Viewing Game

The Archer slides up to three spaces diagonally, or rifle-captures at (1,2).

The Berserker can make one or two King moves in arbitrary directions, or leap two spaces in any direction.

As in orthodox chess, the Bishop can slide any distance diagonally.

The Bowman moves to (1,2) like a lame Knight. If there's an enemy piece a second Knight's move away, it may then rifle-capture that piece.

The Chancellor slides orthogonally like a Rook, or leaps (1,2) like a Knight.

The Falconer can leap to any same-colored square within a three-space radius.

The General slides diagonally, or slides orthogonally to any same-colored square.

The Helepolis slides orthogonally like a Rook. When moving sideways or backwards, it can capture any and all enemy pieces in its path. On its initial forward move, it can leap over a single friendly piece.

The King moves as in orthodox chess, except that there is no Castling, and rules regarding Check are suspended if the Prince is on the board.

The Knight is a Teutonic Knight; it leaps (1,2) or (1,3), or steps one space orthogonally.

The Lancer can leap once or twice in a (1,2) direction, or capture on a sliding move two or three spaces away.

The Nightrider can make multiple (1,2) leaps in a straight line.

As in orthodox chess, the Pawn moves without capture one step directly forward, or captures one step diagonally forward. Unlike orthodox chess, its initial move can be up to four spaces directly forward.

The Prince steps one space diagonally, or leaps (1,2).

As in orthodox chess, the Queen can slide any distance orthogonally or diagonally.

As in orthodox chess, the Rook can slide any distance orthogonally.

The Sergeant can move up to three spaces directly forward or one space diagonally forward, or move without capture one space sideways.

The Soldier moves without capture one step directly forward or sideways, or capture one step diagonally foward. Like the Pawn, it can make an initial move up to four spaces directly forward.

The Spy can step one or two spaces orthogonally, or leap (1,2).

The Wizard steps one space diagaonlly, and then may move outward from that point one or two spaces orthogonally. It also can switch places with any friendly piece along that path; while the regular move does not leap, this "displacing" move does.

How to Move Pieces

Full Algebraic Notation

Algebraic notation identifies each space by a coordinate that begins with its file label and ends with its rank label. On the Chess board, files go up and down from one player to the other, and ranks go from left to right. In most games, files are represented by letters, and ranks are represented by numbers, but there is no fixed rule requiring this for all games, and some games, such as Shogi, reverse this convention. If you look at the diagram, you will usually see the file labels going from left to right and the file labels going up and down. And if you hover your mouse over a space, you will normally see the name of the coordinate appear in a tooltip.

It is not uncommon to see algebraic notation being used for Chess, but it is often in an abbreviated format that requires you to know both the rules of the game and the current position to know exactly which piece moves where. For example, the notation "Ne6" indicates that a Knight is moving to e6, but it doesn't indicate which Knight, and it doesn't specify where the Knight is coming from. To figure this out, you need to know how a Knight moves and which Knight on the board can make a legal move to e6.

Although rules may be programmed for individual games, Game Courier itself does not know the rules of any game, and it is unable to parse abbreviated algebraic notation. Therefore, it relies on full algebraic notation, which completely specifies the move without requiring any knowledge of the game's rules or the current position. The most usual type of full algebraic notation indicates the piece that is moving by its label, the space it is moving from, and the space it moving to. In Chess, a typical first move might be written as "P e2-e4". When you hover your mouse over a piece, you will normally see the piece label followed by the coordinate for the space, and when you hover it over an empty space, you will normally see the coordinate label. Including the piece label in your notation allows Game Courier to check that the piece you're moving is the right one, and it makes game notation easier to follow, but it is not mandatory.

You may promote a piece by including a promotion move after your regular move. A promotion move has a piece go directly to a coordinate. Here is an example: "p e7-e8; q-e8".

You may remove a piece from a space by adding an @ to the space or by omitting the destination coordinate. For example, both "@-e4" and "e4-" would remove the piece on "e4". This is useful for en passant when you are playing a game that does not handle this automatically. For example, "P d5-e6; e5-" removes the Pawn on e5 after a Pawn moves from d5 to e6.

You will not need to remove spaces for most games, but if you should need to, you can do this by omitting the first coordinate in a move. For example, "-e4" would remove e4 from the board. To add or return a space to the board, you may add an @ or any other piece to it.

Available Pieces

Pieces are represented by labels, usually using uppercase letters for White and lowercase letter for Black. When you enter a move or specify the starting position for a game, you should remember that piece labels are case-sensitive. Many piece sets are available for use with Game Courier, and this table shows you which pieces belong to the piece set you are currently using.

These pieces come from a set containing more pieces, but this preset has had the set of pieces reduced to those used in the game.

Credits

This preset uses the Vanguard settings file for Vanguard Chess, which was made by Bob Greenwade.

Game Courier was created, programmed and written by Fergus Duniho.

Game Courier, Copyright © Fergus Duniho, 2001-2017

Kibbitzing Etiquette

Kibbitzing is the practice of commenting on a game you are not playing. In commenting on a game, please follow these rules of etiquette.

(1) If you notice that someone has made an illegal move, please mention it. Some Game Courier presets cannot enforce rules, but Game Courier does enable players to take back any previous move. Details on how to take back a move are provided in the User's Guide, linked to above the board.

(2) Unless otherwise specifically asked to, do not offer hints or suggestions to players on what moves they should make. In general, avoid coaching comments.

(3) Once a game is over, it should be alright to offer your analysis of the game and your specific comments on what moves players should have made. If some players don't want this, they may mention it in the Kibbitzing section, and you should honor this request by not commenting on the game.

(4) Be polite. At the appropriate time, offer any criticism you have in a constructive manner. Avoid heckling players for bad moves.

(5) Don't spam this space with irrelevant comments. If you have a comment about Game Courier, rather than about the specific game you're viewing, please post it on Game Courier's Index page to give it.