Piehl Systems Chess
Version 1.3 Shareware

Overview      12/01/2001
--------
Chess.exf is a chess
program for the OnHand.

Keep this file with your
chess.exf file as an
on hand reference guide.

Please provide bug info
or suggestions to my
e-mail address at the
bottom of this file.

 
Features
--------
Adjustable skill level
Castling supported
En passant pawn capture
Rotatable board
Hint function available
Last 4 moves are shown

The shareware version
is fully playable.
The commercial version
adds the ability to
take back a move, edit
the board, and save
a game in progress.

Instructions
------------
A move counter and
status indicator are
located on the left.
Menu options are on
the right.
+-------------------+
|Moves|       |CHESS|
|     |       |B LV2|
|     | Board |W:USR|
|Move#|       |cmds |
|Stat |       |     |
+-------------------+
B & W (black & white)
sides are directed by
either USR (human user)
or LV1-LV4, which are
automated chess players.
The colon (:) indicates
which player has the
move.

The white pieces always
have a black background,
and vice-versa. This is
unrelated to the color 
of square they are on.
The square colors are
only visible on empty
squares (black squares
will be shaded).  This
is due to monochrome
limitations.

To move, position the
blinking cursor over
a piece & press ENTER.
Position over the square
to move to (must be a
valid move), and press
ENTER again.

To make a castling move,
simply try to move the
king two squares to the
left or right.  The
program will not castle
or permit castling into
or out of check, or
if the middle square is
under attack, of if the
two pieces have moved 
previously or have
a piece between them.

When the CPU makes a
move, the program will
enter a WAIT status.
You can still navigate
the board, and make 
menu selections.  Some
options, such as changes
to CPU levels, do not
take effect until the
following move.

After the CPU makes its
move and it's your turn,
the usual power saving
mode may then take
effect.


Notes
-----
*Power saving will not
 take effect during the
 WAIT status (the
 period during which
 the Onhand is deciding
 on a move)

*If Filer/Time is used
 during WAIT status,
 thinking will pause
 until you return

*Menu options & cursor
 control can be
 slow during WAIT

*Using EL backlight 
 during WAIT will
 default to 5-seconds

*There is no function
 to offer/accept a draw
 during the game

*Special rules for a
 draw (3 moves with same
 setup, and 50 moves w/o
 a capture or pawn move)
 are not enforced by the
 program at this time

*Hint is carried out at
 skill level 2

*Move counter limited
 to 9999.  Game should
 still proceed anyway.

*Program can not yet
 detect a clear draw
 (King vs. King & bishop
  K vs. K & knight etc.)
 so game might proceed
 indefinitely.

*If you set CPU vs. CPU,
 game proceeds right
 away until stale/check-
 mate.  If left running,
 it can drain batteries
 significantly, since
 some games can go 
 hundreds of moves.

Commercial Version Only
-----------------------
*Moves may not be taken
 back after move 240,
 due to limits in the
 array sizes

*When exiting, a game
 is saved automatically
 to file "lastgame.chs"
 and is reopened next
 time you run chess.exf.

*To keep multiple games
 in progress, associate
 the .chs extension with
 chess.exf (use finied)
 and just rename the
 "lastgame.chs" to any
 filename ending with
 the .chs extension.

*To edit the board, set
 to USR vs. USR and use
 the MENU key to alter
 the selected square.
 Adding 2 kings of the
 same color may cause
 unpredictable results
 to occur.  Castling
 and taking back a
 move are not allowed
 after the board has
 been altered.

About this software
-------------------
The shareware version
of Chess is provided
free and "as is". The
original ZIP file may
be freely distributed.

To buy the commercial
upgrade, please visit
www.piehlsystems.com
or contact:

 Piehl Systems
 P.O. Box 8004
 Green Bay, WI
 54308-8004

E-Mail address:
 dan@piehlsystems.com

(end of file)
