Chess

On-line Help Manual

How to Play Chess

Introduction

Object of the Game

Chess Board

Game Rules

Tips

Getting Started

Starting a New Game

Making Moves

Invalid Moves

Move List

Winning a Game

Reviewing a Game

Saving a Game

Exiting a Game

Opening a Saved Game

Settings

Game Settings

Sound Settings

Display Settings & Toolbar

About Purple Software & Contact Details

How to Play Chess

Introduction

Chess is a two player game with a colourful history which can be traced back to its Indian ancestor, Chaturanga.  In 1291 the Archbishop of Canterbury in England threatened clergy who continued playing Chess with a diet of bread and water and the game has even been denounced in the Koran!

The game has flourished and is now one of the most popular board games in the world, requiring thought, skill and strategy to become successful.

Object of the Game

The object of Chess is to capture the opponent’s King.  To capture the King you must place it in check.  If the King cannot escape by itself, or with the help of its army, it is in checkmate and the King is captured.

Chess Board

Chess is played on a checkerboard of 8 x 8 squares, with a light square on each player’s lower right corner.  Each player starts the game with 16 pieces, one player white, the opponent black.  The pieces are shown below along with their setup.

Game Rules

A detailed discussion of the rules of Chess is beyond the scope of this document. However, there is a wide range of both printed and on-line sources.

Two good places to learn about the rules of Chess and much else are the World Chess Federation at http://www.fide.com and the International Chess Club at http://www.chessclub.com.

To force your opponent’s King into checkmate you must use the pieces at your disposal to force the King into check.  Each piece moves in a certain way:

Pawn

The pawn is only able to move forward one square at a time, except for its opening move when it has a choice of either moving one square or two.

The pawn moves in a straight line, except when it is capturing a piece.  A pawn captures a piece which is in an adjacent square diagonally ahead, except for the slightly unusual move of ‘en passant’.  ‘En passant’ occurs when (if we use white as the attacker) white advances to b5, with a black pawn on a7.  If black moves to a6, white at b5 captures black, however, black is also captured when moving to a5, with white moving to a6 as if black had moved there.  The pawn is the only piece which captures with a separate move.

A pawn is also the only piece which is able to be promoted.  This occurs when the pawn advances to the last rank on the opponent’s side of the board.

Knight

The Knight moves in any direction, up or down the board, advancing either two squares horizontally and then one square vertically, or vice versa, one square horizontally and two squares vertically.  The Knight is able to complete its move regardless of whether any pieces are in the way, however it can only capture a piece if the opposition piece is in the destination square.  If a piece from the same army is in the landing zone, that move cannot be made.

Bishop

The Bishop moves in a diagonal manner through an unlimited amount of vacant squares.

Rook

The Rook moves in either a horizontal or vertical direction through an unlimited amount of vacant squares.  The Rook is also involved in the move of Castling with the King, explained below.

Queen

The Queen is the most powerful piece on the board in terms of movement, able to move in any direction, traversing through an unlimited number of vacant squares.  It is important to remember that although the Queen can move in any direction, it can only move in one direction per move.

King

The King is the most powerful piece on the board, yet its movements are limited.  The King is able to move in any direction, but only to an adjacent square.  The King is involved with the Rook with the move of Castling, explained below.

Castling

Castling is usually used as a defensive ploy to protect the King and involves the simultaneous movement of both the King and a Rook.

The King moves two spaces towards the Rook that it is to make the castling move with, and the Rook then moves to the square on the opposite side of the King.

There are restrictions on castling.  Castling is only permitted when:

1.	There is no intervening piece between the King and the Rook.

2.	Neither piece has previously been moved in the game.

3.	The King is not to be moved into check, nor is it able to castle out of check.

Tips

As with most games, experience strengthens a person’s ability.  This is very true of Chess. The strategies available are vast, some are attacking, others defensive, but the beginner should start by learning to appreciate the differing relative values of the different pieces available to him.  Obviously, the King is priceless, then the Queen, the Castle, Bishop and Knight being of equal value, and the Pawn is the lowest ranked piece.  This is important when it comes to trading pieces when trying to improve position on the board, or progressing with your strategy.

For further advice on Chess, it is recommended that you read one of the many books available or visit one of the many websites on the subject such as the World Chess Federation www.fide.com.

Getting Started

When you first run Chess, you are presented with the Chess board and opening screen.

Starting a New Game

To start a new game, select the New option from the File menu. Alternatively, you can click on the New button on the far left of the Toolbar or, when there is no game in progress, you can also click with the mouse anywhere on the game area.

The New Game dialog opens:

Here you select the players (human against either human or computer), the colours of the pieces (Black or White) and the difficulty level for the computer (level 1 is the most basic).  Whoever plays with the white pieces has the first move.

Making Moves

When it is the turn of a human player, click on a piece on the Chess board to select it.  If you have enabled the Legal Move Indication option in the Game Settings dialog (see Game Settings section below), all valid moves for the selected piece are displayed.  To move the selected piece to one of these squares, click the desired destination square.

For more information on specific Chess moves, see Game Rules section above.

If you wish the computer to suggest a move, select the Hint option from the Game menu or click on the Hint button on the far right of the Toolbar.  Hints are displayed on the board by red dots.  To play the hint, click on the square suggested by the computer.

With more advanced levels, the computer may take some time to make its move.  To force the computer to stop thinking and make the best move it has found so far, select the Move Now option from the Game menu.

Invalid Moves

Chess will not let you make an invalid move.  If you try to move a piece to an invalid destination, the selected piece simply does not move and you have to make an alternative choice.

Move List

A scrollable Move List displays a list of all the moves made in the current game on the left-hand side of the screen.  Each move is identified by a number, a black or white piece and a grid reference that refers to the Chess board.

Winning a Game

The object of the game is to capture your opponent’s King.  The King is said to be in “check” when it is threatened by an opponent’s piece.  If the King is in check and it cannot escape being captured, “checkmate” occurs.  When this happens the game is over.

At the end of a game, a Game Over message appears, stating which colour has won.

If a King is not in check but a player cannot make any more legal moves, a “stalemate” occurs, which results in a draw.

Reviewing a Game

The Video buttons in the Toolbar allow you to review the current game.  Click the Take Back button to undo a single move (or series of moves) and the Replay button to redo a single move (or series of moves).  The Go to Start button takes you back to the start of the game and the Go to End button takes you to the end of the current game.

Alternatively, you can use the Take Back, Replay, Go to Start and Go to End options in the Game menu (or their respective keyboard shortcuts).

Saving a Game

To save a game so that you can continue playing it later, select the Save option from the File menu. Alternatively, you can click on the Save button on the far left of the Toolbar. The Save As dialog opens.

Simply enter a filename so that you can identify the game when you come to load it again at a later date.  It is, however, also possible to change the directory where the games are stored and overwrite any existing saved games.

To save an existing game under a different name while a game is in progress, use the Save As option on the File menu.  Note also that you will be asked if you want to save your game whenever you exit a game or start a new game while another game is still in progress.

Exiting a Game

To exit a game, select the Exit option from the File menu or click on the Close button (marked with an X) in the top right hand corner of the program.

Opening a Saved Game

To re-open a saved game, select the Load option from the File menu or click on the Load button on the Toolbar.  Select the game you wish to resume playing in the Open dialog.

Settings

Game Settings

The Game Settings dialog allows you to change the animation speed of the pieces on the board.  Slide the bar to the left for a slower animation speed and to the right for a faster animation speed.

If you enable the Legal Move Indication option, all valid moves for a selected piece are displayed when you select a piece on the board.

Sound Settings

In the Sound Settings dialog you can choose a Background Music option and switch the Sound Effects on or off.  Highlight your chosen background music and click OK.  For sound effects, check the Sound Effects box.  You can also change the sound levels, by moving the Volume bars to the left to reduce the volume level or to the right to increase it.  On installation of the games, you have the option of whether you wish to install the music or whether you would like it to run directly from the CD.

Display Settings & Toolbar

Toolbar

To display the toolbar at the top of the screen, select the Toolbar option from the View menu.

A tool tip displays the name of the toolbar button when you roll using the mouse pointer over a button.  From left to right, the toolbar buttons are as follows:

•	New  - to start a new game

•	Load - to load a saved game

•	Save  - to save a game

•	Go to Start - to go to the start of the current game

•	Take Back - to undo a move

•	Replay - to replay a move

•	Go to End - to go to the end of the current game

•	Hint - to ask the computer to suggest a move

Status Bar

To display the Status Bar at the bottom of the screen, select the Status Bar option from the View menu.  This displays information about the current game at the bottom of the game window.

Screen Size

To change the screen size, select the Screen Size option from the View menu and choose a window size from the pre-determined settings.

About Purple Software & Contact Details

Purple Software is the world's leading developer of entertainment and lifestyle applications based on artificial intelligence that amuse, stimulate and challenge the mind. For more information or support, contact us by:

Phone:	+44 (0) 1494 750 300	( Hours: 09.00 – 17.30 GMT )

Fax:	+44 (0) 1494 750 301

Email:	info@purplesoft.com 	( General enquiries )

support@purplesoft.com	( Technical support )

Web:	www.purplesoftware.com

Address:	Purple Software Limited

Purple House

Corporation Street

High Wycombe, Bucks

HP13 6TQ

United Kingdom