Chess playing software specifically designed to allow people to hone their tactical skills when used in conjunction with Chess King's Positions: Tactics and Mates and Chess King's Positions: Endgames.
Written by Craig Shoemaker.
Contact Info
On the internet: craig.shoemaker@tcs.wap.org
If the electronic mail doesn't go through, just try again in about a week.
Mailing address is
Craig Shoemaker
Esoteric Software
4014 N. 41st Street
Arlington, VA 22207 U.S.A.
Phone: (703) 532-6981
About ChessKing™ Beta Test Version 00.02c
You cannot sell this product, bundle this products with other products (whether these other products are sold or given away) nor imprint this product's image on hard disks or CDs for later sale or give-aways without express written permission from Esoteric Software.
Who is a Beta tester? You are! This package was placed on the internet by Esoteric Software so that you would download it, look at it, and test it out. You take the time to test this package out on your particular Macintosh and if something unexpected happens then please inform me.
When ChessKing has a brain, Beta testers will play against ChessKing and hopefully send their games to craig.shoemaker@tcs.wap.org if they beat ChessKing. This way, over time, ChessKing will become a stronger opponent.
ChessKing™ Beta version 00.02c is for testing and getting out bugs. Obviously, it may crash your system (though I hope it doesn't); take appropriate safeguards (that is, restart you computer, then immediately run ChessKing; when you are done playing ChessKing, restart your computer again). All the icon handles which represent the playing pieces displayed on the screen are locked down in memory now (something I forgot to do in Beta version 00.01); so, if you previously experienced crashes when the board was being drawn, this shouldn't happen anymore (there are no guarantees, of course).
Requirements: Any Macintosh running System, oh, let's say around 4.2 or higher, including, of course System 7.5 (Apple's latest system for the Mac). Color Quickdraw is no longer required.
If any system requirements are not met you will be notified in an alert box in the program.
Set your monitor depth at 256 colors or 256 grays, if possible. But, any monitor depth including black and white is fine (but if you set it to black and white then only open boards that are in black and white).
You can, of course, set your monitor depth to thousands or millions of colors for this is fine also.
If your monitor support only 4 colors and a you can't see the board squares on your screen, then try setting your monitor to 4 shades of gray and you should then be able to see the black and white playing squares on the board.
There's no doubt that the chess board and pieces look great when you have Color Quickdraw. But if you don't have Color Quickdraw (because your computer is too old and doesn't support colors (that is, it is a 68000 processor and not a 68020 processor or later), then although the display isn't cool looking, it will allow you to play. If you don't have Color Quickdraw and you choose the "Shrink" button, the display of the chessmen on the chess board is almost unreadable.
This program should run on any Macintosh from the oldest MacPlus to the newest Power Macs.
What to Test
Only carry out the following tests:
1) The Apple About menu item.
2) The File menu item: New Game.
You can choose many different types of chess games that occur on different types of chess boards. If you find that a given board doesn't fit onto your display, then choose either the "Hide Window Title" or the "shrink" button when you choose another new game. If you play a game that requires a 10 square by 10 square chess board for instance, then be sure to open a chess board that has 10 by 10 squares. ChessKing supports the following chess board sizes: where nxm means n files by m ranks: 8x8, 10x8, 10x10, 12x8, 12x10, and 12x12. If you choose to play chess with a 12x12 board then an extra phalanx of pawns is added plus a few hopping pieces to fill the void in the center of the chess board; note that only pawns that make their first move from their respective second ranks are allowed to move two squares (that is, if a pawn is initially placed near the center of the chess board, it can only move one square its first turn). When you play on a board that has 8 files, when you castle the King moves 2 squares (just like in standard Chess). When the board has 10 files, the King moves 3 squares when castling. When the board has 12 files, the King moves 4 squares when castling.
3) When the chess board with the pieces is displayed, move the pieces around and see if it works all right. All moves are checked for legality. If you make an illegal move, you are given the option of taking back this illegal move or of making this illegal move. If you move when it is the other side's turn to move, ChessKing will tell you and allow you to take the move back if you wish.
If you have a friend, you can both play chess and variations of chess at your Macintosh computer. The ChessKing software does not at this time think and play against a human opponent. Remember though, if you find bugs, please tell me.
If you do play around with ChessKing and you make an illegal move and ChessKing doesn't spot it, then please tell me. ChessKing checks for all illegal moves. Of course, if one side insists on making an illegal move which leaves his King in check, and then the opponent takes the King, well, that's not covered by ChessKing because the human decided to go ahead and make an illegal move in the first place.
Here are some rules of chess that ChessKing does not yet deal with in one way or another. When ChessKing has a rudimentary thinking apparatus then some of these rules will be checked for and announced.
Checkmate Rule
ChessKing does not yet check to see if any side is checkmated. Indirectly it can be said that ChessKing checks for mate in that if a side is checkmated and tries to move, ChessKing will say that the move so made is illegal. But, ChessKing does not announce that one side or the other has check mated the opponent.
Stalemate Rule
If a King is not in check and the only moves his side can make will place him in check, the game is stalemated. Again, ChessKing does not announce stalemate, but if a side is in stalemate and tries to move ChessKing will inform that player that he has made an illegal move. A stalemate is a drawn game in which no side wins.
Lack of Adequate Force to Checkmate
This is a drawn game. ChessKing does not check for this yet (and, of course, does not announce it since it doesn't check). Lack of adequate force to checkmate is a drawn game with neither side being victorious.
Drawn by Agreement
ChessKing can't think of a move to play much less decide if it is time to either accept or offer a draw. Furthermore, ChessKing would need some information about the opponent's strength before making any such decision (assuming ChessKing could think).
Draw by Repetition
This is a tricky rule and as written in Reinfeld's The Complete Chessplayer: "Here the rule states that where a position has already turned up twice in a game, with the same player on the move in each case, he may claim a draw before making the move which will produce the position a third time."
Assuming ChessKing had a brain, he is, of course, under no obligation to claim a draw by repetition. Similarly, neither would a human opponent be under such an obligation. In any case, ChessKing doesn't check to see if it is possible to claim a draw by either side based on the draw by repetition rule.
The Fifty Move Rule
Here is the rule explained by Reinfeld in his The Complete Chessplayer: "The so-called "50-move rule" specifies that either player may claim a draw if no capture has been made, and no Pawn has moved, in the past 50 moves. Such claims are of rare occurrence, the chief purpose of the rule being to penalize bunglers or those who insist on playing on in positions which can only be won by a gross blunder on the part of their adversary."
Since computers don't get impatient, there would be no reason for ChessKing to be motivated to claim a draw based on the 50 move rule if he is playing an opponent who is hoping for a blunder in an obviously drawn position. ChessKing, of course, when and if he ever thinks, should check to see if the 50-move rule is satisfied and be aware that either side could legally enforce that a draw be had, but this is not done yet.
Here is the 50-move rule explained by Edward Lasker in his book, Modern Chess Strategy: "Finally, a game is considered a draw when 50 moves have been made without accomplishing a checkmate, provided no man has been captured and no Pawn has moved. Excepted from this rule are positions in which it can be proved that a mate would require more than 50 moves."
Again, ChessKing doesn't at this time check to see if the 50-move rule boundary has been breached. Furthermore, there is at this time no mechanism (such as a dialog box) to allow the human playing the computer to tell the computer that he can or cannot demonstrate that a checkmate will take longer than 50 moves.
Thanks!
internet address: craig.shoemaker@tcs.wap.org
New Pieces
Depending on what type of chess game you play, you may find new pieces that you are not sure how to move. Don't worry, the game of chess has exactly the same rules, but sometimes additional pieces are added (and, of course, if you make an illegal move, ChessKing will let you know).
the Jester
At this time it looks like a jack in a Macintosh box. It moves like a Knight or a Bishop. The jester at first might remind you of a Bishop, which is good since it moves like a Bishop. The name "jester" or trick player might remind you that it moves like a piece you don't expect: the Knight. This compound movement is, of course, nothing new, since the Queen moves like a Bishop or a Rook.
the Archer
It looks like a bow and arrow on top of a structure. It moves like a Knight or a Rook. The bow and arrow suggests "up and over" or a hopping move for the Archer moves like a Knight. The structure suggests a sturdy foundation like is found in the Rook icon: the Archer also moves like a Rook. This compound movement is, of course, nothing new, since the Queen moves like a Bishop or a Rook.
the Catapult
It looks like a catapult. It hops three squares vertically or horizontally and then breaks one square 90 degrees vertically or horizontally, respectively. It hops just as a Knight hops but the Catapult hops to different squares than that of a Knight. The Catapult has a longer range than a Knight but is less maneuverable; the Catapult is a piece that can never change the color of the square that it lands on. Here is a picture showing all the possible squares that a Catapult may choose to move to:
About ChessKing and Computer Brains
If you wish to study chess productively, call Esoteric Software about purchasing Chess King's Positions: Tactics and Mates and Chess King's Positions: Endgames. These products currently require that you already own Sargon IV (your best choice for 68030 Macs and earlier), Sargon V, or ChessMaster 3000.
Thanks, Craig Shoemaker
Esoteric Software, 4014 N. 41st Street, Arlington, VA U.S.A.
