MICROSOFT CHESS FAQ

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MICROSOFT CHESS FAQ
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Microsoft Chess FAQ
For PC/Windows
By: AlaskaFox(Ronan Murphy)
Created: August 7, 2001
Date last Updated: January 02, 2002
Version 1.2
Mail me at: [email protected]
Home Page: http://www.delta-blue.net

Disclaimer
==========
This Game Guide / FAQ is created for personal use only. You must not use it
for anything that gains profit. Specifically Magazines, Game Guides,
Commercial Web Sites, unless you have my written permission.
You’re also not allowed to rip off part/s of this Game Guide / FAQ and put
it on your own Game Guide / FAQ. Anyone doing this is guilty of plagiarism",
the act of stealing and passing off of ideas and words of another as one’s
own without crediting the source.
You also cannot use this Game Guide / FAQ as a guide for you to make your own
Game Guide / FAQ, you must do everything there is to do in the game yourself
or have others give info about your game and give them proper credit. You
can copy the layout though.
You can put this Game Guide / FAQ on your non-commercial or non-profit web
site provided that not a single character has been edited or removed and you
MUST have permission from me in order to do so. You can also, print a copy of
the entire FAQ / Guide or a part of it, provided you only use it for personal
purposes.
Remember "You don’t have to steal, just ask." - B.O.F.III

E-Mail Notice
=============
If you wish to send me an email asking any questions, pointing out mistakes
or whatever: Make sure you put the words "Chess" or "Microsoft Chess" or
something that lets me know which game your email is about. I have many FAQs
and if you don't do this your email may be ignored.

Updates
=======

The latest version of this FAQ can, and always will be found at:
www.gamefaqs.com

Current Progress:
-----------------
Guide: 50% complete
File Size: 11.2K

Version 1.2 (Started: January 02, 2002)
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- Layout Updated
- Added Diagrams for all movement of all Pieces
- File Size: 11.2k

Version 1.1 (Started: August 29, 2001)
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- How to Play: Pieces Added
- File Size: 9.79k

Version 1.0 (Started: August 07, 2001)
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- Starting a new game Added
- Disclaimer, Email Notice Added
- Outro, Credits Added
- File Size: 6.93k

Contents
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i) Starting a New Game
a) New Game
b) Skill Level
c) Display Preferences
d) Color Preferences
e) Sound Preferences
f) Basic Preferences
g) Time Control
ii) How to Play
a) The Pieces
iii) Outro/Credits

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STARTING A NEW GAME
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Goto the Game menu and choose New Game, or press F2 if you want to start a
new game.
If you want to open a saved game, go to the Game menu and choose open, and
then the game you want to play.

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NEW GAME
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Player vs. Computer will be selected as default. If you want to select
another option of your choice, do so.
Click in the box labelled White and enter your name.
And Click in the box labelled black to enter the computer/player 2's name.
Next click OK. Choose Yes, to start a new game.

I will not explain the rules of chess as I assume you know them, but I
may do so in a later version of this FAQ.

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SKILL LEVEL
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The default level is Beginner, but after a few games you may want to
increase the difficulty level to provide more of a challenge. The
five levels of computer skill are:
(ranging from easiest to hardest)

Beginner
Novice
Intermediate
Advanced
Expert

To change the skill level, select Game, then Level, and select the option of
your choice.

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DISPLAY PREFENCES
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Go to the Game menu, choose Preferences, and then choose Display.

The options here are:

Clock
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Takes account of how long you and your opponent take to make moves.

Move List
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You can choose either descriptive or annotive(I'll explain the differences
in a later version). This keeps account of all you and your opponents
moves.

Invert Board
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Exactly what it says on the tin, rotates the board 180 degrees.

Captured Pieces
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Shows every piece that has been captured so far.

Computer's Thoughts
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You can see what moves the computer is thinking of making.

Board Coordinates
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Shows numbers on the vertical side of the board and letters on the
horizontal side. These help you when reading the move list.

Move Notation
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Read the Move List option.

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COLOR PREFERENCES
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Here you can select which color(US spelling, I'm Irish, I spell it with a
u) you want the pieces/squares to be. First select either White Pieces,
Black Pieces, White Squares, or Black Squares and then select the color
you wish to change them to. It's as easy as that. You can change again
and again until you find the right one.

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SOUND PREFERENCES
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Here there(and everywhere!) are three options:
Off - No sound
Beeps - You hear a beep after each move
Speech - You hear a voice saying Check and Checkmate(when appropriate)

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BASIC PREFERENCES
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Check next version for these, I have to figure some out.

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TIME CONTROL
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Here you select the maximum time alotted for each move.
The default is 25 seconds.
I usually change it to 10/15 seconds.
You can also select infinite, to have no maximum time(but the computer
takes forever and ever and ever!)

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HOW TO PLAY
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THE PIECES
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Firstly, I'll introduce the pieces. Lets start with the back row:
The Castle Piece is the Rook.
The Horse is the Knight
The one next to it with the cross '+' is the Bishop
The pointed crown is the Queen
The circular crown is the King

ROOK
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The Rook is the easiest piece to master. It can only move in straight lines.
But it cannot travel through other pieces. So it can move in straight lines
that are unoccupied, right? If an opposition piece blocks the path of the
Rook, the you can take that piece(remove it from the board, and place the
Rook on its square) and then your move ends. There you know how to use the
Rook now.

DIAGRAM
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OOXOO Key
OOXOO ---
XXRXX R=Rook
OOXOO X=Available Moves
OOXOO O=Unavailable Moves

BISHOP
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The Bishop is similar to the rook, but it can only move in diagonal lines.
But it can only move diagonally on squares of its colour. There is one
bishop for each color(black and white squares). If the bishop's path is
blocked it can take the opposition piece, like the Rook.

DIAGRAM
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XOOOX Key
OXOXO ---
OOBOO B=Bishop
OXOXO X=Available Moves
XOOOX O=Unavailable Moves

QUEEN
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The Queen combines both the previous pieces, it can move both in straight
lines, and diagonally. But unlike the Bishop, it can move onto squares of
a different colour. The Queen is the most useful piece on the board. So
don't put it in danger(too much)

DIAGRAM
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XOXOX Key
OXXXO ---
XXQXX Q=Queen
OXXXO X=Available Moves
XOXOX O=Unavailable Moves

KNIGHT
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The Knight is an unusual pice, because of the unique way it moves. It moves
two squares in one direction and then one square in another direction.
E.g. it moves 2 squares forward and 1 left, or 2 right and 1 down, and so on.
This may be difficult to understand, but watch the way the computer moves its
Knights to see what I mean.

DIAGRAM
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OXOXO Key
XOOOX ---
OONOO N=Knight
XOOOX X=Available Moves
OXOXO O=Unavailable Moves

KING
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The King is the most important piece on the chessboard, if he dies you lose.
Comprende? The King's range of moves are nearly useless(you'll find uses,
when you get lots of practice), as it can only move one square in any
direction. It can take enemy pieces on those squares, as long as it does
not put itself in danger. If it does, the computer will stop the move,
unfortunaetly in real life chess games, you wont be so lucky.

DIAGRAM
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OOOOO Key
OXXXO ---
OXKXO K=King
OXXXO X=Available Moves
OOOOO O=Unavailable Moves

The entire front row consists of Pawns. Beginners may find them to be
useless pieces, but veterans can use them to their advantage.

PAWN
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The Pawn can move one square forward at most times, but there are some
exceptions. When the Pawn is in it's opening position(on the second from
back row) it can move two squares forward instead of one. And when an enemy
piece is diagonal from it, it can take that piece. A Pawn can NOT take pieces
directly infront of itself, only diagonally. Also, when a Pawn reaches the
other end of the chessboard, it can be replaced by any other piece(except the
King), so you can change the Pawn into a Queen! This is known as Promoting
your Pawns.

DIAGRAM
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OOOOO Key
O?X?O ---
OOPOO P=Pawn
OOOOO X=Available Moves
OOOOO ?=Available Moves only when opposition piece is in that square
O=Unavailable Moves

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OUTRO
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Credits:
-"A" Tadeo for the Layout and Disclaimer
-CJayC for putting this FAQ on his site
-Microsoft for Windows and Notepad and this game.
-Packard Bell for my PC(If I put them here will I get a new one?)
-You for reading it

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©Ronan Murphy - AlaskaFox 2001/2002