Skip site navigation (1)Skip section navigation (2)

  
 
  

home | help
gnushogi(6)			  Games Manual			     gnushogi(6)

NAME
     gnushogi - GNU Shogi (Japanese Chess)

SYNOPSIS
     gnushogi  [  [[-]a]  [-b  bookfile] [-B binbookfile] [-C] [-h langfile] [-L
     langfile] [-r length] [-R] [-s pathname]  [-l  pathname]  [-S  binbooksize]
     [-t] [-c size] [-T size] [-v] [-x] [-X] arg1 arg2 ]

DESCRIPTION
     Gnushogi  plays  a  game  of  japanese chess (shogi) against the user or it
     plays against itself.

     At startup Gnushogi reads the binbook file if it is present. It then  looks
     for a book file. If it is present it adds its contents to the binbook data.
     If the binbook file is writable a new combined binbook file is written.

     Gnushogi  is  a  modified version of the gnuchess program.  It has a simple
     alphanumeric board display, or it can be compiled for use with  the  xshogi
     program  under X windows.	The program gets its opening moves from the file
     gnushogi.bbk which is located in a directory specified in the Makefile.  To
     invoke the program type:

     gnushogi -C
	    - simple curses based version

     gnushogi -X (or just gnushogi)
	    - xshogi compatible version

     gnushogi -R
	    - raw test display version

TIME CONTROLS
     If one argument is given, it is the search time per move in  [minutes:]sec-
     onds.   So  gnushogi  30  will  generate  one  move every 30 seconds, while
     gnushogi 5:00 will generate one move every 5 minutes.

     If two or more arguments are given, they will be  used  to  set  tournament
     time  controls  with  the	first  argument of each pair being the number of
     moves and the second being  the  total  clock  time  in  minutes[:seconds].
     Thus,  entering  gnushogi	60 5 will set the clocks for 5 minutes (300 sec-
     onds) for the first 60 moves, and gnushogi 30 3:30 will allow 3 minutes and
     30 seconds for 30 moves.

     gnushogi 30 5 1 :30 will allow 5 minutes for the first 30 moves and 30 sec-
     onds for each move after that.  Up to 4 pairs of controls may be specified.

     If no argument is given the program will prompt the user for level of play.

     For use with xshogi see the documentation on that program.

BOOK
     The book gnushogi.tbk consists of a sequence of openings.	An  opening  be-
     gins  with  a  line  starting with a # , the rest of the line is a comment.
     Following this is a series of moves in algebraic notation alternating black
     and white separated by white space. A move may have a ?  after it	indicat-
     ing  this	move should never be made in this position.  Moves are stored as
     position:move so transpositions between openings can take place.

HASHFILE
     The hashfile if created should be on the order of 4 megabytes  or	gnushogi
     -c 22.  This file contains positions and moves learned from previous games.
     If a hashfile is used the computer makes use of the experience it gained in
     past  games. Tests run so far show that it plays no worse with the hashfile
     than without, but it is not clear yet whether it provides a real advantage.

LEGAL MOVES
     Note: Piece letters are determined by the language file.  What is specified
     here is the default (English).

     Once gnushogi is invoked, the program will display the board and prompt the
     user for a move. To enter a move, use the notation  7g7f  where  the  first
     letter-number pair indicates the origin square and the second letter-number
     pair  indicates the destination square.  An alternative is to use the nota-
     tion P7f where the first letter indicates the piece type (P,L,N,S,G,B,R,K).
     To promote append a + the type of the new piece to the move, as in 2d2c+ or
     P2c+.  Note that you must use capital letters for the pieces by default.

COMMAND-LINE OPTIONS
     -a     Do not search on opponent's time.

     a	    Do search on opponent's time.

     -b bookfile
	    Use bookfile for opening book.

     -B binbookfile
	    Use binbookfile for binary opening book.

     -c size
	    Create a new HASHFILE. File size is 2^size entries of  approximately
	    65+? bytes.

     -C     Use curses-based display mode.

     -h     Do not use hashfile.

     h	    Do use hashfile.

     -l pathname
	    Pathname of the loadfile use with get or xget.

     -L lang
	    Use  language lang from the file gnushogi.lang.  If -L is not speci-
	    fied it uses the first language in the file.

     -P plylevels
	    Number of plys to include in the binbookfile. For generating a  bin-
	    bookfile.

     -r length
	    Rehash length times in searching  entries for position in transposi-
	    tion table.

     -R     Use  raw  text display mode.  This can be used for dumb terminals or
	    for systems that don't have curses.

     -s pathname
	    Pathname of the save file to use with the save command.

     -S size
	    Size of binbookfile for memory based books. For creating a	binbook-
	    file.

     -t     Show statistics for HASHFILE

     -T size
	    Set the transposition table size to 2^size entries.

     -v     Show version and patchlevel.

     -x value
	    Use value as the evaluation window xwndw.

     -X     Use xshogi display mode (the default).

COMMANDS
     In  addition  to  legal  moves, the following commands are available as re-
     sponses.  Note: command names are determined by the language file	and  may
     vary with the implementation. The default language is English.

     alg -- allow algebraic input (not implemented)

     Awindow -- change Alpha window (default score + 90)

     Bwindow -- change Beta window (default score - 90)

     beep -- toggles beeping after each move (default: on).

     bd -- updates the current board position on the display.

     book -- turns off use of the opening library.

     both -- causes the computer to play both sides of a shogi game.

     black  --	causes the computer to take the white pieces, if the computer is
     to move first.

     bsave -- saves a game to disk as a book textfile.	The program will  prompt
     the user for a file name.

     gamein  --  toggles  game mode time control. Assumes the time specified for
     time control is the time for a complete game.  Input with the level command
     should be the game time and the expected number of moves  in  a  game.   go
     command must be given.

     coords -- show coordinates on the display (visual only)

     contempt -- allows the value of contempt to be modified.

     debug  --	asks for a piece as color piece, as wb or bn, and shows its cal-
     culated value on each square.

     debuglevel --  sets level of debugging output if compiled	with  debug  op-
     tions.

     depth  --	allows	the user to change the search depth of the program.  The
     maximum depth is 29 ply.  Normally the depth is set to 29 and the	computer
     terminates its search based on elapsed time rather than depth.  If depth is
     set to (say) 4 ply, the program will search until all moves have been exam-
     ined  to  a depth of 4 ply (with extensions up to 11 additional ply for se-
     quences of checks and captures).  If you set a maximum time  per  move  and
     also  use	the depth command, the search will stop at the specified time or
     the specified depth, whichever comes first.

     easy -- toggles easy mode (thinking on opponents time) on and off. The  de-
     fault  is	easy  mode ON.	If easy mode is disabled, the keyboard is polled
     for input every so often and when input is seen the search  is  terminated.
     It may also be terminated with a sigint.

     edit -- allows the user to set up a board position.

     # - command will clear the board.

     c - toggle piece color.

     .	- command will exit setup mode.

     p3b - place a pawn on 3b

     p3b+ - place a promoted pawn on 3b

     p* - place a pawn to the captured pieces

     Pieces  are entered by typing a letter (p,l,n,s,g,b,r,k) for the piece fol-
     lowed by the coordinate.

     The usual warning about the language file applies.

     exit -- exits gnushogi.

     first -- tells the computer to move first. Computer begins searching for  a
     move.  (same as "go").

     force  -- allows the user to enter moves for both sides. To get the program
     to play after a sequence of moves has  been  entered  use	the  'black'  or
     'white' commands.

     get  -- retrieves a game from disk.  The program will prompt the user for a
     file name.

     hash -- use/don't use hashfile.

     hashdepth -- allows the user to change the  minimum  depth  for  using  the
     hashfile and the number of moves from the beginning of the game to use it.

     help -- displays a short description of the commands and the current status
     of options.

     go  --  tells  the  computer to move first. Computer begins searching for a
     move.  (same as "first").

     hint -- causes the program to supply the user with its predicted move.

     level -- allows the user to set time controls such as 60 moves in 5 minutes
     etc.  In tournament mode, the program will vary the time it takes for  each
     move  depending  on  the  situation.   If	easy mode is disabled (using the
     'easy' command), the program will often respond with its move  immediately,
     saving time on its clock for use later on.

     list  --  writes the game moves and some statistics on search depth, nodes,
     and time to the file 'shogi.lst'.

     material -- toggle material flag - draws on no pawns and both sides < rook

     new -- starts a new game.

     p -- evaluates the board and shows the point score for each piece. The  to-
     tal score for a position is the sum of these individual piece scores.

     post -- causes the program to display the principal variation and the score
     during  the search.  A score of 100 is equivalent to a 1 pawn advantage for
     the computer.

     quit -- exits the game.

     random -- causes the program to randomize its move selection slightly.

     rcptr -- set recapture mode.

     remove -- backout the last level for both sides. Equal to 2 undo's.

     reverse -- causes the board display to be reversed.   That  is,  the  black
     pieces will now appear at the top of the board.

     rv -- reverse board display.

     save  -- saves a game to disk.  The program will prompt the user for a file
     name.

     switch -- causes the program to switch places with the opponent  and  begin
     searching.

     test  -- performs some speed tests for MoveList and CaptureList generation,
     and ScorePosition position scoring for the current board.

     time -- set computer's time remaining, intended  for  synchronizing  clocks
     among multiple players.

     tsume  --	toggle tsume mode. In tsume mode, not all possible moves will be
     generated. If a king is in check, only moves that get the king out of check
     are generated.  If the king is not in check, only moves that give check  to
     the opponent's king are generated.

     undo  -- undoes the last move whether it was the computer's or the human's.
     You may also type "remove". This is equivalent to two  "undo"'s  (e.g.  re-
     tract one move for each side).

     white  --	causes the computer to take the black pieces, if the computer is
     to move first the go command must be given.

     xget -- read an xshogi position file.

     xsave -- save as an xshogi position file.

     xwndw -- change X window. The window around alpha/beta  used  to  determine
     whether the position should be scored or just estimated.

BUGS
SEE ALSO
     xshogi(6)

								     gnushogi(6)

Want to link to this manual page? Use this URL:
<https://man.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=gnushogi&sektion=6&manpath=FreeBSD+Ports+15.1.quarterly>

home | help