Instructions on how to operate the program

It is presumed that you know how to play chess (not an expert, just know the rules.) If not, bye, have a nice day!

OK, you know how to play chess, but you don't know what Kriegspiel is. Well, a description is given as an appendix to these instructions. You might want to skip down there before continuing.

OK, you now know Kriegspiel and you therefore know that you need a third person: a referee. What we have here is a program, Kref.EXE which will do the duties of a referee. The following are instructions on how to operate KRef.

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The first time you run KRef in a given directory, you will get the message:
   File 'Kref.dat' missing or corrupt: autofix in progress.
and you will be stuck at the prompt:
   Pause-after-move mode = ?
   Please select Y or N  =
Don't fret, just respond "N". This is a one-time message. It is explained later, but mentioned here so you don't freak out in case you are trying the program before reading everything below. :-)

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Passwords are used in case both players are using the same machine. If your opponent is remote, you will probably want to elect to have no password by entering your color exactly like this: "White" or "Black" (That's "White", not "white"). Any deviation and you've got a password you have to enter correctly every time it is your move.

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Games will be named by you so you can play multiple opponents. You will have files such as "xxx.ksg" and "xxx.log" (where xxx is a 8-character or less filename you want to use). Players transfer the files back and forth the players are on remote computers.

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The first menu you get when you start the program is a list of games (if any) that you are currently playing and an option to start a new game. Select one using the arrow keys (not mouse) and press Enter

New Game: The player who is to be Black should start any new games by providing a password. After Black provides a password, the program will then prompt for White's password. If White is not available, the player simply refuses to enter a password for White by hitting "Enter". The file is then shipped to White who will put it in the directory where KSG.exe is.

White now begins by selecting that game and also entering a password. White then makes the first move.

Each player moves and when the move has been made, the prompt will come up for the other player's password. Just hit "Enter" and ship xxx.ksg, where xxx is the name of the game you are playing.

When it is your move, you use the mouse (Left-click). Click on the piece to be moved and then on the square you want to move to. To castle, just move your king two squares toward the castle.

If your move was legal then your turn is over - Kref will announce that your opponent is in check or has lost a piece or pawn, etc. Also if you moved into attack of a pawn, you will see that your opponent has possible pawn captures.

If you attempt a move that would be legal except for opponent pieces you can't see, the referee announces "not possible". This tells you (and your opponent) that you tried something like advancing a pawn when the opponents pawn is ahead of you.

If you attempt an obvious bad move such as moving your King 5 spaces, the referee announces "Illegal move" to distinguish from the above.

Anyway, when it is your move, you move as described above or else press the ESC, the "escape" key which will give you options:
o Resign (this terminates the game permanently)
o Adjourn (you can continue later)
o Return to the game (you probably hit ESC by accident)

The game is terminated when either player resigns, is in checkmate or is stalemated. (There is no 50-move limit)

If the game terminates, you ship xxx.ksg so the opponent can enter a password to acknowledge the game is over. Thereafter the entire board (black and white pieces) is shown whenever xxx.ksg is selected from the menu.

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You already know that xxx.ksg is the file that contains the current board positions of game "xxx" and that it has to be sent to your opponent at the end of your move.

Actually there is another file that needs to be sent: xxx.log. This contains the referee calls made while you were moving.

Don't forget to send both.

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Here is a feature of KRef that you can ignore if you wish: you can place opponent pieces on the board at your whim without affecting the game in any way.

Why put imaginary pieces? This is useful for remembering where you think the opponent is.

You can put as many Kings or any other piece on the board as you wish, since the pieces are just imaginary. To do this, you also use the mouse (Right-click-hold).

Click on the piece to be placed. These are found in the box of pieces at the top right. Then click on the square you want to place the piece.

To move an imaginary piece, just click on it like you did in the box.

To remove a piece, click on it and then click outside the board area.

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Whether you use the imaginary-opponent-piece capability described above or not, you will still require a file, KRef.dat, which contains one line:
Either          Pause-after-move mode = Y
or              Pause-after-move mode = N

If missing, it is generated. You will get a scary error message and be prompted for Y or N. If you don't want to mess with imaginary pieces, select "N".

If you select "Y" then every time your move ends, you will get one more prompt to press ESC. That is to give you extra time to place imaginary pieces before your move is terminated. Useful because you have just moved and found that you have taken a piece or pawn, or put the opponent in check on the rank, etc.

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- That's it. Have fun!


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================== Kriegspiel =================
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This is chess played in such a way that neither player knows where opponent pieces are except via logic. Even then some piece location is known, that knowledge is often quickly lost.

It is a lot more playable and fun than you would guess. There are excellent strategies one develops. And end game is different.

For example in regular chess, assume that all opponent pieces are gone except for the King and you have a King and protected Pawn. If you are a good players, you know that if the opponent King is ahead of you, you can never promote (the opponent keeps moving to your side of the pawn). It is an agreed draw or else stalemate.

But in Kriegspiel, it is a win. You simply toss a coin and move to a random side. The opponent, sooner or later, moves to the wrong side and you advance!

On the other hand, in regular chess, if you are good players, you know that an end game of King-Knight-Bishop versus a King is a win. But in Kriegspiel, it is an obvious draw.

There is a third person involved: a Referee. This person keeps a third board with all pieces accurately placed. If it is White to move, White attempts to move and the Referee announces "not possible" until a legal move is made. Black hears this exchange and can sometimes guess what is going on. To avoid tricks, if White tries something like taking a White piece or moving a Pawn backwards, the Referee says "illegal move" so no bad data is transferred.

If White takes an opponent major piece, the Referee announces "piece taken" but which piece is not announced. Similarly, the Referee can announce "pawn taken". The piece or pawn is physically removed by the Referee so Black's position is always known to Black. (At all times, White's board, which may or may not contain Black pieces in positions guessed by White, always has the correct position for White.)

If, as a result of White's move, Black's King is in check, the Referee announces "Black's King is in check on the (row/column/diagonal as is the case).

Finally, if the Black King is not in check, the Referee announces "Black to move" or "Black to move with possible pawn captures".

The latter detail is given to relieve the players of having to try to make all possible pawn captures on each move, which leads to a zillion "not possible" calls (boring).

Otherwise, all the rules of chess apply, especially (take note!) en passent captures which invariably cause a player to resign to see what the heck happened.