KKFChess support forward game annotation (unlike Fritz which performs backward game annotation). The commands "anno" and "xmlanno" creates annotated files in text and XML formats. To view the chess board graphics for the latter, you need to install the Chess Merida fonts and have the correct XML/DTD/XSL directory structures.
Annotation begins from the current position till the end of the game or the specified last move.
The following steps explains how to create an annotated file for a game. Refer to the Console Mode Command Summary section for the syntax of the commands.
Start the chess engine and begin a new game of the chosen type
Load the game to be annotated using the "load" command. Note that if the game has a special "Variant" tag then the game type may change.
[Optional] Navigate to the desired starting position with "first", "last", "forward" or "back" commands.
[Optional] Set the time to spend per move with the "time" command or the maximum depth with the "depth" command.
Start the annotation with the "anno" command, specifying the output filename, the last move (optional) and the file creation method (optional)
Some examples of the "anno" / "annotate" command are:
| Command | Result |
| anno Study.txt | Creates a new file "Study.txt" by analysing from the current position till the last move made. |
| anno Study.txt 20 | Creates a new file "Study.txt" by analysing from the current position up to and including move 20. |
| anno Study.txt append | Appends the results to the file "Study.txt". |
| anno Study.txt 40 append | Appends the results to the file "Study.txt", up to and including move 40. |
To create an XML formatted annotation file, use the same procedure as with annotating to a text file but using the "xmlanno" or "xanno" command instead.
Some XML files are also created (copied) to the target directory, the files that will be created are:
| Directory and Files | Description |
| KKFChess.css | The style sheet. |
| KKFAnnotate.xsl | Data transforming/formatting code. |
| KKFAnnotate.dtd | Data structure definitions. |
| <Given file name>.xml | The XML annotation file you asked to create. |
The first three files are copied from "$Installed\KKFHelp\XML". $Installed is the directory where KKFChess is installed.
After annotation is completed and the XML file created, the engine attempts to display this formatted file for postview.
By default, KKFChess uses the Chess Merida font and the configuration items have default values for characters using this font (see Configuration). You can use another chess font with XML annotation but you must first find the corresponding character codes for displaying pieces.
To change the chess font to be used, edit the file "KKFChess.css". Find the style tag ".diagram" and change the "font-family:" item. You also need to edit the engine's configuration file "KKFChess.cfg" to set the correct characters to be used.