# XBoard

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Graphical user interface for chess games

XBoard GNU Chess 5.0.7 on XBoard 4.2.7 Developer GNU project Stable release 4.9.1[1] / 1 August 2016 Operating system Linux, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, Microsoft Windows, macOS Type Computer chess License GPL Website XBoard Repository git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/xboard.git

**XBoard** is a [graphical user interface](/source/Graphical_user_interface) [chessboard](/source/Chessboard) for [chess engines](/source/Chess_engine) under the [X Window System](/source/X_Window_System). It is developed and maintained as [free software](/source/Free_software) by the [GNU project](/source/GNU_project). WinBoard is a port of XBoard to run natively on [Microsoft Windows](/source/Microsoft_Windows).

## Overview

Originally developed by Tim Mann as a [front end](/source/Front_and_back_end) for the [GNU Chess](/source/GNU_Chess) [engine](/source/Chess_engine), XBoard eventually came to be described as a [graphical user interface](/source/Graphical_user_interface) for XBoard engines.[2] It also acts as a client for [Internet Chess Servers](/source/Internet_Chess_Server),[3] and [e-mail chess](/source/Correspondence_chess),[4] and can allow the user to play through saved games.[5]

XBoard/WinBoard remain updated, and the Chess Engine Communication Protocol has been extended to meet the needs of modern engines (which have features such as hash tables, multi-processing and end-game tables, which could not be controlled through the old protocol).

XBoard/WinBoard also fully support engines that play [chess variants](/source/List_of_chess_variants), such as [Fairy-Max](/source/Fairy-Max). This means the GUI is able to display a wide range of variants such as [xiangqi](/source/Xiangqi) (Chinese chess), [shogi](/source/Shogi) (Japanese chess), [makruk](/source/Makruk) (Thai chess), [Crazyhouse](/source/Crazyhouse), [Capablanca Chess](/source/Capablanca_Chess) and many other Western variants on boards of various sizes. It offers a Westernized representation for these games, but the almost limitless configurability of XBoard/WinBoard also allows a high-quality representation of non-Western style games.[6]

Screenshot of XBoard showing a game of [shogi](/source/Shogi)

Another computer chess protocol is the [Universal Chess Interface](/source/Universal_Chess_Interface) (UCI). XBoard/WinBoard supports this protocol (and its dialects USI and UCCI, which are in common use for shogi and Chinese chess) through adapter programs such as Polyglot and UCI2WB.

Since 2014 there exists a special version of XBoard that better integrates with Apple's [OS X](/source/OS_X). It is distributed from WinBoard forum as an OS X App, including several engines (for [chess](/source/Chess) and many chess variants), and adapters for running engines in non-natively supported protocols. It also contains supporting software for connecting with the popular Internet Chess Servers FICS and ICC for on-line play. XBoard OS X Apps that specifically configure XBoard for oriental-style shogi or xiangqi are also available.

WinBoard is a version of XBoard adapted to MS Windows, and is available in a similar package.[7]

## Fairy-Max

Fairy-Max Fairy-Max logo Developer H.G. Muller Release 4.8 / October 18, 2007; 18 years ago (2007-10-18)[8] Stable release 5.0b / February 19, 2016; 10 years ago (2016-02-19)[9] Written in C Operating system Windows, Linux, MacOS[10] Type Computer chess License Public Domain Website home.hccnet.nl/h.g.muller/CVfairy.html Repository git.savannah.gnu.org/r/xboard.git

**Fairy-Max** is a [free](/source/Free_software) and open source [chess engine](/source/Chess_engine) which can play orthodox [chess](/source/Chess) as well as [chess variants](/source/Chess_variant).[8][11][12][13] Among its features is the ability of users to define and use their own custom [variant chess pieces](/source/Fairy_chess_piece) for use in games.[11]

Fairy-Max was derived from [micro-Max](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Micro-Max&action=edit&redlink=1) (also developed by H.G. Muller), one of the smallest programs to play complete FIDE chess.[11] Therefore, Fairy-Max [versioning](/source/Software_versioning) started with version number 4.8, the version of micro-Max used.

This article is part of the series on Chess programming Board representations 0x88 Bitboards Evaluation functions Artificial neural networks Efficiently updatable neural networks Piece-square tables Handcrafted evaluation functions Deep neural networks Transformers Convolutional neural networks Residual neural networks Attention Tuning and training algorithms Reinforcement learning Supervised learning Unsupervised learning Gradient descent Stochastic gradient descent Local search (Texel tuning) Graph and tree search algorithms Minimax Alpha-beta pruning Principal variation search Quiescence search Monte Carlo tree search Chess computers Belle ChessMachine ChipTest Deep Blue Deep Thought HiTech Hydra Mephisto Saitek Chess engines AlphaZero Chess Tiger Crafty Cray Blitz CuckooChess Deep Fritz Dragon by Komodo Chess Fairy-Max Fritz Fruit GNU Chess HIARCS Houdini Ikarus Junior KnightCap Komodo Leela Chess Zero MChess Pro Mittens MuZero Naum REBEL Rybka Shredder Sjeng SmarThink Stockfish Torch Turochamp Zappa v t e

### Description

The Fairy-Max module is a chess engine only, but is packaged with XBoard, which serves as the graphical user interface. Users can play against the Fairy-Max engine, or play the engine against other engines. It can also be set up to play two armies against each other, both using the Fairy-Max engine, for the purpose of analyzing chess moves, chess variants, or variant chess pieces.

Game depiction showing output from the Fairy-Max chess engine

### Capabilities

Besides classical FIDE [chess](/source/Chess), Fairy-Max is provided with a large selection of pre-defined games using [fairy chess pieces](/source/Fairy_chess_piece), including [shatranj](/source/Shatranj) (ancient Iranian chess), [xiangqi](/source/Xiangqi) (Chinese chess), [shogi](/source/Shogi) (Japanese chess), [makruk](/source/Makruk) (Thai chess), [King of the Hill](/source/King_of_the_Hill_(chess)), [Capablanca Chess](/source/Capablanca_Chess), [Courier chess](/source/Courier_chess), [Berolina chess](/source/Berolina_chess), [Seirawan chess](/source/Seirawan_chess) and other chess variants. Users are also able to specify their own board sizes, and define custom chess pieces, so that user-defined chess variants can also be played. Chessboards can be defined with a maximum size of 14 files in width, and 16 ranks in depth.[11][14]

### Playing strength

The engine's [Elo](/source/Elo_rating_system) rating fluctuates at around 1900 when playing orthodox chess in [CCRL 40/40](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=CCRL_40/40&action=edit&redlink=1) chess engine tournament, which roughly corresponds to [class A human player](/source/Chess_rating_system).[15]

The author of the program has said "the goal of Fairy-Max is to make an entertaining but beatable opponent to play against in all kind of chess variants."[16][17]

## See also

- [Free and open-source software portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Free_and_open-source_software)

- [Chess engine](/source/Chess_engine)

- [Computer chess](/source/Computer_chess)

- [ChessV](/source/ChessV) (also plays chess variants)

- [Variant chess piece](/source/Fairy_chess_piece)

- [Chess variants](/source/List_of_chess_variants)

- [List of chess software](/source/List_of_chess_software)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-wikidata-4569fcb6c395bb8835857abc165e99a68af3004a-v20_1-0)** ["4.9.1 released"](https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/xboard-devel/2016-08/msg00000.html). 1 August 2016. Retrieved 2 October 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Hagen2010_2-0)** Hagen, William von (13 May 2010). [*Ubuntu Linux Bible: Featuring Ubuntu 10.04 LTS*](https://books.google.com/books?id=rsSlrQLB8-gC&pg=SA15-PA93). John Wiley and Sons. pp. 15–16. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-470-88180-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-470-88180-4). Retrieved 11 November 2011.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Negus2003_3-0)** Negus, Chris (2003). [*Red Hat Linux 9 bible*](https://books.google.com/books?id=NliYH-zrQXQC). Wiley Pub. p. 242. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-7645-3938-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-7645-3938-1).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-MuiQuercia1994_4-0)** Mui, Linda; Quercia, Valérie (1994). [*X user tools*](https://archive.org/details/xusertools00lind). O'Reilly & Associates. p. [186](https://archive.org/details/xusertools00lind/page/186). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-56592-019-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-56592-019-4). Retrieved 11 November 2011.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Johnson2005_5-0)** Johnson, Chris F. A. (2005). [*Shell scripting recipes: a problem-solution approach*](https://books.google.com/books?id=PDqsRgXg1WIC&pg=PA294). Apress. p. 294. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-59059-471-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-59059-471-1).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["XBoard"](https://www.gnu.org/software/xboard/). gnu.org. Retrieved 11 November 2011.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["Fairy-Max: an AI for playing user-defined Chess variants"](http://home.hccnet.nl/h.g.muller/CVfairy.html). *home.hccnet*.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-cp_8-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-cp_8-1) ["chessprogramming - Fairy-Max"](https://web.archive.org/web/20180504050041/http://chessprogramming.wikispaces.com/Fairy-Max). *ChessProgramming.Wikispaces.com*. Archived from [the original](https://chessprogramming.wikispaces.com/Fairy-Max) on 4 May 2018. Retrieved 3 September 2017.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** Muller, H. G. (February 19, 2016). [Fairy-Max 5.0b released](http://www.talkchess.com/forum3/viewtopic.php?t=59309). *TalkChess.com*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** Muller, H. G. (October 7, 2011). [Fairy-Max 4.8R released](http://www.talkchess.com/forum3/viewtopic.php?t=40667). *TalkChess.com*.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-fm1_11-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-fm1_11-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-fm1_11-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-fm1_11-3) H.G.Muller. ["Fairy-Max"](http://home.hccnet.nl/h.g.muller/CVfairy.html). *home.HCCNet.nl*. Retrieved 3 September 2017.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** Muller, H. G. ["Fairy-Max: an AI for playing user-defined Chess variants"](http://www.chessvariants.com/index/msdisplay.php?itemid=MSfairy-max-an-ai-for-playing-user-defined-chess-variants). *www.ChessVariants.com*. Retrieved 3 September 2017.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** ["Winboard Forum • View topic - Anatomy of a simple engine: Fairy-Max"](https://web.archive.org/web/20170904012348/http://www.open-aurec.com/wbforum/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=52775). *www.Open-Aurec.com*. Archived from [the original](http://www.open-aurec.com/wbforum/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=52775) on 4 September 2017. Retrieved 3 September 2017.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** [fairymax - xboard-compatible chess and chess-variant engine 'Fairy-Max'](https://manpages.debian.org/unstable/fairymax/fairymax.6.en.html) — Debian Manpages.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-15)** ["CCRL 40/15"](https://web.archive.org/web/20200928031447/http://ccrl.chessdom.com/ccrl/4040/cgi/compare_engines.cgi?family=Micro-Max&print=Rating+list&print=Results+table&print=LOS+table&print=Ponder+hit+table&print=Eval+difference+table&print=Comopp+gamenum+table&print=Overlap+table&print=Score+with+common+opponents). Archived from [the original](https://ccrl.chessdom.com/ccrl/4040/cgi/compare_engines.cgi?family=Micro-Max&print=Rating+list&print=Results+table&print=LOS+table&print=Ponder+hit+table&print=Eval+difference+table&print=Comopp+gamenum+table&print=Overlap+table&print=Score+with+common+opponents) on 28 September 2020. Retrieved 20 July 2024.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-16)** ["Winboard Forum • View topic - ELO rating of Fairy max?"](https://web.archive.org/web/20170904062036/http://www.open-aurec.com/wbforum/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=53716). *www.Open-Aurec.com*. Archived from [the original](http://www.open-aurec.com/wbforum/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=53716) on 4 September 2017. Retrieved 3 September 2017.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-17)** ["Strange goings on"](https://web.archive.org/web/20170904014107/http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=22612). *RybkaForum.net*. Archived from [the original](http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforum/topic_show.pl?tid=22612) on 4 September 2017. Retrieved 3 September 2017.

## External links

- [Official website](https://www.gnu.org/software/xboard)

- [XBoard](https://savannah.gnu.org/projects/xboard/) on [GNU Savannah](/source/GNU_Savannah)

- [FAQ](http://horizonchess.com/FAQ/Winboard/) for the use of Xboard and Winboard chess engines

- [Listing](http://wbec-ridderkerk.nl) of Xboard and Winboard chess engines

v t e GNU Project History GNU Manifesto Free Software Foundation Europe India Latin America History of free software Licenses GNU General Public License linking exception font exception GNU Lesser General Public License GNU Affero General Public License GNU Free Documentation License GNAT Modified General Public License Software GNU (variants) Hurd Linux-libre glibc Bash coreutils findutils Build system GCC binutils GDB GRUB GNUstep GIMP Jami GNU Emacs GNU TeXmacs GNU Octave GNU Taler GNU R GSL GMP GNU Electric GNU Archimedes GNUnet GNU Privacy Guard Gnuzilla (IceCat) GNU Health GNUmed GNU LilyPond GNU Go GNU Chess Gnash Guix more... Contributors Benjamin Mako Hill Bradley M. Kuhn Brian Fox Federico Heinz John Sullivan Richard M. Stallman Other topics GNU/Linux naming controversy Revolution OS Free Software Foundation anti-Windows campaigns Defective by Design

v t e Chess variants (list) Orthodox rules Different starting position Fischer random chess Displacement chess Transcendental chess Different number of pieces Dunsany's chess Handicap Unorthodox board Balbo's game Circular chess Cylinder chess Double chess Grid chess Hexagonal chess (Cross chess, Masonic chess) Infinite chess Millennium 3D chess Minichess (Los Alamos chess) Rhombic chess Spherical chess Three-dimensional chess Triangular chess Unorthodox rules with traditional pieces Standard 8×8 board Andernach chess Atomic chess Beirut chess Checkless chess Chessplus Circe chess Crazyhouse Cubic chess Dynamo chess Extinction chess Hostage chess Knight relay chess Legan chess Losing chess Madrasi chess Monochromatic chess Patrol chess Portal chess Progressive chess Three-check chess Way of the Knight Multimove variants Avalanche chess Kung-Fu Chess Marseillais chess Monster chess Progressive chess Elements of chance Dark chess Dice chess Knightmare Chess Kriegspiel Penultima Unorthodox rules on an unorthodox board 5D Chess with Multiverse Time Travel Alice chess Apocalypse Chad Chessence Congo Diplomat chess Dragonfly Jeson Mor Parallel worlds chess Rollerball Unorthodox rules using non-traditional pieces Standard 8×8 board Baroque Berolina Chakra Chess with different armies Duell Falcon–hunter chess Grasshopper chess Musketeer chess Pocket mutation chess Cheskers Compound pieces Almost chess Capablanca Chess Capablanca random chess Gothic chess Grotesque chess Ladorean chess Maura's Modern chess Schoolbook chess Seirawan chess Univers chess Chancellor chess Grand Chess Embassy chess Janus Chess Maharajah and the Sepoys Modern chess Tutti-frutti chess Unorthodox boards and pieces 2000 A.D. Chesquerque Chess on a really big board Courier-Spiel Dragonchess Gess Omega Chess Stratomic Dekle's triangular chess Wildebeest chess Wolf chess Multiplayer Bosworth Bughouse chess Business chess Djambi Duchess Enochian chess Forchess Fortress chess Four Fronts Four-player chess Gala Hand and brain Quatrochess Superchess Three-man chess Three-player chess Tri-chess Inspired games Arimaa Camelot Jetan Martian Chess Navia Dratp The Duke Chess-related games Historical Chadarangam Chaturaji Chaturanga Courier chess Grant Acedrex Semedo Shatranj Short assize Great chess Tamerlane chess Great chess Completed Turkish Great chess Regional Janggi variants Makruk Senterej Shatar Shatra Shogi Chu shogi Dai shogi Other variants Sittuyin Xiangqi Jungle Banqi Manchu chess Game of the Three Kingdoms Game of the Three Friends Game of the Seven Kingdoms Other variants Software ChessV XBoard Fairy-Max Zillions of Games Related Correspondence chess Fairy chess Fairy chess piece Fairy Chess Review The Chess Variant Pages Checkers

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