The Board Panel

This panel shows the chess board.
the board panel

To make a move, simply click the piece with the mouse and drag it to the destination square.
Notice how the mouse cursor changes when you move it over a piece:

jose does not enforce the touch-move rule. You can always drop a piece back to its original square.

If you attempt an illegal move, an error sound will be played.

Alternatively, you can enter moves by typing text in the The Game Panel :

Type the move, then hit "Return" to execute it.

Settings

Right click inside the board panel to show the context menu:

2D View

Switch to the two-dimensional board

3D View

Switch to the 3D board

Turn Board

Turn around the board (white pieces on top).

Coordinates

Turn off the display of the board coordinates (at the left and at the bottom).

Copy

Copy the current position to the system clipboard.

Image copy an image of the current position to the clipboard. The image has a transparent background.
Image with Background copy an image of the current position to the clipboard. The image has the screen background.
Text Diagram copy the current position as styled text to the clipboard. If you paste this text into another application (e.g. a word processor) you must make sure that the target application can use the appropriate TrueType fonts.
FEN is a common format for chess positions that is understood by many chess applications. For example, a FEN string might look like this:
r2q1rk1/1p4pp/2p1bp2/1n2p3/pQ6/P2P1NP1/4PPBP/1RR3K1 b - - 0 22

Paste

Paste a FEN position from the system clipboard. This command will invoke the The Setup Dialog .
You should take care that the system clipboard contains a valid FEN string, otherwise it will not produce a useful result.

Search for this Position

Enter the current position in The Database Search Panel . You can then search the database for this position.

Options...

Open the Options Dialog . Among other settings, you can modify the colors and textures of the board.

Variations

To enter a variation line, just play the first move of the variation. jose will now ask you about inserting a new line:

New Line: creates a new variation line
New Main Line: creates a new line and makes it the main variation. The previous main line will still be available as a variation.
Overwrite: overwrites the current line. Use with care, as the overwritten line will be lost!
Cancel: cancels the last move.
Don't ask: check this option if you don't want to see this popup anymore. All following variations will be inserted automatically.

If you check Don't ask, your choice will apply to all following variations. For example, if you choose New Line (and check Don't ask), all variation moves will automitically create a new line.

This option can be quite useful, but it might also become confusing.
Use Insert new Move to turn it off.

Promotions

When a pawn reaches the eighth row (or if a black pawn reaches the first row) it must be promoted to an officer (Queen,Rook,Bishop, or Knight). Select the promotion piece from a popup menu. Or click outside the popup to cancel the move.