GNOME Chess

GNOME Chess (formerly glChess) is an open source and freely distributed graphical software that has been designed from the ground up to be used for playing the amazing chess game under the GNOME graphical desktop environment.

Supports a wide range of chess engines

The program supports and has been successfully tested with a wide range of chess engines and servers. For chess programs, it works best with the Crafty chess engine, but most of its features should also work with GNU Chess.

Beautiful and modern GUI

The application comes with a beautiful and modern graphical user interface, which follows the HIG (Human Interface Guidelines) of the GNOME desktop environment. However, it independent from the GNOME desktop, as it can be used on any other open source graphical environment. We have successfully tested GNOME Chess with Cinnamon, MATE, LXDE and Xfce desktops.

When the user opens the program for the first time, the game is ready to begin. From the titlebar, you can start new game, undo your most recent move, save the current game, open a saved game, resign, claim draw, save game on a different location than the default one, as well as to access the Preferences dialog, from where you can choose your opposing player, choose the difficulty of the game, choose the game duration, as well as to change the game’s appearance (board orientation, move format, piece style, 3D view, board numbering, move hints).

Under the hood and availability

GNOME Chess is distributed as part of the GNOME Games package along with the GNOME Project, but it can also be downloaded and installed as a standalone software. It is written in the Vala programming language, using the Cairo and GTK+ toolkits to render the chess board in 2D, as well as the OpenGL technology to render it in 3D.

What is new in this release:

• Fix code to ensure chess engine dies if main process crashes (#17)
• Don't display claim draw dialog when opening game (#22)
• Fix wrong player sometimes winning when timer expires (#25)
• Fix various bugs with open/save dialogs and switch to native dialogs (#27)

What is new in version 3.29.1:

• Display special message when en passant is performed
• Fix draw being offered improperly when viewing past history

What is new in version :

• Fix gschema installation (Ken VanDine)
• Fix SVG images installation (Ken VanDine)

What is new in version 3.26.0:

• Updated translations.

What is new in version 3.24.1:

• Fix build error with new GLib
• Updated translations

What is new in version 3.24.0:

• Add flatpak manifest (Florian Mullner)
• Updated translations

What is new in version 3.22.2:

• Remove trailing whitespace (Sahil Sareen)
• Updated translations

What is new in version 3.22.0:

• Updated translations

What is new in version 3.21.3:

• Fix window size growing out of control with GTK+ 3.20
• Updated translations

What is new in version 3.20.1:

• Update doap(Michael Catanzaro)
• Add CECP/UCI specs under doc/ and move PGN spec(Michael Catanzaro)
• Disable selecting pieces after the game is over(Sahil Sareen)
• Fix autogen to check symlink for style-checker(Sahil Sareen)
• Add pre-applypatch code style checker hook(Sahil Sareen)
• Bump up gtk version to 3.16.0(Sahil Sareen)
• Keep the list-of-modules in alphabetical order(Sahil Sareen)
• Updated translations

What is new in version 3.19.2:

• Updated translations

What is new in version 3.17.3:

• Build system improvements (Michael Catanzaro)
• Updated translations

What is new in version 3.17.2:

• Fix pgn load with invalid moves behaviour (Sahil Sareen)
• Update tests (Sahil Sareen)
• Move guideline checker hook to libgames-support (Michael Catanzaro, signed-off: Sahil Sareen)

What is new in version 3.16.1:

• Fix crash on invalid clock type in pgn (Sahil Sareen)
• Fix bad pgn load behaviour (Sahil Sareen)
• Updated translations

What is new in version 3.14.1 / 3.16.0 Beta 1:

• NEW FEATURE: Added support for Fischer and Bronstein clocks (Developer: Sahil Sareen, Reviewer : Michael Catanzaro)
• Add copy of PGN spec to the repo (Michael Catanzaro)
• Improving the precision of chess-clock (Sahil Sareen)
• Miscellaneous code improvements (Sahil Sareen, Michael Catanzaro)
• Updated translations (Muhammet Kara)

What is new in version 3.15.4:

• Cancel move if promotion type selector is closed (Michael Catanzaro)
• Fix chess timer gets reset to the max allowed on game restarts (Sahil Sareen)
• Load completed saved games properly (Sahil Sareen)
• Fix saving a completed game due to timeup saves the timer as infinity (Sahil Sareen)
• Reset the selected piece upon undo (Sahil Sareen)
• Miscellaneous code improvements (Sahil Sareen, Michael Catanzaro)
• Updated translations (Inaki Larranaga Murgoitio, Matej UrbanAiA)

What is new in version 3.14.1:

• Updated translations

What is new in version 3.14.0:

• Updated appdata
• Updated translations

What is new in version 3.12.3 / 3.14 RC:

• Fix game ending with 1s left on timer
• Many translation updates

What is new in version 3.12.3:

• Fix desync with chess engines when using undo during the engine's turn
• Fix desync with chess engine when viewing history during the engine's turn
• Return view to present if viewing history when engine moves
• Fix clock sometimes unpausing after game ends due to desync with engine
• Fix Pause button sensitivity after the game is over when browsing history
• Fix New Game button sensitivity if the game ends before the first move (possible if there is a problem with the chess engine)
• Workaround Vala signal misfires causing a rare crash when using undo after starting very many new games

What is new in version 3.12 Beta 1:

• This version switches to using the UCI protocol to communicate with GNU Chess. UCI support was added in GNU Chess 6.0; however, it is buggy and causes 100% CPU usage. This is a terrible user experience, and is fixed in GNU Chess 6.1.0. And if your distribution still ships GNU Chess 5.x, then it won't work at all. Please check your version of GNU Chess before updating!
• GNU Chess is now the recommended default chess engine for Linux distributions.
• New difficulty levels for GNU Chess. Feedback is highly desired!
• The engines configuration file has moved from SYSCONFDIR/chess-engines.conf to SYSCONFDIR/gnome-chess/engines.conf and the original file will no longer be read
• engines.conf now has a new option, delay-before-move, used to set the delay in seconds after a human moves before the engine is told to make a move. (The actual delay will of course be longer, since the engine needs some time to think.)
• Many actions previously in the gear menu now live as buttons in the header bar.
• Added extra two seconds of delay before the engine moves for most engines. This slows down the game to make it less overwhelming.
• It is no longer possible to enter 3D mode when using Wayland or Mir. Support for these environments will not be added in time for 3.10. Use 2D mode instead.
• The game is now properly paused when the Claim Draw dialog is open.
• Fix color in window subtitle displayed when White is checkmated.
• Shorten the window subtitle displayed when something goes wrong.
• The desktop file has been renamed to gnome-chess.desktop
• Updated man page
• Updated translations

What is new in version 3.10.3:

• Never autosave over a user's files
• Never claim the engine has died when all is well
• Fix critical warnings when starting a new game
• Fix colors of pieces in figurine algebraic notation
• Ensure the chess engine is always killed, even if we crash
• Fix minor file descriptor leaks
• Update screenshot link in appdata
• Fix image in first_move_button (Volker Sobek)
• Update Simplified Chinese translation (c"˜ eo²)

What is new in version 3.11.4:

• Dependencies: GTK+ 3.10
• Redesign: GtkHeaderBar and GtkMenuButton replace the GtkToolbar
• Remove fullscreen mode
• Use symbolic icons in the buttom bar (Yosef Or Boczko)
• Add the "linked" style to the navigation buttons (Yosef Or Boczko)
• Use a symbolic light bulb in the preferences dialog
• Remove extra space between White and Black timers
• Don't automatically pause when switching windows or viewing the menu
• The pause key is now an accelerator for the pause/resume action
• Show better errors when something goes wrong with the engine
• Never claim the engine has died when all is well
• Display a message if a human player is in check
• Warn user when engine fails to launch
• Fix colors of pieces in figurine algebraic notation
• Fix critical warnings when starting a new game
• Never try to kill the same engine process twice
• ChessEngine: fix minor file descriptor leaks
• Don't leave an orphaned engine if we crash
• About dialog: update website
• Updated translations

What is new in version 3.11.3:

• New app icon (Jakub Steiner)
• Replace some deprecated containers (Volker Sobek)
• Updated translations

What is new in version 3.11.2:

• Fix black background in 3D view (regression in 3.11.1)
• Fix Paused overlay displaying upside-down with Black on the bottom
• Fix too-small left arrow in history controls
• Fix a harmless assertion failure
• Add missing GTK category to desktop file
• Updated translations

What is new in version 3.10.2:

• Fix "Paused" notice displaying upside-down when Black is on the bottom
• Fix a harmless assertion failure
• Updated translations

What is new in version 3.11.1:

• Fix "Oh no! Something has gone wrong!" displaying at the end of the game
• Fix deletion of PGNs that are loaded with Open Game
• Appdata is now translatable
• Eliminate deprecated function usage

What is new in version 3.10.1.1:

• Fix regression causing "Something has gone wrong!" message on checkmate.
• Fix regression causing every opened PGN to be deleted.

What is new in version 3.10.1:

• Updated translations.

What is new in version 3.10.0:

• Updated translations.

What is new in version 3.10 Beta 1:

• New pause game option added
• Fix figurine algebraic notation displaying the wrong figures
• Store only one game at a time in autosave history
• Prompt the user to save the game before opening a new one
• Fix viewing arbitrary turns with the history combo box
• Fullscreen icon should change to unfullscreen icon when in fullscreen view
• The game will now display a warning and end the game when an engine makes an illegal move, or when a CECP engine claims GNOME Chess allowed an illegal move, instead of hanging forever.
• Claim Draw now works again
• If a draw cannot be claimed, an explanatory dialog is shown
• Fix two bugs with threefold repetiton detection
• Fix fifty-move rule detection
• Preferences
• Now transient for the main window (not considered separate by GNOME Shell)
• Remove show history option
• Reorder some preferences
• engines.conf
• Renamed to chess-engines.conf
• Now installed into $sysconfdir instead of $(datadir)/gnome-chess
• The format for passing UCI options to engines has been simplified
• New support for adding arguments to be appended to the UCI go command
• UCI engines should now be much easier
• Miscellaneous changes to other engines
• Amundsen support dropped due to lack of support for Undo
• Contributors:
• Michael Catanzaro
• Michael I Doherty
• Plamena Manolova
• Translations:
• Brazilian Portuguese (Rafael Ferreira)
• Czech (Marek AŒernockA½)
• Galician (Fran DiAguez)
• Hebrew (Yaron Shahrabani)
• Hungarian (Gabor Kelemen)
• Italian (Milo Casagrande)
• Lithuanian (Aurimas AŒernius)
• Norwegian bokmA¥l (Kjartan Maraas)
• Slovenian (Matej UrbanAiA)
• Spanish (Daniel Mustieles)
• Traditional Chinese (Chao-Hsiung Liao)

What is new in version 3.9.5:

• Note for distributors:
• We now recommend installing the HoiChess engine by default, instead of GNUChess or Phalanx (or really anything else), in order to make the game actually winnable for mortals. See the long-running Bug #475535 for more information on why HoiChess is recommended. The Debian package has build patches, if needed.
• Changes since 3.9.4:
• Added support for the Octochess engine
• Easier Easy/Normal settings for many engines
• Fix AI hang when using Undo against most CECP engines
• Fix crash when new game dialog is deleted
• Don't include path to opened game in window title
• HIG: preferences options should use sentence capitalization
• Fix keyboard shortcuts for New/Open/Save/Undo/Fullscreen
• Don't start new game if new game dialog is deleted
• 3D: bottom-right corner should be white
• Preferences: move "opposing player" to the top
• Side and difficulty selection should be insensitive in human vs. human games
• Update About dialog copyright notice
• Fix board numbering when Black is on bottom
• Some new toolbar items were missing tooltips
• Add keyboard shortcuts for previous/next move
• 3D: improve alignment of file letters
• Autosave: always forget games after they are completed
• Remove face-to-face board orientation
• Suggest longer game durations
• Instruct CECP engines to add randomness to play
• Updated translations:
• Czech
• Galacian
• Greek
• Lithuanian
• Spanish
• Traditional Chinese
• Dependencies changed:
• vala >= 21.0 (optional)

What is new in version 3.9.4:

• Added an application menu
• Removed the menubar
• Added several items to the toolbar
• The toolbar is now mandatory
• Fix crash when using Undo while viewing a previous move (Chris Cummins)
• Fix crash after completing a timed game where the timer did not expire
• Fix insanely small load game dialog
• Save and load players' time remaining in timed games
• Better decide when and when not to autosave a game
• King and bishop vs. king and bishop on opposite color is not insufficient material
• Set a default filename with the .pgn extension for the save game dialog
• When prompting to save a completed game, use a more natural message
• After prompting to save before starting a new game, prompt for a save location instead of autosaving
• Slight improvements to the promotion type selection dialog
• "Human" move descriptons now more naturally describe castling
• Add a 256x256 icon
• Translation updates

What is new in version 3.8.3:

• Time remaining is now saved when saving a timed game
• The chess clock now starts after White's first move
• Fix segfault when using Undo Move while viewing a previous turn (Chris Cummins)
• Fix segfault after playing a timed game, then starting a new game, when the original game's timer expired
• Fix massive CPU usage after playing vs. an engine, then starting a new game
• Fix the very small save/load dialogs
• The clock now stops at the end of the game
• More sensibly set sensitivity of undo, resign, claim draw, and save options
• Games now save with .pgn extension by default
• Save now works as expected (instead of functioning the same as Save As)
• Insufficient material: King and bishop can checkmate king and bishop on opposite color
• Allow controlling the AI's pieces if no engines are installed (e.g. after loading a game vs. an engine)

What is new in version 3.9.2:

• Make the computer's pieces uncontrollable
• Fix Stockfish engine integration
• Fix massive CPU usage after completing a game against an engine and starting a new one
• Fix AI hang when loading a game where the human was last to move
• Fix resigning on your opponent's turn causing him to lose (and you to win)
• Fix board numbering showing in 3D view when board numbering is disabled
• Specify the opposing engine in saved games even if it is the default
• Each player's clock is now initially set to half the game's total duration
• The clock now begins counting down only after White's first move
• The clock now stops counting down once the game is over
• Stop the engine immediately when the game ends, not when the next game starts
• Sensibly set the sensitivity of Smooth Display and Piece Style preferences depending on if 3D view is enabled
• Improve sensitivity checks for Save As, Undo Move, Resign, and Claim Draw
• Increase default window width to 700
• Update the FSF's address in license notices
• Translate "Chess" on the About page
• Translation updates

What is new in version 3.8.2.1:

• Fix segfault when no engines are installed.

What is new in version 3.8.2:

• Andika Triwidada:
• Updated Indonesian translation
• Michael Catanzaro:
• Fix loading games where the human was last to move
• Translate "Chess" on the About page
• 3D view: show board numbering only when enabled
• Fix initial sensitivity of certain preferences
• Make the computer's pieces uncontrollable
• Fix Stockfish engine integration
• Game doesn't need saved after undo to the start
• Save should be insensitive after loading a game
• Always specify engine in saved game
• Increase default width to 700
• Stop the engine immediately after game ends
• Disallow resigning for your opponent

What is new in version 3.8.1:

• help: Fix obsolete product of bugzilla
• Respect engine args specified in engines.conf
• ChessState.get_fen() replaces all knights with kings
• Insufficient material fixes
• Chess history doesn't work very well
• Fix AI hang when Phalanx attempts to promote
• l10n: Update Japanese translation

What is new in version 3.8.0:

• Translation updates.

What is new in version 3.7.92:

• Rename desktop file back to glchess.desktop
• Translation updates

What is new in version 3.7.90:

• Translation updates

What is new in version 3.7.5:

• Added keywords to .desktop file
• Translation updates

What is new in version 3.7.4:

• Prompt user for promotion type
• Fix invalid castle allowed when pawn threatens square

Requirements:

• GNOME