Contents:

CHESS NOTATION
BOARD SETUP NOTATION
ALTERNATE LANGUAGE
PGN GAME COLLECTIONS

CHESS NOTATION

Zork reads game files in algebraic notation:  Nf3, Ngf3 and g1f3 are all recognized, as are f4, f2f4, fg5, fxg5, fxg and fg.  Ambiguous and illegal moves are rejected with an error message; the move in error and the remainder of the game can be viewed with "Edit Message".  The suffixes check (+), mate (++), and multiple occurrences of good move (?) and bad move (!), are all recognized, as long as they immediately follow the move, without any intervening blanks. Zork will display an error message if a game is not numbered correctly; a first move indicator ("1." or "1 ") is required.

Zork reads PGN header information and makes it available for inspection and editing in the PGN dialog.  The e-mail carry-forward indicator (>) at the beginning of a line is discarded and will not cause a syntax error.  Anything between parentheses () or braces {}, and the remainder of a line following exclamation point (!) or semicolon (;), is treated as a comment, as long as the character that marks the beginning of the comment is preceded by a blank or new line.  Percent sign (%) or pound sign (#) at the beginning of a line indicates a comment line preceding a game; thus, when Zork has already found the first move of a game, these comments indicate the end of the game being processed as well as the beginning of another game.  Game-ending tokens are: * ? ?? ??? 1-0 0-1 1/2 1/2-1/2, and of course any word that is not a valid chess move.

Note, however, that Zork does not retain comments embedded in the game score.  If it reads in a game and then writes it out, the comments will not be included in the newly written file.

Any information preceding or following the game score in the file (or paste buffer) is retained in the Zork message buffer.  "Edit Message" makes this information available for editing.  When the game is written to a game file, this information will be included at the beginning of the file.  If a syntax error or ambiguous move was encountered, the token causing the error will be included in the Zork message buffer.  Output from "Save" and "Save & Copy" functions includes the message buffer, immediately preceding the game.

Zork also provides a privacy buffer ("Edit Private Notes") for information to be retained in the game file but excluded from the e-mail message, such as analysis notes about the game.

Zork game files are ordinary Windows text files, and can be edited with any text editor or word processor.


BOARD SETUP NOTATION

The PGN Setup statement describes the initial position in a game of Random Chess.  It specifies the placement of the White pieces on the first rank, and whether the Black pieces are a mirror image (>), or in reverse order (<).  The pieces always begin in mirror image in Fischer Random, so this indicator is not used.  Zork uses this indicator to distinguish between classical randomization and Fischer Random.  This notation is a short form of full Setup described in the next paragraph, so the pieces are all designated in upper case.

The Setup statement also describes positions created using the "Edit Board..." command.  Setup uses the familiar chess shorthand:  for example, 4K3/8/8/8/8/8/8/7k describes a position with the White King on e1 and the Black King on h8.  White pieces are capitalized, Black pieces in lower case.  Zork also recognizes commas in place of slashes.  Following this description of the position, Setup indicates:

  which side is to play:  w or b
  which Rooks can Castle:  e.g., Ra1, rh8
  which Kings can Leap:  e.g., Kb1, kf8
  en passant is possible:  e.g., f3 or f4 or e5, b6 or b5 or c4

These indicators are separated from each other by one or more blanks.  For indicating en passant, Zork does not care whether you indicate the capturing pawn, the captured pawn, or the capture square.

Zork also reads and writes basic FEN notation.  FEN was developed for the convenience of printers (i.e. publishers -- not the computer hardware devices).  It is the familiar chess shorthand in reverse, beginning with the 8th rank instead of the 1st rank.  It is absurd to use this backward printer's notation for communication with chessplayers, and Zork recommends that it be avoided in favor of standard chess shorthand.


ALTERNATE LANGUAGE

"Alternate Language..." can be used to change the letters designating the chessmen in algebraic notation, and in Setup and FEN statements.  The profile (zork.ini) is initialized for an alternate language of Spanish or Portuguese.  The font used in the Alternate Language dialog, the game score window and the message buffer window can be changed as needed for the language.

If someone would like to help create a version of Zork in another language, send Zork a note at pd@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu.  Making another version involves translating the resource file (menus, dialogs and messages) and documentation files (e.g. this file, notation.txt).


PGN GAME COLLECTIONS

"Paste" is provided for reading games from PGN game collections.  Open the game file using a text editor or word processor, such as WordPad or Write.  Use "Find" to locate a game by player's name or other key.  Then copy the game into the Windows paste buffer and paste it into Zork.  Similarly, you can create game files by pasting games into a file in your word processor window.
