XBoard
Encyclopedia
XBoard and WinBoard (on Microsoft Windows
) are free
graphical user interface
clients. Originally developed by Tim Mann, these programs are compatible with various chess engines that support the Chess Engine Communication Protocol
such as GNU Chess
. It also supports Internet Chess Server
s, e-mail chess
, and the playing of saved games.
Recently WinBoard / XBoard has been enhanced a great deal, and the Chess Engine Communication Protocol was extended to meet the needs of modern engines (which have features such as hash tables, multi-processing and end-game tables, which could not be controlled through the old protocol).
XBoard has always been supportive of Chess variants, such as Suicide Chess or Crazyhouse, acting as a client for Internet Chess Servers that offered such variants. This support has now been extended to all of the World's major Chess variants: Xiangqi
(Chinese Chess), Shogi
(Japanese Chess), Makruk
(Thai Chess) and many Western variants on boards of deviating sizes (e.g. Capablanca Chess
). It offers a Westernized representation for these games, but the almost limitless configurability of WinBoard does allow a high-quality traditional oriental representation of these games.
Another computer chess protocol is the Universal Chess Interface
(UCI).
Timeseal introduced a security hole with XBoard/WinBoard. It kept track of how much time the player spent on a move, and it was running on the player's machine. Thus it could send back an incorrect value. Not surprisingly, this was eventually exploited. A variant of Timeseal appeared that applied a 0.5 multiplier to a player's move. So if a player took four seconds to move, Timeseal would report that they only took two seconds.
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
) are free
Free software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
graphical user interface
Gui
Gui or guee is a generic term to refer to grilled dishes in Korean cuisine. These most commonly have meat or fish as their primary ingredient, but may in some cases also comprise grilled vegetables or other vegetarian ingredients. The term derives from the verb, "gupda" in Korean, which literally...
clients. Originally developed by Tim Mann, these programs are compatible with various chess engines that support the Chess Engine Communication Protocol
Chess Engine Communication Protocol
The Chess Engine Communication Protocol is an open communication protocol that enables a chess engine to communicate with its user interface....
such as GNU Chess
GNU Chess
GNU Chess is a computer program which plays a full game of chess against a human or other computer program.GNU Chess is one of the oldest computer chess programs for Unix-based computers and one of the earliest available with full source code....
. It also supports Internet Chess Server
Internet chess server
An Internet chess server is an external server that provides the facility to play, discuss, and view the board game of chess over the Internet...
s, e-mail chess
Play-by-mail game
Play-by-mail games, sometimes known as "Play-by-post", are games, of any type, played through postal mail or e-mail. One example, chess, has been played by mail for centuries . Another example, Diplomacy, has been played by mail since the 1960s, starting with a printed newsletter written by John...
, and the playing of saved games.
Recently WinBoard / XBoard has been enhanced a great deal, and the Chess Engine Communication Protocol was extended to meet the needs of modern engines (which have features such as hash tables, multi-processing and end-game tables, which could not be controlled through the old protocol).
XBoard has always been supportive of Chess variants, such as Suicide Chess or Crazyhouse, acting as a client for Internet Chess Servers that offered such variants. This support has now been extended to all of the World's major Chess variants: Xiangqi
Xiangqi
Xiangqi is a two-player Chinese board game in the same family as Western chess, chaturanga, shogi, Indian chess and janggi. The present-day form of Xiangqi originated in China and is therefore commonly called Chinese chess in English. Xiangqi is one of the most popular board games in China...
(Chinese Chess), Shogi
Shogi
, also known as Japanese chess, is a two-player board game in the same family as Western chess, chaturanga, and Chinese Xiangqi, and is the most popular of a family of chess variants native to Japan...
(Japanese Chess), Makruk
Makruk
Makruk , or Thai chess, is a board game descended from the 6th-century Indian game of chaturanga or a close relative thereof, and therefore related to chess. It is regarded as the most similar living game to this common ancestor of all chess variants....
(Thai Chess) and many Western variants on boards of deviating sizes (e.g. Capablanca Chess
Capablanca chess
Capablanca chess is a chess variant invented in the 1920s by former World Chess Champion José Raúl Capablanca. It incorporates two new pieces and is played on a 10×8 board. Capablanca proposed the variant while World Champion, and not as a "sour grapes" rationalization after losing his title as...
). It offers a Westernized representation for these games, but the almost limitless configurability of WinBoard does allow a high-quality traditional oriental representation of these games.
Another computer chess protocol is the Universal Chess Interface
Universal Chess Interface
The Universal Chess Interface is an open communication protocol that enables a chess program's engine to communicate with its user interface....
(UCI).
Timeseal
The Timeseal program was an add-on for XBoard/WinBoard (though it supported other interfaces as well). It was designed to solve the problem of network latency introduced in short (blitz/lightning) games. Timeseal would record the actual amount of time the player spent making the move and send that to the chess server. Without it, network latency time would be added, giving a significant advantage to users on faster connections.Timeseal introduced a security hole with XBoard/WinBoard. It kept track of how much time the player spent on a move, and it was running on the player's machine. Thus it could send back an incorrect value. Not surprisingly, this was eventually exploited. A variant of Timeseal appeared that applied a 0.5 multiplier to a player's move. So if a player took four seconds to move, Timeseal would report that they only took two seconds.
See also
- ArenaArena (chess)Arena is a freeware GUI for chess engines by Martin Blume and runs on Windows.It supports the protocols UCI and Chess Engine Communication Protocol to communicate with the chess engines that provide the computer enemies. Arena therefore supports a vast amount of chess engines, e.g...
- Chess engine
- Chess Engine Communication ProtocolChess Engine Communication ProtocolThe Chess Engine Communication Protocol is an open communication protocol that enables a chess engine to communicate with its user interface....
- Computer chessComputer chessComputer chess is computer architecture encompassing hardware and software capable of playing chess autonomously without human guidance. Computer chess acts as solo entertainment , as aids to chess analysis, for computer chess competitions, and as research to provide insights into human...
External links
- Home page of XBoard and WinBoard
- XBoard on GNU SavannahGNU SavannahGNU Savannah is a project of the Free Software Foundation initiated by Loïc Dachary, which serves as a collaborative software development management system for Free Software projects. Savannah currently offers CVS, GNU arch, Subversion, Git, Mercurial, Bazaar, mailing list, web hosting, file...
- FAQ for the use of Xboard and Winboard chess engines
- Listing of Xboard and Winboard chess engines
- Winboard Forum
- Winboard v4.3.15m-and-Rybka2.2n2mpw32