Chessmaster 2100 Help Text Copyright 1988,1990 The Software Toolworks Here's everything you need to know to use The Chessmaster 2100. > >To see all of this information, click on the scroll bar to the right of this window. When you are done, click on the CANCEL button. > >The Chessmaster 2100 on the Amiga is intended for use with the mouse. (A joystick will not work.) Some commands have keyboard alternatives, and some specialized commands may require typing on the keyboard. > >MOVING PIECES: Use the mouse to position the pointer (a hand) over the piece you want to move. Hold the LEFT mouse button to close the hand and "grab" the piece. Move the piece, and then release the button to complete your move. > >MENUS: Hold down the RIGHT mouse button to see the menu bar. Move the mouse to highlight the various menu items. Release the button when an item is highlighted to select that item. > >Press the right Amiga key and the question mark ("?") at any time to get instant help. > >The program has both short menus for the first-time user (showing only the essential features of The Chessmaster 2100) and longer menus (showing ALL the features) for the expert. Use the Expert Menus On/Off item on the Game menu to choose the type of menu that's best for you. > >That's all there really is to know. You can see a list of all available help topics by clicking on the TOPICS button now. Use the scroll bar to find a topic. Click on the topic to highlight it, and then click on the OK button to see that topic. Explore the help topics whenever you feel ready to learn more about The Chessmaster 2100's many features. > >The Chessmaster 2100 was designed to be easy to understand and use. Have fun!! Menus work in standard Amiga fashion. At the top of the screen is the (normally hidden) menu bar. Hold down the RIGHT mouse button to make the menu bar appear. You will see the titles of six menus: Game, Play, Action, Board, Choices, Window. > >When you move the pointer over a menu title, its menu appears. Move the mouse up and down to highlight an item in the menu. When the item you wish to select is highlighted, release the button. > >To leave the menu without making a selection, move the hand out of the menu before releasing the button. > >Some items on a menu have submenus, which appear when you highlight the item. Scroll the pointer sideways to move between items and their submenus. > >Some menu items can be selected directly from the keyboard using a "shortcut". All shortcuts use the right Amiga key and a mnemonic letter key. For example, holding down the right Amiga key and pressing 'Q' is a shortcut for selecting the Quit item from the Game menu. Items with shortcuts will display the shortcut at the right side. > >Items which cannot be accessed at the moment appear washed out or faded ("ghosted"). For example, when you start a new game, the Take Back item on the Action menu is not accessible, because no moves have yet been made. You may move pieces with the mouse or the keyboard. > >Mouse: The mouse pointer -- a hand on the screen -- follows the movements of the mouse. Position the hand over the piece you wish to move. Then press and hold the LEFT mouse button to close the hand and "grab" the piece. Continue to hold down the left button, and drag the piece to the desired destination. Release the button to drop the piece and complete the move. > >If you pick up a piece and then decide not to move it, simply return the piece to its original square. > >Keyboard: You may also make moves using the current notation (e.g. by typing "e2e4"). Use the Backspace key to correct mistakes. The Esc key cancels a partially entered move. When legal, you may castle by moving the King two squares towards the Rook. The Rook will move into place automatically. See the Tutorial for more information about castling. When legal, you may capture your opponent's pawn "in passing" by moving your pawn diagonally behind it. See the Tutorial for more information about en passant captures. If your pawn reaches the opposite side of the board, the Chessmaster will ask you to promote your pawn to a Queen, Rook, Bishop or Knight. Make your choice by clicking on the desired piece. A button is an outlined rectangle containing some text, such as "OK" or "SAVE". Clicking on a button causes the action described by the button to take place. For example, you might see a message like "Play another game?" along with buttons containing the words "YES" and "NO". When a list contains too much information to fit comfortably on the screen, a scroll bar will appear to the right of it. A scroll bar consists of a vertical rectangle with arrows at either end and a rectangular knob in between. The knob indicates the relative size and position of the part of the list that is visible. > >You can click on the arrows to scroll the list one line at a time. Clicking in the region between an arrow and the knob will scroll the list one page at a time in the direction of the arrow. Dragging the knob will scroll the list to the same relative position as the knob. Whenever The Chessmaster 2100 needs information about a file, it will display a file requester. The file requester contains several pieces: > >A scrolling list of directories and saved game titles. Directories have a "D" symbol to the left of their names. You may move into a directory by double-clicking on its name with the mouse or by using the arrow keys to highlight the directory name and pressing Enter. > >The current drive and directory, which appear above the list of directories and game titles. > >A CANCEL button. Selecting this button with the mouse will remove the file requester without making a selection. > >Other buttons (such as LOAD or ERASE) will also be present, depending on the operation being performed. Starts a new game against the currently selected opponent. If there is a game in progress, you will be asked to confirm your choice. > >If your opponent is the Chessmaster, and you have chosen to play Black, the Chessmaster will move first. Use this menu item to load a Classic game or a game you saved earlier. In either case, you will be presented with a file requester. Highlight the name of the game you wish to load and select the LOAD button. The Chessmaster 2100 comes with 110 Classic Games of chess. This menu option loads one of those games and allows you to review it. > >Once the game is loaded, you will see a brief description of why this game is notable. Use the Replay Last Move option to play back the game one move at a time, or use the Animate feature to see the moves replayed automatically. > >The Chessmaster's Classic Games are kept in a file called CLASSICS.DAT. If that file is not in the current directory, no Classic Games will be shown. You may be asked to insert the disk containing CLASSICS.DAT into the drive. Use this feature to load a game you saved earlier. The game will be restored to the exact position it was in when you saved it. Save the current game. When the Save Game file requester appears, type a name for the game. The name may be as long as will fit (24 characters). You can use any characters normally allowed in Amiga file names (i.e., no slash or colon). If you wish to use an existing name, click on that name. > >When you've got a name and you're ready to save, press the SAVE button. Erase a game you've saved earlier. Classic games cannot be erased. This menu item allows you to save your current settings or restore the original factory settings. Once you have The Chessmaster's features and settings arranged the way you like them, use the Save Current feature to make that arrangement permanent. Use the Save Current command to save The Chessmaster's settings for the following menu items: expert menus, play level, style, deep thinking, opponent, opening book, choice of side, board design, clocks, coordinates, rotation, player name, opponent name, sound, piece slide, notation, teaching, commentary, announce openings, touching pieces, blindfold chess, colors, and window locations. > >The next time you run the program, the saved values of these settings will be used. Resets The Chessmaster 2100 to the settings built in by The Software Toolworks: > >Expert Menus: Off >Newcomer Mode: Off >Intermediate Play: Off >Advanced Play Level: Fixed Time, 5 seconds/move >Style: Normal >Deep Thinking: On >Opponent: Chessmaster >Opening Book: On >Human player's color: White >Board Design: 2-D >Chess Clocks: On >Coordinates: On >Rotation: White on Bottom >Your Name: Player >Human Opponent's Name: Other Player >Sound: Music >Piece Slide: On >Notation: Coordinate >Teaching Mode: Off >Commentary: Off >Announce Openings: On >Touching Pieces: Allowed >Blindfold Chess: Off >Colors: original >Window Locations: original > >Unless you change the settings and save them with the Save Current command, these "factory" settings will be valid whenever you enter the program. The Setup Menu allows you to arrange the pieces on the board, to solve a chess problem or to explore alternate lines of play. > >Enter Setup allows you to add, move or remove pieces to the board, starting from the current board position. > >Clear Board removes all pieces except the Kings. > >New Game Setup puts each piece in its "start of game" position. > >Abandon Setup throws away any changes you have made and returns to the game in progress. > >Setup Complete exits setup mode, and play proceeds from the new board position. > >Each of the above items has its own, more detailed, help topic. Exits setup mode and asks which side should move first. If one side is in check, only that side is allowed to move. If the position you set up isn't legal (both Kings in check, for example), The Chessmaster will tell you and leave you in setup mode. Exits setup mode as though you had never entered it. The game in progress is unaffected, and any changes you made are thrown away. Choose the Clear Board option from the Setup submenu to remove all the pieces from the board except for the Kings. Use this option of the Setup submenu to place pieces on the board as they would be at the start of a new game. You may then continue entering and moving pieces. Selecting this item allows you to place pieces on the board in almost any position you want. You may add, move, or remove pieces on the board using the mouse. > >To add a piece, pick up a piece from the "grab bag" of pieces at the edge of the board and drop it on the desired square. To move a piece, simply move it as you would normally. To remove a piece, pick it up and drop it off the edge of the board. The Chessmaster will begin searching for a checkmate in the number of moves you specify. The Chessmaster always solves for the side whose turn it is to move. If you wish to find a mate for the opposite side, make a move for the current side (or take back a move), and then select Solve Mate again. > >If the Chessmaster finds a mate, it will place the moves on the move list. You may then see the moves by replaying them or by displaying the Move List window (or both). > >If you specify a large number of moves in which to find mate, the Chessmaster may have to think for a very long time. Solving for mate can be a difficult problem: sometimes the Chessmaster is no better at it than most humans! You may want to put up the Thinking window during Solve Mate. Watch how many positions the Chessmaster considers during its search! The Chessmaster can analyze any move made in a game and tell you what move it would have made in that position. > >Take back the moves you wish to analyze or use Take Back All Moves to analyze an entire game. Then choose Analyze... and choose the side whose moves you want analyzed (White, Black or both). > >For each move analyzed, the Chessmaster examines the board position, displays the move it would have made at that point (and the associated line of play and score), and then replays the move actually made. > >To make the Chessmaster do a more in-depth analysis of each move, choose a longer analysis time at the prompt after you choose the Analyze... menu item. > >Once an analysis is completed, you may print or file it by choosing Save Analysis... from the menu. The tutorial is a set of animated lessons which will teach you everything you need to know to start playing chess: how to set up the board, how the pieces move, and the rules of chess. > >Use Select... to view the entire tutorial or to review a particular section of it. > >You may pause the Tutorial by pressing right-Amiga-W (the Pause key). You may move through the tutorial more quickly by pressing the spacebar (or clicking the mouse) when you are done reading a passage. > >Choose the Off option to stop the tutorial in progress. When expert menus are Off (the default), only a few menu items are available -- the bare essentials of The Chessmaster 2100. This makes the program easy for novices and casual players to use. Turning expert menus On adds menu items for advanced features, turning the program into a power tool for the serious chess player. When you're all done playing, choose Quit. You may also use the shortcut, right-Amiga-Q. If you have just played a particularly good game, you might want to save it before you quit. Newcomer is the Chessmaster's easiest level of play. It is most suited for people who haven't played much chess or are just learning. Of course, it's also not bad for better players who feel particularly aggressive... > >In Newcomer Mode, the Chessmaster doesn't think during your turn and doesn't look very far ahead. In fact, when deciding on a move in Newcomer mode, the Chessmaster considers only his move and the move you may make in response. > >Compare this to the advanced play levels, where the Chessmaster uses a list of common opening moves in the beginning of the game (the "opening book"), thinks during the opponent's time, and looks as far ahead as it can in the allotted time. Intermediate Play is similar to Newcomer Play, but the Chessmaster looks further ahead when computing each move. > >If you can beat the Chessmaster in Newcomer Mode, but you can't beat it on any of the Advanced Play levels, try Intermediate Play. Use the Advanced Play Levels menu to set how strongly the Chessmaster plays -- and how long it takes to make each move. The longer the Chessmaster thinks, the stronger it will play -- and vice versa. There are six ways to specify the playing strength: > >o Fixed Time (maximum time per move) >o Time Controls (tournament play) >o Fixed Depth (how far to think ahead) >o Minutes per Game (maximum time per game) >o Equal Time (the Chessmaster takes as much time as you do) >o Infinite Time (you tell the Chessmaster when to move) > >In some of these modes, the Chessmaster will allocate its time over the course of a game or a series of moves, so that it spends more time thinking in the midgame (when there are more things to consider) than in the endgame or the opening. During the beginning of the game the Chessmaster looks up its moves in the Opening Book and will move very quickly. The time it saves here may be used to its advantage later in the game. You may disable use of the opening book by selecting Opening Book Off from the Play menu. > >The Chessmaster will also think while it's your turn to move. If you make a move the Chessmaster expects, it will be able to save considerable time (or think further ahead) on its next move. You can disable thinking on your turn by selecting Deep Thinking Off from the Play menu. > >When the Chessmaster is choosing a move, it also considers the current Style of Play. Normally, the Chessmaster chooses the best move only some of the time, picking moves that are good, but maybe not the best, the rest of the time. Most people end up choosing moves like this -- sometimes they make the best move, sometimes not. Use the Style option on the Play menu to tell the Chessmaster how to pick its moves. You specify the number of seconds the Chessmaster has to make each move. The program will take up to that much time to make each move, never longer. The default time limit is 5 seconds per move. This is tournament-style play, where you specify the minimum number of moves each player must make in a specified time (called a "time control"). > >If either player fails to make the mimimum number of moves in the required time, that player "loses on time." Unless Championship Play is On, the Chessmaster will ask if you wish to ignore the loss on time and continue play. > >If both players make the required number of moves before the clocks run out, a new time control is established. In this case, the Chessmaster will ask for the number of moves and time limit for the new time control. > >Officially sanctioned chess tournaments typically use time controls of 40 moves in 2 hours. You specify how many half-moves (called "plies") the Chessmaster thinks ahead when calculating each move. The Chessmaster will look that many plies ahead and then make his move. > >Keep in mind that looking ahead several moves can take a very long time, depending on the speed of your machine. > >The Chessmaster also thinks ahead further when it sees a check or a capture, essentially "being smarter when it counts." When you specify the depth of search, the Chessmaster will use that depth when considering most moves, but will look further than that on checks and captures. You specify how long each player may take to complete the game. If either player exceeds that time, he loses on time. The Chessmaster will ask if you wish to continue anyway if either player loses on time. > >This time limit will affect how well the Chessmaster plays, since it will try to avoid losing on time. The Chessmaster attempts to allocate its time over the course of a game, spending more time per move in the middle game, less in the opening and endgame. The Chessmaster will take approximately the same amount of time to move as you do, based on the average amount of time you spend making each move. > >For example, if you have completed 5 moves in 50 seconds, the Chessmaster will take approximately 10 seconds to make its next move. > >When the Chessmaster is still using the Opening Book, he will move as fast as he can. The Chessmaster won't move until you tell it to by choosing Force Move (right-Amiga-F). The longer you let it think, the better it will play. Remember, however, that in this mode the Chessmaster will never move on its own. Experience the pressure of tournament chess play! When Championship Play is On, you can't take back moves, you must move the first piece you touch, and you will lose the game if time runs out. See how good a chess player you REALLY are! The Style setting determines how the Chessmaster chooses its moves. > >In Normal Style, the program sometimes chooses among several good moves available to it. This is the default style of play. > >In Coffeehouse Style, the program chooses among several good moves, but may sometimes make a poor move or a blunder. > >In Best Style, the program always chooses the best move it has available. > >The program changes its playing style by adjusting the actual score that it calculates for a move. When Best is in effect, no change is made. Normal style uses a small random value (between .012 and .027), while Coffeehouse uses a somewhat larger adjustment (between .027 and .059). As you can see, if moves are close in score, this adjustment may cause moves which score lower to be chosen. Deep Thinking is a modification you can make to any of the advanced play levels. When deep thinking is On, the Chessmaster will think ahead when it is your turn to move, just like a good human opponent. > >When deep thinking is Off, the Chessmaster will play an easier game, since it will not use the time that you take to make your move to gain an advantage. > >Deep Thinking is disabled when you choose Newcomer or Intermediate Play, since the Chessmaster does not think ahead at these levels. You may select one of the following opponents: > >Chessmaster: You play one side and the Chessmaster plays the other. Use Switch Sides (right-Amiga-G) to choose the side you wish to play. > >Human: The Chessmaster will referee while you play another human player. You will be asked for the name of your opponent. > >Autoplay: The Chessmaster plays both sides of the board. Use the Opening Book setting to determine whether the Chessmaster chooses its opening moves from its library of proven opening sequences. > >Normally, the Chessmaster uses the Opening Book. Its first few moves will be made very quickly, without thinking. This conserves time on the Chessmaster's clock for use later in the game. > >When Opening Book is Off, the Chessmaster has to think about each move. That creates more possibility for error and costs time that the program may need later in the game. > >The Opening Book contains about 151,000 opening positions, some as long as 15 or 20 moves! Good chess players are familiar with a large number of opening move sequences. Certain sequences of moves are known to lead to strong positions for one side or the other, and you must be able to recognize them. If your opponent chooses a sequence which is favorable to his side, you must know how to thwart his plans (and hopefully gain an advantage). > >You may only Select... an opening to practice at the start of a new game. > >The Chessmaster will always tell you the first move you need to make and warn you when you blunder off course. (Use the Take Back Last Move key, right-Amiga-T, to correct your mistake.) > >If Commentary is On, the Chessmaster will also tell you the next move you need to make to continue the opening you have selected. Turn Print Each Move On to record each move on the printer as you make it. Make sure your printer is plugged in, properly cabled, turned on and selected (on-line). When this feature is turned On, each complete game (ending in mate, draw or resignation) will be used to rate your play. Turning Rate My Play Off lets you play practice games which will not be used to calculate your rating. Selecting Show... lets you see your current rating. You may also Reset your rating to start over. > >CAUTION: The Chessmaster's rating of your play is approximate and unofficial. You should play at least ten games before taking the Chessmaster's rating seriously. To get the most accurate rating, the Chessmaster should be played using tournament time controls of 40 moves in 120 minutes (see Advanced Play Levels). > >The basic idea is that your rating should increase more when you are skillful enough to beat a stronger opponent than when you trounce a weaker player. > >The United States Chess Federation assigns the following ratings: > >Class D: below 1400 >Class C: 1400 - 1599 >Class B: 1600 - 1799 >Class A: 1800 - 1999 >Expert: 2000 - 2199 >Master: 2200 and above > >The Fidelity chess engine used by The Software Toolworks has an official USCF rating of 2353. All of these ratings are based on time-controlled play. This item allows you to switch sides with your opponent. If you choose to play Black, your opponent will move first. > >You may access this feature without the menus by pressing right-Amiga-G. > >If you have chosen to play Black, you will probably want to rotate the board so that White is at the top. You may take back the last move made (press right-Amiga-T) or all the moves which have been made so far. > >Once moves have been taken back, you may Replay or Analyze them. > >If it is your turn after taking back a move, you can choose to make a new move. Doing so will cause all the moves which have been taken back but not replayed to be forgotten. > >If it is the Chessmaster's turn to move and you wish the program to make a new move, you must select Force Move from the Action menu (or press right-Amiga-F). > >Take Back is disabled when no moves have been made (after setting up a position or starting a new game). You may replay the next move (press right-Amiga-R), animate all the moves which have been taken back, or jump to the end of the game by replaying all moves which have been taken back. > >Replay is only enabled when moves have been taken back. Replay Animate (on the Action menu) automatically replays all the moves which have been taken back. Once begun, you may press the space bar to view a requester which allows you to speed up or slow down the replay speed, stop animated replay or continue with the animated replay. > >You may select Speed Up Replay or Slow Down Replay more than once for greater effect. > >The Replay Animate feature is only enabled when moves have been taken back. Press right-Amiga-F or choose Force Move from the menu to make the Chessmaster move immediately. > >If moves have been taken back, and it is now the Chessmaster's turn to move, selecting Force Move will cause the Chessmaster to begin thinking about a new move, rather than moving immediately. > >Force Move is the only way to make the Chessmaster move when the Advanced Play - Infinite Time level has been selected from the Play menu. > >This item is only enabled when it is the Chessmaster's turn to move. Ask the Chessmaster for advice on your next move. If the Chessmaster has had sufficient time to look a couple of moves ahead, he will respond immediately. Otherwise, he will ask for time to consider the board and suggest a move. > >You may request a hint without using the menus by pressing right-Amiga-A. If you find yourself in a hopeless position, you may resign. Resignation is considered a loss for purposes of rating your play. If you believe that neither side can win the game, you may offer your opponent a draw. Of course, your opponent is under no obligation to accept your offer! > >The Chessmaster is pretty confident of its playing ability and will decline your offer of a draw unless you are well ahead on material. Move History: Prints all the moves in the current game. The name of each player appears at the top of the list, followed by the moves in the current notation. > >Board: Prints the current board position. Wait (right-Amiga-W): In case you need to answer the phone or stretch your legs. While paused, the clocks do not tick and the Chessmaster does not think. Select the CANCEL button to resume play. The Boss! (right-Amiga-P): A panic button for tight situations. To resume the game, click in the upper left-hand corner of the spreadsheet. The Chessmaster 2100 offers you three different ways to look at the board: > >2-D - an overhead view of the board; > >3-D - a perspective view; > >War Room - a small 2-D board plus the most frequently used status displays: captured pieces, move list, and the Chessmaster's thinking. Use The Chessmaster's elegant Staunton piece sets (a separate set for each board design), or choose one that you have created by following the instructions provided in the instruction sheet. For each player, the chess clocks show the name, the elapsed time and the last two moves made (in the current notation). When clocks are Off, this information is hidden from view. > >NOTE: The clocks tick even when they are not displayed. If time-controls are in effect (Time Controls or Minutes Per Game on the Advanced Play menu), a player can lose on time even though the clocks are hidden. Using this option, you may toggle the display of rank (1-8) and file (a-h) coordinates along the edge of the chess board. If you enter moves from the keyboard, you may find coordinate display convenient. For added insight into the game, use this option to view the chess board from any side. If you have chosen to play Black, you will probably want to rotate the board so that White is at the top. You may enter a name which will be displayed above the clock for the side you have chosen to play. This name will be remembered if you Save Current settings. > >If you have selected a human opponent, you will be prompted for his/her name whenever you start a new game. The Chessmaster 2100 uses voice phrases to keep you informed of the state of the game. You may choose from the following settings: > >Silent - ideal for playing at work or late at night. > >Voice - on systems with adequate free memory, the Chessmaster will verbally report changes in status. > >Music - The Chessmaster will use a song to signal check, capture, promotion, stalemate and other situations of interest. When Piece Slide is Off, chess pieces will "pop" from their starting square to the destination square. You can use this to speed up play. Algebraic: All moves will be displayed using algebraic notation. Algebraic notation is explained in the tutorial in a section of the same name. When entering algebraic moves from the keyboard, you must press Enter after each move. > >Coordinate: Moves are specified by giving the coordinates of the starting square and the destination square, e.g. e2-e4. You do not need to type the '-' when entering the move. Off: Pieces will be displayed normally. > >Legal: When this item is selected, picking up a piece (or typing the starting square in Coordinate Notation) will display "ghost" pieces on the squares to which that piece can legally move. If a destination square is occupied by an opponent's piece, the opponent's piece will be ghosted, indicating that you can capture it. > >Threatened: When active, the pieces that your opponent can capture will be shown as "ghost" pieces. You may find this useful if you frequently lose pieces because you didn't notice that you were under attack. When this item is turned On, the Chessmaster will provide additional information about the progress of the game. > >If you have chosen to Practice an Opening, the Chessmaster will tell you which move comes next in the opening you have chosen to practice. When you turn Announce Openings On, the Chessmaster will tell you the name of an opening as soon as it recognizes the sequence of moves from its opening book. > >As more moves are made, the Chessmaster may refine its identification. For example, 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 will be recognized as the Ruy Lopez opening. If 3...a6 is the next move, the Chessmaster will announce the Morphy Defense to the Ruy Lopez. Allowed: You may pick up a piece, return it to its original square, and then pick up a different piece. > >Not Allowed: You must move the first piece you touch. This is the rule in serious games of chess. If you try to move another piece, you will receive a message which tells you the piece you are required to move. Off: Pieces are displayed normally. > >Hide White: The White pieces are hidden. > >Hide Black: The Black pieces are hidden. > >Hide Both: Play true blindfold chess! You may select the colors used for the board squares or the pieces. A window may be moved by dragging its title area. (Position the cursor over the title; press and hold the left mouse button, and move the mouse.) > >When removed, all windows remember the last location at which they were displayed. When a window is opened again, it will appear at its last displayed location. > >To close (remove) a window, click in the small box (the "close gadget") in the upper left-hand corner of the window. Gives you a peek into the Chessmaster's brain. There are several pieces of information displayed: > >BEST - the best sequence of moves (based on the resulting score) that the Chessmaster has found so far. If you forced the Chessmaster to move at this instant, it would make the first move from this sequence. The rest of the moves in this sequence are your expected reply to the Chessmaster's move, his answer to your reply, and so on. > >When Deep Thinking is On and it is your turn to move, the Best line is based on your making the move that the Chessmaster predicted you would make in reply to his last move (the second move in the Prev display - see below). > >SCORE - reflects how far ahead (+) or behind (-) the Chessmaster thinks it will be if the Best line of play is played out. The score is computed in pawns and fractions of a pawn, so a score of +1.00 means the Chessmaster thinks it will be ahead by one pawn, and -3.00 means that the Chessmaster thinks it will be behind by three pawns (the equivalent of a Knight or a Bishop). Fractional scores come from the Chessmaster's evaluation of positional considerations, e.g. who controls the center of the board. > >POSITIONS - the total number of board positions the Chessmaster has examined while contemplating its next move. In general, the more positions the Chessmaster examines, the better it will play. > >DEPTH - the number of half-moves (plies) the Chessmaster has searched. For example, a Depth of 3 means the Chessmaster has examined all its legal moves, your responses to those moves, and is now looking at its answer to your reply. > >CURR - the line of play that the Chessmaster is examining at this instant. If the score of this line is better than that of the Best line, this will become the new Best. > >PREV - the Best line of play from the Chessmaster's last move. If Deep Thinking is On when it is your turn to move, the Chessmaster is searching ahead based on the assumption that you will make the second move in this line (the expected response to its last move). Displays a list of all the moves in the current game. Moves that have been taken back are displayed in a different color than moves which have been (re)played. > >By clicking on a move, you can see the game as it was at the time of that move. Shows all the pieces that have been removed from the board. This window gives you a quick idea of whether you have a material advantage over your opponent. This window displays the Chessmaster's anticipated line of play, as it was after the Chessmaster's last move. This is simply a copy of the Best line (from the Thinking Window) at the instant the Chessmaster made its last move. > >When Deep Thinking is On and it is your turn to move, the Chessmaster is searching ahead on the assumption that you will make the second move from this line (the response expected by the Chessmaster to the last move it made). Displays a list of all the moves you are allowed to make on that turn. Moves are displayed using the currently selected Notation. You may make one of the moves shown by highlighting it and selecting the MAKE MOVE button. > >When it is the Chessmaster's turn, the MAKE MOVE button is disabled, although you may still scroll the list to see the Chessmaster's legal moves.