Conditional move Q&A

Any questions, post them here. I will update the FAQ once we have covered the most common questions. Please keep this thread on topic.

I would like some clarity on 'conditional move' - Tks

When you capture a piece in conditional moves, the "before-conditional-move" board does not contain the piece that is about to be captured [on board two]

Game 5675174 If ... Qxe4, Rxe4

edit 2: already FIX'D.

I have queued 3 conditional moves depending on which square the opponent moves to. Will the other 2 conditional moves be deleted after 1 of them is satisfied? Or would they take effect if the positions arose further on in the game?

Originally posted by Stork69
I have queued 3 conditional moves depending on which square the opponent moves to. Will the other 2 conditional moves be deleted after 1 of them is satisfied? Or would they take effect if the positions arose further on in the game?

All unplayed conditions remain until

a)The move is played.
b)The game is over
c)They are over 90 days old and still queued up.

So, if the position occurs later in the game for your other 2 conditions, the move will be triggered.

Conditions will be more intelligently removed shortly (for example, there might be insufficient material on a board for a condition to ever trigger, so it will be deleted) – but this is not the case right now.

will it be possible in the future to be able to continue the game with 3 or 4 conditional move in the same sequence?

a lot of games come up where you know the next 3 or so moves it would be nice if you where able to skip them while you weren't playing.

Originally posted by trev33
will it be possible in the future to be able to continue the game with 3 or 4 conditional move in the same sequence?

a lot of games come up where you know the next 3 or so moves it would be nice if you where able to skip them while you weren't playing.

I can't say with any certainty but it is possible that may be added once the current system beds in and I get an idea of how many people actually use it.

i think it would be really help full for beginning of games so you can save the first say 5 moves and when your begin just check one of the saved lines and it will play it.

Originally posted by O Artem O
i think it would be really help full for beginning of games so you can save the first say 5 moves and when your begin just check one of the saved lines and it will play it.

My previous answer applies.

But, agreed, and this would not be too hard to implement.

Will messages carry over?

X makes move + message to Y.
Y makes conditional move.
X makes move.

Will Y see X's message on Y's first non-conditional move? And what if X makes multiple messages over a few turns in which Y makes conditional moves - does Y see all of the messages X made in the conditional move period?

I could simply check the message log but I'm just curious. Many thanks for this feature!

Originally posted by Russ
Any questions, post them here. I will update the FAQ once we have covered the most common questions. Please keep this thread on topic.

Is this function ready for the public? How do I find it?

P-

(I found it between "Resign" and "After move preference" on my in progress game page with any given user.)

Originally posted by Yuga
Will messages carry over?

X makes move + message to Y.
Y makes conditional move.
X makes move.

Will Y see X's message on Y's first non-conditional move? And what if X makes multiple messages over a few turns in which Y makes conditional moves - does Y see all of the messages X made in the conditional move period?

I could simply check the message log but I'm just curious. Many thanks for this feature!

A PM is sent if there is a chance that a player will not catch a message.

Thanks for putting this feature in, I´ll definitely find it useful.

I´ve got a suitable game and have just put a few conditional moves. As a test I tried storing an obviously illegal move and it wouldn´t let me. This is not the right behaviour as it is an aide to calculation - if you´re analysis is flawed due to a pawn being pinned or whatever then it´s not fair on your opponent that the system points out the problem in advance when it´s still possible to do something about it. It should just refuse to make the conditional move when the condition arises.

Edit: (After Russ´s response) - this affects the deep, but not the quick conditional move feature (as with the quick one it´s already too late).

Originally posted by DeepThought
This is not the right behaviour as it is an aide to calculation - if you´re analysis is flawed due to a pawn being pinned or whatever then it´s not fair on your opponent that the system points out the problem in advance when it´s still possible to do something about it. It should just refuse to make the conditional move when the condition arises.

Comments on the above please?

Originally posted by DeepThought
As a test I tried storing an obviously illegal move and it wouldn´t let me. This is not the right behaviour as it is an aide to calculation - if you´re analysis is flawed due to a pawn being pinned or whatever then it´s not fair on your opponent that the system points out the problem in advance when it´s still possible to do something about it. It should just refuse to make the conditional move when the condition arises.

Off the cuff, I agree with deepthought: You should be allowed to store an illegal move in a position, which is then rejected when it would have occurred. I'd suggest doing the legality check when the position occurs, and adding a message (as if your opponent had done it) along the lines of "Conditional move illegal in this position".

This would keep the balance, as your time now starts to drop, just as it would over the board.

I see little advantage in making the illegal move visible to your opponent - just start the clock again. So I also see no need to worry about repeat illegal moves.