The Game board displays the current chess position of the game in the Game Notation window. The current side to play is shown to the right of the board with a white square for white to play and a black square for black to play, in our example white is to play. The algebraic coordinates around the chess board are optional, other attributes of the board including the board textures and piece sets can also be set in the Preferences->Board tab.


Move entry

To move a piece simply move the mouse pointer over the square of the piece you wish move, click the left mouse button down to select the piece. You can then hold the mouse button down and drag the piece to the destination square and let go to make the move.


If you hold down the Shift key while entering a move it will be added as the new main line with the previous main line becoming a variation.


If you hold down the Ctrl key while entering a move it will be added as the new main line and remove the old line.


Please note that you can use Undo/Redo command to undo mistakes, so even if you have added, modified or removed many items in the game notation you can always reverse these changes.


When Guess move (Preferences->Board tab) is off you can select the source square with a click/release of the left mouse button and then select the destination square. However we believe most people will prefer to use the much faster Guess move approach which is on by default.


Guess moves

With the Guess move feature enabled, when the cursor goes over a piece the piece will highlight and the suggested best destination square for the piece will be highlighted. You can select the guess move simply by clicking the left mouse button and releasing it.


With the mouse pointer over a piece, if you then click the right mouse button and Guess move will highlight what it thinks is the next best destination square for the piece highlighted. Repeatedly pressing the right mouse button will cycle through the moves in order of quality.


When placing the cursor over a square on the board Guess move will highlight the suggested best move to that square.Again clicking the right mouse button will show the next best move to the destination square, with each click cycling through the moves in order of quality.


You can select the currently highlighted guess move at any time simply by clicking the left mouse button and releasing it.


When you click the left mouse button on a piece to move it, Guess move will colour code the destination square highlight to indicate move quality. Here are the default colours:

These colours are used with dark/light intensity to show move quality. These colours are configurable in the Preferences->Board tab


Resizing

The chess board will automatically resize in response to the size of the overall HIARCS Chess Explorer window and any panes and their widths used within it.


The Game board and pieces can support up to a massive 2,400 x 2,400 pixel resolution without losing any quality.