Delete or promote variation command

[ChessAddict]

I'm trying to use the "promote variation" function in my shredder gui but it's not working for some reason. It's there but when i click on it nothing happens. Does anyone know how to make this function work? I tried in my chessbase light also and the same thing. Thanks.

[Mike S.]

This could be a navigation problem, in other words: Where in the notation is the cursor? It needs to be in the variation or sub-variation when this functions are used. It does not work from the main game (top level). I guess that could have been the problem. For me, this has always worked in various interface versions and on different comps.

[ChessAddict]

Well there was a particular game i had loaded. I wanted to promote the variation from the first move. I right clicked on the move and the function was there but does not work. I'm still new at learning how to do this. Can you give me some guidance how to make it work? Are you saying that you need to be further into the game to have this option work? Thanks.

[Mike S.]

The move number shouldn't matter... bascially, that works anywhere in a game. Here is a simple example. To have a variation for the first move already, I have simply combined two games (I have shortened the variation which represents the 2nd game).

At first, it looks like this: The 1.d4 game is a variation to a 1.e4 game here.

[Event "Advanced Chess Moskau"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2007.11.23"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Anand"]
[Black "Kramnik"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C67"]
[PlyCount "47"]

1. e4 (1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Bd3 dxc4 7. Bxc4 b5
8. Bd3 Bb7 9. a3 Bd6 10. O-O O-O {
1/2-1/2 Kramnik-Anand/Advanced Chess Moskau 2007 (47)}) 1... e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3.
Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. Nc3 Ne7
10. h3 Ng6 11. Bg5+ Ke8 12. Rad1 Be6 13. Nd4 Bc4 14. Rfe1 Bb4 15. Bd2 Rd8 16.
a3 Bxc3 17. Bxc3 Nf4 18. Kh2 c5 19. Nf5 Rxd1 20. Rxd1 Ne6 21. f3 Bb5 22. Rd2 h5
23. Kg3 Bc6 24. Kf2 1/2-1/2

Then, I right-click at 1.d4 in the variation. From the context menu, I choose "Promote Variation." As a result of it, it now looks like this:

[Event "Advanced Chess Moskau"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2007.11.23"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Anand"]
[Black "Kramnik"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C67"]
[PlyCount "20"]

1. d4 (1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7.
dxe5 Nf5 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. Nc3 Ne7 10. h3 Ng6 11. Bg5+ Ke8 12. Rad1 Be6 13. Nd4
Bc4 14. Rfe1 Bb4 15. Bd2 Rd8 16. a3 Bxc3 17. Bxc3 Nf4 18. Kh2 c5 19. Nf5 Rxd1
20. Rxd1 Ne6 21. f3 Bb5 22. Rd2 h5 23. Kg3 Bc6 24. Kf2) 1... Nf6 2. c4 e6 3.
Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Bd3 dxc4 7. Bxc4 b5 8. Bd3 Bb7 9. a3 Bd6 10. O-O
O-O {1/2-1/2 Kramnik-Anand/Advanced Chess Moskau 2007 (47)} 1/2-1/2

Now, the 1.d4 game has been promoted and the 1.e4 line has become a variation from it.

There's a little flaw here because most of the PGN header remains unchanged, but that isn't important for the promote/delete variation problem. Basically it works the same anywhere, as shown here.

In the same way, you can also promote a sub-variation to the level of a normal variation.

(Meanhwile I saw that these functions are "greyed out" in the menu, if a main game move is clicked.)

[Henrik Dinesen]

Well there was a particular game i had loaded. I wanted to promote the variation from the first move. I right clicked on the move and the function was there but does not work. I'm still new at learning how to do this. Can you give me some guidance how to make it work? Are you saying that you need to be further into the game to have this option work? Thanks.

It only works on chb-files as far as I know - as with a lot of other features - so if you've loaded the game from a pgn base, it could be the expalnation.

[ChessAddict]

I kind of stumbled on how to do it by accident. Instead of trying to promote variation on a move already in the line i clicked on a different move. Then i was able to use the function. Is this how you do it? I definitely will not use a move that is already in the line. Thanks.