Chess Player Help

Moving pieces Input a position string Output a position string The control panel Resize board to.. New game / Clear board Show legal moves Disallow illegal moves Switch viewpoint Further options Changing pieces Fantasy layouts

Recorder options Export FEN positions Export in Smith notation Export in Player format Import in Player format Recorder controls Record Play Position number Shuttle controls

Moving pieces

All the chess pieces move with a drag-and-drop action. Drag a piece over any blank square, or over an opposite-coloured piece to capture it.

When you let go of a piece, the move is validated to some extent. At all settings:

• en-passent is recognised
• castling is automatic
• the king cannot be captured
• the first pawn of each color to reach the opposite side of the board is automatically promoted to a queen; manual promotion is also possible.

Further validation is optional. You can set the board to disallow illegal moves, and it can also show legal moves for any given piece at any given position.

You can also move pieces directly off the board into the spaces either side - white to the right and black to the left. Pieces which are off the board can be recovered with a single click; the piece will appear in the first available square on the board, rather than its home square, which might be occupied. Because of this, recovering a piece will always de-active disallow illegal moves.

Input a position string

You can input a position string at any time, by typing or pasting into the uppermost of the two long text boxes underneath the board, and pressing the button marked
 « In . It might not always be possible to drag and highlight the text already in this box, in which case you should be able to triple-click, or click once and press Ctrl/A, then hit delete.

The position string is in FEN Standard format.

Output a position string

At any time, press the  « Out  button to display your current position in the lower text-box. The output string is in the same format as the input.

If you're recording the game then output is automatic.

The control panel

The control panel down the right-hand side has all the main game options and controls. Some functions require the board to be reloaded, which is indicated in this guide using a ® symbol.

Resize board to.. ®

This control allows you to resize the chessboard to between 60% and 150% of it's normal size.

New game / Clear board

These buttons reset the board to a  New game   or  Clear  board, and also clear the contents of the game recorder. With this option you will be asked to confirm.

Show legal moves

If show legal moves is checked then whenever you click down on a piece its available target squares are indicated with an orange highlighter. This is useful as a tutoring aid, to help you if you're not sure how the pieces move or when less common situations, such as en-passent, apply.

The only exception is when you move the king - all its available target squares are indicated even if that move would be illegal, because it would be moving into check or castling through a check line.

Although legal moves are shown, they are not enforced; full validation is controlled separately, with the option disallow illegal moves.

Disallow illegal moves

If disallow illegal moves is checked, it is not possible to move pieces illegally, with the exception of a king into check or through a check line.

Even when this option is enabled, white and black do not have to move in turn. This is only enforced if you're recording the game.

Switch viewpoint

The  Switch viewpoint  button allows you to switch between white and black points of view. You can change the view at any time, even while recording or playing through a game.

Recorder options

ChessPlayer has a range of import and export options, allowing for use with other chess programs, with databases, for correspondence or email chess, or for chewing through your own strategies. If you export in player format the program generates a hyperlink which can be pasted into an email or forum, so that others can import and play through your game using this program.

Export logs are written into a new browser window, which you can copy-and-paste, or save:

1. from the menubar in the new window, select File and then Save as ...
2. a dialogue box will appear where you can choose a file name for the log - it will default to
3. Underneath this is a dropdown selector called Save as type, and you should choose
4. choose a location and then click Save.

Export FEN positions

Creates an export log of followed by move text in FEN Standard format. Click here for an example.

Export in Smith notation

Creates an export log of followed by move text in Smith notation. Click here for an example.

Export in Player format

This option creates a game string in the program's own format, which is also displayed in the form of a hyperlink. ChessPlayer can accept an input game in this format, making it an ideal tool for correspondence chess and analysis.

The move text, final position,

Care should be taken that the the whole game string is intact. Click here for an example.

Import in Player format ®

Import a game which has previously been saved in player format. You will be prompted to paste the string into an input box and click OK.

Recorder controls

ChessPlayer has a built in game recorder, which stores the board layout after each move. It works basically like a tape machine, using 'shuttle' controls to record, play and step through moves:

Record

The  Record  button begins and stops game recording. As you record, the total number of moves is shown in the position number display. Each move is also shown in the output display as a FEN position If you go back to an earlier move before or during recording, any later moves are overwritten with new ones.

When recording a game, the white and black pieces can only move in turn.

Play

The  Play   button begins and stops automatic play through. You can play from either white or black's perspective, and can you can even switch viewpoint without stopping playback.

Position number

The first digit shows the current position number, which has a single or double dot for the white and black turn in each move. The second digit, after the forward slash, is the total number of recorded moves. The start position, or an empty recorder, is indicated with two dots.

Shuttle controls

There are four shuttle controls:

• Beginning  «  set the board back to the start of the game.

• Previous move  <  go back to the previous recorded position.

• Next move  >  go forwards to the next recorded position.

• Last move  »  set the board to the final recorded position.

Further options

ChessPlayer has a number of additional options for greater expression of unusual game situations:

Changing pieces

You can change any square to any piece, which might be useful for setting up non-standard piece layouts or for promoting a pawn to something other than a queen.

Double-click on a piece or blank square and you'll be prompted to enter a piece code, eg q for a black queen or N for a white knight. You can also choose x to create a blank square. Click OK and the square will change to that selection.

If you change pieces in this way during a recorded game, and you then export and re-import that game, the changes are reflected with the recorded position which follows when you changed the piece.

Fantasy layouts

The board layout does not have to have the correct proportion of pieces. You could set up a board with four knights, or 16 queens each! However the program will still think there should have been eight pawns, two bishops, etc; it will assume those pieces have already been taken, and plot them in the spaces at the side.

This is relevant because when there are 16 pieces of each color at the sides, no more can be taken. If you land on a piece when the space for that color is full, the two pieces simply swap over.