ChessBuddy User GuideWelcome to ChessBuddy, the first chess program available for your MIDP capable phone! From now on, you'll always have a ChessBuddy who loves to play the ancient game with you.
Starting ChessBuddy
After starting up ChessBuddy on your phone, it can take a little while before it actually starts running. This is normal: in this time, ChessBuddy sets up the board, and does some Yoga in order to prepare for the game. You don't see any of this, it's all done behind the scenes while you are waiting for the game to start up. When ChessBuddy is finished with this (after about 15 seconds), you'll see the startup screen appear. Wait until it finished displaying, and you'll be taken to the ChessBuddy menu. This is where you can find most of the commands that we'll talk about in the following sections. Take a good look at the left 'soft button' on your phone's display, where it says "BOARD". You can always use this button to see the chess board, after you did something in the menu. And when you're viewing the board, this same key will say "MENU" to allow you to go back to the menu whenever you want.
Start your first game of chess!Beginning a new game is simple: just choose 'Start new game' from the ChessBuddy menu. You'll see the board appear with all the pieces in the starting position. You play with the white pieces; ChessBuddy uses the black ones.Making a move
You always play with the white pieces. Use the navigation key for moving the blinking 'pointer' (a small square) around on the board. Move the blinking black pointer over the piece you want to move, and press the green (or select) button. A small rectangle around the piece will indicate the piece you selected, and the pointer will turn white. The white pointer can be used to select the square to move to. Of course only legal moves are allowed, but occasinally you can make an illegal move if you decide you selected the wrong square. Just make a random illegal move, and ChessBuddy will give you another chance to enter a legal one. After you make your move, the switches on the side of the board will turn, indicating who's the next player to move. When ChessBuddy is thinking, its move switch will blink. It depends on the level and position how long ChessBuddy thinks before making a move.
Changing the level
Use the "Level" option in the menu to change ChessBuddy's level of play. You can do this before or during a game. Note that the harder the level, the longer ChessBuddy will think before it makes a move. In level "Hard", this can take up to several minutes! Level "Easy" will generally make moves in less than 10 seconds, but occasionally it will take a little longer. When you first start ChessBuddy, the playing level is set to "Easy", so this is a good way to start your first game. Look at the table below to find out how long ChessBuddy will think before making a move on the Motorola i85 or similar. (these are maximum times: generally, the move will be made more quickly than the table indicates).
Saving and loading games
You can save up to five games, for instance if you want to continue playing at a later time. In order to save a game, use the "Save game" option in the menu. A list will appear, showing you five slots you can save your games in. Choose one, and press the "SAVE" button. If you chose a slot that already contained a game, that game will be overwritten by the new one.
You can load a game in much the same way by choosing "Load game" from the ChessBuddy menu. You'll see a list with the game slots. Choose one of the games you saved earlier. Deleting all gamesYou can delete all games, for instance if you want to free up some memory in your phone, or in case your game database got corrupted. This sounds scary, but fortunately hardly ever happens. It might happen if you forgot to charge your battery, dropped your phone, took your phone for a swim, or other abusive behavior. Use the "Delete all games" item from the menu to delete the games and refresh the database. After selecting that item, you will see a screen asking you for confirmation. Press "Delete" if you're sure you want to delete all games, or "Cancel" otherwise. Of course you'll be able to save up to 5 games again after deleting all games.RequirementsChessBuddy requires a Java capable phone, such as the Motorola i85. If you are reading this, most probably you have such a phone. Other than this, you might find the following information useful:
Data Space Requirement: 7k More informationIf you have any questions, or want more information about ChessBuddy, please visit chessbuddy.com, or contact us directly at comments@chessbuddy.com
|
||||||||
