11/3/71 CHESS (VI)
NAME chess -- the game of chess
SYNOPSIS /usr/games/chess
DESCRIPTION Chess is an attempt at computer chess. The pro-
gram 'speaks' in algebraic chess notation. The
initial board configuration in this notation is
as follows:
8 R N B Q K B N R
7 P P P P P P P P
6 - * - * - * - *
5 * - * - * - * -
4 - * - * - * - *
3 * - * - * - * -
2 p p p p p p p p
1 r n b q k b n r
a b c d e f g h
A move is specified by the 'from' co-ordinate
followed by the 'to' co-ordinate. Thus the white
P-K4 move would be 'e2e4'. The black P-K4 would
be 'e7e5'.
The following commands are recognized by the
chess program:
move
Make the move if legal. The program does not
keep track of who is to play. The move is
made for what ever side is specified.
move x
Make the move regardless of legality. This is
a good way to either set up a desired situa-
tion or to cheat. The initial move 'e2e8x' is
a winner.
mw
The program will compute and make a move for
the white pieces.
m
The program will compute and make a move for
the black pieces.
lab
Set the level parameters to a and b, where a
and b are numbers between 0 and 9. The ini-
tial settings are 2 and 8. The first parame-
ter increases computation time rapidly while
the second parameter only increases computa-
tion exponentially. Currently move times run
from 20 seconds to 10 minutes. It was hoped
that these numbers would be usefully related
to the program's competence.
p
The board is printed.
u
The last move is un-made. This is another
good way to cheat.
t
All the moves to date are printed.
s
The current game situation is saved on the
file c.tmp.
r
The game situation on the file c.tmp is re-
stored.
!command
The unix command is executed by the mini-
shell.
An interrupt (DEL) will pull the program out of
its computation. If it is trying to make a move,
the best move to date is made.
FILES c.tmp
SEE ALSO msh
DIAGNOSTICS ? if an illegal move is attempted, or if an un-
known command is typed.
BUGS The current version does not recognize castling,
promotion and en passant. A new version is in
the mill.
OWNER ken