SERV-HEL

This is the help file for beginners to the Internet Go Server- Please see the first file in this set for instructions on how to get into the server. This file contains the commands that you will need to get started playing Go on the server, and some hints on making things run easier for yourself! There are a number of commands that you need to know in order to get around and enjoy the server: Help, Quit, Match, Tell, Who, Observe, Adjourn, Save, Load and how to play. The Help command is just that: it lists the on-line help file, and some of the commands that the Go server uses. Typing help will bring up the help selection for that particular command. The Quit command will exit you out of the server. If you were in the middle of a game, the server will automatically save that game (see save), unless that game had fewer than 5 moves, in which case the server will dump it. The Match command is how you start a game of Go. Its arguments are: match . The and are required. is the name of the player you wish to play. is either B, for black, or W for white. Your opponent must type in the match command with your name as the player and the opposite color in order to play the match. is a number from 9-21, to set the size of the board. Default is 19 is a number, in minutes, of how long the game will last. Default is 90. The Tell command is how you communicate with the other players on the server. To send a message to a player, type in tell where is a player on the server. Tell has two special defaults: if you use . for the players name, tell will send the message to the last player you sent a message to. If you use $ for the players name, it will send a message to the last person that signed into the server. has a shortcut: <. message>. The Tell command has two companion commands: Shout and Say. The Shout command works the same as the tell command, except you don't need a player name. The message that you send will be seen by all the players on the server. The Say command is the same as Shout, except that the message will only be seen by your opponent. Say can only be used during a match. The Who command will show you all the players that are currently on the server. If there is a number in front of a players name, that person is playing a game against the player who has the same number in front of their name. If there is an 'o' in front of the players name, that person is observing a game. If there is an 'X' in front of the name, that person is not accepting match requests. The information at the end of the players name is their idle time, wins, losses, ties and their ranking. The Observe command is how you watch other games on the server. Type Observe where number is the game number you wish to observe. Every time a move is made during that game, the game board will be shown on your screen. Type Observe again to turn the obesrvation off. The Observe command has a couple of associated commands: Refresh, Kibitz, Games and Watching. Refresh will refresh (re-show) the game number listed. You do not have to be obeserving that game in order to refresh that board on your screen. Kibitz is used to send messages during games. Typing will send your message to anybody observing game number #. Typing Games will show all the games currently in progress. Watching will show you all the games you are currently observing. will show who is observing game number #. If you are at the end of your session, but have not compleated your game, you can adjourn for the time by typing in Adjourn at the prompt. Note that your opponent must also type in Adjourn in order for the game to be held. Typing Save will save your game with the name of - where and are the names of the players playing the game. The Save command has one associated command: Stored: to show what games you currently have in storage. To load a game, type Load where is the name of the game: -. This will re-start your game from its old position, and clock times. Some things you need to know in order to play: If you are playing with a handicap, and you are black, type in Handicap # where # is the number of handicap stones from 2-9. This will set the stones and make the move White's. To place a stone on the board, type in the coordinates of the space you want to play on. Please note that the server only accepts capital letters for the letter part of the coordinates, and there is no letter I in the coordinate system. In order to pass your turn, type in Pass. This will make the turn belong to your opponent. If there are 3 consecutive pass commands in a row, the server will then let you score your game. To score a game, type in the coordinates of the dead stones on the board. For groups, you just have to type in the coordinates of one of the stones in the group. When you are finished, type in Done, and the server will score your game and declare a winner. In even games, White is given a 5.5 point komi at this time. *THERE IS NO UNDOING A REMOVE WHILE SCORING* If a mistake is made in playing, the Undo command will fix it. Please note that you cannot undo your own plays. Your opponenet has to undo your play. And you have to undo your opponents mistakes. After the Undo command, the server will erase the last move made, and return control of the game to the player who made the mistake. If you have any questions or comments, please mail to: chisolm@lacerta.unm.edu or tcasey@lacerta.unm.edu Thanks for your continued support! tim and chris