWhite
Tells the chess engine to play White. The `Ctrl-W' key is a keyboard equivalent.
MachineBlack
Tells the chess engine to play Black. The `Ctrl-B' key is a keyboard equivalent.
TwoMachines
Plays a game between two chess engines. The `Ctrl-T' key is a keyboard equivalent.
AnalysisMode
XBoard tells the chess engine to start analyzing the current game/position and shows you the
analysis as you move pieces around. The `Ctrl-A' key is a keyboard equivalent. Note: Some chess
engines do not support Analysis mode.
To set up a position to analyze, you do the following:
1. Set up the position by any means. (E.g. using `Edit Position' mode, pasing a FEN or loading a
game and stepping to the position.)
2. 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 `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 `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 analyze the positions as they occur in
the observed game.
AnalyzeGame
This option subjects the currently loaded game to automatic analysis by the loaded engine. The
`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 `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 `-timeDelay', which can also be set from the `Load Game Options' menu dialog. Note: Some
chess engines do not support Analysis mode.
EditGame
Duplicate of the item in the Edit menu. Note that `Edit Game' is the idle mode of XBoard, and can
be used to get you out of other modes. E.g. to stop analyzing, stop a game between two engines or
stop editing a position.
EditPosition
Duplicate of the item in the Edit menu.
Training
Training mode lets you interactively guess the moves of a game for one of the players. You guess
the next move of the game by playing the move on the board. If the move played matches the next
move of the game, the move is accepted and the opponent's response is auto-played. If the move
played is incorrect, an error message is displayed. You can select this mode only while loading a
game (that is, after selecting `Load Game' from the File menu). While XBoard is in `Training'
mode, the navigation buttons are disabled.
ICSClient
This is the normal mode when XBoard is connected to a chess server. If you have moved into Edit
Game or Edit Position mode, you can select this option to get out.
To use xboard in ICS mode, run it in the foreground with the -ics option, and use the terminal you
started it from to type commands and receive text responses from the chess server. See ChessServers below for more information.
XBoard activates some special position/game editing features when you use the `examine' or
`bsetup' commands on ICS and you have `ICS Client' selected on the Mode menu. First, you can
issue the ICS position-editing commands with the mouse. Move pieces by dragging with mouse button
1. To drop a new piece on a square, press mouse button 2 or 3 over the square. This brings up a
menu of white pieces (button 2) or black pieces (button 3). Additional menu choices let you empty
the square or clear the board. Click on the White or Black clock to set the side to play. You
cannot set the side to play or drag pieces to arbitrary squares while examining on ICC, but you
can do so in `bsetup' mode on FICS. In addition, the menu commands `Forward', `Backward',
`Pause', and `Stop Examining' have special functions in this mode; see below.
MachineMatch
Starts a match between two chess programs, with a number of games and other parameters set through
the `Tournament 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.
Pause Pauses updates to the board, and if you are playing against a chess engine, also pauses your
clock. To continue, select `Pause' again, and the display will automatically update to the latest
position. The `P' button and keyboard `Pause' key are equivalents.
If you select Pause when you are playing against a chess engine and it is not your move, the chess
engine's clock will continue to run and it will eventually make a move, at which point both clocks
will stop. Since board updates are paused, however, you will not see the move until you exit from
Pause mode (or select Forward). This behavior is meant to simulate adjournment with a sealed
move.
If you select Pause while you are observing or examining a game on a chess server, you can step
backward and forward in the current history of the examined game without affecting the other
observers and examiners, and without having your display jump forward to the latest position each
time a move is made. Select Pause again to reconnect yourself to the current state of the game on
ICS.
If you select `Pause' while you are loading a game, the game stops loading. You can load more
moves manually by selecting `Forward', or resume automatic loading by selecting `Pause' again.
ActionMenuAccept Accepts a pending match offer. The `F3' key is a keyboard equivalent. If there is more than one
offer pending, you will have to type in a more specific command instead of using this menu choice.
Decline
Declines a pending offer (match, draw, adjourn, etc.). The `F4' key is a keyboard equivalent. If
there is more than one offer pending, you will have to type in a more specific command instead of
using this menu choice.
CallFlag
Calls your opponent's flag, claiming a win on time, or claiming a draw if you are both out of
time. The `F5' key is a keyboard equivalent. You can also call your opponent's flag by clicking
on his clock.
Draw Offers a draw to your opponent, accepts a pending draw offer from your opponent, or claims a draw
by repetition or the 50-move rule, as appropriate. The `F6' key is a keyboard equivalent.
Adjourn
Asks your opponent to agree to adjourning the current game, or agrees to a pending adjournment
offer from your opponent. The `F7' key is a keyboard equivalent.
Abort Asks your opponent to agree to aborting the current game, or agrees to a pending abort offer from
your opponent. The `F8' key is a keyboard equivalent. An aborted game ends immediately without
affecting either player's rating.
Resign Resigns the game to your opponent. The `F9' key is a keyboard equivalent.
StopObserving
Ends your participation in observing a game, by issuing the ICS observe command with no arguments.
ICS mode only. The `F10' key is a keyboard equivalent.
StopExamining
Ends your participation in examining a game, by issuing the ICS unexamine command. ICS mode only.
The `F11' key is a keyboard equivalent.
UploadtoExamine
Create an examined game of the proper variant on the ICS, and send the game there that is currenty
loaded in XBoard (e.g. through pasting or loading from file). You must be connected to an ICS for
this to work.
AdjudicatetoWhiteAdjudicatetoBlackAdjudicateDraw
Terminate an ongoing game in Two-Machines mode (including match mode), with as result a win for
white, for black, or a draw, respectively. The PGN file of the game will accompany the result
string by the comment "user adjudication".
EngineMenuEditEngineList
Opens a window that shows the list of engines registered for use by XBoard, together with the
options that would be used with them when you would select them from the `Load Engine' dialogs.
You can then edit this list, e.g. for re-ordering the engines, or adding uncommon options needed
by this engine (e.g. to cure non-compliant behavior).
By editing you can also organize the engines into collapsible groups. By sandwiching a number of
engine lines between lines "# NAME" and "# end", the thus enclosed engines will not initially
appear in engine listboxes of other dialogs, but only the single line "# NAME" (where NAME can be
an arbitrary text) will appear in their place. Selecting that line will then show the enclosed
engines in the listbox, which recursively can contain other groups. The line with the group name
will still present as a header, and selecting that line will collapse the group again, and makes
the listbox go back to displaying the surrounding group.
LoadNew1stEngineLoadNew2ndEngine
Pops up a dialog where you can select or specify an engine to be loaded. 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!)
Selectenginefromlist
The listbox shows the engines registered for use with XBoard before. (This means XBoard has
information on the engine type, whether it plays book etc. in the engine list stored in its
settings file.) Double-clicking an engine here will load it and close the dialog. The list can
also contain groups, indicated by a starting '#' sign. Double-clicking such a group will 'open'
it, and show the group contents in the listbox instead of the total list, with the group name as
header. Double-clicking the header will 'close' the group again.
NicknameUsenicknameinPGNplayertagsofengine-enginegames
When a `Nickname' is specified, the engine will appear under this name in the `Select Engine'
listbox. Otherwise the name there will be a tidied version of the engine command. The user can
specify if the nickname is also to be used in PGN tags; normally the name engines report theselves
would be used there.
EngineCommand
The command needed to start the engine from the command line. For compliantly installed engine
this is usually just a single word, the name of the engine package (e.g. 'crafty' or 'stockfish').
Some engines need additional parameters on the command line. For engines that are not in a place
where the system would expect them a full pathname can be specified, and usually the browse button
for this oprion is the easiest way to obtain that.
EngineDirectory
Compliant engines could run from any directory, and by default this option is proposed as '.', the
current directory. If a (path)name is specified here, XBoard will start the engine in that
directory. If you make the field empty, it will try to derive the directory from the engine
command (if that was a path name).
UCI When the `UCI' checkbox is ticked XBoard will assume the engine is of UCI type, and will invoke
the corresponding adapter (as specified in the `adapterCommand' option stored in its settings
file)to use it. By default this adapter is Polyglot, which must be installed from a separate
package!
USI/UCCI
Ticking this checkbox informs XBoard that the engine is of USI or UCCI type (as Shogi or Xiangqi
engines often are). This makes XBoard invoke an adapter to run the engines, as specified by the
`uxiAdapter' option stored in its settings file. The UCI2WB program is an adapter that can handle
both these engine types, as well as UCI.
WBprotocolv1
Ticking this checkbox informs XBoard the engine is using an old version (1) of the communication
protocol, so that it won't respond to a request to interrogate its properties. XBoard then won't
even try that, saving you a wait of several seconds each time the engine is started. Do not use
this on state-of-the-art engines, as it would prevent XBoard from interrogating its capabilities,
so that many of its features might not work!
MustnotuseGUIbook
By default XBoard assumes engines are responsible for their own opening book, but unticking this
option makes XBoard consult its own book (as per `Opening-Book Filename') on behalf of the engine.
Addthisenginetothelist
By default XBoard would add the engine you specified, with all the given options to its list of
registered engines (kept in its settings file), when you press 'OK'. Next time you could then
simply select it from the listbox, or use the command "xboard -fe NICKNAME" to start XBoard with
the engine and accompanying options. New engines are always added at the end of the existing
list, or, when you have opened a group in the `Select Engine' listbox, at the end of that group.
But can be re-ordered later with the aid of the `Edit Engine List' menu item. When you untick
this checkbox before pressing 'OK' the engine will be loaded, but will not be added to the engine
list.
Forcecurrentvariantwiththisengine
Ticking this option will make XBoard automatically start the engine in the current variant, even
when XBoard was set for a different variant when you loaded the engine. Useful when the engine
plays multiple variants, and you specifically want to play one different from its primary one.
Engine#1SettingsEngine#2Settings
Pop up a menu dialog to alter the settings specific to the applicable engine. For each parameter
the engine allows to be set, a control element will appear in this dialog that can be used to
alter the value. Depending on the type of parameter (text string, number, multiple choice, on/off
switch, instantaneous signal) the appropriate control will appear, with a description next to it.
XBoard has no idea what these values mean; it just passes them on to the engine. How this dialog
looks is completely determined by the engine, and XBoard just passes it on to the user. Many
engines do not have any parameters that can be set by the user, and in that case the dialog will
be empty (except for the OK and cancel buttons). UCI engines usually have many parameters. (But
these are only visible with a sufficiently modern version of the Polyglot adapter needed to run
UCI engines, e.g. Polyglot 2.0.1.) For native XBoard engines this is less common.
CommonSettings
Pops up a menu dialog 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. The
shifted `Alt+U' key is a keyboard equivalent. Older XBoard/WinBoard engines might not respond to
these settings, but UCI engines always should.
MaximumNumberofCPUsperEngine
Specifies the number of search threads any engine can maximally use. Do not set it to a number
larger than the number of cores your computer has. (Or half of it when you want two engines to
run simultaneously, as in a Two-Machines game with `Ponder Next Move' on.)
PolyglotDirectoryHash-TableSize
Specifies the maximum amount of memory (RAM) each engine is allowed to use for storing info on
positions it already searched, so it would not have to search them again. Do not set it so that
it is more than half (or if you use two engines, more than a quarter) of the memory your computer
has, or it would slow the engines down by an extreme amount.
EGTBPath
Sets the value of the `egtFormats' option, which specifies where on your computer the files for
End-Game Tables are stored. It must be a comma-separated list of path names, the path for each
EGT flavor prefixed with the name of the latter and a colon. E.g.
"nalimov:/home/egt/dtm,syzygy:/home/egt/dtz50". The path names after the colon will be sent to
the engines that say they can use the corresponding EGT flavor.
EGTBCacheSize
Specifies the amount of memory the engine should use to buffer end-game information. Together
with the `Hash-Table Size' this determines how much memory the engine is allowed to use in total.
UseGUIBookOpening-BookFilename
The `Opening-Book Filename' specifies an opening book in Polyglot format (usually a .bin file),
from which XBoard can play moves on behalf of the engine. This is also the book file on which the
`Edit Book' and `Save Games as Book' menu items operate. A checkbox `Use GUI Book' can be used to
temporarily disable the book without losing the setting. (This does not prevent editing or saving
games on it!)
BookDepthBookVariety
The way moves are selected from the book can be controlled by two options. `Book Depth' controls
for how deep into the game the book will be consulted (measured in full moves). `Book Variety'
controls the likelihood of playing weaker moves. 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.
Engine#1HasOwnBookEngine#2HasOwnBook
These checkboxes control on a per-engine basis whether XBoard will consult the opening book for
them. If ticked, XBoard will never play moves from its GUI book, giving the engine the
opportunity to use its own. These options are automatically set whenever you load an engine,
based on the setting of `Must not use GUI book' when you installed that through the `Load Engine'
menu dialog.
Hint Displays a move hint from the chess engine.
Book Displays a list of possible moves from the chess engine's opening book. The exact format depends
on what chess engine you are using. With GNU Chess 4, the first column gives moves, the second
column gives one possible response for each move, and the third column shows the number of lines
in the book that include the move from the first column. If you select this option and nothing
happens, the chess engine is out of its book or does not support this feature.
MoveNow
Forces the chess engine to move immediately. Chess engine mode only. The `Ctrl-M' key is a
keyboard equivalent. Many engines won't respond to this.
RetractMove
Retracts your last move. In chess engine mode, you can do this only after the chess engine has
replied to your move; if the chess engine is still thinking, use `Move Now' first. In ICS mode,
`Retract Move' issues the command `takeback 1' or `takeback 2' depending on whether it is your
opponent's move or yours. The `Ctrl-X' key is a keyboard equivalent.
RecentlyUsedEngines
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 `recentEngines'
command-line option.
OptionsMenuMuteallSounds
Ticking this menu item toggles all sounds XBoard can make on or off, without losing their definitions.
GeneralOptions
The following items to set option values appear in the dialog summoned by the general Options menu item.
AbsoluteAnalysisScores
Controls if scores on the Engine Output window during analysis will be printed from the white or
the side-to-move point-of-view.
AlmostAlwaysQueen
If this option is on, 7th-rank pawns automatically change into Queens when you pick them up, and
when you drag them to the promotion square and release them there, 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 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 `alwaysPromoteToQueen', which would
force promotion to Queen when true. 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.
AnimateDragging
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.
AnimateMoving
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 move is completed (unless the move was already animated
by Animate Dragging). 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 `Ctrl-A' key is a
keyboard equivalent.
AutoFlag
If this option is on and one player runs out of time before the other, XBoard will automatically
call his flag, claiming a win on time. The shifted `Ctrl-F' key is a keyboard equivalent. In ICS
mode, Auto Flag will only call your opponent's flag, not yours, and the ICS may award you a draw
instead of a win if you have insufficient mating material. In local chess engine mode, XBoard may
call either player's flag.
AutoFlipView
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 of the window towards the top.
If you are playing a game on an ICS, the board is always oriented at the start of the game so that
your pawns move from the bottom of the window towards the top. Otherwise, the starting orientation
is determined by the `flipView' command line option; 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. See Userinterfaceoptions.
Blindfold
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.
DropMenu
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).
EnableVariationTrees
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 `Revert'
menu item. When off, playing a move will truncate the game and append the move irreversibly.
HeadersinEngineOutputWindow
Controls the presence of column headers above the variations and associated information printed by
the engine, on which you can issue button 3 clicks to open or close the columns. Available
columns are search depth, score, node count, time used, tablebase hits, search speed and selective
search depth.
HideThinking
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 `W' or `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 `Ctrl-H' key is a keyboard
equivalent.
HighlightLastMove
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.
HighlightwithArrow
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.
One-ClickMoving
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 as it is uniqely specified. This applies to clicking
an own piece that only has a single legal move, clicking an empty square or opponent piece where
only one of your pieces can move (or capture) to. Furthermore, a double-click on a piece that can
only make a single capture will cause that capture to be made. 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.
PeriodicUpdates
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.
PlayMove(s)ofClickedPV
If this option is on, right-clicking on the first move of a PV or on the data fields left of it 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. Clicking on later moves of the PV only
temporarily show the moves for as long you keep the mouse button down, without adding them to the
game.
PonderNextMove
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 `Ctrl-P' key is a
keyboard equivalent.
PopupExitMessage
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.
PopupMoveErrors
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 error message is displayed in the message area. If the option
is 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.
ScoresinMoveList
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.
ShowCoords
If this option is on, XBoard displays algebraic coordinates along the board's left and bottom
edges.
ShowTargetSquares
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 yellow (non-captures) or red (captures). Special moves
might have other colors (e.g. magenta for promotion, cyan for a partial move). Legality testing
must be on for XBoard to know how the piece moves, but with legality testing off some engines
would offer this information.
StickyWindows
Controls whether the auxiliary windows such as Engine Output, Move History and Evaluation Graph
should keep touching XBoard's main window when you move the latter.
TestLegality
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. The shifted `Ctrl-L' key is a keyboard equivalent.
Moves loaded from a file with `Load Game' are also checked. If the option is off, all moves are
accepted, but if a local chess engine or the ICS is active, they will still reject illegal moves.
Turning off this option is useful if you are playing a chess variant with 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.)
Top-LevelDialogs
Controls whether the auxiliary windows will appear as icons in the task bar and independently
controllable, or whether they open and minimize all together with the main window.
FlashMovesFlashRate
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.
AnimationSpeed
Determines the duration (in msec) of an animation step, when `Animate Moving' is swiched on.
ZoomfactorinEvaluationGraph
Sets the value of the `evalZoom' option, indicating the factor by which the score interval (-1,1)
should be blown up on the vertical axis of the Evaluation Graph.
TimeControl
Pops up a sub-menu where you can set the time-control parameters interactively. The shifted `Alt+T' key
is a keyboard equivalent.
classical
Selects classical TC, where the game is devided into sessions of a certain number of moves, and
after each session the start time is again added to the clocks.
incremental
Selects a TC mode where the game will start with a base time on the clocks, and after every move
an 'increment' will be added to it.
fixedmax
Selects a TC mode where you have to make each move within a given time, and any left-over time is
not carried over to the next move.
Divideenteredtimesby60
To allow entering of sub-minute initial time or sub-second increment, you can tick this checkbox.
The initial time can then be entered in seconds, and the increment in units of 1/60 second.
Movespersession
Sets the duration of a session for classical time control.
Initialtime
Time initially on the clock in classical or incremental time controls. In classical time controls
this time will also be added to the clock at the start of ach new session.
Incrementormax
Time to be added to the clock after every move in incremental TC mode. Fore 'fixed maximum' TC
mode, the clock will be set to this time before every move, irrespective of how much was left on
that clock.
Time-Oddsfactors
When these options are set to 1 the clocks of the players will be set according to the other
specified TC parameters. Players can be given unequal times by specifying a time-odds factor for
one of them (or a different factor for both of them). Any time received by that player will then
be divided by that factor.
Adjudications
Pops up a sub-menu where you can enable or disable various adjudications that XBoard can perform in
engine-engine games. The shifted `Alt+J' key is a keyboard equivalent.
DetectallMates
When this option is set XBoard will terminate the game on checkmate or stalemate, even if the
engines would not do so. Only works when `Test Legality' is on.
VerifyEngineResultClaims
When this option is set XBoard will verify engine result claims, (forfeiting engines that make
false claims), rather than naively beleiving the engine. Only works when `Test Legality' is on.
DrawifInsufficientMatingMaterial
When this option is set XBoard will terminate games with a draw result when so little material is
left that checkmate is not longer possible. In normal Chess this applies to KK, KNK, KBK and some
positions with multiple Bishops all on the same square shade. Only works when `Test Legality' is
on.
AdjudicateTrivialDraws
When this option is set XBoard will terminate games with a draw result in positions that could
only be won against an idiot. In normal Chess this applies to KNNK, KRKR, KBKN, KNKN, and KBKB
with Bishops on different square shades. KQKQ will also be adjudicated a draw (possibly unjustly
so). Only works when `Test Legality' is on.
N-MoveRule
When this option is set to a value differnt from zero XBoard will terminate games with a draw
result after the specified number of reversible moves (i.e. without captures or pawn pushes) is
made.
N-foldRepeats
When this option is set to a value larger than 1, XBoard will terminate games with a draw result
when the same position has occurred the specified number of times.
DrawafterNMovesTotal
When this option is set to a value different from zero, XBoard will terminate games with a draw
result after that many moves have been played. Useful in automated engine-engine matches, to
prevent one game between stubborn engines will soak up all your computer time.
Win/LossThreshold
When this option is set to a value different from zero, XBoard will terminate games as a win when
both engines agree the score is above the specified value (interpreted as centi-Pawn) for three
successive moves.
NegateScoreofEngine#1NegateScoreofEngine#2
These options should be used with engines that report scores from the white point of view, rather
than the side-to-move POV as XBoard would otherwise assume when adjudicating games based on the
engine score. When the engine is installed with the extra option `firstScoreIsAbs' true in the
engine list the option would be automatically set when the engine is loaded throuhgh the Engine
menu, or with the `fe' or `se' command-line option.
ICSOptions
Pops up a menu dialog where options can be set that affect playing against an Internet Chess Server.
Auto-Kibitz
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.
Auto-Comment
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 remarks made with the ICS commands
`say', `tell', `whisper', and `kibitz'. Limitation: remarks that you type yourself are not
recognized; XBoard scans only the output from ICS, not the input you type to it.
Auto-Observe
If this option is on and you add a player to your `gnotify' list on ICS, XBoard will automatically
observe all of that player's games, unless you are doing something else (such as observing or
playing a game of your own) when one starts. The games are displayed from the point of view of
the player on your gnotify list; that is, his pawns move from the bottom of the window towards the
top. Exceptions: If both players in a game are on your gnotify list, if your ICS `highlight'
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.
Auto-RaiseBoard
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.
AutoSave
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 you specify. Disabled if the `saveGameFile' command-line option is
set, as in that case all games are saved to the specified file. See LoadandSaveoptions.
BackgroundObservewhilePlaying
Setting this option will make XBoard suppress display of any boards from observed games while you
are playing. Instead the last such board will be remembered, 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.
DualBoardforBackground-ObservedGame
Setting this option in combination with `Background Observe' will display boards of observed games
while you are playing on a second board next to that of your own game.
GetMoveList
If this option is on, whenever XBoard receives the first board of a new ICS game (or a different
game from the one it is currently displaying), it retrieves the list of past moves from the ICS.
You can then review the moves with the `Forward' and `Backward' commands or save them with `Save
Game'. You might want to turn off this option if you are observing several blitz games at once,
to keep from wasting time and network bandwidth fetching the move lists over and over. When you
turn this option on from the menu, XBoard immediately fetches the move list of the current game
(if any).
QuietPlay
If this option is on, XBoard will automatically issue an ICS `set shout 0' command whenever you
start a game and a `set shout 1' command whenever you finish one. Thus, you will not be
distracted by shouts from other ICS users while playing.
SeekGraph
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.
Auto-RefreshSeekGraph
In combination with the `Seek Graph' option this will cause automatic update of the seek graph
while it is up. This only works on FICS and ICC, and requires a lot of bandwidth on a busy
server.
Auto-InputBoxPopUp
Controls whether the ICS Input Box will pop up automatically when you type a printable character
to the board window in ICS mode.
QuitAfterGame
Controls whether XBoard will automatically disconnect from the ICS and close when the game
currently in progress finishes.
PremovePremoveforWhitePremoveforBlackFirstWhiteMoveFirstBlackMove
If the `Premove' option is on while playing a game on an ICS, you can register your next planned
move before it is your turn. Move the piece with the mouse in the ordinary way, and the starting
and ending squares will be highlighted with a special color (red by default). When it is your
turn, if your registered move is legal, XBoard will send it to ICS immediately; if not, it will be
ignored and you can make a different move. If you change your mind about your premove, either
make a different move, or double-click on any piece to cancel the move entirely.
You can also enter premoves for the first white and black moves of the game.
AlarmAlarmTime
When this option is on, an alarm sound is played when your clock counts down to the `Alarm Time'
in an ICS game. (By default, the time is 5 seconds, but you can specify other values with the
Alarm Time spin control.) For games with time controls that include an increment, the alarm will
sound each time the clock counts down to the icsAlarmTime. 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.
ColorizeMessages
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.
-icsMenustring
The string defines buttons for the `ICS text menu'. Each button definition consists of two semi-
colon-terminated pieces of text, the first giving the label to be written on the button, the
second the text that should be sent to the ICS when that button is pressed. This second part (the
'message') can contain linefeeds, so that you can send multiple ICS commands with one button.
Some message in the text, all starting with a $-sign, are treated special. When the message
contains '$input', it will not be sent directly to the ICS, but will be put in the input field of
the `ICS Chat/Console', with the text cursor at the indicated place, so you can addsome text to
the message before sending it off. If such a message starts with '$add' it will be placed behind
any text that is already present in the input field, otherwise this field will be cleared first.
The word '$name' occurring in the message will be replaced by the word that was clicked (through
button 3) in the ICS Chat/Console. There are two special messages: '$chat' will open a new chat
with the clicked word in the chat-partner field, while '$copy' will copy the text that is
currently-selected in the ICS Console to the clipboard. An example of a text menu as it might
occur in your settings file (where you could edit it):
-icsMenu {copy;$copy;
list players;who;
list games;games;
finger (player);finger $name;
bullet (player);match $name 1 1 r;
blitz (player);match $name 5 1 r;
rapid (player);match $name 30 0 r;
open chat (player);$chat;
tell (player);tell $name $input;
ask pieces;ptell Please give me a $input;
P;$add Pawn $input;
N;$add Knight $input;
B;$add Bishop $input;
R;$add Rook $input;
Q;$add Queen $input;
}
TournamentOptions
Summons a dialog where you can set options important for playing automatic matches between two or more
chess programs (e.g. by using the `Machine Match' menu item in the `Mode' menu).
Tournamentfile
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 the corresponding info 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 `defaultTourneyName' option.
SyncafterroundSyncaftercycle
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.
SelectEngineTourneyparticipants
From the Select Engine listbox you can pick an engine from your list of engines registered 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 accidentally, or change their order. Typing names here
yourself is not recommended, because names that do not exactly match one of the names from the
selection listbox will lead to undefined behavior.
Tourneytype
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 `pairingEngine' option. Each Swiss round will be considered a tourney cycle in that
case. Default:0
NumberoftourneycyclesDefaultNumberofGamesinMatch
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 engines 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 `defaultMatchGames' option.
PausebetweenMatchGames
Time (in milliseconds) XBoard waits before starting a new game after a previous match or
tournament game finishes. Such a waiting period is important for engines that do not support
'ping', as these sometimes still produce a move long after the game finished because of the
opponent resigning, which would be mistaken for a move in the next game if that had already
started.
SaveTourneyGameson
File where the tournament games are saved (duplicate of the item in the `Save Game Options').
GameFilewithOpeningLinesFilewithStartPositionsGameNumberPositionNumberRewindIndexafterthismanyGames
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.
Disableownenginebooksbydefault
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. `-firstHasOwnBookUCI true'), it will be
made to use the GUI book.
ReplaceEngineUpgradeEngine
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 `participants' field. (But preserve the order of the others!) Pressing
the button after that will cause the substitution. With the `Upgrade Engine' button the
substitution will only affect future games. With `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.
CloneTourney
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'.
ContinueLater
Pressing the `Continue Later' button confirms the current value of all items in the dialog and
closes it, but will not automatically start the tournament. This allows you to return to the
dialog later without losing the settings you already entered, to adjust paramenters through other
menu dialogs. (The `Common Engine Setting', `Time Control' and `General Options' dialogs can be
accessed without closing the `Tournament Options' dialog through the respective buttons at the
bottom of the latter.)
LoadGameOptions
Summons a dialog where you can set options that control loading of games.
Auto-DisplayTags
Setting this option causes a window to pop up on loading a game, displaying the PGN Tags for that
game.
Auto-DisplayComment
Setting this option causes a window to pop up whenever there is a comment to (or variation on) the
currently displayed move.
Auto-Playspeedofloadedgames
This option sets the number of seconds between moves when a newly loaded game is auto-playing. A
decimal fraction on the number is understood. Setting it to -1 disables auto-play, staying in the
start position of the game after the loading completes. Setting it to 0 will instantly move to
the final position of the game. The `Auto-Play speed' is also used to determine the analysis time
for each move during `Analyze Game'. Note that auto-playing (including game analysis) can be
stopped at any time through the `P' button above the board.
optionstouseingame-viewermode
Specifies the options automatically set when XBoard is invoked with the option `-viewer' on its
command line, as will happen when it is started in response to clicking a PGN game file. The
default setting would start XBoard without engine (due to the `-ncp' option), but if you want it
to automatically start with your favorite engine, and automatically start analyzing, you could
include the necessary options for that here (e.g. `-fe <engine> -initialMode analysis').
Thresholdsforpositionfilteringingamelist
The following options can be set to limit the display of games in the `Game List' window to a sub-
set, meeting the specified criteria.
EloofstrongestplayeratleastEloofweakestplayeratleast
Games with an Elo tag specifying a lower rating for the mentioned player will not be diplayed in
the `Game List'.
Nogamesbeforeyear
Games with a Date tag before the specified year will not be diplayed in the `Game List'.
Finalnrofpieces
A single number or a range (like 8-10) can be entered here, and will cause only games where the
number of men in the final position is in the given range will be diplayed in the `Game List'.
Minimumnrconsecutivepositions
Specifies for how many consecutive positions the more fuzzy position-matching criteria have to be
satisfied in order to count as a match.
Searchmodefindposition
XBoard can select games for display in the `Game List' based on whether (in addition to the
conditions on the PGN tags) they contain a position that matches the position currently displayed
on the board, by pressing the `find position' or `narrow' buttons in the `Game List' window. The
`Search mode' setting determines what counts as match. 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 minimally 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, i.e. equal for
white and black.
narrow The `narrow' button is similar in function to the `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.
AlsomatchreversedcolorsAlsomatchleft-rightflippedposition
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).
SaveGameOptions
Summons a dialog where you can specify whether XBoard should automatically save files of games when they
finish, and where and how to do that.
Auto-SaveGames
When set XBoard will automatically save games on a file as they finish. (Not when you abort them
by pressing `New Game', though!) It will either prompt you for a filename, or use the file
specified by the `saveGameFile' option.
OwnGamesOnly
Setting this option will exclude games by others observed on an Internet Chess Server from
automatic saving.
SaveGamesonFile
Name of the file on which games should be saved automatically. Games are always appended to the
file, and will never overwrite anything.
SaveFinalPositiononFile
When a name is defined, the final position of each game is appended to the mentioned file.
PGNEventHeader
Specifies the name of the event used in the PGN event tag of new games that you create.
OldSaveStyle
Saves games in an obsolete and now long forgotten format, rather than as PGN. Never use this for
orthodox Chess!
IncludeNumberTagintourneyPGN
When on this option will cause the non-standard 'Number' tag to be written in any game saved in
PGN format. It will contain the unique number of the game in the tourney. (As opposed to the
'Round' tag, which can be shared by many games.)
SaveScore/DepthInfoinPGN
When on this option will cause the score and depth at which it was calculated by an engine, and
(when available) thinking time to be saved with the move as a comment to the move, in the format
{score/depth time}. Here 'score'is in pawn units from the point of view of the player that made
the move, with two digits behind the decimal Pawn.
SaveOut-of-BookInfoinPGN
When on this option causes the score of the first move the engine made after coming out of book in
an 'Annotator' PGN tag.
GameList
Pops up a dialog where you can select the PGN tags that should appear on the lines in the `Game List',
and their order.
SoundOptions
Summons a dialog where you can specify the sounds that should accompany various events that can occur in
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.
SoundProgram
Specifies the command XBoard should invoke to play sounds. The specified text will be suffixed by
the name of the sound file, and then run as a command.
SoundsDirectory
Specifies the directory where XBoard will look for files with the names of the standard sounds.
UserWAVFile
When we type a filename here, it can be assigned to the events by selecting `Above WAV File' from
the drop downs.
Try-OutSoundPlay The 'event' triggering the Try-Out sound is pressing of the `Play' button behind it. This allows
you to judge the sounds.
SaveSettingsNow
Selecting this menu item causes the current XBoard settings to be written to the settings file,
(.xboardrc in your home directory), so they will also apply in future sessions. Note that some settings
are 'volatile', and are not saved, because XBoard considers it too unlikely that you want those to apply
next time. In particular this applies to the Chess program, and all options giving information on those
Chess programs (such as their directory, if they have their own opening book, if they are UCI or native
XBoard), or the variant you are playing. 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.
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
-settingsFile ~/.yboardrc
-saveSettingsFile ~/.yboardrc
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
this ~/.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).
SaveSettingsonExit
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.
HelpMenuInfoXBoard
Displays the XBoard documentation in info format. For this feature to work, you must have the GNU
info program installed on your system, and the file `xboard.info' must either be present in the
current working directory, or have been installed by the `make install' command when you built
XBoard.
ManXBoard
Displays the XBoard documentation in man page format. The `F1' key is a keyboard equivalent. For
this feature to work, the file `xboard.6' must have been installed by the `make install' command
when you built XBoard, and the directory it was placed in must be on the search path for your
system's `man' command.
AboutXBoard
Shows the current XBoard version number.
OtherShortcutKeysShowLastMove
By hitting `Enter' the last move will be re-animated.
LoadNextGame
Loads the next game from the last game record file you loaded. The `Alt+PgDn' key triggers this
action.
LoadPreviousGame
Loads the previous game from the last game record file you loaded. The `Alt+PgUp' key triggers
this action. Not available if the last game was loaded from a pipe.
ReloadSameGame
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.
ReloadSamePosition
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.
In the Xaw build of XBoard you can add or remove shortcut keys using the X resources
`paneA.translations'. Here is an example of what could go into your `.Xdefaults' file:
XBoard*paneA.translations: \
Shift<Key>?: MenuItem(Help.About) \n\
Ctrl<Key>y: MenuItem(Action.Accept) \n\
Ctrl<Key>n: MenuItem(Action.Decline) \n\
Ctrl<Key>i: MenuItem(Nothing)
So the key should always be bound to the action 'MenuItem', with the (hierarchical) name of the menu item
as argument. There are a few actions available for which no menu item exists: Binding a key to `Nothing'
makes it do nothing, thus removing it as a shortcut key. Other such functions that can be bound to keys
are:
AboutGame, DebugProc (switches the -debug option on or off),
LoadNextGame, LoadPrevGame, ReloadGame, ReloadPosition.
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