Launching Chess

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After downloading the .zip file, you must extract it. Game files will then be available for use. For more information about these files, see File structure.


You can launch Chess from your computer's file explorer or from the command line.


To launch Chess from a graphical file explorer, simply browse to the location of the chess9.* file and double-click it (or highlight it and press Enter). If you're running the source code and that simply displays it, use the right-click context menu or the command line.


To launch Chess from the command line (Windows commands shown here):


  1. Run the command prompt.
    1. Hold the Windows logo key and press R.
    2. Enter cmd.
    3. Press Enter.
  2. Change the working directory to the folder that contains the chess9.* executable. For example:

       cd C:\Users\<username>\Downloads\Chess9

  1. Launch the executable.

       From a bundled package:        chess9.exe

       From source code:                py chess9.py


Ensure that the directory which contains chess9.* also contains a folder with piece icons (default: piece_icons), a folder for sound effects (default: sfx), and the window icon (default: ico.png).


For more information about choosing custom piece icons, see Icons....

For more information about choosing custom sound effects, see SFX Folder....

For more information about customizing the initial appearance of your game with command line options, as well as how to use these options without the command line, see Command Line.