\input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*- @c "@(#)$Name$:$Id$" @c Documentation for Chess.el. @c Copyright (C) 2001, 2002 John Wiegley. @c This file is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it @c under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the @c Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at @c your option) any later version. @c This file is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but @c WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warraonty of @c MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU @c General Public License for more details. @c You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License @c along with Eshell; see the file COPYING. If not, write to the Free @c Software Foundation, 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. @c %**start of header @setfilename chess.info @settitle Emacs Chess: chess.el @c %**end of header @dircategory Emacs @direntry * Chess: (chess). Chess.el is an Emacs chess client. @end direntry @setchapternewpage on @ifinfo Copyright @copyright{} 2001, 2002 John Wiegley. Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation. @end ifinfo @synindex vr fn @c The titlepage section does not appear in the Info file. @titlepage @sp 4 @c The title is printed in a large font. @center @titlefont{User's Guide} @sp @center @titlefont{to} @sp @center @titlefont{Emacs Chess: chess.el} @ignore @sp 2 @center release 2.0 @c -release- @end ignore @sp 3 @center John Wiegley @c -date- @c The following two commands start the copyright page for the printed @c manual. This will not appear in the Info file. @page @vskip 0pt plus 1filll Copyright @copyright{} 2001, 2002 John Wiegley. Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation. @end titlepage @contents @c ================================================================ @c The real text starts here @c ================================================================ @ifinfo @node Top, Emacs Chess: chess.el, (dir), (dir) @top Emacs Chess: chess.el Chess.el is an Emacs chess client and library, designed to be used for writing chess-related programs, or for playing games of chess against various chess engines, including Internet servers. The library can be used for analyzing variations, browsing historical games, or a multitude of other purposes. The purpose of this manual is to help you understand how Chess.el is structured for use as a library, and also how to use it as a client. @end ifinfo @chapter The chess.el library @cindex library @section Positions A chess @dfn{position} is a given layout of pieces on a chess board, reflecting also which side is next to move, and what privileges are currently available to each side (castling short or long, en passant capture, etc). A position may be represented in ASCII using FEN notation, or graphically by displaying a chess board. It is rather inconvenient to render them verbally. The position can be represented on a remote terminal using X windows, or by transmitting the FEN string via a network connection, or clipboard, to another chess board rendering tool. It may of course also be represented physically, by setting up the pieces to match the FEN notation. Chess puzzles are most often provided as a set of positions. @subsection Creating positions @c lispfun chess-pos-create @c lispfun chess-pos-copy @defvar chess-starting-position @end defvar @subsection Position coordinates First of all, a coordinate system of octal indices is used, where ?\044 signifies rank 4 file 4 (i.e., "e4"). Rank is numbered 0 to 7, top to bottom, and file is 0 to 7, left to right. @c lispfun chess-index-rank @c lispfun chess-index-file @c lispfun chess-rf-to-index For those who wish to use ASCII coordinates, such as "e4", there are two conversion functions: @c lispfun chess-coord-to-index @c lispfun chess-index-to-coord @c lispfun chess-incr-index @subsection Position details With an octal index value, you can look up what's on a particular square, or set that square's value: @c lispfun chess-pos-piece @c lispfun chess-pos-piece-p @c lispfun chess-pos-set-piece @c lispfun chess-pos-search @c lispfun chess-search-position @c lispfun chess-pos-can-castle @c lispfun chess-pos-set-can-castle @c lispfun chess-pos-en-passant @c lispfun chess-pos-set-en-passant @c lispfun chess-pos-status @c lispfun chess-pos-set-status @c lispfun chess-pos-side-to-move @c lispfun chess-pos-set-side-to-move @c lispfun chess-pos-move Missing documentation for 'chess-pos-move' @subsection Annotations @c lispfun chess-pos-annotations @c lispfun chess-pos-add-annotation @subsection FEN notation @c lispfun chess-fen-to-pos @c lispfun chess-pos-to-fen @section Plies A @dfn{ply} is the differential between two positions. Or, it is the coordinate transformations applied to one position in order to arrive at the following position. It is also informally called "a move". A ply may be represented in ASCII by printing the FEN string of the base position, and then printing the positional transformation in algebraic notation. Since the starting position is usually known, the FEN string is optional. A ply may be represented graphically by moving the chess piece(s) involved. It may be rendered verbally by voicing which piece is to move, where it will move to, and what will happen a result of the move (piece capture, check, etc). Plies may be sent over network connections, postal mail, e-mail, etc., so long as the current position is maintained at both sides. Transmitting the base position's FEN string along with the ply offers a form of confirmation during the course of a game. @subsection Creating plies @c lispfun chess-ply-create @c lispfun chess-legal-plies @subsection Ply details @c lispfun chess-ply-pos @c lispfun chess-ply-set-pos @c lispfun chess-ply-changes @c lispfun chess-ply-set-changes @subsection The "next" position @c lispfun chess-ply-next-pos @c lispfun chess-ply-final-p @subsection Algebraic notation @c lispfun chess-ply-to-algebraic @c lispfun chess-algebraic-to-ply @defvar chess-algebraic-regexp @end defvar @section Variations A @dfn{variation} is a sequence of plies that occur after some starting position. If the starting position represents the initial setup of a chess board, and if the final ply results in completion of the game, it is called the "main variation". Otherwise, variations typically represented interesting tangents during a game---but not actually played---as envisioned by the player, an annotator, or someone studying the game. Variations may be represented in ASCII by stating the FEN string for starting position, followed by the list of plies that follow that position. They are difficult to represent graphically, except for showing each position in turn with a slight pause between---or by allowing the user to navigate each of the subsequent positions in turn. They may be represented verbally by announcing each of the plies in turn, as mentioned above. @subsection Creating variations @c lispfun chess-var-create @subsection Variation positions @c lispfun chess-var-pos @c lispfun chess-var-index @c lispfun chess-var-seq @c lispfun chess-var-side-to-move @subsection Varation plies @c lispfun chess-var-ply @subsection Making a move in a variation @c lispfun chess-var-move @c lispfun chess-var-add-ply @c lispfun chess-var-plies @section Games A @dfn{game} includes its main variation, incidental information about the game (who played it, where, when, who won, etc), and any sub-variations of interest to those studying the game afterwards. Where TAGS is an alist that associates arbitrary English tag names to their values. A game may be represented in ASCII using standard PGN notation. Representing them graphically or verbally is similar to what is done for variations. @c lispfun chess-game-add-hook @c lispfun chess-game-add-ply @c lispfun chess-game-hooks @c lispfun chess-game-plies @c lispfun chess-game-remove-hook @c lispfun chess-game-run-hooks @c lispfun chess-game-set-hooks @c lispfun chess-game-set-plies @subsection Creating games @c lispfun chess-game-create @subsection Game tags @c lispfun chess-game-tags @c lispfun chess-game-set-tags @c lispfun chess-game-tag @c lispfun chess-game-set-tag @c lispfun chess-game-del-tag @subsection Game positions @c lispfun chess-game-pos @c lispfun chess-game-index @c lispfun chess-game-seq @c lispfun chess-game-side-to-move @subsection Game plies @c lispfun chess-game-ply @subsection Making a move @c lispfun chess-game-move @subsection PGN notation @c lispfun chess-pgn-to-game @c lispfun chess-game-to-pgn @c lispfun chess-pgn-insert-plies @subsubsection PGN mode @section Collections A @dfn{collection} is a set of games archived for later perusal. A set of games conceptually represents a large tree of branching variations, and can be used for studying current theory, examining Master preferences, etc. Chess.el itself does not attempt to provide library services, or does it ever represent library collections in memory. Instead, it interacts with a chess database engine for the purpose of storing and retrieving games from the library, or performing library-wide analyses and searches. @chapter Displays The previous chapter described all the objects found in chess---positions, plies, variations, games and collections. However, these objects can only be manipulated programmitically using the functions given so far. In order to present them in a meaningful fashion to a human reader, it is necessary to create and use a display object. @c lispfun chess-display-create @c lispfun/c chess-display-destroy @chapter Chessboard displays @c lispfun chess-display-active-p @c lispfun chess-display-clear-board @c lispfun chess-display-game @c lispfun chess-display-highlight @c lispfun chess-display-index @c lispfun chess-display-invert @c lispfun chess-display-move @c lispfun chess-display-move-backward @c lispfun chess-display-move-first @c lispfun chess-display-move-forward @c lispfun chess-display-move-last @c lispfun chess-display-perspective @c lispfun chess-display-ply @c lispfun chess-display-position @c lispfun chess-display-quit @c lispfun chess-display-set-game @c lispfun chess-display-set-index @c lispfun chess-display-set-perspective @c lispfun chess-display-set-ply @c lispfun chess-display-set-position @c lispfun chess-display-set-variation @c lispfun chess-display-update @c lispfun chess-display-variation @chapter Engines @c lispfun chess-engine-create @c lispfun chess-engine-set-option @c lispfun/c chess-engine-destroy @c lispfun chess-engine-set-position @c lispfun chess-engine-position @c lispfun chess-engine-set-game @c lispfun chess-engine-game @c lispfun chess-engine-index @c lispfun chess-engine-move @c lispfun chess-engine-command @c lispfun chess-engine-send @unnumbered Concept Index @printindex cp @unnumbered Function and Variable Index @printindex fn @unnumbered Key Index @printindex ky @bye