ChessGenius version 2.0 Thank you for downloading ChessGenius! The following files are included: - License.txt Read before installing the ChessGenius. - Readme.txt This file. - ChessGenius.prc Install this on your Palm device. To find out more about ChessGenius visit: http://www.chessgenius.com 1: Introduction ChessGenius for Palm connected organizers contains a World Microcomputer Championship winning chess engine and a new ARM native engine. It offers incredibly strong play even on the instant level and a wide range of features for beginners and experts. It runs on all Palm devices that have Palm OS3.0 or higher and about 200KB of free memory. ChessGenius was written by Richard Lang, ten times Computer Chess World Champion. New features in 2.0 include: - ARM native chess engine with hash tables. On a Palm Tungsten T3 with 400Mhz Intel XScale processor it runs 20 times faster than previous versions. It is around 400 ELO stronger. The original world champion engine is also included for full compatability with older Palm devices. - Ability to switch between engines. - Auto-off time can be adjusted. - Set-up position allows castling rights to be set. Note: OS5 or higher is required to run the ARM engine. 2: Registration Get the full World Championship Program in your pocket by registering at: http://www.palmgear.com/register and enter Product ID: 6018 After registering you will receive a 'License Key'. Enter this key to unleash the full features of ChessGenius. The unregistered ChessGenius has the following limitations. - Playing Level. After move twenty the playing level switches to instant level. - Analysis. Not displayed after move ten or after set-up. - Save game to memo only saves the first 10 moves of a game. - The 'ChessGenius unregistered box' is displayed each time the program starts. 3: Hints and Tips To play with the Black pieces: Select 'New game' and then 'Switch sides/Move' to force ChessGenius to move first. Menus and Shortcuts: Tap the Menu icon to bring up the ChessGenius menu. The Menu icon is the round icon at the bottom left of the screen. (Below the area used by ChessGenius and to the left of the writing area). It is often quicker to use shortcuts: Write the letter of the shortcut on the Graffiti area (The shortcut stroke is not required). Take back: This reverses a single move so has the effect of changing sides. To avoid changing sides take back twice. The scroll button or 5-way control provides a quick way to take back and step forward. Board sizes: Tap on the small icon on the bottom right to switch between Small and Big board sizes. Use menu command or short cut 'I' to see the Giant board. Championship: The word 'Championship' is displayed on the small board view if 'Hint' and 'Take back' have not been used and the 'Analysis' has not been viewed and 'Playing level' not changed during game. Can you beat ChessGenius and see the word 'Championship' ? Clocks: The chess clocks at the top of the small board view show time as minutes:seconds or hours;minutes. Note the ':' or ';' If the playing level is set to 'Game in ..' the clocks count down to show the remaining time. When time has run out '--:--' is displayed. If the playing level is changed mid game the clocks are set to appropriate times. Playing levels: The 'Mate in' playing level can only be used for solving chess problems, not for playing games or with ChessGenius vs. ChessGenius. Side to Move: The text 'Thinking' or 'Your move' is displayed normally if White is to move and reversed if Black to move. Preferences: a) If you have an OS5 device you can chose between the two different chess engines. b) Analysis: Options allow text below the small board to show the 'thinking process' of the computer. For example, the line may show: '1.03 05 cxd4 Nxd4 Nc6 Bb5' This means that: ChessGenius is winning by 1.03 pawns, Search depth = 5, and line of moves. ChessGenius is planning cxd4 and expects Nxd4 in reply etc. A count of positions searched can also be displayed. c) Tutor. If ticked ChessGenius will warn if a blunder or weak move is played and give the option of takeback. d) Permanent brain. If ticked ChessGenius also thinks when it is your turn to move. This raises ChessGenius's playing strength. Note that battery drain is higher whenever ChessGenius is thinking. d) Show legal moves. If ticked ChessGenius will show legal moves. Tap on a piece to see where it can move to. Analyze Game: Analyze game is like 2 player mode but ChessGenius calculates continuously and shows its thinking on the small board. Useful for replaying games to see where mistakes have been made or for playing over an imported PGN Master game. Note that battery drain is higher whenever Genius is thinking. You vs. IR: You can play against another player who has ChessGenius installed on a Palm device using the infrared port.- Start a new game and set this mode on both devices. Save Game as memo: This saves the current game as a memo. The game can be deleted, edited, beamed or put into a category using the built in 'Memo' application. Your games will be backed up to your desktop computer during HotSync. Load game: This displays a list of saved games. Tap on a game to load it. Transferring games between Palm and Desktop PC: ChessGenius loads and saves games in a standard PGN format which is compatible with most PC Chess playing programs. Advanced users will be able to move games between the Palm and Desktop PC by cutting and pasting to the Memo Pad area of the Palm Desktop software. For details see the FAQ page at: www.chessgenius.com 4: Features - Incredibly strong play even on the 'instant' level. - Forty playing levels. Ten easy levels. ChessGenius makes deliberate mistakes. Ten time based levels. Instant, 1 sec, 2 sec,... Ten Blitz levels. Whole game in 1 min, 2 min,... The Chess Clocks count down in these levels. You lose if you run out of time. Ten Problem solving levels. Solve newspaper checkmate in .. problems. With OS5 the ARM engine gives another 30 levels. - Three board views. The smallest board allows much additional information to be displayed on screen including: The last 8 moves of the game. Chess Clocks. Total White and Black time and move time. Analysis. e.g. '1.03 05 cxd4 Nxd4 Nc6 Bb5' Display of 'Championship' if you have not used Hint, Taken back moves or Viewed the analysis. Can you beat ChessGenius without help?. - Set-up position allows any legal position to be entered. - Take back moves to the start of game and step forward to end. - Use the 5-way control/scroll buttons/jog dial for quick Take back and Step forward. - Hint. - Play against ChessGenius, against another player, watch ChessGenius play itself or Analyze game or Infrared play. - Promote pawns to any legal piece. - Recognises draw by repetitions, by the 50 move rule and if insufficient material to win. - Reverse board. - Swap sides/Move now. - Huge library of opening moves. - Make moves by tapping on 'from' and 'to' square or sliding. - Animated piece movement. Fast animation option. - Graffiti short cuts. Command stroke not required. - Save and Load games in PGN format. - Permanent brain option. - Tutor option. Warns of bad moves. - Legal moves option. Shows legal moves. - High resolution support for Sony Clie and Palm OS5 devices and for the Handera 330. - Board coordinate option - Support for the 5-way navigator/Jog dial 5: Upgrading to version 2.0 If you already have an older version of ChessGenius simply install over your current version. Registered users will not need to enter the License Key again. 6: Technical Support and FAQ For Technical support, answers to Frequently Asked Questions and information on the rules of chess Visit http://www.chessgenius.com or email support@chessgenius.com end