using ironwood
Keyboard move input
Type chess moves with a translucent input overlay, and navigate game positions with arrow keys.
During your turn, start typing a move. The first keystroke opens a translucent overlay showing your input; you do not need to click a move-entry field first.
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| Enter | Play the typed move if it is legal. |
| Backspace | Remove the last character. |
| Escape | Clear the input and dismiss the overlay. |
Accepted move notation
| Example | Meaning |
|---|---|
e4 | Move a pawn to e4. |
Nc3 or nc3 | Move a knight to c3. |
exd5 | Capture on d5 with the e-file pawn. |
O-O, o-o, or 0-0 | Castle on the king side. |
O-O-O | Castle on the queen side. |
a8=Q or a8=q | Promote a pawn to a queen on a8. |
e2e4 | Move from e2 to e4 using coordinate notation. |
Piece letters can be lowercase. Pawn notation is checked first, so b4 still means the b-pawn move. If two pieces of the same type can reach a square, include the required file or rank, such as Nbd2. You can omit a trailing check or checkmate marker.
An illegal or unrecognized move stays in the overlay with an error message. Correct it with Backspace and press Enter again, or cancel with Escape. Typing does not pause the game clock.
Move entry works in local games, Train against AI, and online games when it is your turn. It pauses while an app dialog or text field is active, while viewing past positions, and during your opponent’s turn. In Self-play, you can type moves for either color.
Navigate positions
Use Left Arrow and Right Arrow to move backward and forward through game positions. In a larger Saved Games preview, these keys select the previous or next move and pause autoplay.
Drawing shortcuts
With the Draw on board window open, Ctrl+Z undoes the last drawing change for the displayed position. It covers additions, edits, deletions, and Clear. Active text fields keep their own text undo behavior.
Alt-click / Alt-drag draws a green square or arrow without enabling drawing mode. Add Shift for red or Ctrl for yellow. While dragging an arrow with the graphical tools, hold left-click and tap right-click to toggle solid/dashed or left/right curve styles. See Drawing arrows and highlighting squares for the full controls.
Voice move entry is not currently built into Ironwood.
Focus mode
Shift+Enter toggles focus mode when you are not editing a text field. Escape exits focus mode. The board toolbar’s focus icon provides the same toggle. See Focus on the board.
Mouse-wheel move navigation
Over the main board, scroll down to advance and up to go back. When inspecting an engine prediction, the wheel follows that line; selecting a Game Moves entry returns to game history. The expanded game graph also supports wheel navigation. On a 3D board, hold the right mouse button while scrolling to zoom instead. Active training and online play restrict history navigation.
Switch saved analysis runs
In Analysis or the expanded game graph, press 1–9 to select the matching numbered saved-analysis button. The numbers follow the dropdown’s order, and selection stays synchronized between views. Buttons beyond 9 are available by clicking. Shortcuts pause while you type or while analysis/loading prevents switching. In Analysis, these keys select saved analysis runs instead of observed FICS games. Compare analyses.