Make checks payable to Craig Shoemaker. Mail check or money order drawn on a U.S. bank for $40 to
Craig Shoemaker
4014 N. 41st Street
Arlington, VA 22207 U.S.A.
e-mail: craig.shoemaker@his.com
World Wide Web address is http://www.his.com/~esoteric/
Phone: (703) 534-5884
You may always check my current address by looking in the Macintosh Product Registry.
Quick Start is given at the end of this file.
ChessKing™ software allows two individuals to play chess together while they share one computer and one terminal screen. Different variations of chess are allowed to be played.
The software is rather primitive at this time. However, there is never any implied promose that I will work on this software or that more features will be added at some future date.
This software is not free. It costs $40. See how to make payment above. If you keep this software in your possession either on a floppy or hard drive or stored in any manner then you must pay the fee to use this software which is $40. You may also make installment payments if you are short of cash.
This software is sold as is and I am not responsible if anything bad happens for any reason.
You cannot sell this product, bundle this products with other products (whether these other products are sold or given away) nor imprint this product's image on hard disks or CDs for later sale or give-aways without express written permission from Esoteric Software.
You may not distribute this software.
Requirements: Any Macintosh running System 6.0.8 or higher, including, of course System 7. I do not know if system software earlier than 6.0.8 will work.
If any system requirements are not met you will hopefully be notified in an alert box in the program.
Set your monitor depth at 256 colors or 256 grays, if possible. To set your monitor depth to 16 grays is also quite acceptable. But, any monitor depth including black and white is fine (but if you set it to black and white then only open boards that are in black and white).
You can, of course, set your monitor depth to thousands or millions of colors for this is fine also.
If your monitor support only 4 colors and a you can't see the board squares on your screen, then try setting your monitor to 4 shades of gray and you should then be able to see the black and white playing squares on the board.
There's no doubt that the chess board and pieces look great when you have Color Quickdraw. But if you don't have Color Quickdraw (because your computer is too old and doesn't support colors (that is, it is a 68000 processor and not a 68020 processor or later), then although the display isn't cool looking, it will allow you to play. If you don't have Color Quickdraw and you choose the "Shrink" button, the display of the chessmen on the chess board is almost unreadable.
This program should run on any Macintosh from the oldest MacPlus to the newest Power Macs.
Here are some rules of chess that ChessKing does not yet deal with in one way or another. When (and if) ChessKing has a rudimentary thinking apparatus then some of these rules will be checked for and announced.
Checkmate Rule
ChessKing does not yet check to see if any side is checkmated. Indirectly it can be said that ChessKing checks for mate in that if a side is checkmated and tries to move, ChessKing will say that the move so made is illegal. But, ChessKing does not announce that one side or the other has checkmated the opponent.
Stalemate Rule
If a King is not in check and the only moves his side can make will place him in check, the game is stalemated. Again, ChessKing does not announce stalemate, but if a side is in stalemate and tries to move ChessKing will inform that player that he has made an illegal move. A stalemate is a drawn game in which no side wins.
Lack of Adequate Force to Checkmate
This is a drawn game. ChessKing does not check for this yet (and, of course, does not announce it since it doesn't check). Lack of adequate force to checkmate is a drawn game with neither side being victorious.
Drawn by Agreement
ChessKing can't think of a move to play much less decide if it is time to either accept or offer a draw. Furthermore, ChessKing would need some information about the opponent's strength before making any such decision (assuming ChessKing could think).
Draw by Repetition
This is a tricky rule and as written in Reinfeld's The Complete Chessplayer: "Here the rule states that where a position has already turned up twice in a game, with the same player on the move in each case, he may claim a draw before making the move which will produce the position a third time."
Assuming ChessKing had a brain, he is, of course, under no obligation to claim a draw by repetition. Similarly, neither would a human opponent be under such an obligation. In any case, ChessKing doesn't check to see if it is possible to claim a draw by either side based on the draw by repetition rule.
The Fifty Move Rule
Here is the rule explained by Reinfeld in his The Complete Chessplayer: "The so-called "50-move rule" specifies that either player may claim a draw if no capture has been made, and no Pawn has moved, in the past 50 moves. Such claims are of rare occurrence, the chief purpose of the rule being to penalize bunglers or those who insist on playing on in positions which can only be won by a gross blunder on the part of their adversary."
Since computers don't get impatient, there would be no reason for ChessKing to be motivated to claim a draw based on the 50 move rule if he is playing an opponent who is hoping for a blunder in an obviously drawn position. ChessKing, of course, when and if he ever thinks, should check to see if the 50-move rule is satisfied and be aware that either side could legally enforce that a draw be had, but this is not done yet.
Here is the 50-move rule explained by Edward Lasker in his book, Modern Chess Strategy: "Finally, a game is considered a draw when 50 moves have been made without accomplishing a checkmate, provided no man has been captured and no Pawn has moved. Excepted from this rule are positions in which it can be proved that a mate would require more than 50 moves."
Again, ChessKing doesn't at this time check to see if the 50-move rule boundary has been breached. Furthermore, there is at this time no mechanism (such as a dialog box) to allow the human playing the computer to tell the computer that he can or cannot demonstrate that a checkmate will take longer than 50 moves.
New Pieces
Depending on what type of chess game you play, you may find new pieces that you are not sure how to move. Don't worry, the game of chess has exactly the same rules, but sometimes additional pieces are added (and, of course, if you make an illegal move, ChessKing will let you know).
the Jester
At this time it looks like a jack in a Macintosh box. It moves like a Knight or a Bishop. The jester at first might remind you of a Bishop, which is good since it moves like a Bishop. The name "jester" or trick player might remind you that it moves like a piece you don't expect: the Knight. This compound movement is, of course, nothing new, since the Queen moves like a Bishop or a Rook.
the Archer
It looks like a bow and arrow on top of a structure. It moves like a Knight or a Rook. The bow and arrow suggests "up and over" or a hopping move for the Archer moves like a Knight. The structure suggests a sturdy foundation like is found in the Rook icon: the Archer also moves like a Rook. This compound movement is, of course, nothing new, since the Queen moves like a Bishop or a Rook.
the Catapult
The following diagram shows how the catapult moves. The catapult can never change the color of the squares it hops to.
The diagram below shows a possible change in the catapults movement which I may make at some future date.
Here the catapult has two types of moves: a hopping move and a horizontal or vertical move by one square (this latter move allows it to change colors and because it cannot move diagonally, it can be attacked along its forward diagonal by an enemy pawn just as a knight can be so attacked).
The catapul hops in two was: 1) it hops three squares vertically (up or down) and then breaks one square horizontally (either right or left) or 2) it hops three squares horizontally (right or left) and then breaks one square vertically (either up or down). The catapult never changes colors when it hops.
The catapult can only change its color when it moves one square either horizontally or vertically. A catapult is extremely dangerous: for instance, it can hop to some square where it attacks near some square of interest; then, and this is the danger, it can gently nudge forward or sideways or in some combination to bear dangerously down upon a certain square! A normal knight has to hop and hop around to get in position, but a catapult can hop to the general area and then move vertically or horizontally one square at a time to fine tune its position; it is, then, extremely powerful.
The above diagram shows the hopping move of the catapult. It also moves one square either vertically or horizontally if it decides not to hop. The catapult, I think, will probably be a very powerful piece; its strength will be to capture important pieces which are hemmed in and can't move to safety.
The following diagram shows another version of the catapult, a version which I don't like and which I will probably never implement.
Send me your comments concerning the movements and possible movements given the catapult.
About ChessKing and Computer Brains
ChessKing™ software does not have a brain. If you would like to write a brain for this software please let me know.
If you sell a chess playing brain, let me know your pricing.
Thanks!
Some menus are not implemented. While other menus are implemented only in part. There is never any implied promise that a component that is not implemented now may be implemented in the future. Only time and money will tell how my resources are allocated.
The File Menu
New
Creates a new document. All documents are text files at this time.
New Game
Creates a new chess game window with a chess board size of 8x8 squares. Whenever you create a new game, you are asked to open the appropriate chess board. Thus, look for the boards in the resource folder having the appropriate size: 8x8 in this case.
New Game 10x8
New Game 10x10
New Capa 10x8 Jester Beds Queen
New Capa 10x8 Jester Entertains King
New Capa 10x10 Jester Beds Queen
New Capa 10x10 Jester Entertains King
New Game 12x8
New Game 12x10
New Game 12x12
Open...
Opens a document.
Open Game...
Not implemented. Remember that there is never an implied promise that items not implemented will be in the future; they may or may not be, depending on time and money.
Resume Adjourned Game...
Not implemented.
Import Game...
Not implemented.
Close Document or Close Chess Game
Close document closes the active document window. Close chess game closes the active chess game window.
Save
Saves a document to disk.
Save As...
Saves a document to disk and you specify the filename.
Save Game
Not implemented.
Save Game As...
Not implemented.
Adjourn Game
Not implemented.
Adjourn Game As...
Not implemented.
Export Game...
Not implemented.
Revert to Saved...
Revert to the last saved version of the document. All current changes to the document you have just made will be lost.
Revert to Saved Game...
Not implemented
Insert New Chess Board...
Not implemented
Insert New Chess Pieces...
Allows you to choose the chess pieces that will be displayed.
Insert Text File...
Insert a text file into the currently selected document where the cursor is.
Insert Game...
Not implemented.
Batch File Translation...
You are not to use this at this time. It probably works, but I have not even begun simple tests of it. What you should always do: press “cancel” as soon as you see it.
Page Set Up...
Prepares a document for printing. Chess game windows cannot be printed (yet).
Print...
Prints a document. Chess game windows cannot be printed (yet).
Quit
Quit the application ChessKing™.
The Edit Menu
Undo or Undo Typing or Undo (whatever)
Operates at this time only for a standard document window and not for a graphic chess game window.
Cut
Cuts text from a standard document window.
Copy
Copy text from a standard document window.
Paste
Paste text from a standard document window.
Clear
Clear text from a standard document window.
Clear All But Selection
Clear all but selected text from a document window.
Select All
Select all text from a standard document window.
Preferences...
Not implemented.
Letter Format...
Not implemented.
Courier 7
These are fonts and sizes to be used for all standard document windows. Of course you may always select the contents of a document window, copy it, and paste it to a more advanced word processor.
Courier 9
Courier 10
Courier 12
Chicago 12
Geneva 10
Monaco 9
Monaco 10
New York 12
Times 14
The Board Menu
Invert Board
Not implemented.
Board Setup
Not implemented.
The Time Menu
Information...
Not implemented.
The Players Menu
Switch Sides
Not implemented.
Move, if possible, then Switch Sides
Not implemented.
Human is White
Not implemented.
Human is Black.
Not implemented.
The Thinking Menu
Move Now if Possible
Not implemented.
Stop Thinking
Not implemented.
Start Thinking
Not implemented.
Suspend Thinking
Not implemented.
Resume Thinking
Not implemented.
Think in Slow Motion
Not implemented.
The Brain Menu
Not implemented.
1794340 or whatever number your program shows in the menu
The number of free bytes of memory available to the application. In this example, 1794340 / 1024 is 1752k bytes of free memory.
Reminder: although you see lots of menu items listed above, there is never an implied promise that these will ever be implemented. At this stage, ChessKing™ software is only used to allow two people to play different varieties of chess together at one computer on one terminal screen.
How to Use ChessKing™ Software
Choose New Game or a chess variant of a new game from the File menu. Select the type of chess board you wish to use: that is, open the appropriate file containing the picture of the chess board.
Choose Show Move List from the Windows menu. This window will display each move as it is made. This window is a text document file. You may save it or you may print it. You may also select its contents, copy it and then paste it into another word processor document. This text file contains the computer notation for the moves played.
If you have more than one chess game in action, then first choose the chess game window from the Thinking menu, then choose Show Move List from the Windows menu.
