gshogi - John Cheetham - http://www.johncheetham.com/projects/gshogi
NOTE: This project is no longer developed and has been archived.
gshogi is a program to play Shogi (Japanese Chess). It has a builtin engine and can also use USI engines. It is written in python3 and C and runs on GTK3 (PyGI) desktops.
It's licensed under the GPL v3+ (see the file named LICENSE).
It uses python for the gui and C for the engine code.
See the project homepage for more information on gshogi and USI engines.
Prerequisites
You need to install these prerequisites first:
- python
- python-cairo
- python-gobject
You need the python3 versions. These will have different names depending on your Linux.
- On Debian/Mint/Ubuntu
- python3-gi-cairo
- gir1.2-rsvg-2.0
- On Fedora
- python3-cairo
- python3-gobject
- On Arch
- python-cairo
- python-gobject
Install gshogi
Installing from source
Use this method if you are using the latest development version from github.
Install gcc, python3-devel in addition to the above prerequisites.
Then enter 'python3 setup.py build' to build it.Then 'python3 run.py' to run it from within the source folder.You can also install it on the system.
To do this enter 'python setup.py install' (as root user).
Note if installing on the system:
gshogi should now be installed on your system. You can launch it from the gnome menu (under games) or type 'gshogi' in any terminal window.
There is no uninstall (setuptools doesn't have one). If you need to uninstall you have to make a note of the file names and then delete them manually.
If running the build/install multiple times it's best to delete the build folder each time.
Installing from the Python Package Index with pip
If you want to install the last release you can install wheels from PyPI using pip.
pip3 install gshogiOr install it into a virtual env:
python3 -m venv --system-site-packages testvenvsource testvenv/bin/activatepip install gshogiNote you still need to install the python-gobject and python-cairo prerequisites listed above.
The best method for windows is to use the all in one installer from the project website.
You can also use pip to install it but you will need to install pygobject for windows first.
You can also build it yourself (see the file Readme-windows.txt).
You play black (the pieces at the bottom of the board). The computer plays white (the pieces at the top of the board). Press the green go button to start the clock. To move a piece click on it and then click on the square you want to move it to (or drag it and drop it).
Also you can play one engine against another which is good for comparing USI engines.
Adding a USI engine
To add a USI engine to play against click on Options, engines then click the 'Add' button to add a new engine. Navigate to the engine executable and add it. Then click the OK button.
If the USI engine has parameters (eg. 'java -jar enginename' or 'enginename -usi') then you can set up a shell script (or bat file in windows) to start the engine and then add the shell script in gshogi.
command line options
You can specify some options on the command line.
If you want to see the USI commands then start it from a terminal with:
gshogi -vusi (or ./run.py -vusi if not installed)
For full debugging output use the command:
gshogi -v (or ./run.py -v if not installed)
You can specify a game file to open:
gshogi /path/to/gamefile.psn
Use -m to show moves and comments in the main window:
gshogi -m /path/to/gamefile.psn
Use -h to show header of loaded files:
gshogi -h /path/to/gamefile.psn
Use -mh to show both:
gshogi -mh /path/to/gamefile.psn
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shogi for the rules of Shogi.
You can load/save games in PSN format or in gshog format. It is recommended to use PSN format.
gshogi can also read multi-game PSN files.
When edting the board position you can increase the count of a piece in the komadai by right-clicking on it. Left-click on it to decrease the count.
To add a white piece to the main board right-click on the square you want to add the piece to then select the piece from the pop-up menu. To add a black piece left-click on the square.
Examples of time controls that can be used with gshogi.
These were tested with the gse 0.1.4 engine. Note that not all USI engines will work with all time controls. Most engines work OK with byoyomi so use that if you have problems.
Note that times on the go command are in milliseconds.
byoyomi
e.g. 60 minutes game time plus 30 seconds byoyomi This means the player can make as many or as few moves as they like in the 30 minutes and after that they will have 30 seconds per move.
go btime 3600000 wtime 3600000 byoyomi 30000
If you want a fixed time of 10 seconds per move: go btime 0 wtime 0 byoyomi 10000
classical
e.g. 5 moves in 10 minutes
go btime 300000 wtime 300000 movestogo 40
Incremental
e.g. 30 minutes game time and 10 seconds bonus time per move This means the basic time for the game is 30 minutes and after each move a bonus of 10 seconds is added to the clock.
go btime 1800000 wtime 1800000 binc 10000 winc 10000
Fixed Time Per Move
e.g. 20 seconds per move go movetime 20000
Fixed Search Depth
e.g. Terminate the search when a depth of 8 is reached.
go depth 8
Infinite search
The search will go on indefinitely and will only terminate if a stop command (move now) is sent from the gui.
go infinite
Fixed No. of Nodes
The search will terminate after a fixed no. of nodes has been searched.
go nodes 10000000
Note that byoyomi is not part of the original USI specification (See http://www.glaurungchess.com/shogi/usi.html) but it is supported in most USI engines.
You can load custom pieces using the 'Load Custom Pieces' button on the 'set pieces' menu.
To set up your own custom pieces you must provide images with these filenames. You can use either png or svg files. If you use png change the file extension from svg to png.
Black Pieces:
Piece Filename King kingB.svg Rook rookB.svg Bishop bishopB.svg Gold General goldB.svg Silver General silverB.svg Knight knightB.svg Lance lanceB.svg Pawn pawnB.svg Promoted Rook rookPB.svg Promoted Bishop bishopPB.svg Promoted Silver General silverPB.svg Promoted Knight knightPB.svg Promoted Lance lancePB.svg Promoted Pawn pawnPB.svg
The black piece images are mandatory. You can optionally provide images for the white pieces as well. If you provide white piece images gshogi will use them. If you don't it will use the black piece images and rotate them through 180 degress.
White Pieces:
Piece Filename King kingW.svg Rook rookW.svg Bishop bishopW.svg Gold General goldW.svg Silver General silverW.svg Knight knightW.svg Lance lanceW.svg Pawn pawnW.svg Promoted Rook rookPW.svg Promoted Bishop bishopPW.svg Promoted Silver General silverPW.svg Promoted Knight knightPW.svg Promoted Lance lancePW.svg Promoted Pawn pawnPW.svg
See the project homepage to download an example.
gshogi uses C engine code and includes some board pieces from GNU Shogi (version 1.3.2).