Winboard - Simple Question

[RazgrizRWA]

Hi, I'm kinda new to this GUI and Chess Engines.

I tried WinBoard and it's really great. But is there anyway I can change the look of the pieces?

Also I would love to know If I can make it use images files for black/white squares instead of a color

any help is greatly appreciated
thnx

[Roger Brown]

Hi, I'm kinda new to this GUI and Chess Engines.

I tried WinBoard and it's really great. But is there anyway I can change the look of the pieces?

Also I would love to know If I can make it use images files for black/white squares instead of a color

any help is greatly appreciated
thnx

Hello RazgrizRWA,

Of course with an opinion about Winboard such as yours, you are in the correct place!

When you bring up the board click on options then board. The colours are presented in a palette. You should be able to select various colours.

Should you not be satisfied with the look or choices there then yes, you can use bitmap files and alter the lines in Winboard ini as below:

/liteBackTextureFile="Metal-w.bmp"
/darkBackTextureFile="Metal-b.bmp"

I have two bitmaps to give my chess board a metallic feel.

There are a ton of free fonts available and if you have commercial programs installed on your machine you should be able to use those for the pieces as well.

I hope this helps.

Later.

[RazgrizRWA]

Thank you Roger, just curoius:
1. /liteBackTextureFile="Metal-w.bmp" << do I have to point to the location of the pitmap, or just use the name? like here/liteBackTextureFile="D:\Chess\Pitmaps\image.bmp"

Also is it important that the image type is BMP?

Yes I have Rybka 4 Aquarium and I'd love to import Merida chess set, I have many chess fonts, just i dont know how to use those in winboard, can u please provide me with a step-by-step instructions?

I know I may sound dumb, but actually this is the first time I use WB,

Thnx

[Roger Brown]

Thank you Roger, just curoius:
1. /liteBackTextureFile="Metal-w.bmp" << do I have to point to the location of the pitmap, or just use the name? like here/liteBackTextureFile="D:\Chess\Pitmaps\image.bmp"

Also is it important that the image type is BMP?

Yes I have Rybka 4 Aquarium and I'd love to import Merida chess set, I have many chess fonts, just i dont know how to use those in winboard, can u please provide me with a step-by-step instructions?

I know I may sound dumb, but actually this is the first time I use WB,

Thnx

Hello RazgrizRWA,

First of all, your decision to use Winboard marks you as a person of rare good taste in guis and possessing high intelligence so no more self deprecating comments.

All I have are bitmap files so that is what I can talk about. Experiment and see. Please let us know what happened.

Those names are mine. You might want to use marble etc. .bmp.

Actually w.bmp and b.bmp would be more than enough but I need the details in the name as I have a number of bitmaps and I need to easily be able to differentiate among them.

No pointing required. Just drop the bitmaps in the same folder as the Winboard executable.

My Winboard ini looks like this. Drop the chess font in the same folder as the Winboard executable and the gui should pick it up.

I hope this helps.

/liteBackTextureMode=1
/darkBackTextureMode=1
/renderPiecesWithFont=""
/fontPieceToCharTable=""
/fontPieceBackColorWhite=#000000
/fontPieceForeColorWhite=#000000
/fontPieceBackColorBlack=#000000
/fontPieceForeColorBlack=#000000
/fontPieceSize=75


Later.

[H.G.Muller]

Yes, it must be .bmp format. But if you have an image you like in another format, you can convert it by loadng it in MS Paint, and saving it as bitmap file. Also note that WB cuts the squares out of the bitmap, without magnification or demagnification. So if you have an entire picture that you don't want to be messed up, you must make sure the bitmap has exactly the size of the entire board. (This is how I do the Xiangqi board.)

Many chess fonts for the pieces can be obtained from enpassant.dk.

[RazgrizRWA]

Thank you very much! Now I'll use Winboard as my 'official' GUI

For some reason I am more comfortable with WB than Rybka Aquarium GUI.

[H.G.Muller]

I don't know Aquarium, or any of the other commercial GUIs. But I think that free, open-source GUIs don't have to be inferior to commercial ones. So if you xperience any aspects in which WinBoard would be wanting, we are always open to suggestions for how to make WinBoard even more powerful and user-friendly.

[RazgrizRWA]

I don't know Aquarium, or any of the other commercial GUIs. But I think that free, open-source GUIs don't have to be inferior to commercial ones. So if you xperience any aspects in which WinBoard would be wanting, we are always open to suggestions for how to make WinBoard even more powerful and user-friendly.

Indeed... in fact I think WB is better because it's just simple, and straight-forward GUI.


One last question I heard (read) the you can't use the regular crafty with WB, oyu must have the 'wcrafty.exe' which I don't know where to get it

[Roger Brown]

I don't know Aquarium, or any of the other commercial GUIs. But I think that free, open-source GUIs don't have to be inferior to commercial ones. So if you xperience any aspects in which WinBoard would be wanting, we are always open to suggestions for how to make WinBoard even more powerful and user-friendly.

Indeed... in fact I think WB is better because it's just simple, and straight-forward GUI.


One last question I heard (read) the you can't use the regular crafty with WB, oyu must have the 'wcrafty.exe' which I don't know where to get it

Hello RazgrizRWA,

That is an urban myth.

Crafty has supported the Winboard protocol from ancient days.

You may rename it what you will. Ensure that you use the appropriate engine - 32 or 64 bit - for your system.

Later.

[RazgrizRWA]

Thank's Muller, Brown