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-
- This readme file contains information about the console version of
- Arasan (arasanx.exe). This version of Arasan can be used together
- with Winboard, which is a graphical user interface for chess programs.
- Winboard can be used to play games against Arasan, play Arasan
- against other chess programs, and connect Arasan to an Internet
- chess server.
-
- You can get Winboard from
- http://www.research.digital.com/SRC/personal/Tim_Mann/chess.html and
- many other locations. Arasan 5.2 is designed to work with
- Winboard version 4.0.0 or higher. Other versions of Winboard
- may work but this is not guaranteed.
-
- Note that arasanx is a 32-bit program and will not run under Windows
- 3.1. You need Windows 95 or Windows NT. Winboard also doesn't run
- under Windows 3.1, not even if you use Win32s. There probably isn't
- ever going to be a 16-bit version of these programs.
-
-
- Using Winboard as a user interface
-
- To play a game against the Arasan chess engine using Winboard, start
- Winboard with the -fcp switch (short for -firstChessProgram), like this:
-
- winboard -cp -fcp "d:\arasan\arasanx.exe -H 8000"
-
- You need to specify the full path to where arasanx is installed (this is
- the path you gave when you installed Arasan). Under Windows NT, use
- double blackslashes in the path; under Windows 95, use single.
-
- Arasanx recognizes a -H switch that can be used to specify the hash
- table size. The hash size is in kilobytes. Arasanx also recognizes an
- optional -t flag that will show some debugging output in the window or
- log file when used together with the "-debugMode true" switch to
- winboard. You normally shouldn't have to turn this on.
-
-
- Playing against another chess program
-
- You can use arasanx to make Arasan play games against Crafty, Gnuchess,
- or other programs that support the Winboard interface. To do this, use
- the -fcp and -scp switches to Winboard. A typical command line looks
- like this:
-
- winboard -cp -fcp "d:\arasan\arasanx.exe -H 8000"
- -scp "d:\crafty\wcrafty.exe xboard"
-
- (type this all together on one line. Under Windows NT, use double
- backslashes in the path). If using Crafty, be sure to use the Windows
- version (wcrafty.exe).
-
- After invoking winboard, select "Two Machines" in the Mode menu to make
- the computers play against one another.
-
-
- ICS Support
-
- Arasanx can also be used to make the program play on an Internet chess
- server (it isn't designed to allow humans to play on a server - there
- are other and better programs for that.).
-
- To make Arasan play on a server, you need an interface program, since
- arasanx itself has no ability to connect to the Internet. Winboard
- version 3.5 or higher has the necessary interface code built in.
- A typical command line to make arasanx play on a server might look
- like this:
-
- winboard -ics -zp -autoflag -fcp "d:\arasan\arasanx.exe -ics -H 8000"
-
- Please be honest when you put the computer on a chess server: tell the
- administrators first, get permission to use a computer, and follow any
- rules that they have for computer accounts. I would also recommend
- that you not use the handle "ArasanX", which I currently use on FICS,
- to avoid confusion.
-
-
- Support
-
- If you think you have found a bug in ArasanX, please report it to
- jdart@best.com. Be sure to specify what version you have and provide as
- much detail as possible about the problem. It might be helpful if you
- could run winboard with the "-debugMode true" switch and provide me with
- the winboard.debug file that it creates.
-
- You can get current information about Arasan and program updates from
- http://www.best.com/~jdart/arasan.htm.
-
- If you have trouble running ArasanX under Winboard, trouble connecting
- to an Internet chess server, or other operational problems, you might
- want to check the Gnuchess FAQ
- (http://www.research.digital.com/SRC/personal/Tim_Mann/gnuchess/FAQ.html),
- which includes more information about Winboard.
-