Copyright: Interchess v2  Copyright © 1998-1999 Henry Wrightson, All rights reserved


Interchess v2 Help

Interchess version 2
Copyright (C) 1998-1999 Henry Wrightson
All Rights Reserved

Section 1 : Welcome

Introduction to Interchess

The legal stuff

Details of Freeware & License agreement

Installation

Un-Installation

Technical Stuff

Details about Distribution of Interchess

Achnowledgements

A footnote

Contact Information

Section 2 : User Interface

Introduction to the User Interface

The system tray icon

The About dialog

The main game interface

Starting a new game

The chess board

The new move notification dialog

Setting game options

General options

Notification options

Chess Set options

Heuristics options

Saved AI options

Printing

Printing a game

Printing a board

Section 3 : Glossary of Terms

Glossary


Introduction to Interchess

Interchess is an internet chess program that uses email to play chess with another opponent.  All you need is a valid email profile and a connection to the internet and your away.  Either an email account on a local area network or a dial-up networking connection to your pop3 mail server will suffice.

...Well it was up until v1.3.2, then suddenly it jumped to 1.5.0 with the introduction of a vs. computer mode whereby you can play chess against the computer.  Not to get too technical, it uses Depth-first, Mini-Max games search and state space evaluation algorithms to play the game and given a fast enough machine you can raise the search depth and play a fairly intelligent game of chess.  This feature is not its primary feature, more an afterthought, so don't forget that above all, Interchess is in existence to provide a means to play chess with your friends.  Due to the fact that the vs. computer mode is temperamental at best, the heuristics that it uses to determine what is a good move has been exposed to you for modification.  I'm no grandmaster so the heuristics are a little shaky but with enough tweaking you should be able to adjust it to play a fair game of chess.  As features go this one is mainly for fun.


Legal Stuff

Interchess is protected under copyright law to such an extent that illegal reproduction or distribution of this application and any component thereof is strictly prohibited, (see the section titled DISTRIBUTION ).  Interchess is copyrighted to Henry Wrightson 1998.

Disclaimer of Warranty:

THIS SOFTWARE AND THE ACCOMPANYING FILES ARE DISTRIBUTED "AS IS" AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES AS TO PERFORMANCE OR MERCHANTABILITY OR ANY OTHER WARRANTIES WHETHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED.


FREEWARE & LICENCE

This application is freeware but not public domain.  It is still protected under international copyright law.  Freeware entitles you to distribute the installation program in its entirety so long as you remain in accordance with the license agreement below and to use the application unrestrictedly at no cost.

Donations

Although this application is freeware, a lot of hard work has gone into its development and much future work is planned.  Because of this I feel it not unreasonable to ask for donations to be made to pay for the further development and support of Interchess.  Anything would be greatly appreciated; as little as a few pounds.  If you use and enjoy Interchess send me an email to let me know and if you feel like it, send me an email to the following address and I will let you know where to send your donation.

Donations@HappyValley.Screaming.net

License agreement

The computer program Interchess ("Software") is licensed by the author, for use only under the terms of this License, and the author reserves any rights not expressly granted to you. You own the media on which the Software is recorded or fixed, but the author retains ownership of the Software itself.

1.	License - Unregistered use.  This license allows you to use the software for the purpose for which it was intended and to do so at no cost.

1.1.	License - Distribution.  This license allows you to copy and distribute the software and all its components, in its entirety.

2.	Restrictions. You may not reverse engineer, de-compile, disassemble the software.  You may not charge money for, modify, adapt, translate, rent, lease, or create derivative works based upon the software or any part thereof.

3.	Termination. This License is effective to all users of Interchess until terminated. This License will terminate immediately without notice if you fail to comply with any provision of this License. Upon such termination you must destroy the Software, and all copies thereof.

4.	Limited Warranty. This limited warranty is the only warranty provided by Interchess and its licensors expressly disclaim all other warranties, either express or implied, including but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose with regard to the software and accompanying written materials.

5.	Limitation of Remedies and Damages. In no event will the author be liable to you for any consequential, incidental, indirect or special damages whatsoever (including, without limitation, damages for loss of business profits, business interruption, loss of business information and the like), whether foreseeable or unforeseeable, arising out of the use of or inability to use the Software or accompanying written materials, regardless of the basis of the claim and even if the author has been advised of the possibility of such damage.


Contact Information

Interchess is, unbelievably, FREEWARE!  There is no registration.  There used to be but I decided that nobody was going to register it and because of the limitations of the unregistered licence I felt that people would not use it either so all my hard work would kind of be wasted, so the obvious solution was to re-release it as freeware.  Because of this I would love to hear your comments on Interchess.

So if you feel inclined drop me an e-line at one of the following addresses;

Interchess@HenryWrightson.In2Home.co.uk

Interchess@HappyValley.Screaming.net

Any donations will be kindly accepted, please see the FREEWARE & LICENCE section for further details.

Also, visit the Interchess website for details of Interchess upgrades and additional components.

http://members.tripod.co.uk/HenryWrightson/


Installation

Simply run the Setup.exe program and follow the on-screen prompts. It is essential that you are not running any other applications otherwise you may get sharing violation errors as the setup application tries to copy on top of files that are currently being used.  Simply quit everything you are using, including hidden apps that may appear in the system tray and you should be safe.  If a sharing violation does occur, abort the installation and make sure you are definitely not running anything else, if you are not, then re-run the setup and choose to ignore the sharing violation and this should get round the problem.

Additional chess sets are also available, and although these are simple enough to install they are not contained within an installation program.  They are simple zip files that can be extracted to the directory into which Interchess was initially installed.


Un-installation

Why would you ever want to uninstall such a fantastic piece of software!  Assuming you do then simply run the Add/Remove software control panel and choose to remove Interchess.


Technical Stuff

Minimum specification:	Pentium 90Mhz, 8Mb RAM, 6Mb free HD space

Ethernet, Windows 95

Recommended specification:	Pentium 166, 32Mb RAM, 10Mb free HD space

Sound, 2Mb graphics, Ethernet, Windows 98

Because of the nature of mail transports this application requires a mail client to be running for it to work.  This may not be the case if your mail profile is set up to use Dial-up networking but in this case, any mail created by Interchess while 'off-line' will remain in the outbox of your default mail client until you choose to send it.  While logged onto a LAN , Without a mail client running, the application will launch but it will be "off-line", until you run a mail client and logon from the system tray menu.  Because, a mail client will be running at the same time as Interchess, there is an added side effect of allowing you access to chess moves that arrive in your inbox BEFORE Interchess has had a chance to grab them.  You can imagine that tampering with the email in any way prior to letting Interchess have it can only end in tears.  I, therefore, suggest you don't, but then, it's your life do what you will.  The chess move email is encrypted so it won't make a great deal of sense to you anyway.

Just remember that Interchess sends its moves by standard email and as such the chess move must undergo the same processes any other email would be subjected to, this includes being visible in the Inbox and Outbox from time to time.

While using a Dial-up networking email profile, when you first launch Interchess, a connection to the internet will be automatically requested and you will have the choice of whether to connect to the internet or to remain offline.  While off line Interchess will work as normal but no email will be sent until you explicitly tell your email client to send it.  Likewise nothing will be received unless you are logged onto your email server.

At regular intervals Interchess has to extract new moves from the inbox and to make sure this is as fast as possible, it will only deal with emails that are unread.  This means that if a new chess move arrives, don't read it or mark it as read because Interchess will simply ignore it.  If you choose to retrieve new moves from the menu, this limitation will be ignored and all mail, read or otherwise, will be checked.

If your computer seems sluggish while running Interchess try reducing the number of unread emails in your INBOX.  Also increase the interval between each check that Interchess makes by selecting Options... from System tray icon.


Distribution

You are hereby licensed to make as many copies of this software and documentation as you wish; give exact copies of the original version to anyone, provided no remuneration is exacted; and distribute this software and documentation in its unmodified form via electronic means. There is no charge for any of the above.

You are specifically prohibited from charging, or requesting donations, for any such copies, however made; and from distributing the software and/or documentation with other products (commercial or otherwise) without prior written permission.

The mass-distribution of this product via any medium is strictly prohibited without prior consent of the author.  The term "mass-distribution" applies to the distribution of this application in such a fashion that it would reach multiple unknown parties.


Acknowledgements

This application was developed using the following software tools;

•	Visual Basic 6, (Microsoft)

•	Photoshop 5, (Adobe)

•	Paint Shop Pro 4, (JASC Inc.)

•	RoboHelp 7, (Blue Sky Software Corp.)

•	Word 97, (Microsoft)

•	MicroAngelo 2.1, (Impact Software)

•	Bryce 3D, (MetaCreations)

•	AudioView 2, (Voyetra Technologies Inc.)

Special thanks to Beholder for the use of a chess set taken from there internet chess platform, BeholderBoard Virtual Chess-set v1.4, (http://www.beholder.co.uk) an used in the ‘Royal Cushion’ and ‘Beholder’ chess sets.


Footnote

As a user of Interchess you agree to abide by the following terms and conditions;

•	Interchess is pretty cheep so don't evaluate it forever, when you're happy that it works, pay for it.

•	You use this program at your own risk but I suggest that it won't do anything untoward to your system, but I'm afraid, for the sake of the law, I must reiterate the disclaimer stated above in the Legal Stuff section of his document.

•	You are required to entertain the possibility of learning to play chess a little better.

Have fun...

7 August, 1999

Henry Wrightson

Interchess@HenryWrightson.In2Home.co.uk


Introduction to the User Interface

In it’s basic form, the user interface appears to you as an unobtrusive little icon in the system tray .  If you right click this icon a menu will popup giving you access to the main features of the game.  If you double click it, the default option, (Open), action and the main game interface will open.

In any case, while you are running Interchess there will be no application hiding in the background or a button on the Taskbar to use up valuable Taskbar real-estate, just a little icon near the clock.

The rest of the application presents itself to you through various forms and dialogs.  These forms and dialogs have a fairly innovative design in so far as they do not look like the windows you are used to seeing in Windows.  None of them have a title bar with the usual menu on the left and buttons on the right, but they all have the same functionality as a standard window.  The most important forms and dialogs are described later in this section.

In many cases hitting escape while a window or dialog is open will dismiss it, as if you have selected close or cancel.

Were from here…

The system tray icon 	The About... dialog

The main game interface 	Starting a new game

The chess board 	The new move notification dialog

Setting game options 	Printing a game

Printing a board


The system tray icon

The system tray icon serves two purposes, firstly it provides the main access point for Interchess and secondly it displays a certain amount of status information.

You can simply double click it and the main game interface will open.  From this form, you can access all the games functions.  Alternatively you can access the most frequently used functions from the system tray icon, right click menu, detailed lower down this page.  In actuality, so long as all you are doing is playing a game of chess with another person via email you can use Interchess entirely from the system tray icon and never need to open the main game interface.

Although the system tray icon is customisable, in its default state, it appears as a little gray Pawn chess piece.

When a new move arrives or while there are games awaiting your next move the tray icon becomes a little red Pawn chess piece to let you know there is something in Interchess to attend to.

If you run Interchess while using a LAN mail server email profile, but do not have an email client open, or you loose your network connection while running Interchess, the tray icon will change to a little gray Pawn chess piece with a no entry sign superimposed on it, to indicate that for what ever reason, you have no email capability at the moment.  While in this state you do not have the ability to start or play an email game.  You can however view all your current games or play a game against the computer.

Right clicking on the tray icon will pop up the following menu from which you can access the most commonly used Interchess features.

Open	Open the main game interface.

New Game	Starts a new game by opening the New Game Information dialog.  Opting to start a new game from here will bypass the main game interface.

Games	A submenu listing all the games that you are currently playing.  The menu is divided into two parts, games awaiting your move and games awaiting your opponents move.  Select a game from this submenu and the chess board will be opened immediately, bypassing the main game interface.

Retrieve games	Establishes a connection with your email client , if one is running, and checks your INBOX for new chess move emails.

Options	Opens the options dialog

About	Displays details about the version of Interchess you are running.  This is also where you access the registration dialog.

Exit	As it says, quits Interchess.

Were from here…

The main game interface 	Starting a new game

The chess board 	Setting game options

The About... dialog


The About... dialog

This dialog displays information about the current version of Interchess you are running.  This is also where you will need to go to register your copy of Interchess, (See this help documents section on Contact).

If you are using an unregistered copy of Interchess, when you open the About… dialog, in the area reserved for the registered users details, a button titled Register will appear.  Click on this button and a small dialog will pop up into which you can enter your registration name and serial number.  Click OK to this dialog, and providing the serial number is a valid number, your copy of Interchess will become registered and you will have access to the disabled options on the options dialog.  You will also feel a warm feeling rise through your entire body, as you begin to comprehend the, almost indescribable, joy the author of Interchess feels knowing that someone appreciates his work.


The main game interface

Assuming you either double-clicked the system tray icon or selected Open from the right-click popup menu, this form will open.

Click on the various elements of picture above to get help on the different features.

Were from here…

The About... dialog 	Starting a new game

The chess board 	Setting game options

Printing a game


File menu

Pops up a menu with the following options;

Retrieve games	Get any new moves that are waiting in your Inbox.

Options…	Open the options dialog

Backup database	Make a copy of the database.  This is done automatically every time the data is changed but…just to be on the safe side…

Restore database	Restore the database to the last backup.  If you inadvertently deleted a game, this option would get it back.

Print game…	Opens the Print game dialog and allows you to print a graphical representation of the entire game.

Hide interface	Closes the form, while keeping Interchess running as the system tray icon.

Exit Interchess	Quits Interchess and removes it’s icon from the system tray.


Game menu

Pops up a menu with the following options;

New game…	Opens the New game dialog to start a new game and then opens the chess board.

New setup game…	Opens the New game dialog to start a new game and then opens the chess board in setup mode.  This mode allows you to customise the initial board state prior to starting the game.

Play selected	Opens the chess board with the currently selected game.

Delete selected	Deleted the currently selected game from the database.


Sort menu

Pops up a menu with the following options;

Game status	Sorts the game list by game status, (moves, awaiting move, won, lost).

Opponents name	Sorts the game list by opponent.

Game title	Sorts the game list by game title.

First move date	Sorts the game list by date.

Ascending	Sets the sort order to ascending, (A-Z, 1-10)

Descending	Sets the sort order to descending, (Z-A, 10-1)


Help menu

Pops up a menu with the following options;

Help	Displays this help file on the opening page.

About…	Displays the About dialog.


Play selected game

Opens the Chess Board on the currently selected game.


Start new game

Opens the New Game Information dialog to retrieve your opponents details and then opens the chess board ready for your first move, with you playing white.


Setup and start a new game

Opens the New Game Information dialog to retrieve your opponents details and then opens the chess board in setup mode.  This mode allows you to customise the initial board state prior to playing the game.


Setup and start a new game with the computer

Opens the New Game Information dialog to retrieve name of the game and then opens the chess board in setup mode.  This mode allows you to customise the initial board state prior to playing the game.  Once you have setup the board, play then begins between you, playing white, and the computer, playing black.


Help

Displays this help page.


Minimize
Minimise

Minimises the form to a button on the Taskbar.


Hide

Closes the form, while keeping Interchess running as the system tray icon.


Game list

A list of all the games that you currently have in the database.  A little icon next to each game denotes the status of that game.

Status icon	Game status
Grey pawn	Awaiting opponents move.
Red pawn	Awaiting your move.
Green ticked pawn	Game won by you.
Red crossed pawn	Game lost by you.

By left clicking on the column headings of the list you can change the column by which the list is ordered.  By right clicking on the column headings you can toggle between the list being sorted by that column in ascending and descending order.


Starting a new game

This dialog is used to collect information about your opponent.  There are two details to be obtained, a name for the game so it can be identified and the name of your opponent, as it appears in your email address book.

If you have chosen to play a game against the computer, this dialog is displayed for you to enter the game name but the opponent name and email fields are already filled with the computers details and cannot be changed.

Click on the various elements of the picture above for help.

Were from here…

The main game interface 	The chess board


Game name

This is a name that is used to identify the game you are playing in both the main game interface game list and the new move notification dialog.


Opponent name

This is the name of your opponent as it appears in your personal email address book.  Type in a name, as you would into the To field of an normal email, and then tab out of the field.  A few seconds later the name will be resolves with those in your address book, and if a match has been found, the full name will be completed and the email address will be placed in the field below.  In no name has been found in your address book, you will be given the open to define a new address book record or select an email recipient from the address book.


Choose opponent

You can click on this button to open your personal email address book and choose an opponent from there.


Opponent email address

This is not a field that you are allowed to edit, it is just for reference so you can verify that the email address of the opponent that you have chosen is correct.


Help

Displays the this help page.


Ok button

This button remains greyed out and disabled until a valid opponent has been entered into the Opponent name field and that name has been resolved in the address book, (an email address has appeared in the field below).  Once it becomes enabled, you can click to open the chess board and start playing the game.


The chess board

While simply playing chess the board looks like the picture above, but if you have chosen to setup the game prior to playing the button bar on the left and the move history list on the right are replaced with the buttons and setup piece palette below.

Click on the different elements of the picture about to get help.

Were from here…

The main game interface 	Setting game options

Printing a board


Actions menu

Brings up the Actions menu which differs according to what mode the chess board is in.

Normal play mode : Menu options

View from opponent/me	Reverse the board so it can be viewed from the other side.

Show/Hide coordinates	Shows/Hides the board co-ordinate markers.

Undo current move	Undo the move you have just made.

Send new move	Send the move you have just made to your opponent.

Re-send last move	Re-send your last move.  This is useful if your opponent has accidentally deleted the game you are playing or the email didn’t get through.

Surrender game	Surrender.  You will still need to send the move.

Options…	Open the options dialog.

Print board state…	Print the current board state.

Close	Close the chess board window.

Setup game : Additional menu options

Play current setup	Accept the game setup and begin playing chess.

Reset board	Reset the board to a standard chess configuration.

Clear board	Clear the board of all pieces.


History / Piece palette menu

Brings up the move history menu.  This menu is not available in board setup mode.  The menu has the following options;

Remove hilight	Removes the move highlight that shows where the last moved piece came from.

First move	Moves to the first move in the game.

Last move	Moves to the last move in the game.


Minimize window
Minimise window

Minimises the window to a button on the Taskbar.


Help

Displays this help page.


Toggle view

Reverse the board so it can be viewed from the other side.


Toggle coordinates
Toggle co-ordinates

Hides and displays the board co-ordinate system.  This has the effect of numbering the rows on the board from A to H and the columns from 1 to 8 with A1 at the bottom left hand corner if you are playing white.


Undo current move

If you have made a move, this button will undo that move.  It is only available if you are currently looking at your new move.  If you make a move then select a different move from the history list, the undo button will become disabled until you move back the last move in the history.


Surrender game

This will surrender the game and tip your king onto it’s side.  This is just another move, like any other, so it can be undone if you change your mind.  You will also have to send it like any other move.


Send move

This saves the move in the database and sends it to your opponent.  It also backs up the database, thus overwriting your last backup, so if you didn’t mean to send the move, you cannot restore the database.  You can however get your opponent to quit their copy of Interchess before the new move arrives in their Inbox, delete the game from your database and get your opponent to delete the new move that will eventually arrive in there Inbox.  Your opponent can then safely re-send their last move and you can start again.  It is VERY unlikely that a) you will be able to achieve all this before Interchess picks up your new move and b) you will be able to get your opponent to agree to ignoring your last move, so basically be careful, and assume that clicking send is the same as taking your hand of the piece you are holding, which in chess means you have made your move.


Re-send last move

This allows you reset your last move.  You may need this function if for any reason, your opponent has lost the game you are playing or the move you last sent.  Because the entire game details are sent with each move, Interchess can completely rebuild a game from a chess move email, so if your opponent accidentally deletes the game you are playing, all you need to do is re-send your last move and Interchess will rebuild the game at his end.


Close chess board

Closes the chess board window.


Board

The main playing area.  To move pieces simply pick them up and drag them to the location to which you wish them moved.  Then drop them and your move history will be updated.  You can then review the situation before clicking the send move button.

When the board is first opened the last move taken is highlighted and simply clicking anywhere on the chess board will dismiss this highlight.

Right clicking on the board will produces the same effect as clicking on the little green Actions Menu blob.


Move history

This is a list of all the moves that have been made in the game, with the standard chess notation for each move.  Selecting a move from this list will update the board state with that move so you can use this list to review the game.

Right clicking on this list produces the same effect as clicking on the


Opponent Info

States who you are playing against.


Current move comment

Displays any comment attached to the move currently selected in the move history.  If you or your opponent included a comment with their move, it will be displayed here when you select that move from the history list.


Player comment

This is were you enter your comment for the move you are making.  Because this field is cleared when ever your undo the current move, you are advised to enter your comment as the last thing you do before you send the move.


Play current setup

Once you are happy with the nature of the board state, click this button to begin playing the game.


Reset board

Resets the pieces to a standard chess configuration.


Clear board

Removes all the pieces from the chess board.


Chess box

Drag and drop pieces from the board into here to remove them from the board.


Piece palette

These are the pieces of a chess set that can be dragged and dropped on the board during board setup mode.  Once a king has been placed on the board, it’s piece is greyed out in the piece palette because you can only have one king of each colour on the board.

If you Right click on a piece here you can select to remove all of that type of piece from the board.


The new move notification dialog

Every so often, Interchess has a quick look in your Inbox to see if any new moves have come in since the last time it looked.  If they have, it reads them out, saves them into your game database, deletes them from your Inbox and then notifies you with the dialog in the picture above.

Click on the elements of the picture above to get help.

Were from here…

The main game interface 	The chess board


Opponent

The name of the opponent from whom this move originates.


Game title

The title of the game this move belongs to.


Opponents comment

Any comment the opponent chose to include with this move.


Help

Displays this help page.


Play

Open the chess board and play the new move.  If more than one move has simultaneously arrived, selecting this option will play the first move that arrived and then when you close the chess board, the game interface will be displayed.


Game list

Don’t play the new move but rather, open the main game interface.


Later

Ignore the new move for now.  It will be stored in the game database so you can play it later.  The system tray icon will change to represent the fact that there are games that need your attention and the Games submenu of the system tray menu will be updated with the new move.

Selecting this option will dismiss the new game notification dialog and return you to whatever you were doing.


Setting game options : General

These are the general game options.  Click on the different elements of the picture above for help.

Were from here…

The main game interface 	The chess board

Notification options 	Chess set options

Heuristics options 	Saved AI options


New move interval

Every so often Interchess has to look in your Inbox to see if any new move emails have arrived.  This indicates the interval between checks.  It ranges from never to 60 seconds.


Splash screen

Indicates whether to display the splash screen during application launch.


Verbose notifications

Indicates whether illegal chess moves should be notified with a verbose message dialog.  For example you might try to move Rook in a diagonal line, if verbose notifications is off, you will just hear a silly, “oops”, sound, but verbose notification is on, you will get a message dialog telling you why you cannot make that move.


Tooltips

Indicates whether the tooltip help should popup when you hover your mouse over various controls on form or dialog.  These are handy when you first start using Interchess but after a while, when you know what everything is, it’s nice to be able to turn them off.


Tray icons

This is a selection of system tray icons that you can use instead of the default “pawn” icons.  Simply scroll through the list until you find a set that you like the look of.  I have even included a cheesy ‘boss’ mode set that look like something obscure and technical so your boss doesn’t get wise to the fact that you are running a chess program.  What can I say, it was a friends idea!


Search depth

Not to get too technical, this sets the depth to which the AI search engine should search when making a move.  It translates to the number of moves you wish the computer to look ahead when trying to determine its next move.  It goes up to 5 which means Interchess must consider roughly 75 billion possible moves.  Understandably, because Interchess was written in Visual Basic and not Assember you are unlikely to ever finish a game with the search depth set to 5 because it simply takes TOO long.  Set it to 2 for a fair game of chess or 3 if you’re really patient.


Setting game options : Notification

This page contains customisable options related to your notification of a new chess moves arrival in your Inbox.  Click on the different elements of the picture above for help.

Were from here…

The main game interface 	The chess board

General options 	Chess set options

Heuristics options 	Saved AI options


Play a sound

Indicates whether you want to be notified of new chess moves with a sound.


Sound selection button

If you have chosen to be notified of new chess moves with a sound, click this button to select a sound.  The sound must be a WAV file, stored somewhere locally on your hard disk.


Current notification sound

Shows the currently selected new chess move notification sound.


Display message

Indicates whether you want to be notified of new chess moves with the new move notification dialog.  If this is selected then a dialog will pop up asking you if you want to play the new move.


Notification timeout

If you have chosen to be notified of new chess moves with the new move notification dialog then this specifies how long you wish the dialog to remain visible before it dismisses itself.


Setting game options : Chess Set

These options are for customising the chess set you wish to use to play chess.  Click on the different elements of the picture above for help.

Were from here…

The main game interface 	The chess board

General options 	Notification options

Heuristics options 	Saved AI options


Chess set

Select from this list the chess set you wish to use when playing chess.


Chess board

Select from this list the chess board you wish to use when playing chess.


Chess set Preview

This gives a small preview of the selected chess set and board.


Setting game options : Heuristics

This is where you can set the various heuristics values used by Interchess to determine what is a good or bad chess move.  A little about the way Interchess plays chess is in order.  Interchess uses minimax depth first games search which looks ahead a number of moves to determine which move now will maximise its advantage while at the same time minimise yours in later moves.  To do this, it generates a list of possible moves and then makes each one in turn scoring the value of that move.  For each of the possible moves its found it then looks another move ahead by making every possible opponents counter move and evaluating the quality of those moves.  This process continues until it as looked as far ahead as you have specified on the General options page.  It then tots up the scores for each of the moves, adding scores for its moves and subtracting score for opponents moves.  The result is a value attached to each of the possible moves currently available to it.  It then simply choose the highest scoring move.

The process by which is scores the moves is to compile a heuristic polynomial that combines different features of a board state.  These include such things as how vulnerable a piece has been left, how many pieces and of what nature are protected once a move has been made, whether a piece is in danger of being taken.  Each one of these heuristics has a value attached to it and this value can be read as the motivation to perform that particular action.  For instance, one of the heuristics is ‘Protect a rook’ and it has a default value of 101, which is roughly 1/3 the way between don’t care and high, and it means that if a move results in a rook being protected, add 101 to that moves score, or to put it another way, The motivation to protect a rook is ‘higher than normal but not overly high.’

Setting a motivation to low, (negative values), means the computer will endeavour to not do those things and setting it to high means it will try to do them move often.

If you wanted the computer to aggressively attack your king with it’s queen and bishops you would set the motivation to move the queen and bishops to maximum along with the motivation to move closer to the king.  Simple huh.

Setting heuristics to either maximum or minimum has it’s disadvantages though.  Lets say you set the motivation to move the computers rooks to fairly low, so that they don’t move about a lot during play, there is a good chance that they will not move out of the way if they you place them under attack because there motivation to move may not be high enough to counter the large negative score gained from your setting of the ‘Move rook’ heuristic.

Sadly, the words trial and error come time mind when describing how best to set these values!

Also because the AI follows a kind of behaviourist, distributed AI, approach, the computer does not subscribe to the concept of openings, middle games and end games.  It will therefore play in exactly the same way, all the way through the game.  Having said that, it has beaten me, but is that saying I can’t play chess or that it can?

Were from here…

The main game interface 	The chess board

General options 	Notification options

Chess set options 	Saved AI options


Heuristics list

A list of available heuristics values that you can change.  The column headed Current motivation shows the current value assigned to that heuristic as a little graphic slider and as a number.  The second column headed New Motivation shows any change that you have made that has not yet been applied.  Double clicking any of the heuristics in this list will reset the slider below this list to the current value so that if you changed it and then changed your mind about the change, you can double click it and undo the change.


Heuristics slider

Use this slider to change the value of the selected heuristic.  The thumb of the slider points to the value that you have changed it to or the current value of you have not changed it, while the bar inside the slider indicated the current value.


Setting game options : Saved AI

This is where you can manage your saved AI files.  And AI file is basically a file containing all the heuristics data from the Heuristics option page.  You may want to make some drastic changes to the heuristics so what you can do is save the data into an AI file on this page and then if you don’t like the changes you can load the old values back in.  You also may have found a set of heuristics that play a fairly good game of chess so you can save these values here and share them with your friends, who can load them in and use them.

You may also want to create a different set of heuristics for your computer, say a set for aggressive attacking and one for defensive play, these can then be loaded in when you wish to use them.

Were from here…

The main game interface 	The chess board

General options 	Notification options

Chess set options 	Heuristics options


Saved AI file list

This is a list of AI files that you currently have on your hard disk.


Save as name

The name of the file you wish to save the current heuristics to.  As you select items in the list above, this field will be updated with the name of the file you have selected for easy overwriting.


Load

Load the currently selected AI file into the heuristics database.


Delete

Delete the currently selected AI file.


Defaults

Reset the heuristics values found on the Heuristics options page back to the system default.


Save

Save the current heuristics data into a file with the name specified in the field to the left of this button.


OK

Applies the changes you have made, if any, and closes the options dialog.


Cancel

Discards any changes you have made and closes the options dialog.


Apply

If this button is enabled it means you have made a change to an option and clicking it will apply what changes you have made and keep the options dialog open for further changes.


Help

Displays this help page.


Printing a game

From here you can select the printer to print to and the dimensions of the printout.  A game is printed as a series of boards showing each move in the game.  You can specify the number of boards to print across and down the page.

Were from here…

The main game interface 	The chess board


Printing a board

Were from here…

The main game interface 	The chess board


Current printer

This is the name of the currently selected printer as seen in window that appears if you click on the Windows Start button and select Settings - Printers.


Columns

The number of chess board that will be printed across the page.  An A4 page can just accommodate 4.  When you are printing a game you can alter this value with the spin button but while you are printing just a board it is set to 1.


Columns spin button

Use this spin button to alter the number of chess boards to be printed across the page.


Rows

The number of chess board to print down the page.  An A4 page can just accommodate 5.  When you are printing a game you can alter this value with the spin button but while you are printing just a board it is set to 1.


Rows spin button

Use this spin button to adjust the number of chess board to print down the page.


Settings

Clicking this button will display the standard Windows printer settings dialog.  From here you can select a different printer or alter the settings of the currently selected printer.  If your printer supports multiple copies you can also set that here.


Print

Once you are happy with the printer settings, clicking this button will start a print job.


Help

Displays this help page.


Local Area Network

This is the network that links your computer to your local server.  The connection between your computer and the internet is achieved through your server and not your own computer.  If you have to enter a user name and password when you boot into Windows and then use something like Microsoft Outlook to view your email, then you are probably on a LAN with a mail server and should have no trouble using Interchess.

If you have difficulties getting chess move emails on a LAN consult your technical support staff for help with setting up your mail box profile.


Add/Remove software control panel

Click on the Windows Start button and select Settings \ Control Panel, then select Add/Remove Programs.  This will present you with a list of installed applications from which you can choose to uninstall Interchess.


System Tray

The area of the Windows Taskbar, (usually on the right side), where the clock normally resides.  This area can also be used to place icons for access to hidden applications and in the case of Interchess, this is the first access point for the entire application.


Forms & Dialogs

A windowed interface component, that encompasses some aspect of the application.  These are often called forms or windows.  Dialogs tend to me smaller and more specialised than standard forms and are often modal, meaning they must be dealt with and dismissed before you can continue using the application then generated the dialog.


Email Client

This is the application that you use to view you email.  Interchess has been extensively tested with Microsoft Outlook on a LAN and Microsoft Outlook Express on a Dial-up networking connection.  And because of this these are the recommended email clients.


Inbox

The INBOX is a conceptual representation of the storage location where new mail arrives.  Your email client will have the option to view the contents of your Inbox and it is here that Interchess chess moves will appear, as emails, and from where Interchess will extract the move.


Pop-3

A type of internet mail server.  If you are connected to a local area network with a mail server it is most likely an SMTP server but if you are connected to the internet via a Dial-up Networking connection, the mail server that you will connect to will most likely be a Pop-3 server.


Freeware

A kind of software licence that requires no payment for ownership, distribution or use.  This does not effect any copyright that may exist.


Public Domain

A kind of software licence were the author of the software had waved all rights to intellectual property.  The software is neither copyrighted or licensed.


Sharing violation

This error is likely to come up during installation and relates to a situation where the installation is trying to copy a file onto you hard disk that a) already exists and b) is being used by the system.  A common sharing violation can occur when installing fonts.


Zip files

A popular form of software archive.  PKZip and Winzip are commonly used to create and read this file type.


Email Profile

This is a profile that you set up in the Windows Mail & Fax control panel that dictates where your email Inbox is located, either on your Local Area Network mail server or on an Internet Pop-3 server.


Dial-up Networking

A kind of internet connection whereby you are connected to the internet through a model attached to your computer and a phone socket.  In most cases, this internet connection is maintain by your computer and not a server located elsewhere.