Start a game with random color

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What steps will reproduce the problem?
1. Start a game against a computer

What is the expected output? What do you see instead?
I'd like to have an option to get random color against computer engine. If
I do not want to play white all the time, I need always change white player
AND black player as well (change me and engine).
Would be nice to either autochange color after finishing a game or have
option to randomize color or both. Is it clear what I mean?

Does it happen every time?
n/a

What version of the product are you using?
10alpha

Did you use an installed version of PyChess or did you run in from a
tarball/svn?
www.getdeb.net

Please provide any additional information below.

Please attach the latest pychess logfile.
For PyChess <= 0.6.x it's hidden in your homedirectory and called
".pychess.log".
For PyChess > 0.6.x, it's in a hidden folder, under your homedirectory,
named ".pychess/"

Original issue reported on code.google.com by pe3...@gmail.com on 4 Jan 2009 at 2:45

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I see two solutions to this:
 1) Wait for the next version of PyChess, in which we'll hopefully have tournaments,
and make yourself a 10-match against the engine.
 2) We create a randomize button in the New-Game-Dialog, which sets a random color,
strength, clock and variant.

I think (1) is best, as most of the time (2) will chance to much.

Original comment by lobais on 9 Jan 2009 at 5:46

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Option 1 is something different, it is, as you wrote, "tournament mode." What I
wanted was "random color." It might be similar under some specific conditions 
but
generally these two are very different features.

Option 2 is almost unusable in my opinion, because usually you want randomize 
color,
sometimes maybe even strength, even though much less often. Even less often you 
want
randomize clock (because of obvious reason that often you want to spend just 
certain
amount of time with the game), and almost never variant (except for real 
variant lovers).

I will try to think about how to do it and look at some other chess apps. It 
would
probably need some rethink and redo of current way of starting "new game".
I will come with some propositions soon.

Original comment by pe3...@gmail.com on 9 Jan 2009 at 6:32

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It would of course be easy to put a Random option in the combobox on the welcome
screen. It guess we could also make a local 'Swap randomly' button in the
New-Game-Dialog, but it would require a bit more redesign.

On the tournament mode, you wrote yourself, that "Would be nice to either 
autochange
color after finishing a game". If you play a 10 match tournament, you will be 
50% of
each color.

Original comment by lobais on 9 Jan 2009 at 7:13

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I think random option on welcome screen would be just enough. This random may 
be just
random or using some memory of past human-engine matches - that is not 
important at all.
Anything else would be more problematic and less usable.

Tournament mode is another feature, might be used for match, but not for random
colour play. It is just not the same thing.

Original comment by pe3...@gmail.com on 10 Jan 2009 at 2:00

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What do you think about an  option (in preferences dialog) about "ask for 
revenge
with opposite color"? I think this is the "standard" way people play chess. And 
FICS
also has something similar when it offers a revenge after finishing a game.

Original comment by gbtami on 10 Jan 2009 at 9:16

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I don't like a preferences option, we can just put the button there always.

So we do this:
  * Add a random-color option to the new-game-tasker.
  * Add a revenge button to the yellow "You've lost/won the match" box.

In human-computer mode, the revnge-button should say "Play Revenge", and in FICS
mode, the button should say "Offer Revenge" (Only I think Revance is more the 
right
word?)

Original comment by lobais on 10 Jan 2009 at 3:09

• Changed state: Accepted

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I like this, seems simple enough.

Original comment by gbtami on 10 Jan 2009 at 4:18

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I agree, enough to make me happy. That FICS rematch would be great!

I would use "Rematch" for local games and "Offer rematch" on FICS, if I were 
you.

Original comment by pe3...@gmail.com on 10 Jan 2009 at 10:21

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Sounds like good wording to me. "Play Rematch" would also work for offline play.

Original comment by lobais on 11 Jan 2009 at 9:59

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I have added rematch buttons after game's finished.
Should we also have a 'Random' color in the new-game-starter?

Original comment by lobais on 10 Feb 2009 at 6:38

• Changed state: Started

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Checked in "rev 1401" and tried in local game, seems nice (cannot try in FICS 
because
unable to connect right now from any client :-(.

As for "random" in new-game-starter. Might be nice, but depends on if there is 
a nice
way how to fit it seamlessly into current interface.

Original comment by pe3...@gmail.com on 23 Feb 2009 at 5:50

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Yeah, fics seams down today.

All it takes for the random button is an icon. :)

Original comment by lobais on 23 Feb 2009 at 6:37

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Original comment by gbtami on 19 Mar 2009 at 8:10

• Added labels: Type-Enhancement

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Old discussion but I made a patch for it. The translation is already done in 
..\ic\managers\GameListManager.py and ..\Variants\randomchess.py

The icon is a mix between black and white :-)

Original comment by leogregianin@gmail.com on 19 Jan 2011 at 10:30

Attachments:

• [random color](https://storage.googleapis.com/google-code-attachments/pychess/issue-368/comment-14/random color)
• alea.png

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Looks good to me.

Original comment by lobais on 20 Jan 2011 at 11:31

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The random player will be for the next version of pychess, or can commit?

Original comment by leogregianin@gmail.com on 29 Jan 2011 at 3:20

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Since it has no strings, and release is still dragging out, just put it up.

Original comment by lobais on 8 Feb 2011 at 6:29

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Fixed in rev 1c4c5dbe94d4 by leogregianin.

Original comment by gbtami on 15 Mar 2011 at 10:01

• Changed state: Fixed