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------------------------------------------------------------
CHESSEDT.EXE
------------------------------------------------------------
Version 6.00
Stephen M. Wharry
Congratulations: You have just purchased the first, and as
far as I know the only, PERSONAL chess database-analysis-
editor program on the market. What's that???? You didn't
purchase it, you picked it up on a bulletin board or
CompuServe??? WELL, hurry right out, put $25 in an
envelope, and entrust it to the US Mail to be delivered to:
------------------------------------------------------------
Stephen Wharry
4842 Clearview Circle
Bartlesville, OK 74006
------------------------------------------------------------
You conscience will continue to bug you until you PAY FOR
YOUR COPY of this wonderful program. CHESSEDT.EXE is being
distributed on the shareware concept in that it is not copy
protected and you are free to distribute copies to your
friends. However, if you are using this program, you are
obligated to pay for it.
------------------------------------------------------------
Note: To those blessed souls who have actually paid for
their copy of CHESSEDT, ignore my ramblings about money. My
policy, unlike MICROSOFT, is "Pay once, Never pay again."
------------------------------------------------------------
System requirements
MSDOS (PCDOS) 3.x or greater is best, though most of the
program will run on earlier versions.
A minimum of 256K is necessary. Recommended is 512K.
CHESSEDT Version 6.0 - Page 2
CHESSEDT.EXE 1
System requirements 1
History 4
Features of CHESSEDT 5
Getting Started 7
Automatic installation 7
Manual installation 7
CHESSEDT Options 8
Using CHESSEDT 8
Filenames and Directories 9
Filenames 9
Files types 11
Quit 12
File 12
Open - File 13
Save - File 14
Dir(ectory) - File 14
Purge - File 15
Headings - File 15
Edit 16
Quit - Edit 16
New - Edit 16
Heading - Edit 17
Game - Edit 19
Inputting the moves, the scoresheet 20
Terminating moves. 22
(Q)uit - Game - Edit 22
(A)nnotation - Game - Edit 22
Reviewing/Editing Annotations 24
(C)aptured pieces - Game - Edit 24
(G)oto move n - Game - Edit 25
(J)ump to move n - Game - Edit 25
(S)witching notation - Game - Edit 25
(T)urn board - Game - Edit 26
(I)nsert move - Game - Edit 26
(D)elete move - Game - Edit 26
(M)emorize position - Game - Edit 26
(N)ew game - Game - Edit 26
Append - Edit 26
Board - Edit 27
Exit - Board - Edit 27
Clear board - Board - Edit 28
Toggle eraser - Board - Edit 28
Switch colors - Board - Edit 28
Document - Edit 28
(Q)uit - Document - Edit 30
(N)ew - Document - Edit 30
(S)kip - Document - Edit 30
(M)emorize - Document - Edit 30
(R)estore - Document - Edit 30
(B)oard edit - Document - Edit 31
CHESSEDT Version 6.0 - Page 3
Print 31
Selection of an output device 31
Game - Print 32
Score - Print 33
Board - Print 33
Postal - Print 33
Captured Pieces - Print 33
Stats (Statistics) 34
(Q)uit - Stats 34
(A)ssemble all - Stats 34
(T)ournament - Stats 35
(S)core - Stats 35
(O)pening - Stats 36
(C)olor - Stats 36
(P)layer/opponent - Stats 36
(D)ate - Stats 36
(R)atings - Stats 37
(N)ame/owner - Stats 37
(G)o - Stats 38
Utility 39
Options - Utility 39
Board Position Database - Utility 42
Building your own database entries 43
Quit - Board DB - Utility 43
Browse - Board DB - Utility 44
Quit - Browse - Board DB - Utility 44
Next - Browse - Board DB - Utility 44
Load - Browse - Board DB - Utility 45
Find - Board DB - Utility 45
Edit board - Board DB - Utility 45
ASCII Conversions - Utility 45
bg and eg - ASCII Conversions - Utility 46
bh and eh - ASCII Conversions - Utility 46
ba and ea - ASCII Conversions - Utility 47
DOS Shell 47
If you have problems 48
APPENDIX I 49
APPENDIX II 50
ALGEBRAIC NOTATION 50
DESCRIPTIVE NOTATION 51
CHESSEDT Version 6.0 - Page 4
History
Before you get tied up in learning all about CHESSEDT, let
me give you a history lesson. (No it isn't required. You
may safely skip this section). This program was first
written in BASIC on a SINCLAR ZX-81 when I began playing
postal chess. It kept track of my postal games as separate
files and checked the moves for notation errors.
Unfortunately, it didn't catch the ones I wrote on the
postcards. Shucks, lost a few of those. Stupid computer!
As I graduated to an ATARI 800-XL (boy color and everything)
the program was enlarged to allow what is best described as
a compilation of game statistics. It also graduated to
using graphic chess characters rather than alphabetical
characters as the pieces.
The compilation of statistics came about from an idea
planted in my brain by Andy Soltis in one of his Chess Life
columns. GM Soltis suggested that chessplayers often have
misconceptions as to their strengths and weaknesses. For
example: John Doe may think he plays the Najdorf variation
of the Sicilian well as black, but does terrible against it
as white. In reality John Doe has terrible results whenever
he gets into a Najdorf Sicilian, regardless of the color.
(I know, I play it against him ALL the time!!!)
GM Soltis suggested we list our games, openings, color
allocations, and really study which openings are more suited
to our style of play. Check to see how well we do as white
or black. Is there really a difference in how we do against
class A players versus Experts? Well, since my chess editor
already kept track of the openings and my results, it only
took a few (????) lines of code to pull those files up and
sort them into some kind of table. Miraculously, I could
now find out what openings I played and what my results were
with them.
My use of this editor/statistics compiler quickly branched
from postal chess games into tournament games. For several
years, every evening in a far corner of the house you could
hear the 'boot-up' of an ATARI 800-XL in preparation for an
evening of postal chess. And, after every tournament, you
could hear the same beeping noise as tournament games were
entered into the computer.
In 1987, I finally broke down and entered the world of IBM
and IBM clone's. With the purchase of an IMS 286 operating
at 10 MHz, a copy of Microsoft Quickbasic and a mouse, I
CHESSEDT Version 6.0 - Page 5
started the long process of converting this program to its
third computer host, the results you are about to see.
The first release of CHESSEDT (July 1988) featured text only
for the playing board and pieces. However it did contain
the essence of all you are about to see. The next release
in November of 1988 corrected many of the bugs from the
first release, added graphic support, other notations beside
English algebraic, file conversion utilities, a board
editor, and improved menus and text editors. This newest
version adds postal support, mouse support, international
notation, jump to move command, improved directories,
captured pieces printout, a document editor, autoload from
the command line, MS windows support, check for checks, and
a number of other improvements.
Well enough history for now. Onto bigger and better things.
(Let's see.... If they read the above history, they're
probably thinking to themselves, 'Boy, I bet he spent a lot
of long hours working on this program. He probably didn't
get to bed till late for months on end. I really should
send him some money for this program!!!' Yes I did. This
program took over 6000 lines of code! And I really would
appreciate it if you would become a registered user.)
Features of CHESSEDT
By now you are asking yourself, what are the features of
this great program? Well, I'm here to tell you!!!
CHESSEDT...
1) Will allow you to store all your chess games as game
files, to be recalled at any time. This is the main
function of this program, not an add on to make the program
more versatile. Great for storing postal chess positions.
You can even output the current board position and last few
moves on a postcard.
2) Will allow you to check the moves on a scoresheet and
annotate the game in preparation for submitting the game for
publication. Besides printer output, the game and
annotations can be output to a normal ASCII file that can be
imported into the text editor of your choice. CHESSEDT was
written especially as a chess editor.
3) Will allow you to enter all your moves in English
algebraic notation, computer algebraic, long algebraic,
international numeric, and English descriptive. Shortened
forms of these same notations are supported. You input the
moves in the SAME notation you use to record the game.
CHESSEDT Version 6.0 - Page 6
CHESSEDT will translate to any of the above, from any of the
above!! You select the notation you want displayed and type
in the moves in any of the five standard notations.
CHESSEDT will translate it to the selected notation.
4) Will allow up to 200 half moves, 100 full move pairs,
and 100 annotations per game, with multiple annotations on
the half move.
5) Will allow you to build a positional database and search
this database regardless of the move order. You can build
your own opening position library with annotations or you
can swap files with friends.
6) Will allow you to analyze your success/failure ratio on
your games and openings based on score, tournament, color,
date, opponent, ratings, and more. In this analysis, you
may include as few as one and as many as every game you have
ever played.
7) Will allow you to convert an ASCII file containing
games, such as a USA Today On-Line capture file, to a set of
CHESSEDT game files. This will allow you to build a library
of game files rapidly without having to type in the moves!!
8) Will allow you to play through and edit an ASCII
document file containing multiple games. You can play
through the annotations in the games as well and return to
the main lines when you have exhausted the annotations.
9) Will allow you to create chess problems using a board
editor and store these problems along with moves and
annotations. CHESSEDT will remember what the starting board
position was when you recall the file!!!
10) Will allow you to select from four display modes, two
text and two graphic, depending on your computer system.
You can select from monochrome, CGA, EGA-text and EGA modes.
11) Will allow you to select the colors for the pieces, the
board, the text and the display areas from a palette of 64
colors. (Note: Only for EGA modes.)
12) Is compatible with MS Windows.
13) Supports the Microsoft Mouse. Use the mouse to select
commands, move pieces, etc.
These are just some of the major features of CHESSEDT. I
have written it to be fairly flexible in the manipulation of
files containing games. As you become familiar with
CHESSEDT Version 6.0 - Page 7
CHESSEDT, I'm sure you'll find applications that I haven't
even mentioned.
Getting Started
If you are reading this then you have already dearchived
both CHESSEDT.DOC and CHESSEDT.EXE or you have received
copies of both of these files on some type of media. Before
you can use CHESSEDT, a few simple installation steps are
necessary. If you are new to DOS, you may wish to use the
automatic installation program supplied (CEDTINIT).
Automatic installation ______________________
Type CEDTINIT at the DOS prompt.
CEDTINIT is a program that will create the appropriate
directories, copy CHESSEDT, and run CHESSEDT to set the
initial default values in the file CHESSEDT.DAT.
Note: Your old version of CHESSEDT will be written over. If
you wish to save your old files, then be sure to make a
backup copy before using the installation program.
To use CHESSEDT, type CD [name] to change directories to
your chess directory and then type CHESSEDT.
Manual installation ___________________
The first step in the installation is to decide how you wish
to organize your personal chess database. By this I mean,
where do you want your files stored, all in a single
directory, or in multiple directories and sub-directories.
Personally, I have all my postal games in my \CHESS\POSTAL
directory and my tournament games in my \CHESS\TOURNEY
directory. I keep CHESSEDT, and several other chess related
programs, in the \CHESS main directory.
So with this in mind, at the DOS prompt type MD [name],
where [name] is the name of the directory where you will be
placing this program. This will be your main chess
directory. Then create any other directories or sub-
directories you might wish to use in the future. CHESSEDT
fully supports the directory features of DOS.
If you are a user of those floppy things, you may not want
to create any directories at all. However, I find that,
even with floppies, directories and subdirectories are nice.
For floppies, remember you may need to format them before
you use them.
CHESSEDT Version 6.0 - Page 8
After all directories have been created, copy the CHESSEDT
program into the main chess directory you have created
above. If you are using floppies, it is probably a good
idea to copy COMMAND.COM onto your CHESSEDT floppy. You may
even want to make your CHESSEDT floppy a system disk. I
know it's a tight fit, but you can get CHESSEDT.EXE,
COMMAND.COM, and CHESSEDT.DAT on a single floppy.
CHESSEDT is now installed.
CHESSEDT Options ________________
The very first time you run CHESSEDT, the program will
prompt you for some information. The information requested
includes the default directory, the owner of this program,
the display mode, the type of notation, and selection of
colors to be used for the pieces and board. After you have
selected all the options, CHESSEDT creates a file called
CHESSEDT.DAT listing these options. Don't worry too much
about what options you selected as you can change them from
within CHESSEDT itself using the 'Utility - Options' command
described below.
Using CHESSEDT
To start CHESSEDT:
Set the default drive/directory to the drive/directory
where the program CHESSEDT.EXE is located.
Type CHESSEDT [filename] at the DOS prompt.
The filename is optional and can be used to load a game file
from the DOS command line. This option is used to maintain
compatibility with MS Windows. By modification of your
WIN.INI file to point GAM files to CHESSEDT, you will be
able to click on a game file from Windows and MS Windows
will launch the application (CHESSEDT) and load the
indicated file. For more information on MS Windows and
WIN.INI, see your MS Windows manuals. I have included a
copy of a CHESSEDT.PIF file, on the Utilities Disk, for use
with MS Windows.
When you first enter CHESSEDT you notice three windows, the
chessboard, the scoresheet, and the menu/text window.
CHESSEDT is a menu driven program for several reasons.
First, I find menus easy to use. Second, when the program
was first being written, menus were the only logical
structure since one cannot type fast on a Sinclar ZX-81.
CHESSEDT Version 6.0 - Page 9
The menu system is a menu-bar style with mouse support. You
can select a menu item in one of three ways. You can place
the mouse cursor over the selection and click, or you may
type the first letter corresponding to your choice, or you
can use the cursor keys (or tab) to select the default menu
item indicated by the "« »" characters and press the return
key. CHESSEDT does not discriminate between and uppercase
and lowercase command letters.
Normally, you will not have to press the return after a
command, as your selection will automatically be activated.
There are several exceptions to this, such as in the
edit/append game menu. In this latter menu you must press a
return after the command letter to differentiate a move from
a command.
For menus where the carriage return is required for
selection of a menu item, I have added the ability to
activate the selection by pressing the control key and the
command letter key (i.e. control A activates the annotation
editor immediately, not waiting for the carriage return).
Note: If you are confused by my sometimes calling the ENTER
key, the RETURN key, then you'll just have to tough it out.
For some reason IBM decided the key near your little finger
on your right hand labeled ENTER, or with an arrow with a
right angle, should now be called the ENTER key. I
apologize if I tend to call this key the RETURN or the
carriage return, but that's what it is and what it does. It
generates a newline and carriage return characters in the
computer and on a typewriter.
All of the menus have a command letter 'Q' for quit.
Pressing this key will exit you from whatever you are doing
and usually take you to the previous level. Pressing Q in
the main menu brings up the exit message. Pressing a Y for
yes at this point will clear your screen and take you back
to the familiar DOS prompt, with a little parting message
from me.
Now that you know how to select items from the menu (pretty
tough huh), let's discuss filenames after which we will
discuss each menu item separately.
Filenames and Directories _________________________
Filenames _________
Many of the functions of CHESSEDT revolve around the
filename of a chess game. It is important for you to know
how this works. A full understanding of the filename will
CHESSEDT Version 6.0 - Page 10
allow you to arrange the structure of your chess database to
your own needs/desires and probably eliminate some
frustration.
Filenames in CHESSEDT consist of two parts, the default
directory and the name of the file itself. The default
directory is initially the directory specified in the
CHESSEDT.DAT file. More about this file later.
When saving or opening files, CHESSEDT will usually display
the default directory on the line immediately above a prompt
for the filename. To change the default filename, simply
type in the new filename. To change the default directory,
type in the name of the directory as part of the new
filename. CHESSEDT detects the presence of a new
drive/directory specifier in the filename you supply. The
new drive/directory will be the default drive/directory
until you exit CHESSEDT or enter a new drive/directory.
Note: If you consistently get error messages when trying to
access your CHESSEDT datafiles, check the directory, it
might be missing a colon (:) or a backslash (\).
CHESSEDT uses eight letter filenames. It does this as I
quite often hide useful information in portions of the
filename. (See below!) If you use less than eight
characters, CHESSEDT will supply questions marks or dashes
for the rest of the characters. The question marks are used
when getting a directory and the dashes are usually supplied
when you are saving a game file.
If there is no filename assigned to a game when you try to
save it, CHESSEDT will create a default filename from the
first four characters of the opponent's name and the last
four characters of the date. Since you have full control of
these when you edit the header information for a game, the
filename can be as meaningless as you like. For instance,
for my postal games, although I don't tamper with my
opponent's name, I use the first four characters of the date
to specify the game number and the last two characters to
specify the year. This allows me to keep track of how many
games of postal chess I have played and still generate a
unique filename. (For those of you who are interested, I
have reached 116 games as of December 1989)
For most occasional tournament players, using the first four
characters to specify the opponent and the last four
characters to specify the month and year will insure a
unique filename since most of us do not play a tournament
game with the same player twice in one month. If you do
think this might happen, then merely change the date or
CHESSEDT Version 6.0 - Page 11
opponent, or change the filename when prompted. For
instance, on my club games I have started to type in the
day, month, year and a game number since I rarely play over
a hundred chess club games in a year.
Files types ___________
CHESSEDT creates a number of file types, DAT, GAM, PRT, and
LST files. The CHESSEDT.DAT file is the file contains the
following data:
Line 1 : The default directory.
Line 2 : The owner's name.
Line 3 : The type of display.
Line 4 : The type of notation desired.
Lines 5-11: The colors to be used in the EGA modes.
These can be edited at any time with a text editor or you
may also change these options from within CHESSEDT by using
the OPTIONS command in the UTILITIES menu.
The GAM files are the game files. These are ASCII files
that are not in quite the format you might like if you were
to print them out to a printer. The format of the files is
as follows.
Line 1 : The tournament name.
Line 2 : The date.
Line 3 : The opponent.
Line 4 : The opponent's rating.
Line 5 : The opening.
Line 6 : The owner's color for this game.
Line 7 : The owner's result.
Line 8 : The owner's rating at the time.
Line 9 : The owner's name.
Line 10: The number of annotations.
Line 11: The number of moves.
Line 12: The current annotation number.
Line 13: The current move number.
The annotations, if any, begin on line 14 and there are n
lines where n is the number of annotations determined from
line 10 above.
The moves, if any, begin immediately after the last
annotation, or on line 14 if there are no annotations.
There are m lines where m is the number of moves determined
from line 11 above.
Following the moves are 64 lines containing information
about the last known board position. The first line
CHESSEDT Version 6.0 - Page 12
contains a character representing the piece at a1 and the
64th line is the piece on h8. The pieces are assigned as
follows:
1 = White pawn
2 = White rook
3 = White knight
4 = White bishop
5 = White queen
6 = White King
7 = Black pawn
8 = Black rook
9 = Black knight
: = Black bishop
; = Black queen
< = Black king
The PRT files are printable files containing output from
CHESSEDT in ASCII form. For instance, the game can be
printed to a file in a format for easy reading, i.e. the
heading formation is set up in a standard format, the moves
are listed one after another on the same line and the
annotations are placed following the half move where the
annotation is applicable. The PRT files can easily be
imported to most text editors/word processors.
The LST files are ASCII files created when outputting
results from CHESSEDT which are best described as lists.
For example, lists of a directory, headings, or statistics.
Quit
In the main menu, Quit will exit from CHESSEDT and take you
back to DOS. It gives you a chance to change your mind
before exiting by prompting 'Quit CHESSEDT Version 6.00' and
then waiting for a key to be pressed. Pressing any key but
the Y will pop you right back to the main menu. Pressing
the Y key, signifying a yes, will exit you to DOS
File
This menu item is used to open (recall) or save (store) a
game file, check a directory, purge game files, or scan the
headings of games. Details on each of the selections are
listed below.
There are several special features of this version of
CHESSEDT. When prompted for a filename, you can enter a
partial filename such as "XDE" and CHESSEDT will act on the
first filename it finds that contains these characters.
Additionally, you can enter "????89" and CHESSEDT will act
CHESSEDT Version 6.0 - Page 13
on the first filename it sees with an 89 in the fifth and
sixth positions.
Another feature is a pop-up directory of files matching a
partial file specification. To access this pop-up partial
directory, press function key one (F1) instead of the
carriage return when entering a filename. A list of files
will be shown along with a scrolling bar and a ">" sign
showing the default file. This default file is the file
that will be defined as if you had typed in the filename.
You can change this filename by using the cursor keys or the
home/end/pgup/pgdn keys or you can scroll through this list
and select the file using the mouse. You can activate the
pop-up directory feature any time you are prompted for a
filename.
Note: If CHESSEDT finds only a single file that matches the
partial filename you entered, it will assume this is the
file you want and it will automatically return this filename
and execute the command you selected, even if you activated
the pop-up directory.
You can also use the mouse when you are prompted for a
filename. If the displayed filename is the one you want,
just click on the displayed filename and it will be selected
just as if you entered a carriage return.
Open - File
This selection will recall a game from disk into CHESSEDT.
If the filename you type is less than eight characters,
CHESSEDT will recall the first filename it finds which
matches all the characters you have typed. Thus, when
opening a filename "WRI", CHESSEDT will recall the first
filename it finds whose first three characters are WRI. As
indicated above, when prompted for the filename you can
enter a partial filename and press F1 to access a list of
all files matching the partial filename you entered.
Selecting Open from the File menu using the right mouse
button will automatically reload the current filename.
Using the left mouse button will prompt you for a filename.
When a game is recalled from disk, all header information,
annotation, moves, and the current board position are
recalled. Since the header information includes the current
move number and annotation number, the game is recalled at
the point where it was saved. Thus, you can be working with
a game, save it, recall it days later and continue as if you
had never left. This is ideal for postal chess!
CHESSEDT Version 6.0 - Page 14
Save - File
This selection is the inverse of the previous selection. It
is used to save the game. If the game being saved is a new
game, the default filename is constructed from the first
four characters of the opponent and the last four characters
of the date. If the filename is already defined, this will
be displayed.
Clicking on this command with the right mouse button will
automatically save the game using the default filename.
Clicking on this command with the left mouse button will
allow you to input a new filename.
If you want to use a different filename or directory, please
feel free. You can save the file under any filename you
like. If you use less than eight characters, CHESSEDT will
flesh out the rest of the filename with dashes.
Alternatively, when entering the opponents name and the
date, you may want to type in text or numbers that define
the way YOU want to store files.
Note: You can change directories on two subsequent saves to
create backup copies of your game files.
Dir(ectory) - File
The directory selection allows you to generate a directory
of game files. After displaying the current default
directory/disk drive, you will be prompted for the filename.
For a list of all game files in the current directory, type
in an asterisk (*) as a wildcard. Or type in a partial
filename and CHESSEDT will flesh out the rest of the
filename with question marks. CHESSEDT supports all DOS
wildcards.
If an * is entered as the filename, then all game files will
be shown. If ??????88 is entered as the filename, then only
games ending in an 88 will be shown. Since CHESSEDT creates
filenames with the last two characters being the year, this
is a handy way to get a directory of all games played in
1988.
Note: You do NOT have to append the .GAM extension to the
file name as CHESSEDT does this automatically.
After confirming the file specification, CHESSEDT next
requests the output device. The output of the directory
search can be directed to the (P)rinter, to a (F)ile, or to
the (S)creen. The default device is the screen.
CHESSEDT Version 6.0 - Page 15
If a file is selected, an output filename is requested.
If no directory is supplied, CHESSEDT will use the default
drive/directory.
If no filename is supplied, CHESSEDT will set the filename
to DIRECT.LST.
If no file extension is specified, CHESSEDT will append a
LST to the filename supplied.
If you elected to list the directory to the screen, the
listing will pause every so often. To continue the listing,
press any key except 'B' or 'b'. These latter keys are used
to indicate to the program that you wish to break from the
listing. These keys are also active in a couple of other
areas of CHESSEDT.
Purge - File
This selection is used to delete game files from your
system. If you find you need to delete a game, either
because you lost or it really wasn't a true gauge of your
skill (In other words, boy did you blow it!!!), then you may
use this function to clear the offending game from your
database.
After finding the file you wish to purge, CHESSEDT brings
the header information to the screen for you to review. It
then asks if you really want to delete this file. Reply
accordingly.
You may use wildcards in this purge utility, but beware
wildcards are just that, wild. They can easily be used to
purge all the games you have on your whole system. However,
since CHESSEDT always requests confirmation before purging a
game file, you probably won't have any problems.
Headings - File
The heading information for each game may be listed directly
to the printer/file/screen as with the directory.
Superficially, the game headings list is no more that an
expanded directory. Indeed, the first two steps are
identical to the steps used in the directory subroutine.
However, using this subroutine you can scan the game
headings without having to pull the whole game into memory.
For more information, see the directories and filenames
above.
CHESSEDT Version 6.0 - Page 16
As the headings are being displayed you have three options.
You may (B)reak from the headings scan routine by pressing
'B'. You may (R)ecall the file whose heading is displayed
by typing "R", or you may view the next heading by typing
any other key.
The headings scan routine does not affect the current
headings information, moves or the annotation you were
working on when you called this routine.
Edit
CHESSEDT revolves around the editing features. In fact,
this is the soul of CHESSEDT, the ability to edit, annotate,
play through, and keep statistics on chess games. In
addition, CHESSEDT will allow you to set up chess problems
with the board editor or play through games from a text
document. I have tried to include all the features
necessary to utilize CHESSEDT as a chess editor, analogous
to a text editor (word processor).
A fallout from this development, and in reality one of the
driving forces for CHESSEDT, is the ability to store games,
board positions, and just about any type of information you
want about a game in a single file. Thus, you can store
your postal games on disk and bring them up at a latter time
when you receive the reply in the mail. You can store the
results of your tournament games on file and bring them up
at any time. I have tried to add routines to CHESSEDT to
allow you to have complete documentation about a particular
game and to allow you to search through this documentation
at a latter date.
Quit - Edit
Quit will return you to the main menu.
New - Edit
This selection will clear all moves and annotation data and
then take you to the routine to edit the game heading.
After editing the heading, you will then be automatically
taken to the game editing routine. The 'New' command is the
command to be used anytime you are entering a new game. The
old heading information is not cleared since you may be
entering several games from the same tournament.
For more details on editing the heading, see the next
section. For more details on editing the game, see below.
CHESSEDT Version 6.0 - Page 17
Heading - Edit
As with most input in CHESSEDT, if default data are shown on
the screen, pressing a return will confirm acceptance of
that data. Pressing any other key will clear the default
data and allow you to input new data.
When the header input screen is called up, this subroutine
prints the tournament name with its previously defined
value, if any. You may type as much a tournament descriptor
as you like, however I recommend typing the tournament name
first rather than any specific descriptors, such as '1989',
as this allows a later search of your database based on the
tournament. Thus, with a tournament name equal to 'Golden
Knights 88NS43, I can search on just Golden Knights and this
game will qualify. More on this latter.
Next CHESSEDT requests the date on which the game was
played. As mentioned previously, for postal games I
essentially put in a fake 'date' composed of the game number
and the year the game was started. You could just as easily
contrive any type of data to better organize your files.
However, there are strong reasons for using the date for
normal tournament chess. This allows you to pinpoint the
day/month/year you played so brilliantly.
Note: The one peculiarity which I use in the entry of the
date is to enter the day before the month, i.e. day, month,
year. (This should come as no shock to European players.)
Since the last four characters of the date are used in
constructing the filenames in CHESSEDT, it is more
reasonable to include the month and year in the filename
rather than the day and year.
The opening is requested next, and here I must digress.
Since the Atari program was somewhat limited, I came up with
three letter abbreviations for all the openings. This
allowed a much more efficient searching algorithms and at
the same time cut down on typing. For the most part these
three letter abbreviations are simply the first three
letters of the name of the opening. For a complete list of
the abbreviations I used, see Appendix I.
Although the current searching algorithm searches for the
whole name specified, the table of statistics still only
uses the first three letters to specify an opening. Thus
for CHESSEDT, it is probably a GOOD IDEA that you make sure
the first three characters of the opening are unique.
CHESSEDT Version 6.0 - Page 18
You may elect to use three letter abbreviations. If you do
and you don't like my set of abbreviations, you are
certainly free to make up your own.
The opening can be input as upper or lower case since the
statistics routine will recognize both as being equivalent.
You may also input as many characters for a opening
descriptor as you would like, although I have found forty
characters, or less, gives a pleasant display on the screen.
Next you are prompted for the color with the 'as' prompt.
You may press 'b' for black or 'w' for white. This is the
color played by the owner, you. Remember this program was
written as a personal chess database program. If input
correctly, you will be able to search your database for all
the games you played as white.
Next you are prompted for the result of the game. Remember
this is YOUR result. Input a '1' or 'w' for a win, a '=' or
'd' for a draw, and a '0' or 'l' for a loss. If you have
not yet completed the game, a default of '?' is generated
when you press return. A result of ? is indicative of an
active game, i.e. a game still in progress. When one of the
players resigns the game, is mated, runs out of time, or a
draw is agreed to, the result is automatically updated. (See
'termination moves' below.)
The program then prompts for your opponent in this game.
The preferred syntax is placing your opponent's last name
first followed by a comma and his first name. Remember the
first four characters of the opponents name will also be the
first four characters of the default filename. Again it
seems more logical to me to have the filename contain a
portion of the opponents last name rather than the opponents
first name. However, you may do as you wish. You may even
decide to always preface the opponent's name with a four
digit number identifying the opponent in your database.
The program then prompts for your opponent's rating. This
is used in determining your results against higher/lower
rated opponents.
Although it may seem superfluous, the program next prompts
for the owner of the database. This is usually the default
owner defined at start up. However, you may elect to assign
a different owner to a particular game. Especially if you
are inputting games that are not your own. Or perhaps you
are typing in a game for a friend of yours. In this case
you certainly don't want your name on his game, especially
if he LOST! Remember, the owner is more than just the
CHESSEDT Version 6.0 - Page 19
second player, the color and result refer to the owner of
the game!!!
Note: In using this program as a chess editor for chess
publications, it may be easier to always define the opponent
as the player who played white, and the owner as the player
who played black. Following this procedure, all game
listings will list white's name first followed by black's
name, just as you would like it to appear in an article.
Finally, the program prompts for your rating at the time of
the game. Both of the ratings input into the header data
should be numbers as they will be treated as if they are
numbers latter on. If the ratings are not numbers, they
will be interpreted as zeros.
Game - Edit
If the edit feature is the soul of CHESSEDT, the game editor
is the heart. This is the routine where you construct and
play through the games. You can enter this routine by
selecting the Game function of the edit menu, or clicking
the mouse pointer on the left side of the chessboard while
the main menu is displayed.
The game editor is used to input games in preparation for
storing them as files, translate games from one notation to
another, play through an old game, and so on. When entering
the game editor, the move and annotation pointers will be
set to the beginning and the board will set up the starting
position. Normally the starting position will be the usual
setup. However, in cases where a chess problem has been
created using the board editor, the starting position may be
defined as other than the usual setup (See the section on
the board editor for more information).
After setting the pointers to the beginning and setting up
the board, the scoresheet will be cleared and the first move
displayed. In addition, the text window at the bottom will
display the default notation being used and a command menu.
Items from this menu can be selected by typing in, as the
move, the first letter of the command and pressing the
carriage return. A shortcut is to hold down the CONTROL key
while pressing the first letter of the command. This latter
will activate the selected command immediately without
having to press the RETURN key.
Note: For those of you with mice, just point and click.
The command menu for the game editor includes the commands
(Q)uit, (A)nnotation, (C)aptured pieces, (G)oto move n,
CHESSEDT Version 6.0 - Page 20
(J)ump to move n, (S)witch notation, (T)urn board, (I)nsert
move, (D)elete move, (M)emorize position, and (N)ew game.
These commands are detailed below, but first lets talk about
the scoresheet.
Inputting the moves, the scoresheet
The scoresheet is defined as the window in the right upper
corner of the screen. This marks the current move with a
question mark prompt, unless you are playing through an old
game. You have several options, either input a move, call
up a command, or enter a terminating move. More about these
latter.
The moves are input into the scoresheet in any of five
standard notations, English algebraic, English descriptive,
computer algebraic, long algebraic, or international
numeric. Since I used English algebraic almost exclusively,
I may not have supported the other notations as well as they
deserve. However, I have attempted to support them as much
as possible both in the strictest legal sense and in
accepted common practice. Thus, I do support PxP and NxP
and other shorthand English descriptive notations as well as
shortened English algebraic.
CHESSEDT will translate from any of the notations to the
notation you have specified as the default notation. If you
have no default notation specified, CHESSEDT will not
translate the move. I have done quite a bit of work on
these translations and I think they work fairly well. In
some cases, translations to English descriptive may get a
little wordy, but they do adhere to proper notation
conventions.
Note: In some moves using English descriptive, the
destination of the piece is not specified, such as in
captures. In this case the program considers all possible
captures and determines which is correct. This takes time,
so if you are using English descriptive, you may notice it
takes a while to determine the proper move. This can be
shortened by using the full English descriptive notation
including a / and the destination square. This latter also
helps clarify moves the computer may think are ambiguous.
You can also input the chess move using the mouse. Simply
click on the piece you want to move. The origin square will
appear on the scoresheet. The mouse being a computer device
will present the move as if it was entered as computer
algebraic. If you have selected a translation, the move
will be translated to the notation you have selected.
CHESSEDT Version 6.0 - Page 21
After clicking on the origin square, the mouse cursor
changes shape to indicate that it is holding a piece. Next
click on the destination square. The move will be made and
translated to the proper notation. If you click the mouse
on an empty square, CHESSEDT assumes you want to move a pawn
to this point. This is useful for entering the pawn
advances with a single click.
For a description of notations see the appendix at the end
of this manual or see "USCF Official Rules of Chess" 1987.
Three special moves in chess are castling, en passant, and
pawn promotion. For en passant, the move is written as if a
pawn on the destination square is being captured. The ep
after the move descriptor is not necessary except for
English descriptive where it is required!
For castling, I prefer the use of an upper case letter 'O'
with dashes between. Thus, kingside castling is O-O and
queenside castling is O-O-O. I have included '0' (zero) as
an option to the upper case letter 'O'. Translations will
always yield the upper case letter 'O'. You can also input
castling by using computer algebraic or the mouse. First
specify the origin square for the king and then specify the
destination square for the king. The rook will be moved
automatically.
For promotion of pawns, the piece to which the pawn will be
promoted should appear in parenthesis or after an equals
sign. Thus d1(Q) or d1=Q denotes moving a black pawn to d1
and promoting it to a queen.
If the move is illegal or impossible, a beep will sound and
the illegal move will be displayed with a '~' after it
indicating this move is illegal. If the move is possible,
the move will be accepted, displayed on the chessboard, and
the scoresheet will prompt for the next move. I have
included in this version a routine to determine if the king
is in check at the end of the move. If the king is left in
check, the move is by definition, 'illegal'. Also if you
have specified that a piece is being captured (using a * or
x), then an opponent's piece must occupy the destination
square.
If you have an illegal position occur during a chess game,
you may still enter the moves and work through the game.
However, you will need to exit the game editor, enter the
board editor, correct the game position, and then reenter
the game editor via the append function.
CHESSEDT Version 6.0 - Page 22
Besides the constraints listed above, other characters may
be typed into a move descriptor. These characters include
the ever popular ? and ! as well as -, =, + and anything
else you would like to use. I currently use the character *
to denote the move that takes me out of my book openings.
If you are editing an old game, the previous move will be
displayed. As always, you may press return to accept this
move, or type any other move. If you have a mouse,
positioning the mouse cursor over the scoresheet and
clicking the mouse is identical to pressing a carriage
return.
Note: When a move is translated from one notation to
another, all non-essential characters are lost.
Terminating moves.
Besides the normal moves, there are several moves that
signify the end of the game and/or the end of the game
editing routine. The game ending text recognized includes
STOP, EXIT, RESIGN, FORFEIT, MATE, DRAW, TIME, 0-1, and 1-0.
Each of these should be input instead of a move. Input of
any of these indicate to CHESSEDT that the game is over.
The result in the heading will be adjusted and you will be
kicked back to the main menu. Except for 0-1 and 1-0,
CHESSEDT will assume these terminating moves were typed in
the proper place, i.e. if black resigned, resign should be
typed in as black's move.
(Q)uit - Game - Edit
Quit will exit the scoresheet and return you to the main
menu. If the current move is undefined, CHESSSEDT will
define the move as 'Stop' and exit. If you are in the
middle of the game, it will exit and not change any of the
moves. After exiting, you may save the game and reenter the
scoresheet at the point you exited using the Append function
from the Edit menu. This is very handy for postal chess.
(A)nnotation - Game - Edit
The annotation command will allow you to type in whatever
annotation you would like. This annotation text will appear
in the game after the move/position being annotated. Thus,
if you activate the annotation routine after white's 20th
move, a listing of the game would list all moves up to, and
including, white's 20th, list the annotation and then list
the rest of the moves.
CHESSEDT Version 6.0 - Page 23
Upon entering the annotation routine, the text screen will
clear and you will see the message "Annotation Editor". If
you type a return at this point, no annotation will be
generated. However, if you press any other key you will
enter a semi-full screen editor where you may type in
whatever text you desire including move numbers and moves.
Nothing you type will affect the game being edited. I
suggest keeping the annotation text less than four lines
since you may run out of space in the text screen. If more
annotation is needed, merely enter the annotation routine a
second time. CHESSEDT supports multiple annotations at the
same point in the game. Thus, if you have a letter to write
at this point in the game, go right ahead and input as many
annotation texts as you want.
Alternatively, if you wish to add lots of annotation for a
game to be published, simply print the game out in the form
of a text file. Take the text file and bring it into the
word processor you want to use and add the annotation. You
could then take this file and play through the games and
annotations using the Document selection from the Edit menu.
As mentioned above, the annotation editor is a semi-full
screen editor. It will read the screen from the point where
you started typing to the point where you ended typing.
While in the annotation editor, you will noticed a block or
underline character, this is the position of the cursor.
The cursor keys can be used to move the cursor anywhere on
the screen with the exception that the cursor cannot be
moved above or before the starting point and the cursor
cannot be moved off the screen. In addition, using the
mouse, you can point to any part of the text screen and
click the mouse. The cursor will appear at the position
where you pointed and clicked.
The Home key will place the cursor at the starting position
and the End key will place the cursor at the ending
position. You can use these two keys to move quickly around
the annotation text. The position of the cursor does NOT
influence what is being read back in.
As you reach the end of the line, the annotation editor will
check to see if you have enough room to type the word you
are in the middle of and if not, it will wrap the word down
to the next line.
The insert key acts as a toggle and will change the cursor
shape. An underline (over-type) is the default cursor mode.
The insert mode is indicated by a block cursor.
CHESSEDT Version 6.0 - Page 24
After you have input the annotation, press the return key.
The editor will read the text from beginning to end and
eliminate all extra spaces.
There is one special annotation that is recognized by
CHESSEDT. If you type in 'b', 'brd' or 'board' as the
annotation text the annotation is set equal to a string
representing the chessboard. When you print the game,
instead of annotation text being printed, a copy of the
chessboard position at the time of the annotation will be
displayed/printed. Used in conjunction with multiple
annotation text, this allows you to generate a chessboard
display of the position discussed in the annotation.
Note: If you are editing old annotation, typing in the
special annotation text above will NOT alter the annotation.
Reviewing/Editing Annotations
When replaying through a game, the annotations will be
popped up immediately after the move where they were
entered. The screen at this time will show the annotation
and three options, (Q)uit, (D)elete, and (E)dit. If the
annotation is OK, simply press Q or the carriage return. If
you want to delete the displayed annotation, press the 'd'.
You will then be asked if you really want to delete this
annotation. Press 'y' or 'n'. No is the default. The
third option is to edit the displayed annotation. Press 'e'
and you will see the annotation as if you were just entering
it the first time. All comments concerning the annotation
editor above apply.
(C)aptured pieces - Game - Edit
This option is for those of us who want to keep track of
what pieces have been captured. You will first be given the
option of the output device for the captured pieces. For a
better description of this option, review the 'Print' option
latter.
After selecting the output device, which is usually the
screen, CHESSEDT will display a list of captured pieces
using P, R, N, B, and Q for the pawns, rooks, knights,
bishops, and queens. CHESSEDT will compare the current
pieces on the board with the normal complement of pieces.
This will almost always be accurate unless you have prompted
a lot of pawns. i.e. If you have queened three pawns and
lost four queens, CHESSEDT will show only one queen
captured.
CHESSEDT Version 6.0 - Page 25
(G)oto move n - Game - Edit
Entering the Goto move n routine will allow you to play
through a previous entered game by making all moves up to
the move you requested. You are first prompted for the move
number. Say you have an old game with 50 moves and you want
to play through the game to the 17th move. Enter the G
command and type 17 at the GOTO MOVE# prompt. The board
will then come alive until it reaches move 17, after which
it will reenter the normal game editor routines.
During the Goto move n routine, the screen will stop at all
annotations. You may select any of the annotation commands
you wish. After which the Goto move continues to head
toward the final move you selected.
If you input 100 as the move to head toward and there are
only 40 moves, this routine will stop at the last move.
Also, this routine will stop if it encounters an illegal
move.
If you input 'm', 'M', or nothing as the move to go to,
CHESSEDT will go to the last memorized move pointer. (See
below) If no move pointer has been memorized, CHESSEDT will
jump to the beginning of the game.
Note: This is really just a fast way of getting to a
specific move. If you are editing an old game, pressing the
return key will accept the displayed move and continue to
the next move. The Goto routine merely holds the return key
down for you and releases it at the appropriate place.
(J)ump to move n - Game - Edit
The 'Jump to move' routine is identical to the 'Goto move'
with the exception that the board is not animated and the
routine does not stop for annotations.
(S)witching notation - Game - Edit
This command allows you to switch the default notation being
used for display of the moves. It does not affect the
default notation stored in CHESSEDT.DAT file. As mentioned
under the Utilities - Options, you switch the notation using
the up and down cursor keys. When the appropriate notation
is selected, press the return key. This does not change the
notation of any previously entered moves, only the notation
of the move being interpreted.
If you wish to change the notation on a complete game,
reenter the Edit game routine, switch the notation, enter
CHESSEDT Version 6.0 - Page 26
the Goto routine and go to the very last move. As each move
is examined by CHESSEDT, it will be converted into the
appropriate notation.
(T)urn board - Game - Edit
This command turns the chessboard 180 degrees so that you
may view either the white side or the black side of the
game. It affects only the display of the board!
(I)nsert move - Game - Edit
This command will insert a move into the move matrix. It is
useful if you have noticed that you missed a move previously
and you want to go back. In older versions of CHESSEDT, you
would have to retype all the moves after the mistake. This
command pushes all the moves up by a half move. You will
have to use this command twice to insert a move pair.
(D)elete move - Game - Edit
This command will delete a move from the move matrix. It is
used if you typed a move that was incorrect. To delete a
move pair, use this command twice.
When this command is activated, the current move is erased
and the next half move is then displayed.
(M)emorize position - Game - Edit
This command is used to memorize the current move pointer.
For the 'Goto move' and 'Jump to move' commands, you could
enter 'm' as the move number to go to. The last memorized
position will be used. This comes in handy in playing
through a game. Say the board position at move 13 is very
interesting. You could memorize the position, play on
through the rest of the game, and then Jump to move 13
without having to remember or type the number 13.
(N)ew game - Game - Edit
This command clears all moves and annotations, resets the
chessboard and returns the move pointer to move one. It is
used if you are entering one game after another without
going through the New command in the Edit menu.
Append - Edit
You select this option via the Append function in the Edit
menu or click the right side of the chessboard when the main
menu is displayed.
CHESSEDT Version 6.0 - Page 27
Appending a game is essentially identical to editing a game
with the exception that the current move pointer and the
current annotation pointer are not reset. If you chose to
append a game, CHESSEDT enters the editor, displays the last
five move pairs on the scoresheet, and shows you the last
known board position. The pieces on the chessboard are not
reset to the initial starting position.
You may continue from this point as if you are in the edit
game function. This option is very useful for postal chess.
Board - Edit
You can access the board editor from several places in
CHESSEDT. This routine is used to set up the board in any
arbitrary position. It is useful to correct a board
position, setting up problems, setting up board positions
for use with the database query routine, resetting a board
position while scanning an ASCII file, etc.
The way this routine works is very straight forward. The
color of the pieces being placed is shown on the first line
of the text screen along with the status of the eraser. You
type in the piece you wish to place followed by the square
on which you wish to place it. Thus to put a queen on e3
you type 'Qe3' followed by a return. To place pawns, type
in only the square you wish to place it on (see Toggle
eraser below). Alternatively, you can click the mouse on
the letter specifying the piece to be placed and then click
on the destination square. Clicking on the destination
square without selecting a piece will place a pawn at that
position.
Most of the commands are entered as a single letter commands
not requiring a carriage return to take effect. If a single
letter command could also be interpreted as the start of a
piece placement descriptor, the command may need to be
entered using a carriage return. The commands and how they
affect the board editor are detailed below.
Exit - Board - Edit
When you exit/quit the board editor, you are prompted
whether you wish to store the current board position as the
starting board position. If you respond with yes, the board
position will be stored in a special annotation text. When
you next enter the Edit game routine, this will be the
position loaded, not the normal starting position. This is
very useful if you are using the board editor to set up a
chess problem.
CHESSEDT Version 6.0 - Page 28
If you elect not to store the board position as the starting
position, you may continue on entering moves af if the board
position arose from all previous moves and the edited board
position is not saved anywhere.
Clear board - Board - Edit
Typing a C will clear the board of all pieces. To clear
just a piece at a time, you must use the eraser. See below
for full details.
Toggle eraser - Board - Edit
When you toggle the eraser by typing a T or clicking on the
command, the right hand side of the top line in the text
window will display the eraser status, either "off" or "on".
When the eraser is "on" any square that is entered via the
keyboard or clicked on using the mouse will be erased. Thus
to erase a piece or pawn located on e4, turn the eraser on
and type in e4. This routine is handy to quickly erase or
clear selected squares on the board.
Switch colors - Board - Edit
This command is self-explanatory. The color of the pieces
being placed is shown on the first line. This command
toggles the color being shown.
Document - Edit
This routine will allow you to scan/edit any type of
document file on your computer. It will allow you to play
through the game, checking the accuracy and legality of each
move. Or you could enter alternative moves, correct any
mistakes in the game, play through annotation, or reset up
the board and play through a new game. This routine is
great to play through games captured from computer services
such as COMPUSERVE or USA Today On-line (formerly The LINC),
as well as playing through word processing documents.
Note: In playing through word processing documents, it is
best if these documents are in ASCII (text) format, rather
than the normal default format. This latter format usually
includes special control characters and/or data on how big
the file is, etc. This gave me trouble in editing a MS Word
document that had been saved using the normal MS Word
formatting option.
When entering this routine you are prompted for the filename
of the file to be edited. You can enter any filename and
CHESSEDT Version 6.0 - Page 29
extension that you like. CHESSEDT will remember the
filename of the last 'document' edited and use this as the
default in the future.
After you have entered your filename for the document file,
CHESSEDT will create a file in the same drive/directory as
the file you are editing. The filename for the new file
will be identical to the filename of the document with the
exception that the extension will be EDT. The EDT file will
be the output file for the Document Editor.
All text and moves will be passed from the document file
through CHESSEDT and out to the EDT file. The text being
passed will appear in the lower text window. While this
text is scrolling, you may press any key to pause the
scrolling. Pressing another key will resume scrolling.
When the document editor finds a bit of text that it thinks
is a chess move, it will pause and display the move in the
appropriate place on the scoresheet. At this point you may
press the carriage routine to accept this as the move to be
made, enter a new move to be made, or press a command.
If you press the carriage return, the document editor will
pass the default move to CHESSEDT which will make the move
and then pass the move to the EDT file. If you enter a new
move, the document editor will pass the new move to CHESSEDT
which will make the indicated move and then pass the new
move to the EDT file. Commands are executed and no action
is output to the EDT file.
One important option!! If you press the 'INS' key on the
keypad, any new moves typed in will not be passed to the
document editor. These moves will be passed to CHESSEDT and
the move made on the board. After you press the 'INS' key a
second time, the original move will be redisplayed. Use
this option to make moves on the board without these moves
being output to the EDT file.
Note: CHESSEDT does not affect the original document file.
It creates a new EDT file which is identical to the document
file with the exception of any new moves that you might have
made. The document editor is ideal for validating the
correct moves (i.e. insuring a playable game) embedded in a
chess document.
As in the Game - Edit routine, you can enter the command
either by typing in the command, clicking on the command
with the mouse, or holding down the control key while
pressing the command key.
CHESSEDT Version 6.0 - Page 30
(Q)uit - Document - Edit
This command exits back to the main menu. CHESSEDT assumes
you are finished with the document at this point and it
closes the EDT file. If you are not completely through your
document, the EDT file will contain only those moves and
text reached before the Quit command was reached.
(N)ew - Document - Edit
You would want to use this command to reset the chessboard
for a new game. Say you have played through the first game
in your document and you are coming to the next game. You
will have to execute this command to set up the board for
the new game. As with most of the commands, this command
does not change the current move being considered.
(S)kip - Document - Edit
This command is used to skip the displayed move and proceed
to the next move. No action is taken on the displayed move,
however the text is output to the EDT file. This command is
used most frequently when the document editor selects some
bit of text that it thinks might be a move, but really
isn't.
This command can also be executed by pressing the escape
key.
(M)emorize - Document - Edit
In allowing the ability to play through annotation, it is
necessary to remember the board position where the
annotation starts. To store a board position, execute the
Memorize command. You will be prompted for the board
position number. Enter a number from 1 to 9 and press the
carriage return. The current board position and current
move pointer will be stored at this point for later recall.
The (M)emorize command can be used to store nine different
board positions. You can then play through several layers
of annotations, recall the starting board position, and
proceed with the main line of the game. The last board
position memorized is displayed in the upper right hand
corner of the text window.
(R)estore - Document - Edit
This command is used to recall a board position stored using
the (M)emorize command. You will be prompted for the board
number to recall. After entering the number and a carriage
CHESSEDT Version 6.0 - Page 31
return, the board position stored will be reset onto the
screen. The move pointer associated with this board
position will also be recalled. You can recall a given
board position as many times as you like.
Note: If you have not previously stored a board position
that you are trying to recall, CHESSEDT will inform you of
this fact and will not reset the board nor the current move
pointer.
Since many times the annotations are mentioning an
alternative move to the one just played, it may not be clear
how you can use these (M)emorize/(R)estore commands to play
through annotation. The best approach is to store the basic
board position, say as board #1, before the 'annotated'
move. Make the annotated move and store the next board
position using a different board number, such as board #2.
Recall the annotated position (board #1) and play through
the annotation. Then recall the main line board position
(board #2) and proceed through the rest of the game.
(B)oard edit - Document - Edit
This is simply an entrance to the board editor from within
the document editor. Using the board editor, you can
correct any illegal or incorrect positions that may have
occurred in playing through the game. Although you can use
the board editor to set the starting position for a game, I
suggest you use the (N)ew command above.
Print
Selection of an output device
The print menu is the menu used to output games, board
positions, postcards, and captured pieces information to the
printer, a file, or the screen. For all of these items in
this menu, you will be prompted for the output device for
the information. You will be given three options,
(P)rinter, (F)ile, or <(S)creen>. Select the option by
entering the first letter, clicking the mouse on the first
letter, or select the default (S)creen option by pressing
the carriage return.
If the (S)creen is selected, the information will be
displayed on the screen.
If the (P)rinter is selected, the information will be
printed to the printer attached to your computer.
CHESSEDT Version 6.0 - Page 32
If the (F)ile is selected, you will be prompted for the
output filename. You may accept the default filename or
type in a new directory and/or filename. If you type in
only a new directory, CHESSEDT assumes you want to retain
the default filename.
If the file exists, you will given the option of adding the
current information onto the end of the file (Append),
replacing the old file, or using a different filename. If
you find that you didn't want to output the data to a file
and CHESSEDT is asking for an output filename, enter a non-
existent device (such as drive X:). This last step will
generate an error which will be handled by CHESSEDT and
return you to the main menu.
Game - Print
By printing the game, I mean displaying the game in a format
that you might see in a publication. The first order of
business is to select the output device as indicated above.
After this is decided, the program then prints the header,
moves, and annotation to the destination. If the
destination is the screen, CHESSEDT inserts pauses after the
heading, after every few moves and after each annotation.
To continue listing after a pause, press any key.
Note: If the annotation is defined as a board (see
annotation), then CHESSEDT will generate a printed copy of
the chessboard at that position in the game or change the
position displayed on the chessboard on the screen.
Note: For screen dumps to the printer and files, since
printers are not quite adept at displaying colors, (at least
not the ones I can afford) the black pieces are indicated by
an underline character. This is accomplished by outputting
special control characters, EPSON compatible, to the printer
to activate the underlining feature. If you wish to see
what they are, list the board position to a file. The file
will show a real mess, but the special characters preceding
each of the black and white pieces are the control sequences
necessary to turn underlining on and off.
The results of this command is a copy of the current game,
formatted in such a manner that it could easily be published
as received. If you have printed the game to a file, it can
be read into most word processors allowing you greater
flexibility.
CHESSEDT Version 6.0 - Page 33
Score - Print
This selection is essentially identical to the Game - Print
menu selection. The only difference is that games printed
using this option will appear with only two moves per line.
Thus, this option gives a printed copy (or file) similar to
the scoresheet. Some people prefer this when creating files
for uploading to boards such as Compuserve.
Board - Print
Print chessboard will generate a dump of the board position
to the printer. It will print a copy of the currently
displayed chessboard using underlined characters, EPSON
compatible, to display the black pieces. The program will
return you to the last move to be input.
An alternative is to press shift Prt Sc on your computer.
If you are in text move, this will print a copy of the
screen to the printer. If you are using CGA mode AND you
have installed GRAPHICS.COM, you can still copy the screen
to the printer. However, if you are using EGA graphics
mode, you may be out of luck. I can generate a screen copy
of the EGA chessboard, but it requires the use of
CAPTURE.COM from my MS Word package. The advantages of this
latter approach, is that I can include any of CHESSEDT's
screens as part of a MS Word document.
Postal - Print
A couple of users desired a routine to print out the current
board position and the last few moves. This output is then
sent either through the US Mail or electronically to a
'postal' opponent. If you are playing chess through the
modem, this routine can be handy in generating your 'postal'
reply as a file that can be uploaded. This option will
generate a header information with your name and your
opponent's name.
Note: Text created with this option will fit on a standard
postcard.
Captured Pieces - Print
This routine will output a listing of the pieces captured by
white and the pieces captured by black. The pieces are
listed as their single letter English representations. Thus
P = pawn, R = rook, N = knight, B = bishop, and Q = queen.
This routine works by examining the current board position
and comparing this with the number of pieces in the standard
chess set. Thus, if you have prompted two pawns as queens
CHESSEDT Version 6.0 - Page 34
and had three queens subsequently captured, CHESSEDT will
only show a single queen as being captured.
This routine can be output to the end of a postal - print
output to create a document or file which includes the last
several moves, the current board position, and the pieces
captured by each side.
Stats (Statistics)
One of the more powerful features of CHESSEDT is the ability
of this program to treat the games generated with this
program as a virtual database. Since the Stats routine
looks only at the header information, YOU DO NOT EVEN HAVE
TO TYPE IN THE MOVES/ANNOTATIONS FOR A GAME FILE TO USE THE
STATISTICS FEATURE.
Using the statistics subroutine of CHESSEDT, you may compile
a list of headings, filenames, or win/draw/loss/active table
of openings. These lists may be tailored to all of the
possible criteria that I could think of, tournament, score,
opening, color, opponent, date, ratings, and owner.
After entering the statistics subroutine, you are presented
with a second menu. In this statistics menu, you may select
specifiers to limit the compilation of the statistics or
lists. For instance, if you select the tournament
specifier, you are prompted for the tournament. Only games
played during this tournament are included in the final
report.
When one of the specifiers is selected, an asterisk will
appear in front of the item. This is a reminder that you
have elected to search the database with this specifier.
All specifiers may be included in a database search.
To deselect a specifier, merely select it a second time.
The asterisk will then disappear. You may select one of the
specifiers by either typing the first letter or by
positioning the mouse pointer over the selection and
clicking a mouse button.
(Q)uit - Stats
This selection will exit back to the main menu.
(A)ssemble all - Stats
This is the default selection for the database search. It
searches all files in the specified directory and assembles
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all completed games. To include active games you must elect
to search on the score.
If no specifiers are selected, an asterisk appears next to
the 'Assemble all' item. Selecting this item a second time
has no effect. If this item is selected while other
specifiers are also selected, all specifiers are cleared as
will be evidenced by the disappearance of all asterisks
except that in front of the assemble all item.
(T)ournament - Stats
This item will allow you to search the database for only
those games played during a particular tournament. As with
all the text searches, CHESSEDT looks at the first character
of the search string and tries to find a match. If it finds
a match, it then looks for the second character. This
continues until the end of the search string.
CHESSEDT does not try and match the full tournament name
stored with a game to the search string, only the first n
characters where n is the length of the search string. This
means you may search your database for all tournaments
beginning with the letter "O" or all tournaments with the
first word in the tournament name being "National".
Uppercase and lower case are not differentiated, so you may
be sloppy in typing in the tournament name when you are
entering the game into your database. However, I suggest
you adopt a systematic approach to inputting tournament
names. For example, input "Golden Knights xx87xx" to
specify all your Golden Knights tournaments. By specifying
the Golden Knights first, you may search all these
tournaments at once. If you only wish to search a specified
tournament, you may use the characters after the tournament
name as additional qualifiers.
(S)core - Stats
This feature allows you to search the database for only
wins, draws, losses, active, or complete. The latter
selection will include all games regardless of the result.
When this specifier is turned off, the database search will
include only completed games, i.e. wins, draws, and losses.
It will ignore the active games. This is normally what you
want to do unless you are interested in the number of active
games in your database.
CHESSEDT Version 6.0 - Page 36
(O)pening - Stats
As with the tournament above, this item generates a search
string and the search will match the first n characters in
the opening, where n is the number of characters in the
search string. Thus, you may elect to search the database
for all openings starting with the letter "S" or you may
elect to search the database for all openings matching
"Sicilian Najdorf Variation" search string. Obviously, if
you wish to institute a long search string, you must be
consistent when you are inputting data into the header for a
game. "Sicilian Najdorf Variation" does not match "Sic,
Najdorf Var.".
Note: As mentioned above, only the first three letters of
the opening will be used in the list of openings at the end
of the database search.
(C)olor - Stats
This item is included so that you may search the database
for only those games you played as black or white. The
default is to search the database for both colors.
(P)layer/opponent - Stats
As with the opening and tournament specifiers above, you may
specify as many or as few characters as you like for the
opponent. Thus you may elect to look at all opponents whose
name starts with a "B" or all opponents whose name is
"Lykens".
Selection of this item modifies the filename that will be
used to generate the directory. The filename is reset if
this item is deselected.
As mentioned in the header input section, I strongly suggest
you input the opponents last name first. This allows a more
efficient search since you are unlikely to want to know how
many games you played against "GARY" as this would include
all Gary's you have ever played. However you might like to
compile all statistics against "Kasparov". (For some strange
reason, I think the losses column might be a little bit high
for this opponent.)
(D)ate - Stats
The date is a special search criteria that does nothing but
modify the filename. Thus, you may search on only the last
four characters of the date. For normal games this allows
you to search on a month and year or just a year. Since the
CHESSEDT Version 6.0 - Page 37
date search string modifies the filename, you may decide to
change this when prompted for the filename just prior to the
search, but DON'T DO IT.
(R)atings - Stats
This is perhaps the most powerful of the searching criteria
as it contains a number of subcriteria. After selecting
this item from the menu, you are prompted for the base
rating for the owner. Any games in which the owner had a
rating below the base rating will be ignored. Next you will
be prompted for the owner's ceiling rating. Any games where
the owner had a rating above the ceiling will be ignored.
Next CHESSEDT will obtain the opponent's base and ceiling
ratings. These have the same definition for the opponent as
they had for the owner. The use of these four rating values
allows you to settle questions such as "How well did I do as
a B class player against the A class players?"
The final rating option allows you to select only those
games where the opponents rating is higher than the owner,
or vice versa. In either case, or even if you select all
rating differences, you are next prompted for a minimum
rating difference and a maximum rating difference.
The minimum rating difference criteria is used to eliminate
games where your opponent had a rating very close to your
rating. The maximum rating difference is used to eliminate
those games where your opponent had a rating much greater or
less than your own. Thus, you can determine how you do
against opponents with ratings no less than 100 points away
from your own but no more than 200.
This final option may seem a bit of overkill since you have
the option above to specify a base and ceiling rating for
both the owner and opponent. This is true, if your rating
doesn't change significantly. However, if you are steadily
improving, you might like to look at how well you do against
people rated 100 points higher than you while your rating
was changing.
(N)ame/owner - Stats
This feature is essentially identical to the search for a
specific opponent. It is really useful if two or more
people are storing their games in the same directory as it
allows you to compile a list of filenames for specific
'owners'.
CHESSEDT Version 6.0 - Page 38
Although this is a PERSONAL database program, I have tried
to make it versatile enough to be used as a general chess
editor/database program. If you treat the owner as just a
second player, this program should function perfectly well
in this capacity. However, note that the only place the
owner appears is in the heading display. The owner does not
appear in the filename in anyway whatsoever.
(G)o - Stats
After you have selected all the specifiers, you enter the
'G' to start the database search/compilation. The program
next double checks the directory and filename to be used in
the search. This is primarily to allow you to change the
directory to be searched. You should not change the
filename as it is integral to the search and unless you have
specified the opponent or date, the filename will be equal
to all question marks, i.e. fully wildcarded. If your files
are stored with filenames not composed of the opponent's
name and the date, you will probably want to change the
filename to all question marks, i.e. ????????.GAM.
CHESSEDT will next show you the filename and all search
specifiers determined and ask if this is OK. If some
problem occurs, press 'N' to abort the search.
CHESSEDT will next ask for the output device. As always,
you may select the printer, a file, or the screen.
You will then be asked whether you wish a list of the
filenames or a list of the headings. These features are
useful if you are using the Stats routine as a supercharged
directory. Thus, you can get a list of filenames for your
games where you played the Sicilian opening. Or you can
browse the headings for the games that meet the selected
search criteria.
CHESSEDT will first compile a directory of all games that
meet the filename criteria. It will then clear all previous
statistics and begin examining each of the games, checking
for a match in the search criteria. If a game matches the
search criteria, then the game data will be added to the
statistics and, if selected, the filename and/or header
information will be listed. After all games are examined,
you are informed that the search of the database is
complete. At this time a report summarizing the results of
the database search is output to the destination device.
The first part of the report shows the search criteria and
filename used for the database search. Next each opening is
listed along with the results with that opening. The
CHESSEDT Version 6.0 - Page 39
results are listed in the order wins, draws, losses, and
finally active games. Since the default search criteria for
the score is non-active games, the last number in each
column will most likely be zero unless you specifically
select active games to be included into the database search.
Note: There are separate results for white and black. Also,
only the first three letters of the openings are listed. At
present I have no intention of extending this as three
characters are sufficient to uniquely determine all major
openings. However, the database search is NOT limited to
just the first three letters of the opening (see select by
opening).
After each opening is listed, sub totals for each color and
the totals for all games are listed.
Utility
The Utility menu contain some handy routines for "Doing What
You Normally Won't Do". Which means, they are some options
that didn't quite fit in with the other menu items.
Options - Utility
This routine calls up the program to modify the startup
default file, CHESSEDT.DAT. This is identical to when you
ran the program the very first time.
Note: When calling this routine, the game you are working on
is completely lost. If you wish to modify the defaults and
continue working on a specific game, save the game, modify
the defaults and recall the game.
The default directory is the data directory set by the
CHESSEDT program. When you first run a directory, recall a
file, save a file, or any function that requires interaction
with the DOS file structure, the default directory will be
displayed. In my case, I use this program primarily for
postal chess, thus my default directory is d:\chess\postal\.
The next item requested is the owner. This program is set
up to build a database for an individual, however there is
enough flexibility in the program that several owners can
store files in the same directories or there need not be an
'owner' at all since the owner's name can be changed from
within CHESSEDT. When prompted for owner, you should type
in your name. I suggest last name first followed by first
name, but this is only a personal preference.
CHESSEDT Version 6.0 - Page 40
The program next prompts you for the type of display you are
using. There are four display modes supported, monochrome,
CGA, EGA-Text, and EGA. The prompt for the display type is
significantly different than the last two prompts. So far
you have been able to type in any information you desire.
Now things get a little simpler. To change the default
display mode, press either the up cursor arrow or the down
cursor arrow. The only problem you might have is if the NUM
Lock is turned on. If so, turn it off. Got it??? Not too
difficult I hope. When your selection is displayed, press
the enter key.
If you have a monochrome display, the only display mode that
will work is 'Monochrome'. This will display a chess board
using only text characters. The white pieces will appear in
bold print (or brighter) while the black pieces will appear
normal. If you are having problems, try adjusting the
contrast and brightness of your monitor.
If you have a monochrome display that is Hercules
compatible, you may be able to get away with simulating a
CGA display using the SIMCGA program provided. This SIMCGA
program is being distributed without any guarantees. It was
obtained from THE SOURCE, an information/program exchange
service. To use the SIMCGA program, see the documentation
provided. This should be run prior to running CHESSEDT.
If you have a CGA display, you may select from the
'Monochrome' mode and the CGA mode. The monochrome will
display pretty colors, however the pieces will be ASCII
characters. The CGA mode will display the pieces as graphic
characters, but everything will be in black and white.
Sorry folks, but if you want high resolution graphics using
a CGA, you've got to throw away the colors.
If you have a EGA display, you may select from any of the
display modes. The EGA text mode is identical to the
Monochrome mode, with the exception that you may change
colors. The EGA display mode will display all the pieces as
graphic characters.
Note on speed: Using either of the graphic modes, CGA or
EGA, will tend to slow down putting pieces on the board.
This is directly related to the difference in speed of
putting a character on the screen versus drawing a graphics
character. I have not gotten into assembler for the IBM as
yet, so the graphic displays are all driven from the
compiled BASIC program. Knowing a little about assembler, I
think I can safely state the speed of the graphics can be
improved, if I were to dig down deep enough. However, I
CHESSEDT Version 6.0 - Page 41
have been in that morass before on other computers and I
have no immediate plans to take another dip.
Display modes and types.
Monochrome Monochrome mode only
Hercules graphic card Monochrome and CGA*
CGA Monochrome and CGA
EGA, VGA Monochrome, EGA Text, CGA, EGA
*CGA supported only if SIMCGA program run first.
After being prompted for the display mode, you will next be
prompted for the type of notation translation to be used.
This sets the type of notation displayed and stored in the
game files. It does NOT limit you to the type of notation
you may use. Standard English algebraic, English
descriptive, computer algebraic, long algebraic, and
international numeric are all supported.
On any given move, you may type the move using any of these
notations. If the translation string is set, the move will
then be translated into the appropriate notation you have
selected. This is great if you want to translate an English
descriptive notation game into English algebraic, or vice
versa. I might mention that due to limitations in English
descriptive, the translations TO this notation, although
strictly legal, may not correspond with the conventional
usage. However, input of English descriptive is well
supported as either the strictly legal forms or the more
conventional forms.
Again to select the different types of notations, press
either the up cursor arrow key or the down cursor arrow key.
When your selection is displayed, press the enter key.
If you selected English algebraic, the moves you input will
be translated into standard English algebraic.
If you selected English descriptive, the moves you input
will be translated into standard English descriptive.
If you selected computer algebraic, the moves you input will
be translated into standard computer algebraic.
If you selected long algebraic, the moves you input will be
translated into standard long algebraic.
CHESSEDT Version 6.0 - Page 42
If you selected international numeric, the moves you input
will be translated into standard international numeric.
i.e. the first number will be the origin file, the second -
the origin rank, the third - the destination file, and the
fourth - the destination rank.
If you selected none, the moves you input will not be
translated into any other type of notation. Using this
setting, you may mix and match any and all notations you
desire. The first move may be in English descriptive and
the second in computer algebraic.
If you have selected EGA text or EGA display modes, the
program next displays the current colors being used by the
program and allows you to change them using the up and down
cursor keys.
You may select from 64 possible colors for the light squares
of the chessboard, the dark squares of the chessboard, the
light pieces, the dark pieces, the rank/file labels, the
scoresheet labels, and the background. For a few of the
above, the color 0 is not legal since this will tend to
display that item in the background color which will
essentially make this item disappear.
If you are switching from monochrome or CGA to either EGA
mode, you may not be prompted for the colors since the
computer still is in the previous mode. To obtain the
prompt for colors, select 'Options' a second time.
You may want to create a number of directories and store
CHESSEDT.DAT files in each. In this manner, the default
settings would depend on which directory you happened to be
in when you ran the CHESSEDT program. CHESSEDT is fairly
stupid, it looks in the current directory for its data file.
If it is present, it uses those default settings. If it is
not present, it creates a new CHESSEDT.DAT file for that
directory.
Board Position Database - Utility
This routine is a functional database routine based on the
board position. The moves used to get to this board
position are completely disregarded and only the position of
the pieces are examined. This routine is used to browse
through annotated board positions or search for a board
positions matching the current board position. Thus, with
the proper database files, you could build and equivalent of
any of the normal opening books including annotations.
CHESSEDT Version 6.0 - Page 43
Building your own database entries
I have included a number of example database files with the
distribution disks. They are in the subdirectory \BOARDDB
on the Program Disk. You can copy these files over to your
directory, or use them directly from the distribution disk.
Alternatively, you can create entries for the board position
database very easily using the normal editing features of
CHESSEDT. The files in the Board Position Database are
identical in structure to 'normal' CHESSEDT game files. The
only difference is that the first annotation in the game is
a board position. The way to create this type of file is
very easy:
1) First enter the Edit menu and select 'New' to create a
new game file.
2) Enter the heading information as desired.
3) Next enter the moves needed to arrive at the board
position that will be stored in the database. You may
elect to move the pieces around using the board editor.
4) Select the 'annotation' command and type "B", "BRD" or
"Board" to enter the current board position as
annotation. (In reviewing the game, 'board position'
annotation is displayed as a 64 character 'word'
containing numbers, semi-colons, a few other characters.)
5) Do not enter any other annotation before entering the
board position as annotation.
6) Next select the 'annotation' command a second time to
annotate the board position.
7) You can now continue on with the game, annotating the
game further, or you can exit.
8) After you have exited or have entered the last move, go
to the file menu and save the game.
9) The game file should be stored in a disk/directory where
your board position database will reside. I have created
a sub-directory on my hard disk called D:\CHESS\ECO where
I keep all my board position database files.
Assuming everything went OK, your board position game file
is now stored as part of your board position database.
Quit - Board DB - Utility
CHESSEDT Version 6.0 - Page 44
This will reset the board position, moves, and annotations
in effect prior to entering this routine. It will then take
you back to the main menu. No moves, annotations, or any
other data from the original game is lost.
Browse - Board DB - Utility
This routine will allow you to browse through the board
position database, one position at a time. When prompted
for the filename, you should enter the drive/directory where
your database files are located. Optionally, you can enter
a partial or full filename. Specifying the filename will
limit your browsing to only those files that match the given
filename. Remember full DOS wildcarding is supported so if
you want to search all the files in your database directory,
you may want to specify '*' as the filename.
Examples:
Filename = C:\ECO\*
Will specify C:\ECO as the board database directory. The
filename will be *.GAM which means 'include all files'.
Filename = D:\CHESS\ECO\
Will specify D:\CHESS\ECO as the board database directory.
The filename will automatically be set to '????????.GAM'.
As you browse through the database, the files are displayed
one at a time. When you reach the end, CHESSEDT will
display 'No more files that match search criteria!'. At
this time the original board position will be setup and you
can continue where you left off. The exception to this is
when you elect to load the board database file into
CHESSEDT. In this latter case, all previous data are
destroyed.
When CHESSEDT finds a board position file, the board
position is loaded onto the screen and the board annotation
is displayed in the text window. You have three options,
Quit, Next and Load.
Quit - Browse - Board DB - Utility
Just as you might imagine, this command will exit from the
browsing function. It will return you to the board database
main menu.
Next - Browse - Board DB - Utility
CHESSEDT Version 6.0 - Page 45
This command will continue searching the database and
display the next file found. You can continue through the
whole database in this manner.
Load - Browse - Board DB - Utility
This option will load the database file into CHESSEDT as if
you had entered the file menu and executed an 'open'
command. You will be taken to the main menu.
Find - Board DB - Utility
This option will compare the current board position with the
board positions stored in the database. The same three
options as discussed above under the browse function apply
here as well.
If a match is found, the board position and annotation are
displayed. If no match is found the 'No more files.'
message will appear.
Edit board - Board DB - Utility
This is the familiar board editor you have seen in a couple
places in CHESSEDT. The commands are described elsewhere.
The main reason for the editor in this position is so you
can setup a board position that you would like to find.
ASCII Conversions - Utility
This utility is used to convert text files containing chess
games into CHESSEDT files. This is useful if you would like
to take a text file, such as might be captured on THE LINC,
and generate CHESSEDT files for the games in the file. This
requires some formatting of the ASCII file. However, the
formatting required is very easily done and can be
accomplished in a couple of minutes per game. These
modifications are described below.
The first step is to define the directory and filename of
the file(s) to be extracted. In this case you MUST supply
the extension also since CHESSEDT has no idea what the
extension might be.
Note: Unlike most of CHESSEDT filenames, the filename of the
extractable file does NOT need to be eight characters long.
After confirming the extracted file specification, CHESSEDT
then prompts for the basename for the files being extracted,
CHESSEDT Version 6.0 - Page 46
the 'destination' files. The base name should be four
characters in length. If not, CHESSEDT will supply dashes.
CHESSEDT then prompts for the starting filenumber. Input
what ever number you would like. Usually you can accept the
default of '1'.
CHESSEDT then opens the file to be converted and begins to
pull out games one by one. The first game extracted is
stored under the name base---x, where base is the base
filename and x is the starting filenumber. If you start
with number 1, up to 9999 games can be extracted from a
single text file.
Before CHESSEDT can extract these games a few modifications
to the text file(s) are necessary. These modifications
involve typing two letter commands into the file to tell
CHESSEDT where to begin saving the game, heading, and
annotation information, and when to stop.
bg and eg - ASCII Conversions - Utility
Type bg (begin game) on a single line just prior to the game
to be extracted. When CHESSEDT detects this command it
turns on its extraction code.
Unless informed that the data is header or annotation,
CHESSEDT will look for the first alphabetical character and
build a move character by character until it encounters a
space. This then becomes the first move. It then looks for
the next alphabetical character and builds the next move,
etc. Thus, any 'words' located between the bg and eg
markers must be moves. See bh/eh and ba/ea below.
Type eg (end game) on a single line just after the game to
be extracted. This resets CHESSEDT file, annotation, move
counters, and saves the extracted game to disk.
All of the game, including header information and annotation
data must be between bg and eg.
bh and eh - ASCII Conversions - Utility
These are used to tell CHESSEDT that the data between bh and
eh are header data, not moves.
Type bh (begin header) on a single line just prior to the
beginning of the header information. CHESSEDT will then
look for seven pieces of information on the next seven
lines.
CHESSEDT Version 6.0 - Page 47
Line 1 : The tournament.
Line 2 : The date.
Line 3 : The opening.
Line 4 : The player playing white.
Line 5 : White's rating
Line 6 : The player playing black.
Line 7 : Black's rating.
Type eh (end heading) on a single line after black's rating.
Any or all of the above lines may be blank. The only
advantage to having them is to put more information into the
CHESSEDT file for future reference.
ba and ea - ASCII Conversions - Utility
These are used to tell CHESSEDT that the data between ba and
ea are annotation data, not moves.
Type ba on a single line prior to the beginning of the
annotation data. CHESSEDT will record the annotation and
the move number it was looking at when the annotation was
encountered. You may turn on and off annotation recording
throughout the game. CHESSEDT remembers the last
annotation count and move number.
Type ea on a single line just after the annotation data to
define the end of the annotation.
The annotation text should be less that 255 characters each.
If the annotation is too long, enter an 'ea' to end
annotation and immediately enter a 'ba' to begin the next
annotation. Repeat this if necessary. This procedure will
result in multiple screens of annotation data being
displayed after a given move. However, there is no limit on
the number of annotations per move, and CHESSEDT will pause
after displaying each annotation.
DOS Shell
This is simply a 'shell' to DOS. It activates a second
COMMAND.COM and leaves CHESSEDT intact including the current
game you are working on. CHESSEDT must have access to
COMMAND.COM to reload it. Thus COMMAND.COM must either be
on the disk with CHESSEDT or in your system PATH.
CHESSEDT Version 6.0 - Page 48
If you have problems
If you have problems try to work them out yourself!!!!
All kidding aside, I have tried to address all problems you
might have in the manual above. There are a few likely
problems that you may run into.
The display shows funny characters around the scoresheet and
above the menu.
SIMCGA and my NEC Multispeed when emulating CGA do not
remember the special IBM line drawing characters. This
is probably the case here. For some CGA systems to
display the proper characters for CHESSEDT, you may
need to execute the program "GRAFTABL.EXE" supplied to
you along with your version of MS-DOS.
I am associated with the two major on-line systems with the
following addresses and would be glad to help you out any
way.
GENIE S. WHARRY
COMPUSERVE 71531,3125
or even the mundane address
Stephen Wharry
4842 Clearview Circle
Bartlesville, OK 74006
Drop me a line, electronically or otherwise, an I'll try to
solve your problem. I must admit there are most likely
still bugs in this program as I have NEVER found a program
that has reached the released stage that does not have bugs.
Also, for future releases of CHESSEDT or other chess related
software, drop me a line. I have released two other chess
related programs, CHESSCLB and CHESSRPT. The former is used
to keep track of the chessplayers in a chess club,
calculates ratings, both speed and normal, and will keep
track the winning percentages and record against every other
player in the club. CHESSRPT is used to prepare tournament
results for submission to USCF.
CHESSEDT Version 6.0 - Page 49
APPENDIX I
Opening abbreviations for CHESSEDT Opening abbreviations for CHESSEDT
ALE = Alekhine's Defense
BGD = Blackmar-Diemer Gambit
BEN = Benoni
BIR = Bird's Defense
BIS = Bishop's Opening
CAR = Caro-Kann
CEN = Center Counter Gambit
DUT = Dutch
ENG = English
FRE = French
FRO = From's Gambit
GIN = Grunfeld Indian
GIU = Giuoco Piano
IND = Indian
IRR = Irregular
KGA = King's Gambit Accepted
KGD = King's Gambit Declined
KIN = King's Indian
NIM = Nimzowisch Defense
NIN = Nimzo-Indian
PET = Petroff's Defense
PIR = Pirc
POL = Polish
QGA = Queen's Gambit Accepted
QGD = Queen's Gambit Declined
QIN = Queen's Indian
RET = Reti
ROB = Robotsch
RUY = Ruy Lopez
SAI = Saint George
SAT = Silcilian Attack
SIC = Silcilian
STO = Stonewall
CHESSEDT Version 6.0 - Page 50
APPENDIX II
ALGEBRAIC NOTATION
English algebraic notation is a form of notation used to
describe the moves on a chessboard. Each square of the
chess board is designated by a unique combination of a
letter and number. Starting at white's lower left hand
corner of the board, the rows running up and down (files)
are designated with a lower case letters from a to h and the
rows running from left to right (ranks) are designated with
numbers from 1 to 8.
Each piece on the chessboard is designated by a capital
letter, with the exception of the pawn which has no
designator.
R = Rook
N = Knight
B = Bishop
Q = Queen
K = King
The move consist of the designator and the destination
square to which the piece will move. Thus Nc3 indicates a
knight being moved to the square corresponding to c3, the c
file and the 3rd rank. A pawn move consists only of the
destination square.
If two pieces of the same type can move to the same square,
such as knights on f3 and b1 moving to d2, the move consists
of the designator, the origin file, and the destination
square. Thus in the example above, Nbd2 designates the
knight on the b file will be moved to the square d2. If the
origin file is not unique, then the origin rank may be used
instead. Thus with rooks on d1 and d8, a move from d1 to
d2 would be written as R1d2.
If a move involves the capture of a piece, an x is inserted
just before the destination square. Thus Bxb7 indicates a
bishop capturing an opponents piece on b7. In the case of a
pawn, the origin file of the pawn in used as a designator.
Thus exd5 designates a pawn on the e file capturing an
opponents piece on d5. En passant is designated as if the
pawn being captured resided on the destination square and an
e.p. is appended at the end of the move. Thus gxh3 ep.
designates a pawn on g capturing an opponents pawn on h4,
but ending up on h3.
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Kingside castling is designated by O-O and queenside
castling by O-O-O. Check is designated by a plus sign (+)
appended to the move and checkmate is designated by two plus
signs (++).
DESCRIPTIVE NOTATION
In general, descriptive notation does not specify the origin
nor destination squares in the move unless clarification is
needed. Thus, if only one knight can take a bishop, then
the move is designated by NxB. If clarification is needed,
then the origin square is specified by the file and rank
relative to the first rank of each player. Thus, the eighth
rank for white is black's first rank. The file is specified
by first the side of the board, Q for queenside and K for
kingside and the piece originating on that file at the
beginning of the game. Thus the QR file is the far left
file for white and far right for black. The KN file is the
second file from the right for white and the second from the
left for black.
This is the notation used when P-K4 is specified. This move
means a pawn moves to the 4th rank on the king file.
A knight on the kingside of the board may be specified as
just KN to indicate a king's knight as opposed to a knight
on the queenside which could be designated QN. Other pieces
that this might apply to include rooks and on rare occasions
queens and bishops.
The full legal description using English descriptive is
piece/[origin square]- destination square or piece/[origin
square] x piece[destination square] for captures.