ref: eb8f0cbd6b03c83d0ec53c73ce721dae347217de
dir: /chessfs.4/
.TH CHESSFS 4
.SH NAME
chessfs \- chess filesystem
.SH SYNOPSIS
chessfs [-verbose] [-addr addr] [-srv srv] [-group gid]
chessterm [-font path] [-bg col] [-fg col] player directory
uciconnect [-think time] [-wait time] [-player p] -dir game command
rc/play [-r] player directory
rc/spectate [-r] directory
.SH DESCRIPTION
Chessfs is a filesystem for playing chess games. It posts a
server named after the argument, which by default is "chessfs".
Specifying a listening address serves 9p over the announces
address, instead of a server, or UNIX socket. The files' username
is the one running the program, and the group can be set using
the -group option.
The filesystem contains three files -
.BI "ctl",
.BI "clone"
and
.BI "games".
Opening the clone file creates a new game, and the id can be
read from the fid. The game can be found under the games directory,
as a directory with the game id. Ctl is for reading and setting
server options. It displays the maximum amount of games, and the
current count of games. Setting roomsize changes the maximum number
of games which can be played.
In each game directory, there are the
.BI "ctl",
.BI "white",
.BI "black",
.BI "moves"
and
.BI "fen"
files. Ctl supports the following commands:
.TF "\fLtime seconds\fR"
.TP
.BI "time " seconds
Set the amount of time each player has. The default value is
-1 indicating that the game is not timed.
.TP
.BI "start"
Start the game.
.TP
.BI "close"
Close the game, which may or may not have ended.
.PD
.RE
.PP
The board files, white and black, show the current pieces' position,
depending on the player. Writing to the file makes a move on behalf
of the corresponding player.
.TF "\fLresign\fR"
.TP
.BI "draw"
Offer a draw, or accept a draw if the other player offered one.
.TP
.BI "resign"
Resign the game.
.TP
.I "move"
Make the following move, following the algebraic notation.
.PD
.RE
.PP
For reading the game in the PGN notation, the
.BI moves
file can be read.
.PP
The
.BI fen
file can be used to read the FEN notation of the current game. Additionally,
writing to the file, before the game is started, sets the pieces' position.
.PP
Chessterm is the user interface for the filesystem. It assumes the game
is already cloned, and takes as arguments the player (either "black" or "white"),
and the game directory. Every half of second the directory is checked
and the board is updated. A mouse action, or the pressing the space key
on the keyboard, retriggers an update. Mouse button 2 brings up a menu with
the option to offer a draw, resign, or start the game. When promoting, the pieces
are shown in a menu. The font used is the one either
from the
.CW font
environment variable, or from the argument. Additionally, the background
and foreground colors can also be set, based on which the board is drawn.
.PP
Uciconnect can be used to connect a game directory, with a process serving
the UCI protocol via standard input and output. There are two mandatory
arguments: the game directory and the command to execute. The
.BI -think
arguments sets the time the engine is allowed to find a move. Between
commands and reads, the program sleeps a duration, which can be set via the
.BI -wait
option. By default, the engine plays the white player, which can be set with the
.BI -player
flag.
.PP
Play is an interactive script which prints the board and game status,
and waits for your or your opponent's move. The -r flag transcribes
the UTF-8 piece symbols into other symbols, in case the used font
doesn't have them. Spectate is a similar script, only printing the
board updates.
.SH EXAMPLES
Run the filesystem:
.IP
.EX
chessfs -srv chessfs -group chessclub
mount /srv/chessfs /n/chess
.EE
.PP
Create a new game, set parameters, and play:
.IP
.EX
cd /n/chess
cd games/`{cat clone}
echo time 1800 >ctl
echo start >ctl
echo e4 >white
sleep 1
echo resign >white
.EE
.SH SOURCE
https://git.disroot.org/kitzman/chessfs
https://shithub.us/kitzman/chess/HEAD/info.html
.SH BUGS AND TODO
Menus don't work with plan9port's devdraw. I have only
tested this, once, on a Linux machine.
Encrypting connections should be an option.
Currently players cannot change the owners of the files. That means
anyone can take over the game.