Path: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!gatech!news.mathworks.com!udel!news.sprintlink.net!news.us.net!usenet From: pribut@us.net (Stephen M. Pribut) Newsgroups: rec.games.chess.misc,rec.answers,news.answers Subject: rec.games.chess FAQ [4/4] Followup-To: poster Date: 29 Jun 1995 20:56:00 GMT Organization: US Net Lines: 277 Approved: news-answers-request@mit.edu Expires: 1995/07/15 Message-ID: <3sv410$qtu@news.us.net> Reply-To: pribut@us.net NNTP-Posting-Host: endbd.laurel.us.net Content-Type: Text/Plain Summary: rgcm FAQ. Email-Chess, Live Net Chess, Computer Software Keywords: chess FAQ semimonthly answers Xref: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu rec.games.chess.misc:342 rec.answers:12948 news.answers:47339 Last-Modified: 1995/06/05 Archive-Name: games/chess/part4 Chess FAQ rec.games.chess.misc FAQ Part 4/4 See part 1 for information about how to obtain this document. TABLE OF CONTENTS Miscellaneous [23] Utility Software [24] Using Graphic Chess Symbols in Printed Text [25] Trivia [26] Common Acronyms [27] Rules [28] Variants [29] Disclaimer and Copyright Notice Subject: [23] Utility Software Eric Churchill's Chess Recorder, a (PC) Windows program that records chess moves, suitable for keeping track of postal games, will be uploaded to GEnie and submitted to comp.binaries.ibm.pc. (It even keeps a log of when the moves were entered, which could be used to keep track of postal time limits.) You can enter annotations and other comments and they appear in a separate window when the corresponding move is displayed. The program will print out the moves of the game (with annotations). $15 shareware fee. Graphics are quite good--looks OK even on monochrome systems. The colors of the pieces on color systems are 'interesting.' It can now flip colors to put Black on bottom. Swis-Sys, a $70 Swiss System pairing program, is available from Thad Suits (the author), 2125 1st Ave North, Great Falls, MT, 59401. 406-453-6160. For other software utilities see [18]. ------------------------------ Subject: [24] Using Graphic Chess Symbols in Printed Text There are basically three ways of composing chess texts in international figurine notation (or including diagrams in printed text): 1) Use a word processor or page-layout program and a chess font. For instance, for the Apple Macintosh there are at least 3 different sets of fonts usable with standard word processors like Microsoft Word, MacWrite, Nisus or WriteNow; or with page-layout programs like Illustrator or PageMaker. Most of these fonts are proprietary (you must purchase them). The fonts usually can be used for both the figurines and the diagrams. A freely available/usable PostScript font, including a variety of figurines, diagrams and _Informant_ symbols, has been posted to comp.fonts and rec.games.chess by Andy Walker (anw@maths.nott.ac.uk). 2) Use a chess-specific writing application. ChessWriter (Apple Macintosh) offers an interface including a chessboard and a text window. Moves made on the chessboard are automatically transformed into characters in the text window. ChessWriter is proprietary. CC-Publisher (MS Windows) is another commercial chess-specific writing application. You must have MS Windows, a word processing package (Word, WordPerfect, AmiPro), and a chess database system (for generating diagrams--although this could be done by hand--like ChessBase or Zarkov). It comes in two versions. The basic version supports HP LJ-compatible laserjet printers ($49.95). The deluxe version supports any PostScript printer, and comes with PostScript Type I or TrueType fonts ($139.95). You get integrated utilities to move you from game-entry or diagram-creation to conversion and import into your word processor, with special Tips and Tricks for MS Word, Lotus AmiPro, and WordPerfect users. Extremely easy installation, and your fonts become available to all Windows applications. There's a comprehensive user manual on the installation disk, and you get free technical support! (_Chess Chow_ subscribers get disconts: basic--$10, deluxe--$20.) To order, see address for _Chess Chow_ in [15]. 3) Use the LaTeX chess macros and fonts package by Piet Tutelaers (see [18]). TeX is an advanced public-domain system for text formatting available on mainframes, workstations and personal computers. LaTeX is a set of text-formatting macros for TeX. METAFONT is a font generator program for TeX. For general information on all of these, and pointers to reference manuals, see the FAQ list posting in comp.text.tex.) Once you have the chess package, you'll need to 3a) be able to use METAFONT to generate chess fonts starting from the programs contained in the package; 3b) be able to install the LaTeX macros in your TeX system; and 3c) learn the macro language to format chess texts. Activity 3a can become tiresome if you do not have any help from a TeX wizard. Using LaTeX to write chess text is not very simple, but the results are worth the effort. ------------------------------ Subject: [25] Trivia How long is the longest possible chess game? The basic idea is a player may claim a draw if fifty moves elapse without a capture or a pawn advance. Ignoring the special cases where more than 50 moves are allowed by the rules, the answer is after Black's 5948th move, White is able to claim a draw. The simple calculation is ( + - + ) * , or (16*6 + 30 - 8 + 1) * 50 = 5950; we're able to trim two moves from this total by observing that sequences of Captures/Pawn_moves must have (at least) 4 alternations between the two players. ------------------------------ Subject: [26] Common Acronyms AI Artificial Intelligence ("Anything we can't do with a computer") BCE _Basic Chess Endings_ (see your local chess book source) BCF British Chess Federation BCO _Batsford Chess Openings_ (see [14]) DT Deep Thought (see [19]) DT II Deep Thought; latest version ECO _Encylopedia of Chess Openings_ (see your local chess book source) ELO Arpad Elo's rating system (see [8]) FAQ Frequently Asked Question (see news group news.answers) FIDE Federation Internationale des Echecs (see [1]) FM FIDE Master (see [1]) F-S II Fischer-Spassky match held Sept-Nov '92 (Fischer won 10-5) GM Grandmaster (see [1]) ICS Internet Chess Server (see [18]) IGM see GM IM International Master (see [1]) IWM International Woman Master (see [1]) KIA King's Indian Attack (see opening books) KID King's Indian Defense (see opening books) MCO _Modern Chess Openings_ (see [14]) N Novelty (see TN) NM National Master (or just "Master"; see [8]) OTB Over-the-board (as opposed to correspondence/postal chess) QGA Queen's Gambit Accepted (see opening books) QGD Queen's Gambit Declined (see opening books) SM Senior Master (see [8]) TD Tournament Director TN Theoretical Novelty A new idea in an opening line (usually used when a GM first tries it) USCF United States Chess Federation (see [2]) WGM International Woman Grandmaster (see [1]) ------------------------------ Subject: [27] Rules Steve Rix (steven@chemeng.ed.ac.uk) has volunteered to supply either a plain text or TeX version of the FIDE Laws of Chess to any who ask via e-mail. He also periodically posts the plain text version to rec.games.chess. They are also available from his homepage at: http://www.chemeng.ed.ac.uk/people/steve/chess.html direct link is available at: http://www.chemeng.ed.ac.uk/people/steve/fide.html. ------------------------------ Subject: [28] Variants Over the centuries, many variations of chess have appeared and more have been invented recently by gaming enthusiasts. Charles E. Tuttle Co., Inc. (28 South Main Street, Rutland, VT 05701) has published a general book on the subject: _Chess Variations: Ancient, Regional, and Modern_ by John Gollon. Two of the most popular alternatives to our version of chess are known as Chinese Chess (or shiang-chi or xiangqi) and Shogi (or Japanese Chess). Ishi Press International (76 Bonaventura Drive, San Jose, CA 95134) sells good books on both of these games. (_Chinese Chess for Beginners_ by Sam Sloan and _Shogi for Beginners_ by John Fairbairn. Another book on Chinese Chess is "Chinese Chess" by H.T. Lau published by Tuttle Press. A relatively recent variation of chess is called Ultima and is described in detail in the book _Abbott's New Card Games_ by Robert Abbott. For more information on Chinese Chess visit the Newsgroup rec.games.chinese_chess. A comprehensive book is David Pritchard's "The Encyclopedia of Chess Variants", published in 1994 by the author (contact him at Games & Puzzles Publications, P.O. Box 20, Godalming, Surrey, GU8 4YP, United Kingdom). 383 pages, includes 1450 variants, including regional, modern, and commercial variants, with very detailed coverage of the important regional games (shogi and xiang qi) and the most widely played modern variants (kriegspiel, progressive, giveaway, etc.). 21.99 U.K. pounds (around $36 by credit card) plus postage). For postal players, there are two highly active organizations which play variants : NOST (Knights of the Square Table) in the U.S. (founded 1963) -- contact Phil Cohen for more information; and AISE (Associazione Italiana Scacchi Eterodossi) in Italy -- contact Alessandro Castelli, via Potenza 11, I-62010 Villa Potenza (MC), Italy, for information. A magazine called World Game Review, in 1991 published a 99-page special issue devoted to chess variants. This included an index of 677 variants, with full rules for about 450 of those, plus addresses, bibliography, glossary, list of inventors, etc. It covers regional variants lightly (though lots of references are given), but is very strong on modern variants. It was widely praised in chess variant circles, and it is still available from the publisher, $10 postpaid from Michael Keller , World Game Review, 1747 Little Creek Drive, Baltimore, MD 21207-5230. A Web site containing information on chess variants has been established by HansHans Bodlaender, of the Department of Computer Science, Utrecht University: Chess Variants - http://www.cs.ruu.nl/~hansb/d.chessvar/index.html ------------------------------ Subject: [29] Disclaimer and Copyright Notice The FAQ is compiled and posted by Stephen Pribut at pribut@us.net. Some answers given may reflect personal biases of the author and the chess FAQ listing's contributors. In cases where the answers name specific products and their respective manufacturers, these are not to be taken as endorsements of, nor commercials for, the manufacturer. Where cost information is stated this is based on "street" information, and is in no way binding on the seller. Unless otherwise stated, prices, addresses, and telephone numbers are in United States' terms. The answers contained herein pertain to discussions on the rec.games.chess.misc news group, and are by no means exhaustive. "The rgcm FAQ" is copyrighted 1995. Before reprinting a FAQ article for monetary gain (or major portions of one), please obtain permission from the author of the article. The chess FAQ list owes its existence to the contributors on the net, and as such it belongs to the readers of rec.games.chess. Copies may be made freely, as long as they are distributed at no charge, and the disclaimer and the copyright notice are included. ------------ Stephen M. Pribut pribut@clark.net http://www.clark.net/pub/pribut/home1.html