Checkers for Android: Position Setup and PDN/FEN

[AartBik]

I finished a position setup feature for Checkers for Android, similar to what was already in Chess for Android. This feature allows users to copy interesting checker problems from textbooks or other sources and play from there to improve their game. In addition, I added an option to show the square labels to make playing out variants from textbooks a bit easier for players that are less familiar with the numbering scheme.

Since I recently also added a feature to export games as PDN, this implied I also had to implement FEN setup for games that do not start from the initial position. An example is shown below (note the FEN tag, and the empty first ply since it is white's move in the given position).

Please let me know if this PDN looks healthy!

Code: Select all

[Event "Checkers for Android Game"]
[Site "United States"]
[Date "2019.01.19"]
[White "Checkers for Android"]
[Black "Self"]
[Result "*"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[Setup "1"]
[FEN "W:W9,K32:B13,K1"]

1...  *

[Rein Halbersma]

LGTM! I think it's a shame that your wonderful Android work gets so little attention. OTOH, we're mostly 10x10 programmers, so if you ever get around to making a 10x10 GUI that can load engines (as you did for chess) then I think there'd be quite a bit more response. Keep up the good work!

[AartBik]

I think it's a shame that your wonderful Android work gets so little attention. OTOH, we're mostly 10x10 programmers, so if you ever get around to making a 10x10 GUI that can load engines (as you did for chess) then I think there'd be quite a bit more response. Keep up the good work!

It's okay. I have gotten a few nice reactions, and I can always rely on you to say some nice words! I am seriously considering the 10x10 checkers since I enjoyed international checkers growing up and indeed there seems to be a slightly bigger "market" for such engines right now (until machine learning obsoletes that field too of course ).

[AartBik]

Now that Checkers for Android supports a position setup editor, analyzing textbook studies has become a lot simpler. This has increased the significance of the small built-in endgame tablebases of my app as well, as can be seen in the study below. Here, starting from what is known as the "first position" in checkers, Checkers for Android, playing with the black pieces, announces its inevitable loss in 30 moves!

[AartBik]

I also added a "paste from FEN" option, which allows quickly setting up a checkers puzzle.

For example, to study one of the problems given in the Checker Maven, simply copy the text

B:WK12,15,23,28:B21,K22,K31

under the diagram to the clipboard (which even on a mobile can be done easily). Then open Checkers for Android, and paste-from-FEN to get the position.