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Advanced Tips & Tricks

koshogs edited this page May 28, 2022 · 25 revisions

This is a list of those little tricks that can help you navigate OGS a little more effectively.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Anywhere on OGS

Numpad 0 or back-tick (or § on some keyboards) – Open/close hamburger menu and focus search bar (except for in chat where it just types 0 or ` or § respectively).

SHIFT+backtick or ALT+backtick – Open/close notification menu (except for in chat where it just types eg ~ etc above backtick)

ESC – close hamburger/search menu, notification menu and friends list if open.

On Game Screen

LEFT AND RIGHT ARROW KEY – Switch to analyze mode (if enabled) and/or scroll through moves (again, can't work if chat window is selected).

HOME AND END KEY – (fn+left/right arrow on mac) Jump to start or end of game (again, can't work if chat window is selected).

PAGE UP/DOWN – (fn+up/down arrow on mac) Jump back/forward 10 moves (again, can't work if chat window is selected).

SPACE – Start/stop automatically re-playing moves from the current position onward (speed can be changed in settings, disabled when in chat).

ESC – Returns to the current game position, closing analyze mode or estimate score.

SHIFT + LEFT MOUSE BUTTON on any stone or intersection (in analyze mode only or review) – jumps to a move number in which that coordinate was played

CTRL+CLICK on stone or intersection (ALT+CLICK or CMD+CLICK on mac) – pastes co-ordinates of clicked stone into game chat. (Co-ordinates such as A20, A0, pass and U5 etc also exist by clicking the expected place)

F1-F12 – Switches to analyze mode (if not already there) and selects a different tool. (Need to be enabled in your settings.)

key tool
f1 Alternating stones
f2 Place black
f4 Label triangle
f5 Label square
f6 Label circle
f7 Label letters
f8 Label numbers
f9 draw tool
f10 clear pen marks

Click move number in chat – Jumps to that move number (or variation in review) when comment was sent. (i.e. the dividers between chat logs at different move numbers are clickable)

Analysis/Review Tricks

Holding shift while using the place Black or place White stones tool swaps color.

Delete/backspace key Delete branch from current node.

Shift+Click while using the Alphabet label tool allows custom 3 character labels, including emojis.

Any letter or number key while using the Alphabet or Number label tool changes the label to the pressed key.

Press Z and click on an intersection while using the Alphabet or Number label and the labels become a lowercase alphabet. One can remove the Z label after an a is placed, by clicking again on the position of the Z label.

CTRL+C Copy branch from current node.

CTRL+V Paste branch onto current node, provided there are no move collisions. Stone colors may swap if pasted when the opposite color is to play a move compared to the start of the copied branch.

Shift+z : Toggle "Zen mode"

Shift+c : Toggle coordinates

Shift+i : Enable/Disable AI review

Shift+a : Analyze game

Shift+r : Review this game

Shift+e : Estimate score

Shift+p : Back to Game

In Chat

Typing a user's name makes the message highlighted for him/her

Hitting TAB after at least three letters tries to autocomplete a username

By typing "#GAME NUMBER" you can create a neat link to a game (exampe: #00000001)

By typing "player PLAYER NUMBER" you can create a neat link to a player's profile. (exampe: player 00000001)

By starting a message with "/me" you can make the rest of the line in italics

Further chat shortcuts are summarised on the OGS forums post here

In Puzzles

ESC – resets the puzzle.

Left arrow key – undo the current move.

ENTER/RETURN – advance to next puzzle in set if the puzzle was answered correctly and the next button appears.

In Joseki Explorer

Home (fn+left arrow on mac)– reset explorer to empty board.

Left/Right arrow – go one move back/forward.

Setting up a Bot for OGS

Any user is welcome to run a bot on OGS but the following restrictions need to be observed:

Registration of Bots:

All bots on OGS need to be registered as bot accounts. Regular accounts are prohibited from using AI assistance by the Terms of Service. Every bot account must have a nominated admin account for contact on any issues. If you already have a regular account then simply 'Report' your new bot account and request that it be marked as a bot with you as admin. If you are running multiple bots, please set them up with just one administrator account. The key concern here is that the bot owner has an account that is in a position to be aware of communications in relation to the bot.

Game Restrictions for Bots:

Bot accounts may use the 'Computer' play option to play against other bots or you may create Custom Games for other users to accept. To minimise the number of game cancellations, it is advisable to choose a "botty" name for your bot and also select a game name that makes it clear to users. eg: "Bot game".
Bot accounts are NOT allowed to accept custom games created by other users, use the 'Quick match finder' option or join ladders or tournaments (except where expressly permitted). In short, it is regular users who have the final say about playing a bot or not.
Bots may also be set up to receive games from other users through the 'Computer' play option. For more information see: tutorial

Many people enjoy challenging the various bots on OGS so thankyou for considering running a bot on the site.

You may also be interested in the Alan Turing tournaments available through the OGS Title Tournaments Group and This group for bots which has its own ladders.