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iNemesis Internet Chess

Version 3.0 The Mentor

 

%white% white player
%black% black player
%opponent% my opponent
%ask% popup a box for this value
%me% your handle
%selected% / %sel% currently selected player that you selected thru left click on terminal.

iNemesis version 3.0 The Mentor adds following new features:

New Features in Version 3.0 The Mentor
------------------------------------------------------
Position Analysis using WinBoard Engines. Crafty is tested and included.
Chess Puzzles.
PGN File View.
PGN File Upload to Server.
Lecture players added. there is one online lecture player, that requires that you are logged on to the chess server. you can share your lectures with a group of
friends using this server. Lecture on any type of game that chess server supports can be viewed by this player. second is offline lecture player. it adds many powerful features, like go-back to understand the moves that were made. proceeding at the pace that you prefer. it can also be used to write lectures. It supports only standard chess lectures. no bughouse/crazyhouse/atomic etc.

Times can be displayed on top of board.
Alias list has been fixed.

Command Macros:
%white% white player
%black% black player
%opponent% my opponent
%ask% popup a box for this value
%me% your handle
%selected% / %sel% currently selected player that you selected thru left click on
terminal
FirstWordMacros : work like fics aliases

PokerBot support: You can play poker and view actual cards using Gorgonian's PokerBot at
FICS.
finger Gorgonian or PokerBot for details about pokerbot.

Command History: Now you can configure wether you want to use predefined commands that auto-complete while you are typing, or want to use auto-completion using your command history.

iNemesis now used a smaller memory footprint, and as a result runs faster on machines with less memory.

Match button added to Who window.

User Defined Buttons and Button Bars: You can define buttons in the Users button bar that would execute your own commands. Further, you can define button bars, with your own buttons, on them, and share them with other users. iNemesis looks for *.bar text files in its startup directory and these can be used and button bars. File format is:

button-caption | command to be executed

You can use macros in buttons. For example, here is a command for button that would show finger notes of the player who is currently selected (his name was left-clicked in main terminal window)
Finger Selected | finger %selected%
Multiple commands can also be used here.
User Info | finger %selected% ^ var %selected% ^ ping %selected
Press F11 key on keyboard, or go to Settings Menu, General item, to configure buttons and button bars.

Now any font can be used in terminal.
Text to speech on moves.
Text to speech configurations. Now you can select from many voices, and select what type of
messages should be spoken.
User name and password saving is now optional.

Fixed :
Who window listing fixed.
All help requests were being directed toward channel 4. Now it sends them to channel 1 for registered and channel 4 for unregistered players.
Popup Window is restored if it was minimized when you select it again.
Bug fixed in chat windows where users with titles in () were displayed in wrong colors.
Notes editor used to show blank finger notes as very thin red line.
On disconnect/connection failure, you get an error msg describing whats wrong. It wasnt working correctly in all situations.
Alias buttons in chat windows were not saved/restored correctly.

And many things that I implemented but do not remember at the time to include here :-)
3.0 is a major upgrade.

 

Version 2. 7 Pieces at War

iNemesis version 2. 7 Pieces at War adds following new features:

Enhancements:

User defined piece sets. User defined piece sets must reside in a seperate directory. Each piece picture must be in its own file, saved as Windows Bitmap. Pieces must be named as:

     WPAWN.BMP WKNIGHT.BMP WBISHOP.BMP WROOK.BMP WQUEEN.BMP WKING.BMP
     BPAWN.BMP BKNIGHT.BMP BBISHOP.BMP BROOK.BMP BQUEEN.BMP BKING'

This naming convention is same as that of Thief 1.1.Piece background must be WHITE, if it is not, then you can convert them through Convert button provided in custom piece selection window. Please note that pure WHITE is treated as transparent color in iNemesis piece sets. You can change color of the pieces if you desire so. However, it is advised that you make a backup of the piece set.

New piece sets added that can be selected as user defined sets. I took the liberty of taking these piece sets from Thief 1.1 (Thief 1.1 is distributed with an LGPL license). Please see credits file and thank the creators of these nice piece sets, that include many FICS users like Gorgonian, Decius, and many others.

Piece colors can be changes (for user defined piece sets only).

Background color of the windows can be changed and you are not limited to the gray color.

Better move highlighting, and premove highlighting. Instead of that little red box, you can see a proper line border around the sqaure that was updated. Move highlighting now works with castling as well.

FICS Help popups. Now you are able to see help files in seperate windows. Access this feature through Start Here Assistant. Just choose a topic (all topics available from INFO command are there, press help, and help file would be displayed. You dont have to type NEXT to see next page of help, iNemesis would automatically do so for you and you would see complete help file in the popup window. See Start Here Assistant for more details.

Start Here Assistant: for new players. New players can easily do required stuff from Start Here window. This window is automatically displayed at connection, and can be turned off from Settings/General menu.  It offers following shortcuts for new players who are not familiar with the server:
  1. Help - ask a question in channel 1 or 4. Selection of channel is done automatically depending on status of the user.
  2. Help - Quick help on Talking and Playing (intro_talking and intro_playing) in a popup.
  3. Help - Short helps. Shows available info files, plus a single line explanation of what it does. You can get detailed help on any command if you desire so by clicking a button.
  4. Help - Help popups for almost all subjects available through info commands (predefined), or help on any topic added later in FICS. For long help files, you do not have to type NEXT to view next help screen. iNemesis automatically do so and shows COMPLETE help file in popup window. You can also see help one page at a time, and instead of typing NEXT, simply press a button to see next help window.
  5. See Chess Board: would display first chess board.
  6. See Game Offers Posted by Other Players: displays seek graph.
  7. Challenge All Players: popups a window from which SEEK offer can be made.
  8. Challenge A Particular Player: offers match to a particular player.
  9. See or Set My Notes for Others to See: shows finger note editor where you can edit your finger notes.
  10. See My Last 10 Games: game history.
  11. See List of My Adjourned Games: stored list. Game list where either you or opponent disconnected, or game was adjourned by mutual agreement.
  12. See List of Games Being Played Over Here: games list. Sortable by all columns.
  13. See List of Players Connected to Server: Who command. Read Who Window for more details.
  14. See or Set My Mode Variables and Formula Settings: variable and formula editor.
  15. Chat With a Player.

Who Window: Displays all users who are logged in to the server at the moment. Following filters can be applied:
  1. Only open players.
  2. Only players for rated match.
  3. Only free players.
  4. Only available players.
  5. Only registered players.
  6. Only unregistered players.
  7. Show titled players.
  8. Show players with NoEscape set.
  9. Show those who meet my formula.
  10. Show those whose formula I meet.
  11. Show humans.
  12. Who Computers.

Any combination of the above filters can be applied.

The users can be sorted in the following order.
  1. Standard rating.
  2. Blitz rating. Blitz is default.
  3. Wild rating.
  4. Crazyhouse rating.
  5. Bughouse rating.
  6. Lightning rating.
  7. Suicide rating.
  8. atomic rating.
  9. Losers rating.
  10. Alphabetically.
  11. Default (Blitz).

You can do further sort in ascending or descending order by clicking on titles shown above the players listing,  and can sort/group by rating, status, name, and remarks (players category like administrators, computers, tournament directors etc.)

From the same window, you can get finger, history and assess information for the given player. Plus, you can challenge him for a match.

Changes:

Default move method changed from Click N Click to Drag Piece.  You can modify it through Right Click menu, in board properties.
By default, premove is off now. You can change it through Settings menu.
When premove is active, premove ivar is set to 1.

Bug Fixes:

With embedded boards, moving mouse over terminal would hide currently displayed popup windows.
Update Note button did not work if your login name was not enter exactly as it is registered at FICS, as it was case-sensitive, or if player handle included special flags like (*), (SR), ... etc.


Version2. 6 Talkies

iNemesis version2 .6 adds many new features. Its a minor upgrade to version 2.5:
Enhancements:

  • Finger Notes Editor.
  • User Lists Editor (for censor, notify, noplay, idlenotify, gnotify, and channels lists.)
  • PREMOVE support. Unlimited premoves can be made.
  • Last move highlighted.
  • Maximum terminal lines now configurable.
  • Auto-upgrade check can be disabled.
  • Option to disable popup windows.

Version2.5 Talkies

iNemesis version 2.5 adds many new features, its a major update over version 2.0:

Enhancements:
  • Text to speech capability added. Now you can hear says, tells, ptells, kibitzes, and whispers. You must download text to speech files from iNemesis web page to enable this feature. You must be running Windows 2000, or have to download these two additional setup files:

              1. Microsoft SAPI (speech api) 4.0  http://www.ideabuilders.com/public/spch_api.exe (847K)
              2. Microsoft Text to Speech Engine  http://www.ideabuilders.com/public/ms_tts.exe (7.7MB)
  • Visual formula editor (available through Variables button).
  • Board background pictures added.
  • 24 bit true color pieces added.
  • Redesigned board window.
  • Added open windows buttons to easily move between windows.
  • Usability enhancements.

Bug Fixes:
  • A major communication bug fixed that would stop incoming data from server for some time.
  • Now multiple boards are displayed correctly.

Version 2.0 BattleStation

iNemesis is a graphical interface for playing chess over the internet on one of the primary chess servers,  Free Internet Chess Server (FICS)hlpFICS or the Internet Chess Club (ICC)hlpFICS.   iNemesis would be able to communicate with any chess server that uses Style 12 for move positions, however, many advanced features would work only on FICS or its derivatives.

At FICS, the atmosphere and quality of play is much better than service like Yahoo or MSN. As registered member,  you can play rated games. The server keeps track of your record, and give you rating points depending on the outcome of the game and strength of your opponent. So you can keep track of your progress. Many variants of chess are offered there, including standard chess (time > 15 minutes), blitz (3 to 15 minutes), lightning (bullet, 0 to 3 minutes), Bughouse, Crazyhouse (version of bughouse that is played between 2 players instead of 4), Atomic, Losers, Suicide, and Wild.

FICS is free, and ICC is a paid service. For ICC, the primary interface is BlitzIn that is developed by ICC itself.  At FICS, many people have written free software to provide a graphical interface, and these interfaces are free. Many commercial chess applications are now providing FICS and ICC support.
 
While it is possible to play on either server without an interface, doing so requires the memorization of a large number of commands and playing on an ASCII board—I.e., a board where pieces are represented by letters, like Q for queen.  CClient automates many of the commands in a graphical user interface, and provides3 D and2 D boards to play on.

iNemesis code is based on CClient  version 2.0 (Public Domain) from James D. Barnet.  iNemesis offers a completely revamped user interface, plus these addtional features.

iNemesis Contains All Features of CClient 2.0. Scroll down to see CClient documentation. You can configure and run iNemesis in exactly in same mode that CClient uses, with exactly same look and feel. Go to Settings menu, and configure to your taste. However, one feature is missing. When you Left click on a terminal window, it would NOT execute the default action on the player name as CClient did. It would simply get the player name (Target Player) from the current mouse location, and it can be used by either right-click menu, or by green colored iNemesis Info Buttons.

There are many additional features.

    finger ^ vars TinPin ^ assess ^ history tinpin



send a PING command to server to check if other player is connected to the server (ping may not work if other player is behind a firewall). i button would display finger for the  player, his history, assess points for the current game. This information is helpful to know about your current opponent, or player whose game you are watching.



    Variables, Chat Filter, Journal, History, and Stored.  Pressing any of these buttons would display a new window with appropriate commands.

Variables:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When you press this button, a new window would appear that would contain variables of Target Player. To see variables of another player, enter his name in the
box next to Show Var button (on the new window), and press Show Var button. You can modify values of your own variables in that window, and save them by pressing Set Variables button.

Chat Filter:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You can create new windows that contain only those messages that you desire.  In Window Title field, enter anything that you'd like to appear on top of that new window. Now select filter for the messages that should appear in this window.  Everything Chatty would log all shouts, cshouts, tells, channel tells etc that you receive. All Users Tells and Says would display only tells and says directed at you from all players.  Alternately, you can enter a user list, with user names seperated by spaces, whose tells and says should appear in the new chat window.    All Channel Tells would receive all text that appears in any channel that you have joined. Alternately,  you can enter channel numbers seperated by spaces in Channel List. For example, if you want to monitor 1 and 4 only in the new window, enter 1 4 in Channel List. Shouts and CShouts determine if these messages should appear in this chat window.  You can create as many filtered chat windows as you like.

Journal:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This would show the Journal (library) of the Target Player. You can view games from there, or take other actions. To view journal of another player, enter his handle
in the appropriate field and press Show Journal button.

History:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This would display last 10 games of the Target Player.  There are help buttons in this window to view position or examine games etc on this window.  You can view history of another player by entering his name in appropriate edit box, and press Show History button.

Stored:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This would display stored (adjourned) games of the Target Player. You can view position or examine game from this window. To view another player's stored games, enter his name in the appropriate edit box, and press Show Stored button. If you are viewing your own stored games, then you can offer abort, offer draw, resign, or send game for adjudication.  Select a game, and press appropriate button. To request adjudication, enter message in the appropriate box, and replace default "DESIRED_RESULT your messages to adjudicate here" message.


Chess Client Documentation


Chess Client Topics

 

Overview

     What is CClient?hlpWhatIsCClient

     What are FICS and ICC?hlpFICS

     What do I need to use CClient?hlpRequirements

     Feature ListhlpFeatureList

     New in This VersionhlpNewinThisVersion Please read.

     Contacting MehlpContactingMe        

 

My First Game

     Getting ReadyhlpGettingReady

     Getting ConnectedhlpGettingConnected

     Finding an OpponenthlpFindingOpponent

     Playing a GamehlpPlayingGame

 

Reference

     Main ScreenhlpMainScreen

     Main Menu and ToolbarhlpMainMenu

     Terminal AreahlpTerminalArea

     List AreahlpListArea

     Board AreahlpBoardArea

     MoveListhlpMoveList

     Connection DialoghlpConnectDialog

     Match/Seek DialoghlpMatchDialog

     Chat WindowhlpChatWindow

     Hot KeyshlpHotKeys

     Sought GraphhlpSoughtGraph

 

Options

     Customizing CClienthlpCustomizingCClient

     Customizing BoardshlpCustomizingBoards

     Customizing Mouse ActionshlpCustomizingMouseActions New

     Customizing SoundshlpCustomizingSounds

     Customizing ListshlpCustomizingLists

     Customizing CommandshlpCustomizingCommands

     Customizing Chat AliaseshlpCustomizingChatAliases

 

Tasks

     Getting Help on the ServerhlpServerHints  

 

Helpful Hints

     CClient HintshlpCClientHints

     Server HintshlpServerHints

 

Time Stamp

     Using Time StamphlpUsingTimeSeal

What is CClient?

 

CClient is a graphical interface for playing chess over the internet on one of the primary chess servers,  Free Internet Chess Server (FICS)hlpFICS or the Internet Chess Club (ICC)hlpFICS.  CClient itself is not associated in any way with either server.

 

While it is possible to play on either server without an interface, doing so requires the memorization of a large number of commands and playing on an ASCII board—I.e., a board where pieces are represented by letters, like Q for queen. CClient automates many of the commands in a graphical user interface, and provides 3D and 2D boards to play on.

 


What are FICS and ICC?

 

FICS (Free Internet Chess Server) and ICC (Internet Chess Club) are both Internet Chess Servers.  They are places where you can play chess or chess variants against other internet users or computers, observe and discuss games, etc.  You can use either or both with CClient.

 

Both servers implement similar TELNET interfaces, similar to old terminals.  Without an interface, they simply display text screens and permit you to type various commands, like “P-Q4” to move a pawn or “help commands” to display a list of commands. 

 

Both servers will permit you to log on and play unrated games now as an unregistered user.  To use all the servers’ features, however, you must register with them.  In the case of FICS, this involves simply selecting a handle (the name you will use on the server) and sending an email to the administrators—there are no costs involved.  For ICC, however, you must pay to register, though they are currently offering a 7 day free trial period.  Typing the command “help register” on either server will display details on registering.

 

Which server to use is up to you—CClient is affiliated with neither and works with both. It is recommended you sign on to both as an unregistered user to try them both out. 

 


What do I need to use CClient?

 

Required

·         Windows 95 or Windows NT

·         A 32-bit TCP/IP Internet connection--i.e., a Wsock32.dll.  16-bit Winsock.dll's will not work.  The Windows 95 'Dial-Up Networking' will work.

Recommended

·         At least 800x600 resolution—the higher, the better.

 

Note on TCP/IP (Winsock)

 

If you can use 32-bit Netscape or Internet Explorer, you probably have an 32-bit TCP/IP stack.  If you use the Window 95 Dial-up Networking, you have one.  If you are not sure, or do not have one, contact your internet connection provider.

 

If you have a terminal or shell-style internet connection without a TCP/IP stack, look for the Dos-based ZIICS interface by Andy McFarland, which supports these types of connections, on the ICC FTP site—ftp://ftp.lm.com.


CClient Features

 

·         Hyper-text web page and email links.

·         Interactive move list.

·         Ability to save and load games in CClient format, or export in PGN format.

·         Customizable wave file sound for many events.

·         True 3D board and pieces, with 2D option, both fully sizable.

·         Real-time (i.e., self-updating), customizable lists for things like games played, players available, games sought, server commands, players in a certain channel, messages, etc.

·         User-definable mouse click actions for matching, tells, observing, assessing, etc.

·         User-definable colors/fonts for Says, Tells, etc.

·         Full Bughouse chess variant support, with display of pieces held and click-and-drag to drop.

·         Full Suicide variant support, including selection of Kings as promotion piece.

·         Built-in Time Stamp for ICC and Time Seal for FICS.

·         Easy configuration of connections and match/seek options.

·         Automation of many common commands.

·         Observe up to 4 games simultaneously without having to manage multiple windows.

·         Popup chat system activated by clicking on handles or receiving tells or says with 16 user-definable messages.

·         Unlimited number of user-definable commands accessible from a combo-box.

 


Main Screen

 

 

The main screen is consists of the following distinct areas:

 

Main MenuhlpMainMenu

Along with the Toolbar, provides access to CClient’s features.  Items followed by a hot-key specifier (like “Say   F4”) can be accessed quickly by pressing the key specified.      

 

ToolbarhlpMainMenu

Buttons which provide quick access to CClient features. 

 

List TabshlpDisplayMenu

      Tabs to show Lists, view boards, etc.

 

BoardshlpBoardArea / ListshlpListArea Area

Chess boards or lists of games, players, etc., are displayed here depending on the current Display Mode.

 

Splitter Bar

Click-and-drag the splitter bar to adjust the relative size of the board and list areas to the terminal area.

 

Terminal AreahlpTerminalArea

Incoming messages from the chess server will be displayed here.

 

Command Area

Type commands here, and press the <ENTER> key to send them to the server. The drop-down area contains common commands.

 

Status/Help Line

Displays a brief help message on whatever the mouse is currently over.  Pay close attention to this area while learning to use CClient.

 

Scroll Lock Indicator

Clicking here toggles Scroll Lock for the terminal area.  When Scroll Lock is off, the terminal area will automatically scroll to display incoming messages.

Main Menu and Toolbar

 

 

FilehlpFile

 

DisplayhlpDisplayMenu

 

ActionshlpActionsMenu

 

SettingshlpSettingsMenu

 

GamehlpGameMenu

 


File Menu and Toolbar Buttons

 

      Connect/Disconnect

 

Connects or disconnects from the chess server.

 

Load

 

Loads a game saved with CClient.

 

Save

 

Saves the currently selected game in CClient format.

 

Export PGN

 

Saves the currently selected game in PGN format.

 

AutoSave\CClient Format

 

Automatically saves games after completion CClient format.  Game files are named Date_White_Black.cc.

 

Export PGN

 

Automatically saves games after completion PGN format.  Each new game is appended to the end of the selected PGN file.

 

Logging

 

Turn on loggint to the CClient.log file.

 

Exit

 

Closes CClient.

 


Mouse Actions

 

The mouse actions system has been revamped.  The mouse actions menu and icons have been replaced by a user-definable pop-up menu accessed by right-click on a target—i.e., player’s handle, a seek number, a game number, etc.  Left-clicking on a target will use the last action used on that target.  To copy or copy and paste, Left-click and drag to select the area you wish to copy, the right-click to pull up the menu and select Copy or Copy and Paste.

 

You can change the existing mouse actions and add news ones—see Customizing Mouse ActionshlpCustomizingMouseActions for details.

 

Mouse actions are an important part of using CClient effectively.  For instance, you might use the Sought Tab and notice Bob is seeking a 2 12 game.  Then you might right-click on Bob and select Finger to get some more information on him.  Once you’ve decided you do want to play him, right-click on the seek number on the Sought tab to play.

 

The default mouse actions are:

 

Tell: Sends a tell to the target.

Message:Sends a message to the target.  Unlike tells, the target may be offline when a message is sent.

Match: Displays Match DialoghlpMatchDialog to challenge target to a game.   

Play: Responds to a Seek Ad posted for a game by target.

Finger: Provides general information on the target.

History: Provides a history of the target’s last few games.

Observe: Observes game being played by target.

Assess: Show the ratings consequences of playing the target.

Variables:Shows variable settings for target.

Pstat: Shows your record in wins, losses, and draws against target.

Partner: Requests target to be your bughouse partner.

Follow: Automatically observes all games played by target.  Do not use this with your bughouse partner, and that is implemented automatically.

Help:Shows help on target.

Hello:Tells target “Hello.”

Salute: Shouts “I salutes target.”

Goodbye:Tells target goodbye.

Display Menu and Tabs

 

 

The Display menu control what is shown in the Lists/Boards portion of the Main ScreenhlpMainScreen. 

 

Example:  You want to play a game.  You click on the Sought tab and a list of ads for games is displayed.  With the Mouse ActionhlpMouseAction set for Play, you then click on the play handle or ad number to respond to that ad—i.e., begin playing the game advertised.

 

You can customizing how many and what tabs are show, and even define new ones—see Customizing ListshlpCustomizingLists.

 

Terminal Only

 

Enlarges the Terminal Area to fill the entire screen.

 

Boards

 

Displays the chess board(s).

 

Sought

 

Displays a list of games sought by other players, which updates itself every few seconds.  See Sought GraphhlpSoughtGraph.

 

Who

 

Displays a list of players available for games, witch updates itself every few seconds. 

 

Games

 

Displays a list of games being played.  Click on a handle or game number with the mouse action set to Observe to watch a game.

Actions Menu and Toolbar Buttons

 

 

 

     Accept

 

Accepts the last offer made to you (for a match or whatever).  If you have more than one pending offer, the server may ask you to be more specific.

 

      Decline

 

Declines the last offer made to you.

 

      Shout

 

Sends server wide messages.  Depending on the setup, uses either Shout (Plotinus shouts x), Cshout (Plotinus cshouts x) for chess related shouts, or It (à Potinus x’s).  Right-clicking the icon allows you to select the type of shout to use.

 

      Seek

 

Clear Messages

 

Deletes your messages.

 


Settings Menu and ToolBar Buttons

 

 

 

      Open

 

Toggles whether you are open or closed to receiving match requests.

 

     Silence

 

Toggles hearing of server wide messages.  Right-clicking the icon will allow you to select what types of messages are affected.

 


Game Menu and GameBar

 

Different Game Menu options and GameBar buttons will be enabled and visible depending on whether you are playing, observing, or examining a game.

 

       Say

 

Sends a message to your current or last opponent.

 

        Kibitz

 

Sends a message to all players and observers of the current game.

 

       Whisper

 

Sends a message to all observers of the current game.

 

       Draw

 

Offers your opponent a draw.

 

       Resign

 

Resigns the game.

 

       Abort/Close

 

Request to abort a game you are playing, or closes games you are observing or examining.  It may take a moment to close games, as the server must be notified first.

 

       Accept

 

Accepts the last offer.

 

       Reject

 

Rejects the last offer.

 

       Autoflag

 

Toggles auto-flagging on and off.  When auto-flag is on, your opponent will forfeit the game if he runs out of time.

 

       Back

 

Goes back 1 move.  For examined games, actually moves the examined games backwards.  For other games, starts a local examine mode that can be ended with Revert, or by just going forward to the most recent move.

 

       Pause

 

Requests to pause the clocks.

 

       Revert

 

Issues Revert command in examine mode, or return to main line in local examine mode.

 

       Forward

 

Goes forward.

 

       Fast Forward

 

Goes forward 3 moves in an examined game.

 

       Congratulate

 

Tells your opponent, “Good game.”

 

       Flip

 

Reverses the boards.

 

       Observers

 

Displays a list of the game’s observers in the Terminal  Area.

 

       Promotion

 

Changes the setting for future pawn promotions.  Pawns will automatically be promoted to the selected piece.

 


Getting Ready

 

Before you play your first game, you will want to make sure the chess board displays in a way you are comfortable playing on.  The display of the board can vary radically dependent on resolution size, etc. 

 

·        Click on the Display Menu, then the Boards menu item to display the chess board.  Adjust the size of the main window and drag the Splitter Bar below the board until it looks right for you.

·        If you are still not happy with the board, click on the Settings menu, then the Boards menu item.  The Board Properties window will display.  Play with different combinations of Perspective, colors, and 2D board and/or pieces until you like what you see.

·        When you’re happy with the board, click on the Display menu, then the Terminal Only menu item to put away the board for now

·        Click the >> button at the top of this help screen to continue.

Getting Connected

 

The first step in playing a game is to get connected to one of the chess servers. 

 

·        Click the File Menu, then the Connect menu item.  This will bring up the Connect Dialog.

·        Enter a handle you will go by in the Handle Field.  Try to use one noone else would be using.  Leave the password blank for now, unless you already have an account on FICS.

·        Click the OK button.  Your internet dialer should start up if you are not already connected.  If it doesn’t, you may have to start it up manually.

·        After a minute, you should see a message in the Terminal Area informing you that you have connected to the FICS server.  You may also sees lots of other messages you don’t understand if you’ve never connected before—just ignore these for now.

·        Click the >> button at the top of this help screen to continue.

Finding an Opponent

 

The second step in playing a game is finding an opponent to play.  There are many ways to do this in CClient, but we will focus on only one for now.  If you are not registered with FICS, you will only be able to play unrated games for now.

 

·        Click on the Sought tab.  The games sought graph will appear.  To answer a seek, click on it, or right-click to find out more information about it.  See Sought GraphhlpSoughtGraph for more information.

·        Click the Seek button to the right of the Sought Graph.  The Match Dialog should pop up. 

·        Click OK without changing anything.  This will post an ad for an unrated game with 2 minutes starting on the clock, and 12 seconds added to the clock each move (the default game).

·        Wait.  Most people prefer to play rated games and registered players, so it may take a while for someone to respond. 

·        When someone responds to your add, you will get a message like “Creating unrated Blitz Match” and the Boards area will display.  Click OK to clear this message.

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