Using winboard to create en passant position failed

[Henk]

I tried to create a position where white can capture enpassant. Using winboard. Last move was c7-c5. But I don't see an enpassant square in the fen.

I used '' edit position" and "save position" from intial standard chess position.


[d] rnbqkbnr/pp1ppp1p/6p1/2pP4/8/8/PPP1PPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1

[Guenther]

I tried to create a position where white can capture enpassant. Using winboard. Last move was c7-c5. But I don't see an enpassant square in the fen.


[d] rnbqkbnr/pp1ppp1p/6p1/2pP4/8/8/PPP1PPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1

No problem here.

I used Winboard 4.91 - set game 'Mode' to 'Edit' and entered manually 1. d4 g6 2. d5 c5
Then I copied the position (from 'Edit') to the clipboard, same with the shortcut (Ctrl-Shift-C)

rnbqkbnr/pp1ppp1p/6p1/2pP4/8/8/PPP1PPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq c6 0 3
[d]rnbqkbnr/pp1ppp1p/6p1/2pP4/8/8/PPP1PPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq c6 0 3

Edit:

I see now, you can produce the output with 'Edit Position', that's why the move number is set to 1 in your FEN.
rnbqkbnr/pp1ppp1p/6p1/2pP4/8/8/PPP1PPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1

OTH how should WB know how the position was reached?
The FEN is still correct for 1. d4 c5 2. d5 g6 (transposition - ep rights are gone already)
Actually I don't know or remember, if you can add ep rights for 'Edit position' this would need an extra dialogue IMO,
or setting - may be it should exist?

[MikeB]

I tried to create a position where white can capture enpassant. Using winboard. Last move was c7-c5. But I don't see an enpassant square in the fen.

I used '' edit position" and "save position" from intial standard chess position.


[d] rnbqkbnr/pp1ppp1p/6p1/2pP4/8/8/PPP1PPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1

When pasting an FEN to Winboard, it was designed to accept the ep notation. When creating a position from scratch, it will have no way of knowing the ep status , unless you manually add it. Alternatively , you can create the position by posting a pgn file or simply by entering the moves and it will automatically assign the ep notation.

[pgn][Event "Edited game"] [Site "VM-894787"] [Date "2020.11.25"] [Round "-"] [White "-"] [Black "-"] [Result "*"] 1. d4 g6 2. d5 c5 3. dxc6[/pgn]
*

[d]rnbqkbnr/pp1ppp1p/6p1/2pP4/8/8/PPP1PPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq c6 0 3

All of the above was created in Winboard.

After entering the moves, Winboard behaves appropriately. Yes , your title is correct, but you left out "due to user error".

[hgm]

There are two issues here:

1) I suspect Henk has the wrong idea what 'last move' means. Making board mutations in Edit Position mode will never be considered a move, even in the case where you grab the piece from one square and put it on another. What you do during Edit Position just creates a position; it does not create a game with moves in it. So after you are done setting up the position, there is no "previous move".

2) In the latest WinBoard you can specify e.p. and castling rights in Edit Position mode, by selecting a Pawn or Rook, and then clicking it again. Such a second click will then toggle the rights for that piece to castle or be taken e.p.. To get feedback on what you are doing the message "rights granted" or "rights revoked" will appear in the message field as a result of the click.

By default there are no e.p. rights, and corner Rooks have castling rights.