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-=-=-=-=-=-=-

                  Tom Kerrigan's Simple Chess Program (TSCP)
                         Copyright 2016 Tom Kerrigan
                                    README

TSCP is intended for people who want to learn about chess programming. Its
source code is designed to be very easy to understand.

The TSCP "package" includes these files:
  readme.txt - The file you're reading now!
  book.txt - TSCP's opening library, i.e., common sequences of initial moves.
  makefile - A makefile, for unix-like environments.
  .c and .h files - The C source code for TSCP.

To use TSCP, you have to compile the source code. Once it's compiled, run the
resulting executable and type "help" at the prompt.

TSCP works with Tim Mann's graphical user interface XBoard/WinBoard. For more
information about Tim's program, visit his chess web page:
http://www.research.digital.com/SRC/personal/Tim_Mann/chess.html
(Note that TSCP doesn't support every WinBoard feature.)

If you're studying TSCP's source code, the following files will be
particularly helpful:
defs.h - This has all of TSCP's macros and data types.
data.c - This is where all of TSCP's global data is declared, and it's fairly
  well commented.
protos.h - This has prototypes for every function in TSCP, and it's organized
  so that finding a particular function is easy.

If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, etc., please feel free to
contact me:
  E-mail: tom.kerrigan@gmail.com
     WWW: http://www.tckerrigan.com/

I hope you find TSCP useful!
-Tom


                                 LEGAL STUFF

According to copyright law, you are not allowed to distribute copies of TSCP
or anything that's derived from TSCP without my authorization.

Version 1.4 of TSCP is the first version to include copyright notices, but
previous versions are also protected under law. If you are distributing an
earlier version of TSCP or a derivative work without my authorization, you are
acting illegally.

For more information about copyrights, visit this web page:
http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/


                                    THANKS

The following people have helped me with TSCP:
Normand Blais
Daniel Karlsson
Ruben Razquin
Brian Richardson
William Bryant
Mathias Feist
Shinya Kotani
John Stanback
David Brownlee
Uri Blass
Dann Corbit
Pedro Castro Elgarresta


                               VERSION HISTORY

Version 1.81b, 3/10/16

	
Small revisions to this README file; updated my e-mail address and

  home page URL.

	
Separated TSCP's source code and the Windows executable.
	
Added a makefile.
	
Updated parse_move in main.c to allow lower-case letters for pawn

  promotions.

	
print_result claimed a threefold repetition draw after a position occurred

  four times instead of three. Fixed.

Version 1.81, 2/5/03

	
fflush() wasn't being called after print_results() in xboard().
	
hply was being set to 0 when xboard() received "black." This broke the

  opening book code when playing black with WinBoard.

	
set_hash() wasn't being called in bench().


Version 1.8, 1/30/03

	
Added opening book code (book.c) and a small opening book (book.txt).
	
Added hash keys; replaced the old repetition detection code with code that

  compares hash keys.

	
Changed bench to report a "Score" to avoid confusion/comparisons with the

  previous version's "MIPS" (with score, 1.000 = my Athlon XP 2000+).

	
Moved move parsing into its own function (parse_move in main.c).


Version 1.73, 2/11/01

	
Added code to handle EOFs from stdin.


Version 1.72, 2/1/01

	
Added code to stop searching if a mate is found.
	
Changed max_time/max_depth assignments in main.c.


Version 1.71, 10/30/00

	
bench() now reports MIPS.
	
main() now returns an int.
	
Added an fflush() to think().
	
Changed %ld format strings to %d.


Version 1.7, 10/28/00

	
New (much cleaner) king safety.
	
Removed pawn_count because it was redundant.
	
Replaced gen_begin and gen_end with first_move.
	
Minor speedup of in_check().
	
Added print_board() to bench().
	
Added a new test to make sure ftime() returns milliseconds.
	
Changed GetRank/GetFile macros to ROW/COL.
	
Changed longs back to ints so I don't have to keep track of which is which.


Version 1.6, 7/17/00

	
Switched "game history" method from undo_dat to hply.
	
Changed the names of some macros.
	
Added repetition detection.
	
Added support for XBoard post/nopost commands (search output).
	
Added print_result() to print the result of games.


Version 1.52, 6/29/00

	
Fixed a typo in eval_dark_king(); a DARK should have been LIGHT.


Version 1.51, 6/16/00

	
Added support for the XBoard "time" command.
	
Changed max_time from seconds to milliseconds.
	
Changed print_move() to move_str().


Version 1.5, 2/13/00

	
Changed all of the "time control" code. Now TSCP can search for a fixed

  amount of time.

	
Stopped searching all responses to check in the quiescence search--it was

  causing the search tree to blow up.

	
Fixed passed pawn scoring asymmetry.
	
Added a test to make sure the search doesn't go too deep and overflow

  everything.

Version 1.42, 12/12/99

	
Made "xboard" a command instead of an argument.
	
Fixed code to start a new game.
	
Added a test to make sure ftime() is returning milliseconds.
	
Fixed king safety bug; now checks all three files around an uncastled king.
	
Changed gets() to fgets() in xboard() to avoid a gcc warning.
	
Added fflush() after the illegal XBoard command message.
	
Added signal(SIGINT, SIG_IGN) to the beginning of xboard() to help with

  XBoard/Linux compatibility.

Version 1.41, 12/6/99

	
The bonus for black passed pawns was backwards.


Version 1.4, 12/6/99

	
Added the ability to undo moves.
	
Added XBoard/WinBoard support.
	
Added the benchmarking feature.
	
Added the skill command.
	
Wrote the README file.
	
Added a Win32 executable to the "distribution."
	
Changed main() so the engine doesn't play an illegal move if it's mated.
	
Changed some array sizes and some ints to longs so TSCP works correctly with

  16-bit compilers.

	
Got rid of warnings. TSCP now compiles without warnings using Visual C++,

  gcc, and Turbo C 2.

	
Added whitespace in the source code to make it more readable. "x=2;" is now

  "x = 2;", etc.

	
Made a small number of minor (mostly aesthetic) changes to the algorithms.
	
Added copyright notices to the beginning of each source file and the text

  that TSCP prints when you run it.