Difference between revisions of "Activities/Gnuchess"

Latest revision as of 00:50, 21 April 2016

About Gnuchess

Gnuchess is a Sugar front end to the gnuchess program [1], a computer program for playing chess.

Where to get Gnuchess

The Gnuchess activity is not yet available for download from the Sugar Activity Library: Gnuchess

The source code is available on on the Sugar Labs Gitorious server.

Using Gnuchess

The Toolbars

from left to right
Activity-toolbar Button: (toolbar described below)
Edit-toolbar Button: (toolbar described below)
View-toolbar Button: (toolbar described below)
Configure-toolbar Button: (toolbar described below)
Custom-toolbar Button: (toolbar described below)

New game: Start a new game.
Undo: Revert last move (When playing against the robot, the last two moves are reverted.) Note that undo is disabled when playing remotely over the network.
Hint: Used to offer a hint to the current player
Message area: Current status, e.g., Hint, Check, Checkmate, et al.
Stop Button: Exit the activity

Activity Toolbar

Activity name field: used to change the name of the activity
Reflection Button: used to write descriptions for the Journal entry of this instance of Portfolio
Share Button: Gnuchess supports sharing with another Sugar user

Copy: Copy current game to clipboard (in algebraic chess notation)
Paste: Paste a game from the clipboard (in algebraic chess notation)

Fullscreen: Used to show board at full screen with no toolbars showing. (Type ESC to return from Fullscreen mode.)
Playback: Playback the current game as an animation.
Game history: See a transcript of the game history in algebraic chess notation [2].
White: Display of White's most recent move
Black: Display of Black's most recent move
Default: Use default pieces
Sugar: Use Sugar colors on pieces
Custom: Use custom pieces

Play White: You play White, your opponent plays Black
Play Black: You play Black, your opponent plays White
Easy: This is the minimal setting for gnuchess: "book off" and "depth 1"
Hard: This is default setting for gnuchess, which includes "book on"
Play against the computer: The computer will move automatically
Play against a person: Take turns on the same computer or an opponent on the network (button will change colors when playing over the network)

Used to load custom artwork for each piece from the Sugar Journal.

Additional notes

In order to castle on the King's side (O-O), move the King to the g file.
In order to castle on the Queen's side (O-O-O), move the King to c file.
When the King is put in check, its square will flash
When given a hint, the squares of the piece to move and its destination are flashed. Also, the hint is displayed in algebraic notation.
The file saved to the Journal is in portable game format (PGN).

Additional notes re sharing

The Sugar colors of ones opponent appear on the 'human' button.
Only the sharing can start a new game.
Resuming is somewhat broken in Version 1.

Learning with Gnuchess

There is a rich history and long tradition of chess. It is arguably a fun way to engage in strategic thinking. It it is fun.

Extending Gnuchess

The basic rules of chess are involute in Gnuchess. However, you can have some fun with the graphics. When you share, your custom artwork is shared with your opponent, so each side can design their own look and feel.

Where to report problems

You can soon report bugs and make feature requests on our bug-tracking system (You need to create an account first). To list all open tickets of Gnuchess you can use query component=Gnuchess. You are also welcome to leave comments/suggestions on the Talk:Activities/Gnuchess page.

Credits

The Sugar wrapper for GNU Chess was written and is maintained by User:Walter.

@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 == Where to get Gnuchess ==
-The Gnuchess activity is '''not yet''' available for download from the [http://activities.sugarlabs.org Sugar Activity Library]: [http://activities.sugarlabs.org/en-US/sugar/addon/??? Gnuchess]
+The Gnuchess activity is '''not yet''' available for download from the [http://activities.sugarlabs.org Sugar Activity Library]: [http://activities.sugarlabs.org/en-US/sugar/addon/4593 Gnuchess]
 The source code is available on [http://git.sugarlabs.org/sugarchess on the Sugar Labs Gitorious server].
@@ Line 25: / Line 25: @@
 ;Custom-toolbar Button: (toolbar described below)
-;New game: Starts a new game.
+;New game: Start a new game.
-;Undo: Reverts last move (When playing against the robot, the last two moves are reverted.)
+;Undo: Revert last move (When playing against the robot, the last two moves are reverted.) Note that undo is disabled when playing remotely over the network.
 ;Hint: Used to offer a hint to the current player
-;Message area: Used to indicate current status
+;Message area: Current status, e.g., Hint, Check, Checkmate, et al.
-;Stop Button: used to exit the activity
+;Stop Button: Exit the activity
 ----
@@ Line 37: / Line 37: @@
 ;Activity name field: used to change the name of the activity
 ;Reflection Button: used to write descriptions for the Journal entry of this instance of Portfolio
-;Share Button: disabled (Gnuchess Activity does not support sharing)
+;Share Button: Gnuchess supports sharing with another Sugar user
 [[Image:Gnuchess-edit-toolbar.png]]
-;Copy: Copy current game to clipboard (in algrbraic chess notation)
+;Copy: Copy current game to clipboard (in algebraic chess notation)
-;Paste: Paste a game from the clipboard (in algrbraic chess notation)
+;Paste: Paste a game from the clipboard (in algebraic chess notation)
 [[Image:Gnuchess-view-toolbar.png]]
@@ Line 51: / Line 51: @@
 ;White: Display of White's most recent move
 ;Black: Display of Black's most recent move
+;Default: Use default pieces
+;Sugar: Use Sugar colors on pieces
+;Custom: Use custom pieces
 [[Image:Gnuchess-configure-toolbar.png]]
-;Play White:
+;Play White: You play White, your opponent plays Black
-;Play Black:
+;Play Black: You play Black, your opponent plays White
-;Easy:
+;Easy: This is the minimal setting for gnuchess: [http://www.gnu.org/software/chess/manual/gnuchess.html#Command-list "book off" and "depth 1"]
-;Hard:
+;Hard: This is default setting for gnuchess, which includes "book on"
-;Play against the computer:
+;Play against the computer: The computer will move automatically
-;Play against a person:
+;Play against a person: Take turns on the same computer or an opponent on the network (button will change colors when playing over the network)
 [[Image:Gnuchess-custom-toolbar.png]]
 Used to load custom artwork for each piece from the Sugar Journal.
+=== Additional notes ===
+* In order to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castling castle] on the King's side (O-O), move the King to the g file.
+* In order to castle on the Queen's side (O-O-O), move the King to c file.
+* When the King is put in check, its square will flash
+* When given a hint, the squares of the piece to move and its destination are flashed. Also, the hint is displayed in algebraic notation.
+* The file saved to the Journal is in portable game format (PGN).
+=== Additional notes re sharing ===
+* The Sugar colors of ones opponent appear on the 'human' button.
+* Only the sharing can start a new game.
+* Resuming is somewhat broken in Version 1.
 == Learning with Gnuchess ==
+There is a rich history and long tradition of chess. It is arguably a fun way to engage in strategic thinking. It it is fun.
 == Extending Gnuchess ==
+The basic rules of chess are involute in Gnuchess. However, you can have some fun with the graphics. When you share, your custom artwork is shared with your opponent, so each side can design their own look and feel.
 == Where to report problems ==
@@ Line 76: / Line 97: @@
 [[Category:Activity]]
+[[Category:Activities]]