11 SCREEN SETTINGS

Keyboard users use F6.

With REBEL you can choose which information you want on the screen.

• 11.1 Info (menu Config )
• 11.2 Show hint (menu Config )
• 11.3 Piece-icons or Characters (menu Config )
• 11.4 Flexible Resign option (menu Config )
• 11.5 Turn board (menu Config )
• 11.6 Move input: Drag pieces or Click on squares (menu Config )
• 11.7 Load piece sets (menu Config )
• 11.8 Animation (menu Config )
• 11.9 Language (menu Config )
• 11.10 Mouse (menu Config )
• 11.11 Sound on/off (menu Config )
• 11.12 User interface (menu Config )
• 11.13 Define buttons (menu Config )
• 11.14 Button description (menu Config )
• 11.15 Small pull-down (menu Config )
• 11.16 Date (menu Config )
• 11.17 Save cfg on exit (menu Config )
• 11.18 Save configuration (menu Config )
• 11.19 Standard configuration (menu Config )

11.1 Info (menu Config )

In the menu behind the word "Info" the first character of the selected info level is displayed. There are three possible levels:

a) None

This level is useful when you want to play against REBEL with as little assistance as possible.

• in the move-section no info about the calculations nor the difference in material will be displayed. Therefore the move-section can contain more moves.
• the comment-section will not show which move is actually calculated, neither will it show which variations have been considered when a move is done.
• during the calculating, only one line will be displayed that contains only very brief information, for instance: "09:23 10.22 (43) Pos/sec: 12.234 (3.890.345 pos. evaluated)", this tells you:
  • REBEL has been calculated for 9 minutes and 23 seconds so far
  • it's calculating 10 ply deep and at this moment is has considered 22 moves on the 10th ply
  • where 43 moves are possible
  • during the last second 12,234 positions were considered
  • of a total of 3,890,345 possible positions.

b) Usual

This level is useful if you want to be informed about which variations REBEL is calculating and you do not want to be bothered by all kinds of information of specific computer chess kind.

• the moves-section will display the difference in material
• the comment-section can contain four lines, the first three lines contain the main variations that REBEL finds best for the given position and ply depth. The fourth line shows some information about the evaluation status at that moment.
  
  Examples:
  one of the first three lines could be:
  "00:04 4.05 0.15 b5xa4 Ra1xa4 Nf6-d5 Qg4-g7+"
  Which tells you the following:
  • after 0 minutes and 4 seconds the program has found the displayed main line
  • this main line is found at the fourth ply as fifth possibility and is judged by the program with a score of 0.15 .
  
  the fourth line could be: "09:23 10.22 (43) b5xa4 Pos/sec: 12.234 (3.890.345 pos.evaluated)" which tells you the following:
  • REBEL has used 9 minutes and 23 seconds so far
  • it performs a search depth of 10 ply and has already evaluated 22 moves
  • of the 43 legal possibilities of the tenth ply
  • the program is now evaluating the move b5xa4
  • has evaluated 12,234 positions in the previous second and
  • 3,890,345 positions in total.

c) Extended

This level is very useful for those who want a complete insight of the calculating process of REBEL and everything connected with it. The move-section will show you the following when REBEL is on the move:

• "Ply": the first number indicates the actual ply-depth, the second the average ply-depth, the third the maximum ply-depth reached;
• "Hash": the first number indicates the number of transpositions for white and the second the number of transpositions for black where "K" means multiply by 1000. The third number gives the percentage of the memory reserved for hashtables that is already occupied (see section Hashtables);
• "Selection": the first number indicates how many variations are offered to select, the second how many variations are kept of those, and the third is the percentage kept variations, so the percentage indicates how selective REBEL is calculating. When this is for instance 20% it means that 80% of the variations are skipped which results in an enormous savings of time.
• "Time": the first number gives the minutes and seconds that REBEL will use at least before it moves and the second gives the minutes and seconds REBEL will use at most.

When you are to move, the move-section will show what REBEL is thinking of (that is to say: when you haven't deactivated the permanent brain, see also chapter 5.3.1):

• "Expecting": displays which counter-move REBEL expects plus the answer to that move;
• "Score": gives the score of that move;
• "Current": gives the ply-depth and the move REBEL is calculating about at that moment;
• "Positions": the number of calculated positions.

Just like b) the comment-section can contain four lines of which the first three can contain the former variations.
The fourth line differs slightly compared to b) for example:
"0:13 5.14 (+) Qc8-b7 g3-g4 Bf5-d7 d4-d5 Qb7-c7 4256 (178.728)
which means:

• calculated 13 seconds so far
• REBEL calculates 5 ply deep and has considered already 14 possibilities on a depth of 5 ply; the "(+)" indicates that REBEL expects a considerable improvement of score compared with the score it has so far (a "(-)" means a worsening);
• REBEL is now calculating Qc8-b7 with a tree g3-g4 Bf5-d7 d4-d5 Qb7-c7
• during the last second 4256 positions were considered
• and in total 178,728 positions.

d) SUPER

Beyond the normal Warroom, super warroom will give you extra information on:

• the four best main variations are shown to a depth of 5 plies.

11.2 Show hint (menu Config )

You can only switch this function on or off. If show hint is active, then REBEL will show you a move suggestion (if available) right above the REBEL button. Clicking on this move will execute the move immediately (ALT+H for keyboard users).

If show hint is not active, the screen space will be used to make the move section bigger.

11.3 Piece-icons or Characters (menu Config )

With this option you can configure how the moves of the game are displayed in the game window: - Piece-icons: the moves are displayed with figurines - Characters: the moves are displayed with K/Q/R/B/N

11.4 Flexible Resign option (menu Config )

With REBEL 10.0 you can decide yourself when REBEL must resign a game. This is done by choosing a value that satisfies you.

OFF    REBEL will never resign.

-1.00  REBEL will resign on a score of -1.00 (equivalent to 1 pawn down)

Important to know

• REBEL will never resign if you play on the levels Blitz, Blitz Handicap or Tournament, because REBEL will still have the possibility that the opponent will lose on time
• playing these levels, the resign function is not available in the pull-down menu
• REBEL only resigns once in a game. By deactivating and activating again however REBEL will resign again if appropriate.
• this resign value will also be used in the autoplay-series!

11.5 Turn board (menu Config )

This option will give you the choice to turn the chessboard 180 degrees.

This will give you the opportunity to play a game with the black pieces in front.

11.6 Move input: Drag pieces or Click on squares (menu Config )

By clicking on "Drag pieces" or "Click on squares" you can decide yourself which system of move input you prefer.

Drag pieces: while clicking a piece, the mouse cursor will change into the

             piece and you must drag the piece to the destination square



Click on squares: while clicking a piece, the mouse cursor will not change

             and a second click on the destination square will finalize

             the move input.

This function is NOT available if you do not have a VESA-compatible card. In this case REBEL will only accept "Click on squares".

HINT
Try both systems and judge for yourself which is convenient for you. Please note that "Click on squares" is a faster way of inputting moves and this is especially handy on blitz games.

11.7 Load piece sets (menu Config )

The program contains three different piece sets. With this option, you can load your favorite piece set.

11.8 Animation (menu Config )

There are three animation levels:

1. None
   This level is strongly recommended when your VGA-card is not VESA-compatible. The pieces will not move over the board, the mouse cursor will not change into the selected piece and pop-up menus will appear at once.
2. Usual
   The pieces now will move visually over the board when REBEL moves, the Mouse cursor will change into the selected piece and pop-up menus will appear like a real "pop-up".
3. Fast
   Same as 2, but faster.

11.9 Language (menu Config )

The program can be operated in several languages. With this option you can choose one of these languages.

All present information on the screen will be given in the chosen language.

11.10 Mouse (menu Config )

With this option you can switch the mouse on/off. This option is only available when a mouse driver is loaded (Windows 95 will do this automatically).

11.11 Sound on/off (menu Config )

This will give you the possibility to turn the PC's internal speaker on/off.

11.12 User interface (menu Config )

REBEL offers three levels of user interface. This option is meant for those who do not want to be bothered with pull-down menu options they would never use anyway. Choosing a lower level therefore means that less options will be available in the pull-down menus.

11.13 Define buttons (menu Config )

All buttons (except those around the big REBEL button) are free to be assigned to any desired pull-down item. Upon activating "define buttons" the screen will change into a field with the current definitions of the buttons.

How to redefine a button

• select a button by clicking on a button or clicking on the definition (keyboard users can use arrow keys)
• open a pull-down menu and choose the item you want to be the new definition of the button (keyboard users can use arrow keys and confirm with <return>)
• you will leave this option via the quick-exit button or <esc>.
• the defined contents of the buttons will be saved into REBEL.CFG

11.14 Button description (menu Config )

Enabling this option will result in a small description of the button's meaning when the mouse stays longer than a second on the specific button.

11.15 Small pull-down (menu Config )

With this option you can reduce or enlarge the size of the pull-down menu and its characters.

It has been reported however that some Video cards do not support this font resulting in a lot of garbage characters in the pull-down menu. You can recover in such a case by activating "Config" (F6), using the up arrow 6 times and confirming with <enter>

11.16 Date (menu Config )

With this function you can choose which date format you prefer.

• DD-MM-YY: day, month and year
• MM-DD-YY: month, day and year

This is sometimes highly desired for storing games in the database.

11.17 Save cfg on exit (menu Config )

With this option set, the current configuration (including colors, layout, database file, etc.) will be automatically saved upon leaving the program.

11.18 Save configuration (menu Config )

This will save the current configuration into the REBEL.CFG. The next time you start REBEL, the program will remember the changes you have made. See also section The various configuration files.

11.19 Standard configuration (menu Config )

The screen now is configured according to the standard settings in the program itself.