gshogi - John Cheetham - http://www.johncheetham.com/projects/gshogi
gshogi is a program to play Shogi (Japanese Chess). It has a builtin engine and can also use USI engines. It is written in python/C and runs on GTK3 (PyGI) desktops.
It's licensed under the GPL v3+ (see the file named LICENSE) and aimed mainly at Linux users.
It was based originally on GNU Shogi version 1.3.2 and uses GNU Shogi code for the built in engine and board pieces.
This version was tested on on CentOS 7 64 bit using Python 2.7.5, pygobject 3.8.2, gtk 3.8.8 and gcc 4.8.3.
See the project homepage for more information on gshogi and USI engines.
Python2, pygobject, GTK3, C.
To build it you will need python-devel and gcc packages installed.
You can install these on Fedora 17 with:
yum install python-devel gcc
For Ubuntu 12.04 do:
sudo apt-get install build-essential python-dev python-glade2
Running gshogi from the Source Directory
You can run gshogi from the source directory without doing the full install.
To do this:
Enter 'python setup.py build' to build it.
Then execute 'run.py' to start gshogi
Installing on the system
Enter 'python setup.py build' to build it (as normal user). Then 'python setup.py install' to install it (as root user).
Note:
You must run 'python setup.py build' first since this creates the opening book (don't just run 'python setup.py install' on it's own)
You can check the build step worked by looking for a file called engine.so under the build directory.
gshogi should now be installed on your system. You can launch it from the gnome menu (under games) or type 'gshogi' in any terminal window.
There is no uninstall (setuptools doesn't have one). If you need to uninstall you have to make a note of the file names and then delete them manually.
If running the build/install multiple times it's best to delete the build folder each time.
Note that the binary opening book (data/opening.bbk) has a different format on 32 bit and 64 bit systems. You cannot use the 32 bit book on a 64 bit system and vice versa. For this reason the opening book is created during the install when you do 'python setup.py build'.
You play black (the pieces at the bottom of the board). The computer plays white (the pieces at the top of the board). Press the green go button to start the clock. To move a piece click on it and then click on the square you want to move it to (or drag it and drop it).
Also you can play one engine against another which is good for comparing USI engines.
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shogi for the rules of Shogi.
If you want to see the USI commands then start it from a terminal with:
gshogi -vusi (or ./run.py -vusi if not installed)
For full debugging output use the command:
gshogi -v (or ./run.py -v if not installed)
You can load/save games in PSN format or in gshog format. It is recommended to use PSN format.
gshogi can also read multi-game PSN files.
Use gshog format for exchanging games with GNU Shogi.
When edting the board position you can increase the count of a piece in the komadai by right-clicking on it. Left-click on it to decrease the count.
To add a white piece to the main board right-click on the square you want to add the piece to then select the piece from the pop-up menu. To add a black piece left-click on the square.
Examples of time controls that can be used with gshogi.
These were tested with the gse 0.1.4 engine. Note that not all USI engines will work with all time controls. Most engines work OK with byoyomi so use that if you have problems.
Note that times on the go command are in milliseconds.
byoyomi
e.g. 60 minutes game time plus 30 seconds byoyomi This means the player can make as many or as few moves as they like in the 30 minutes and after that they will have 30 seconds per move.
go btime 3600000 wtime 3600000 byoyomi 30000
If you want a fixed time of 10 seconds per move: go btime 0 wtime 0 byoyomi 10000
classical
e.g. 5 moves in 10 minutes
go btime 300000 wtime 300000 movestogo 40
Incremental
e.g. 30 minutes game time and 10 seconds bonus time per move This means the basic time for the game is 30 minutes and after each move a bonus of 10 seconds is added to the clock.
go btime 1800000 wtime 1800000 binc 10000 winc 10000
Fixed Time Per Move
e.g. 20 seconds per move go movetime 20000
Fixed Search Depth
e.g. Terminate the search when a depth of 8 is reached.
go depth 8
Infinite search
The search will go on indefinitely and will only terminate if a stop command (move now) is sent from the gui.
go infinite
Fixed No. of Nodes
The search will terminate after a fixed no. of nodes has been searched.
go nodes 10000000
Note that byoyomi is not part of the original USI specification (See http://www.glaurungchess.com/shogi/usi.html) but it is supported in most USI engines.
You can load custom pieces using the 'Load Custom Pieces' button on the 'set pieces' menu.
To set up your own custom pieces you must provide images with these filenames. You can use either png or svg files. If you use png change the file extension from svg to png.
Black Pieces:
Piece Filename King kingB.svg Rook rookB.svg Bishop bishopB.svg Gold General goldB.svg Silver General silverB.svg Knight knightB.svg Lance lanceB.svg Pawn pawnB.svg Promoted Rook rookPB.svg Promoted Bishop bishopPB.svg Promoted Silver General silverPB.svg Promoted Knight knightPB.svg Promoted Lance lancePB.svg Promoted Pawn pawnPB.svg
The black piece images are mandatory. You can optionally provide images for the white pieces as well. If you provide white piece images gshogi will use them. If you don't it will use the black piece images and rotate them through 180 degress.
White Pieces:
Piece Filename King kingW.svg Rook rookW.svg Bishop bishopW.svg Gold General goldW.svg Silver General silverW.svg Knight knightW.svg Lance lanceW.svg Pawn pawnW.svg Promoted Rook rookPW.svg Promoted Bishop bishopPW.svg Promoted Silver General silverPW.svg Promoted Knight knightPW.svg Promoted Lance lancePW.svg Promoted Pawn pawnPW.svg
See the project homepage to download an example.
gshogi uses C engine code and board graphics from GNU Shogi.