Help for PowerChess (TM) V6.0 ============================= Contents : 1) Description of the windows 2) Using the mouse 3) Using the keyboard 4) How to manage the library of games 5) How to quit the program 1) Description of the windows Each window consists of a header line with a white ESC-button, an optional pulldown menu line and a working area. The ESC-button is mostly used to close a window. In the main menu the ESC-button has the meaning of "quit program", which is equivalent to the pulldown menu option "Game" / "Quit". The main menu line shows the items "Game", "File", "Play" and "Information". Game : New game ........... Start a new game Change board ....... Flip the board Edit board ......... Enter special positions Quit ............... Quit program File : Load game .......... Load a game from disk Store game ......... Store a game on disk Print game ......... Print a move list Play : Force move ......... Force a computer move Undo move .......... Undo the last move Level .............. Set a new level (=time) Beginners .......... Easiest level Multimove .......... Multimove on/off Hint ............... Computer hint on/off Sound .............. Sound on/off Information : Current moves ...... All possible moves List of moves ...... List of last 50 moves Help ............... This help text The chess board appears in square notation within the working area. To the right there is a clock counting the ellapsed time, a window with the current state of the game and the move list with the best evalution from last computer search. 2) Using the mouse The mouse cursor is a white arrow symbol, which follows the mouse movements. !!! Attention : A mouse driver must be installed. When you select an option from the main menu by pressing the left mouse button, a pulldown menu is shown until you release the mouse button. You can pull down the marked area in the menu by drawing the mouse down. Releasing the left mouse button results in the activation of the command pointed to by the mouse cursor. When you press the left mouse button while the mouse cursor is on the chess board, the piece cursor (two white thick lines) is put to the square pointed to by the mouse cursor. Any piece on this square, which is ready to move, is picked up. You can now tell the computer where the piece should be placed by selecting an other square with the mouse. If the first selected square is empty or the selected piece can't be moved, a short acustic signal indicates the illegal move. (sound option must be ON). If you choose the menu option "Game" / "Load game", a listbox with all games in the current directory is shown. This listbox shows a part of the current directory. The size of this part can be seen on the right side (slider). Clicking any place in the scroll bar will scroll the contents of the listbox up or down depending on the place of the mouse cursor. If you click the ESC-button, the program leaves the load option without loading any game. If you release the mouse button pointing to a certain game in the listbox, this game is loaded into memory and ready to continue playing. Other listboxes (e.g. move list, list of possible moves) can be handled similarly to the listbox described above. 3) Using the keyboard The -key has the same meaning as the ESC-button clicked with the mouse. The - key is used as a confirmation key and for move input too. Arrow keys move the position of the piece cursor or the marked position in a pulldown menu or in a listbox. Pulldown menus are activated by pressing the keys + the underlined character in the menu simultaneously. The options of a pulldown menu are chosen accordingly. 4) How to manage the library of games Selecting the menu item "File" / "Load game" shows a listbox of the game files in the current directory. Choosing a game from this list loads it and displays a window with a comment line. When you close this window by clicking the ESC-button or by pressing the or the -key for confirmation, you may continue the restored game. If you like to save a game on disk, you simply select the menu item "File" / "Save game". A small window will ask for the file name. An additional window allows you to store a comment line together with the current game. Selecting the menu point "File" / "Print game" prints the current move list. 5) How to quit the program Click the ESC-button on the left side of the main window or select the menu item "Game" / "Quit". Pressing the ESC-key on your keyboard will do the same. A window with two buttons ("Yes","No") is shown midscreen to make sure that you really want to quit the program.