Library chess set

This photo was taken on March 5, 2008 by Muffet. She wandered into the Young Adult room of the local library. They had a nifty chess set on the table. Since she was the only person in the room, she stopped and took this picture.

All sizes of this photo are available for download under a Creative Commons license.

Chess Game Viewer

This post demonstrates some of the possibilities of the Chess Game Viewer. It contains two chess boards as well as NAG symbols, comments and variations.







The remaining moves of this game will be shown in the second diagram for which I will use a different background.







Btw the game above is the game Lewis William - Wilson Harry Slater and it was played in 1819.



See the post about the Chess Game and Diagram Viewer and the links in this post if you want to learn how to publish chess games on your own site.

Tower Of London Chess Set

This photo was taken on September 5, 2009 by DaveKav and published on Flickr. All sizes of this photo are available for download from his photosteam under a Creative Commons license, but some rights are reserved by DaveKav.

This is a very beautiful chess set, but it's so beautiful that it probably prevents me to think about the moves.

Chess Game and Diagram Viewer

After a search for a suitable chess game viewer which was the initial goal of this website I started to create a new Chess Game Viewer. These efforts have resulted in both a Chess diagram viewer as well as a Chess game viewer.
The code for these viewers is still under development, but both can already be used. A link back to this site is appreciated.

If you want to use these viewers first have a look at how to configure the FEN viewer. If everything works fine then configure the Chess game viewer.
Please note that it isn't necessary to use the coded moves anymore, because the viewer is able to generate them, but you can still use them to improve performance (and for complex games).

The game viewer can be used for chess games, but also for chess puzzles, like a mate in two problem and it is possible to use NAG symbols.
It's also rather easy to configure the viewers. You can use your own chess board images or your own piece set.
It is possible to host everything on your own site even if you use blogspot. The previous two non-photo posts explain how to use the images uploaded by blogspot and how you can include the JavaScript in your own template.

Please have a look at some of the previous posts to get a better idea about the possibilities of these viewers and let me know if you have more unfulfilled wishes.

Start

A white rook and knight at the starting position (cc) Chess Publishing

How to use images uploaded by Blogspot?

To become really independent from other sites you may also want to use images of chess pieces that you have uploaded by Blogspot/Blogger and are stored in Picasa.

This can also be done.

1. Just create a new post. Add all the images that you need to this post and when you are finished save it without publishing. You may publish this post, but there is no need to bother the visitors of your site with a post of these images.
2. Now you have to edit the JavaScript code and edit the array urlpcs in such a way that it contains the urls to the pieces you have uploaded in the previous step.
3. In addition you'll have change the JavaScript code in such a way that the variable pcsdir gets the empty string value

There are some disadvantages:

1. It will not be easy to change the images you use between posts.
2. It will be more difficult to keep the JavaScript code up to date, but at this site I have done it as a kind of exercise (to check that it really worked).
3. It's a lot of work

But I still think that it's important that it can be done, even if it's currently not advised to do so. This in combination with including the JavaScript in your theme, makes that your site is running solely on Blogspot.

Wobble Chess Set

Wobble Chess Set by See-ming Lee
All sizes of this photo are available for download on Flickr under a Creative Commons license

How to include the JavaScript in your own template?

One of the initial requirements for our Chess Game Viewer was that it shouldn't depend on another site. Of course it is possible to host the JavaScript on your own site and a site like Google sites will be sufficient. However the intention of the original requirement was also that it should be possible to host the needed JavaScript on Blogspot.
It is rather easy to accomplish this.
I assume that you already have configured your site to use the FEN viewer and the Chess Game viewer. Then look for the line in your template that refers to the external JavaScript file.

Let's start by downloading the JavaScript file from this site. After downloading open the downloaded file with Wordpad and copy the following lines at the top of this file.

<script type='text/javascript'>
//<![CDATA[

Next we are going to add the following lines at the end of this file.

//]]>
</script>

And by now we only have to replace the following line in your blogspot theme by the content in our Wordpad editor.

<script src='http://sites.google.com/site/viewchessgame/js/gv.js'
type='text/javascript'/>

Before actually changing your template it will be a good idea to backup your full template.

So now you know what to do to include the necessary code within your template. I only advice you to wait a little longer or to replace the code with the new code in the future, because the Chess Game Viewer is still under development and improving all the time.

Chess pieces

Some nice chess pieces, (cc) Chess Publishing

Mate in 262

In addition to the post about the usage of other board images I just wanted to show you this special board. It's a combination of all the standard board images currently available.

It also shows that when you want to create your own board image you are not obliged to create 2x2 squares and you can even design a complete board.

The position, by the way, is really a mate in 262 and the first move of the solution is 1.Kd6.

Chess hat

I'll hope this hat helps me to find the right moves

A new overview

An overview of Chess Publishing methods has been published before, but this overview didn't include the ChessFlash PGN viewer of one of the previous posts.
In addition some of the previously discussed Chess Publishing methods just disappeared, which emphasizes the importance of one of the original requirements that it should not be dependent on another site.

Now let's first concentrate on the ChessFlash PGN viewer.

• It offers a chess board that shows the position after each move
• The moves are also shown
• Clicking on a move shows the position on the board after this move
• It doesn't offer autoplay
• Variations in the moves are possible
• It can deal with comments, but the comment at the start of a variation seems to be shown as belonging at the end of the previous move
• There is a kind of puzzle mode, but this doesn't show the moves after the right answer is given
• It is based on entering PGN
• I think that it is not necessary to copy and paste all kind of code. The Quick Publisher can be seen as an additional nice tool. The original requirement "Without the need to copy and paste all kind of code" is probably met
• It seems to depend on another site, but it will also be possible to host the player on your own site and a site like Google sites will do. However it will not be possible to limit ourselves to the Blogspot/Picasa combination.
• It loads rather slow, especially when you publish more chess games on the same page like you may frequently do on a blog-site). This can partly be solved by means of a show/hide wrapper, but I don't like to hide the content of my posts
• A separate PGN viewer is loaded for each chess game.
• It doesn't really feel integrated and the moves are always shown at the right side or below the board, but not around the chess board.
• The height and width is configurable, but the scrollbar at the right side remains.

So I think that the ChessFlash PGN viewer is a nice addition and I consider it as being better than Chesspublisher and Chesspastebin and the Chess Viewer Applet, but I still prefer the LT-PGN Editor and Viewer and certainly our own Blogspot Game Viewer, that has become a lot easier to use without the need for adding the coded moves.

Of course there may be other requirements (like selecting another chess set or board image) and some of the requirements above may not be important for your site so the order of chess game viewers may be different for you. It's rather easy to test them for yourself. Please share your findings in the comments.

Chess Ring

I felt a bit creative today

ChessFlash PGN Viewer

I have tried the ChessFlash PGN Viewer as you can see in this post. I still have to write a post about my findings and compare this chess publishing method with the other alternatives.

---

The original PGN with some formatting and color added for easier viewing:

[Event ""]
[Site ""]
[Date "2003.03.02"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Kasparov Garry"]
[Black "Kramnik Vladimir"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2847"]
[BlackElo "2807"]
[ECO "C88"]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5

{The Ruy Lopez or Spanish opening}

3...a6 4.Ba4 Nf6

{Morphy Defence}

5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 O-O

( {Another frequently played alternative is} 7...d6 {most of the time followed by} 8.c3 O-O 9.h3 Na5 10.Bc2 c5 11.d4 Qc7 12.Nbd2 {like in the 2000 game Kasparov - Piket which continued with} 12...Bd7 ( {but most of the time} 12...cxd4 ( {or} 12...Nc6 13.d5 ) 13.cxd4 {is played} ) 13.Nf1 cxd4 14.cxd4 Rac8 15.Ne3 Nc6 16.d5 Nb4 17.Bb1 a5 18.a3 Na6 19.b4 Ra8 20.Bd2 Rfc8 21.Bd3 Qb7 22.g4 g6 23.Nf1 axb4 24.axb4 Bd8 25.Ng3 Nc7 26.Qe2 Rxa1 27.Rxa1 Ra8 28.Qe1 Nfe8 29.Qc1 Ng7 30.Rxa8 Qxa8 31.Bh6 Nce8 32.Qb2 Qa4 33.Kg2 Bb6 34.Bc2 Qa7 35.Bd3 Qa4 36.Ne2 Nc7 37.Nxe5 dxe5 38.Qxe5 Nce8 39.Bxg7 Qd1 40.Bh6 Qxd3 41.Qe7 Ng7 42.Ng3 Qc2 43.Qf6 Nf5 44.Qxb6 Nh4+ 45.Kh2 Nf3+ 46.Kg2 Nh4+ 47.Kh2 Nf3+ 48.Kg2 Nh4+ 49.Kh2 {1/2-1/2} )

8.h3 Bb7 9.d3 d6 10.a3 Nb8 11.Nbd2 Nbd7 12.Nf1 Re8 13.Ba2 c6 14.Ng3 Bf8 15.Nf5 d5 16.d4 c5 17.dxc5 Nxc5 18.exd5 e4 19.N3d4 Bxd5 20.Bxd5 Qxd5 21.Bg5 Nfd7 22.Qg4 Ne5 23.Qg3 Ne6 24.Rad1 Nxg5 25.Qxg5 Qb7 26.Ng3 Nc4 27.Ndf5 Re6 28.b3 Nxa3 29.Rxe4 Rxe4 30.Nxe4 Qxe4 31.Nh6+ Kh8 32.Nxf7+ Kg8 33.Nh6+ Kh8 1/2-1/2

Chess players

A small group of people intently watch a chess game unfold on the streets of Beijing.
All sizes of this picture are available on the photostream of Image Zen under a Creative Commons license.

Other chess pieces

It is rather easy to use another set of chess pieces with this JavaScript Chess Game Viewer. In the next diagram I have used the Linares set, but you can use each of the Palview Chess sets, by just directing the pdir variable to the right location.
The easiest way to do this for the linares set is by adding the following line

pdir=vdir+'linares/';

but instead of linares you can also use: kingdom, alpha, boldlinares, leipzig, tilburg or merida.

If you want to use the same chess set all the time just add this line to your template. If you want to use it for a single board in a post then add it to the post.
Currently it isn't possible to use different chess sets for re-playable games on a single page, but it will be rather easy to implement this functionality if there is a real need for this. For static boards (by means of the FEN Viewer) each board already can use it's own chess set.

Linares on a blue chess board

Some other combinations can be found on the ViewChessGame site.

Chess sculpture

Chess by Sanctu, cc

Using another board image

It is possible to use another board image, by just assigning the location of this image to the brdimg variable.



This is demonstrated in the following example game between Alexander Mc Donnell and Louis Charles Mahe de la Bourdonnais, that has been played in 1834.

In the example above I have used brdimg=pcsdir+'wood29.jpg';

instead of wood29.jpg you may prefer to use another board image like:

• blue29.jpg
• borderline29.gif
• cowderoy29.jpg
• gray29.jpg
• graystone29.jpg
• green29.jpg
• ivorygreen29.jpg
• lightestgray29.jpg
• lightgray29.jpg
• marblebrown29.jpg
• rob29.jpg
• sepia29.jpg
• slatebrown29.jpg
• wood29.jpg

but it is rather easy to create you own background image and just point brdimg to this url.

Two more attention points:

1. If you always want to use another board image then add this javascript statement to your template.
2. If you only want to use it for one board then don't forget to set it back at the end of the javascript code in the post

Luxembourg, October 2009

Luxembourg Chess, October 2009
by gwenael.piaser
All sizes of this photo are available for download on Flickr under a Creative Commons license.

NAG symbols

New functionality



From now on it will be possible to use NAG symbols (Numeric Annotation Glyphs) like $1 and $15 in the chess game viewer, because these symbols have recently been added. Below you can find an example.

Please note the text that becomes visible when you place your mouse above one of the less trivial symbols.







The code used above is:

<script language='JavaScript'>Game('','',''1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 c6 {The Philidor Counterattack of the Bishop\'s Opening} 3.Qe2 d6 4.c3 f5 5.d3 Nf6 6.exf5 Bxf5 7.d4 $6 {<br />}( {I just have to show some NAG symbols and I think that} 7.Nf3 $1 {is a far better move.} ) {<br />} 7...e4 $1 $15 8.Bg5 d5 9.Bb3 Bd6 10.Nd2 Nbd7 11.h3 $6 h6 12.Be3 Qe7 13.f4 h5 14.c4 a6 $6 15.cxd5 $6 cxd5 16.Qf2 O-O 17.Ne2 b5 18.O-O Nb6 19.Ng3 g6 $10 20.Rac1 Nc4 21.Nxf5 gxf5 22.Qg3+ Qg7 23.Qxg7+ Kxg7 24.Bxc4 bxc4 $154 {A NAG symbol related to the bishops} 25.g3 Rab8 26.b3 Ba3 27.Rc2 cxb3 28.axb3 Rfc8 29.Rxc8 Rxc8 30.Ra1 Bb4 31.Rxa6 Rc3 32.Kf2 Rd3 33.Ra2 Bxd2 34.Rxd2 Rxb3 35.Rc2 h4 36.Rc7+ Kg6 37.gxh4 $158 {Have a look at the pawn structure} 37...Nh5 38.Rd7 Nxf4 39.Bxf4 Rf3+ 40.Kg2 Rxf4 41.Rxd5 Rf3 42.Rd8 Rd3 43.d5 f4 44.d6 Rd2+ 45.Kf1 Kf7 $15 46.h5 e3 47.h6 $4 $19 f3 $3 0-1',1,4);</script>

Chess Clocks

Chess clocks

New functionality

This blog started as a search for a good chess publishing method for Blogspot and other sites and now seems to end up as the home of a new chess publishing method, called the Blogspot Chess Game Viewer.
This method meets all original requirements, but now I know that I even have more wishes, so I am going to continue the development of this viewer. However I am still interested in alternative methods, because the main goal is still to find the ultimate chess publishing method. Earlier I have written this overview of Chess Publishing methods.

The main drawback of the first version of the Blogspot Chess Game Viewer was probably the use of the coded moves. In the latest versions these coded moves aren't necessary anymore and the coded moves are generated by the JavaScript itself, but at the moment there are still some known limitations with this coded moves generation.
In addition there is a (large) wishlist for new functionality, but I invite you to add more wishes in the comments on this post.

The biggest chess in the world!

FiDi Chess by andrius.v
All sizes of this photo are available for download under a Creative Commons license

A published game without coded moves

At first sight the next game is just another example of a game published with the Blogspot Chess game Viewer, but this time I left the coded moves out. This became possible, because I have added a coded moves generator to the JavaScript code. However there are still some known issues.





The code used above is:
<SCRIPT language='JavaScript' type='text/javascript'>Game('','','1.e4 c5 2.f4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Bb5+ Nc6 5.e5 a6 6.Bxc6+ bxc6 7.d3 Be7 8.c3 Nh6 9.O-O a5 10.d4 a4 11.Be3 Nf5 12.Qe2 c4 13.Qf2 Rb8 14.Bc1 Rb5 15.Nbd2 c5 16.Re1 h6 17.Nf1 cxd4 18.cxd4 g6 19.Ne3 Rg8 20.Nxf5 gxf5 21.Qc2 Bd7 22.Bd2 Bb4 23.Bc3 Rg4 24.Qd2 Qe7 25.h3 Rg7 26.Qf2 a3 27.Bxb4 Qxb4 28.bxa3 Qxa3 29.Rab1 Qc3 30.Rxb5 Bxb5 31.Rb1 Kd7 32.Rxb5 Qc1+ 33.Ne1 c3 34.Kh2 h5 35.Nd3 Qd1 36.Nb4 Qd2 37.Qf1 Qxd4 38.Rb7+ Kc8 39.Rb8+ Kc7 40.Na6+ Kd7 41.Qb5+ Ke7 42.Qb7# 1-0',1,5);</SCRIPT>

Gnomes playing chess

Gnomes Playing Chess in a Graveyard by Tony the Misfit
All sizes of this photo are available for download at his photostream under a Creative Commons license.

The code for the mate in two problem

As promised the used code in the Mate in two post.

<SCRIPT language='JavaScript' type='text/javascript'>
Game('8/p7/1N3K2/Qn3N2/2P1kp2/p3p3/2P1B2b/4n3 1',
'W_@@GP@DXRQ@_QAAXbQ@\\RAAXiQ@_CAA{qQ@_qAA{lQ@sjAA{jQ@qjAE{uQ@aXAE_?@A',
'{A mate in two problem. It is White\'s turn to move.
<br /><br />}1.Qa4
 axb6 {<br /><br /> &nbsp;  &nbsp;  &nbsp;}( 1...Nd6 2.Qc6# )
 {<br /> &nbsp;  &nbsp;  &nbsp;}( 1...Nd4 2.Nd6# ) {<br />
 &nbsp;  &nbsp;  &nbsp;}( 1...Nc3 2.Qe8# ) {<br /> &nbsp;
  &nbsp;  &nbsp;}( 1...Nxc2 2.Qxc2# ) {<br /> &nbsp;  &nbsp; 
 &nbsp;}( 1...Nf3 2.Bd3# ) {<br /> &nbsp;  &nbsp;  &nbsp;}( 
1...Nd3 2.cxd3# ) {<br /> &nbsp;  &nbsp;  &nbsp;}( 1...Ng2 2.cxb5#
 ){<br /><br />}2.Qa8# 1-0',1,1,5,"Mate in two");</SCRIPT>

Most of the arguments of the Game function have been explained before. The last two arguments indicate the number of attempts (5) and the initial text below the chess board (Mate in two).

Chess from above

Chess by by NguyenDai available for download under a Creative Commons license.

An interesting perspective.

Mate in two

The Blogspot Chess Game Viewer can also be used to display chess puzzles of which the solution has to remain hidden as long as the right answer hasn't been given.



As an example a Mate in two problem. After five attempts or after making the right move the solution will become visible. You can make a move by clicking at a piece followed by clicking the target square.







The code in this post used to display this mate in two diagram will be shown in a couple of days.

Check Mate

Chess mate, Tel Aviv 2006 by Ran Z
All sizes of this photo are available for download at his photo stream under a Creative Commons license.

Chess Gadgets

The previous posts showed that it is possible to publish chess games on a blogspot/blogger site. Last week I received a request to help in creating some gadgets with the same purpose. These can be used to publish chess games on a site that is hosted on Google sites (and some other web sites).
The combined efforts (of me and the admin of lessons.chessteacherlessons.com) have resulted in two gadgets that are demonstrated on this Chess Gadgets page.

I still prefer the publishing method for the Blogspot sites, partly because of the limitations, but it's a nice alternative.

Pillsbury - Lasker (1896)

Chess Game by Bending Light (cc)

According to the description this chess position is taken from a game between H. N. Pillsbury (White) and Dr. E. Lasker from the Nuremberg Tournament, July 29, 1896.

Study example

As requested by Oblomov a study example (in which the initial move number is larger than 1). The code needed for this example can be found in the post about Using more than one chess board.



Btw I like this study especially the part in which promoting to a queen results in a draw.