Play against computer option crashed

[jun63cn]

Hi,

pygame 2.6.1 (SDL 2.28.4, Python 3.13.13)
Hello from the pygame community. https://www.pygame.org/contribute.html
TTS: 2 voices available:

• id='HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Speech\Voices\Tokens\TTS_MS_ZH-CN_HUIHUI_11.0' name='Microsoft Huihui Desktop - Chinese (Simplified)' langs=['zh-CN']
• id='HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Speech\Voices\Tokens\TTS_MS_EN-US_ZIRA_11.0' name='Microsoft Zira Desktop - English (United States)' langs=['en-US']
  TTS: voice applied (source=name-hint) actual=HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Speech\Voices\Tokens\TTS_MS_EN-US_ZIRA_11.0 -> OK
  TTS: target voice id=HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Speech\Voices\Tokens\TTS_MS_EN-US_ZIRA_11.0 (source=name-hint) -> applied
  TTS: rate=170wpm -> SAPI5 Rate=-2
  pygame-menu 4.5.2
  An error occurred while opening the book: [Errno 13] Permission denied: 'I:\Downloads\Compressed\HiresChess\books'
  Engine stockfish-windows-x86-64-avx2.exe opened successfully. Engine ID: Stockfish 18
  Closing engine...{'name': 'Stockfish 18', 'author': 'the Stockfish developers (see AUTHORS file)'}
  engine closed.

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "chessMain.py", line 644, in
File "chessMain.py", line 631, in runMain
File "chessMain.py", line 567, in mainMenu
File "pygame_menu\menu.py", line 2577, in update
File "pygame_menu\widgets\core\widget.py", line 2787, in update_menu
File "pygame_menu\widgets\widget\button.py", line 160, in update
File "pygame_menu\widgets\core\widget.py", line 1265, in apply
File "chessMain.py", line 241, in playComputerGame
File "modes\play_game.py", line 55, in playGame
File "modes\play_game.py", line 528, in playAGame
File "UCIEngines.py", line 351, in bestMove
AttributeError: 'types.SimpleNamespace' object has no attribute 'engine_usebook'
[PYI-10520:ERROR] Failed to execute script 'chessMain' due to unhandled exception!
Thanks!

[gaelazzo]

Thanks again for the detailed log — both issues are fixed in v1.2.2 (just released):

"Play vs computer" crash (engine_usebook): caused by a missing config default. Fixed — and the app is now hardened so a missing/old setting can never crash it again.
"books permission denied" warning: it no longer appears when no opening book is set.
A few things to know:

Run from an extracted folder. Don't run the app from inside the zip / a compressed folder — that makes the folders read-only (your path was I:\Downloads\Compressed\…). Extract HiresChess-windows.zip to a normal location (e.g. Desktop or Documents) and run chessMain.exe from there.

The opening book is NOT included (optional; book files have their own size/licensing). The app and engine play fine without it. To add one:

Get a Polyglot opening book — a .bin file (must be Polyglot format, not PGN). Free, widely-available ones include gm2600.bin, Perfect2023.bin, Titans.bin (search "Polyglot opening book bin").
Put the .bin into the books\ folder next to chessMain.exe.
In the app: Tools → Setup → Choose book and select it.
Syzygy endgame tablebases are also optional and not included (they can be several GB). They give perfect endgame play. If you want them: download the Syzygy .rtbw/.rtbz files — the 3–4–5-piece set is small and free (e.g. from lichess's tablebase downloads) — put them in a folder, and set SyzygyPath to that folder in config.json (under engine_options). Skip the 6/7-piece sets unless you have lots of disk space.

Summary of the "bring your own" bits: engines go in engines, opening books (.bin) in books, and Syzygy wherever you point SyzygyPath. Grab the new HiresChess-windows.zip from the Releases page once the build finishes. Thanks for helping make it more robust! ♟️