CHESS User Guide

Game Operation
Chess from Penultimate supports virtually all aspects of modern chess, including tournament rules governing draws by threefold repetition and the "50 move rule".
This User's Guide assumes that the User is already familiar with the rules of chess. If not, there are many available on the web, such as:

http://www.chessvariants.com/d.chess/chess.html

To play a game against the computer, simply select the desired level of difficulty and what color you wish to play.

When User Plays White, the game begins in the "Move From" mode. In this mode, use the arrow keys to move the highlighted square over the piece that you wish to move and then pressing the 'M' key on your phone. This will put you in the "Move To" mode, at which point you can move the highlighted square to the space you wish to move and press the 'M' key again.

This puts the computer into the "Thinking….." mode as the computer ponders its move.
When User Plays Black, the computer will begin with a randomly chosen opening from a "book" of over 2000 standard chess openings.

Note: that you may not take back or "undo" a move, although you may change your mind about which piece to move when in the "Move To" mode by pressing the CLR key. The computer will not allow you to make an illegal move; the "Move To" screen will stay on until you move to a legal position. Likewise, the computer will require you to move your king out of check when possible, and will not allow you to move your king into check. Note that no messages for Check are displayed so as not to slow down the endgame. So look carefully to see if you are in check if the computer is treating your attempted move as an illegal move on a seemingly legal move.

Special Chess Moves
The king may castle in legal situations by moving him two squares kingside or queenside; the rook will move to its new position automatically.
Capturing "en passant" by pawns is also supported; just move your pawn to its final position and the opponent's pawn will be captured automatically.
Finally, pawns are always promoted to queens upon reaching the last rank.

Getting back to the Menu
Pressing the CLR key in the "Move From" or "Thinking....." modes will return you to the Menu, at which point you can change Level and Sound options, save an unfinished game, Start a New Game, or Exit.
You may exit the game at any time by pressing the End key. Pressing the CLR key at the Menu will also exit the game, so be careful not to press the CLR key from the board screen multiple times if exiting is not your intent.

The End Game
The game can end by:

1. Checkmate of either player
   
2. Stalemate of either player
   
3. Draw by:
   
   • Threefold repetition of the same board position
     
   • 50 consecutive moves where no pieces have been captured or pawns moved
     

The computer will recognize all of the above situations, display the appropriate message, and end the game.

The computer will never request a draw, and the user may not request a draw.

The computer will never resign, although the user may resign a game at any time by pressing the End key!

Two-Player Mode
The two-player mode permits head-to-head competition against a friend on the same phone. Naturally, white moves first, as indicated by the "White Move From" message after initialization. After the white player moves, the board will rotate 180 degrees (so that the black player doesn't have to rotate the phone!)

The two player mode supports checkmate, stalemate, and draws just as in the single-player mode.