As soon as you enter the channel, you are synchronized to the state of any active tables. The list on the right tells you who is playing on which table, and whose move it is (a red triangle on a table means it is YOUR move!) Click on a table to switch to it.

If no game is in progress on a table, click on one of the pieces to indiciate your preference (black or white) and then wait for someone else to join you. RIGHT-clicking on the table brings up a popup menu with some chess-related commands, including the ability to seat a 'bot if you want to play solo. People can still watch you play, however :-)

The list to the left of the table recaps the moves made on that table since you entered the channel. Clicking in the list sets the table back to what it looked like during that move (the right-click menu includes a copy/paste command so you can copy the state to a new table and see if you could have done better.)

The engine has some defects in legal move determination (for example, it won't hesitate to castle 'across check') so try not to cheat. Your account will develop a history of win/loss/ties and your 'rating' will be computed based on the Chess Federation rating algorithm (or at least my take on it).

It's just for fun though, please do not gamble money :-)

The OPTIONS button for this toy brings up some options and lets you pick between various table and piece sets. You can design your own by adding files to the TABLES and PIECES folders in the "..arcadia\toys\toy3" folder. Look at the existing files for an idea on the necessary formats.

This is a complete game and is educational to boot.

Recent Developments:

None. What would you suggest?

To Install Toys:

1. Run Arcadia
2. Select your 'channel'
3. Push the "Check for New Toys" button
4. Follow Instructions.