Menu File – Options – Board Design
This tab (called "Board Design" in the Options dialog) controls the visual appearance of the 2D chess board. The 3D board has its own dedicated dialog and is not configured here.
Board (group)
Three drop-down combos let you pick the textures and pieces for the board:
– Colour schemes: choose a board colour or texture scheme. Beyond the predefined schemes, two special entries are offered: "Plain Colour" (lets you pick custom colours for light and dark squares) and "User BMP" (lets you load your own bitmap as the board surface).
– Pieces: choose the piece set used for rendering on the 2D board.
– Background: choose the texture that fills the table area around the board.
Proportion (slider, range 85–110)
Regulates the size of the pieces relative to the squares. A value of 100 corresponds to standard sizing.
Margin (slider, range 0–10)
Sets the width of the margin around the board (the strip that holds the file/rank coordinates).
Animation (slider, range 0–9)
Controls the speed at which pieces glide between squares. 0 disables animation; higher values give a more pronounced animation.
Options (group of checkboxes)
– Use new 2D board: enables the modern Direct2D-based 2D board (recommended). When unchecked, the legacy board renderer is used.
– Shadows: gives the pieces a soft drop-shadow so they appear slightly raised above the board.
– Rounded: makes the piece silhouettes appear slightly rounded.
– Anti-aliasing: smooths the edges of the pieces.
– Coordinates: displays the file letters (a–h) and rank numbers (1–8) along the edges of the board.
– Evaluation: displays the engine's evaluation directly next to the board.
Replay Arrows Below Board (group of radio buttons)
Selects the layout of the replay controls below the board:
– None: no replay controls are shown.
– Buttons: simple recorder-style replay/forward buttons.
– Slider: a draggable slider together with the buttons, useful for navigating long games.