View > Windows > Engine
The Engine Window shows the engine calculations.
The title bar shows the engine name.
At the top are four sections:
The first section shows the evaluation => = (0.00).
The second section shows the search depth => Depth=13.
The third section shows the move being calculated, and this is the n-th move of m legal moves => 1.33-29 (91/9).
The fourth section shows the number of positions (if available).
The evaluation is expressed in piece units, always from the point of view of white. In addition to the precise piece values the evaluation is also given in standard draughts symbols: +- means white is winning, -+ means black is winning, = means the position is drawish. A positive evaluation means the engine thinks white has an advantage. A negative evaluation means the engine thinks black has an advantage. The value of one piece is 1.00. A value of 9.99 or -9.99 indicates the engine has found a winning line.
The search depth tells you how many moves deep the search has progressed. The value is in “ply” or half-moves.
In the Engine Window the “principal variation” is displayed, i.e. the best continuation the engine found so far.
With this button you can pause the engine.
When the engine is paused you can make it think again with this button (unless the lock is closed, then you have to open it first).
This function show you the immediate threat, i.e. what the opponent could do if no defensive move is made.
When the engine is in “threat mode” the background of the icon becomes red. Click it to go back to “normal mode”.
When the lock is open, new positions are sent to the engine so that he always thinks about the position on the board.
When the lock is closed, new positions are not sent to the engine so that it keeps thinking about one particular position.