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Graphical user interfaces

Fabian Fichter edited this page Jun 2, 2021 · 12 revisions

For offline usage of Fairy-Stockfish, download the latest release or compile it from source and use it together with one of the GUIs listed below or any other chess variant GUI that is compatible with the supported protocols. If you are unsure which version to download, use the most compatible versions for Windows or for Linux.

Overview

There are several chess variant GUIs with different strengths and weaknesses, so please check which one best suits your use case. If you want to do analysis for common chess variants, LiGround and PyChess should be good options for easy to use GUIs. If you are more interested in running engine matches, cutechess is a very good choice. For custom variants and the most feature-rich GUI you can use WinBoard/XBoard, which however is less stable than the other options.

XBoard/WinBoard

Fairy-Stockfish also supports the CECP/XBoard protocol, so it can easily be used in XBoard/WinBoard. On Windows, it is recommended to use an up-to-date WinBoard version.

Setup steps on Windows

  1. Download the Fairy-Stockfish executable from the latest release.
  2. Download WinBoard and extract the zip archive.
  3. Open the Winboard folder and double click the winboard.exe.
  4. Click on Engines>Edit Engine List...
  5. Add one line similar to "Fairy-SF" /variant=janggi -fcp "C:\fairy-stockfish-largeboard_x86-64.exe" (adjust the path to where you put the .exe in step 1, and replace janggi by the default variant of your choice). Click on commit changes and OK.
  6. Click on Engines>Load New 1st Engine... and double click on Fairy-SF.
  7. The default variant you entered in step 5 should now be loaded automatically.

Janggi / 장기

For Janggi there is a youtube video (스톡피쉬 장기 간편 설치 방법 - 업데이트) explaining the installation process in Korean, including a description how to replace the fonts of the pieces. If you do not speak Korean, turn on auto-translated subtitles.

Troubleshooting

  • If an engine-defined variant uses special moves or adjudication like, e.g., Janggi, Test Legality under Options>General... needs to be disabled or otherwise Winboard/XBoard might reject some engine moves or win claims.
  • You can select other variants via File>New Variant..., or if the variant you are looking for is not in the list (as not all supported variants are displayed in the list) then you can enforce the variant by changing the default variant in the engine command from step 5 and redoing step 6. If you do this frequently, you can also copy&paste the entry in the variant list and create multiple entries for your favorite variants.

Setup steps on Linux

See this guide to compile XBoard on Linux. You can skip the --enable-zippy flag if you do not intend to use XBoard to run an engine on ICS/FICS.

LiGround

LiGround is a modern cross-platform chess variant GUI. It supports all lichess variants, as well as all major regional variants. Its game logic uses the Fairy-Stockfish based ffishjs library.

Cutechess

Cutechess supports many of the built-in variants supported by Fairy-Stockfish. It is very well suited for playing games (engine/human), but analysis functionality is very limited.

Engines can be added via Tools>Settings. Select the Engines tab, click on + and select the engine executable via the Browse dialog.

PyChess

PyChess also supports some of the variants, including Crazyhouse, Losers, Giveaway, Three-check, King of the Hill, ASEAN, Makruk, and Sittuyin.

Shogi GUIs (USI-compatible)

Fairy-Stockfish can be used in gShogi and other USI compatible GUIs to play Shogi by adding it as a USI engine. In case of problems make sure in the engine configuration that the options Protocol and UCI_Variant are set to their defaults for the USI protocol, namely usi and shogi, respectively, and that you downloaded the large-board version (fairy-stockfish-largeboard...).

Fairy-Stockfish also has basic support for byoyomi time controls that are supported by some Shogi GUIs.

Xiangqi GUIs (UCCI/UCI-compatible)

Fairy-Stockfish can be used in Xiangqi GUIs by adding it as a UCCI or UCI engine. In case of problems make sure that you downloaded the large-board version (fairy-stockfish-largeboard...), and that you are using a recent version, at least Fairy-Stockfish 13.