WinBoard has command-line options for almost anything. It is just a matter where to put them. In this case
-st 0:10 would set it to 10 sec per move.
You could for instance put that in the master settings file (winboard.ini in the WinBoard folder), in a shortcut you made especially for the purpose, or in a file loaded with an existing shortcut (such as xq.ini with the Oriental Startup in the system menu).
-st is a volatile option, because it is not a recommended setting. It uses CPU time very inefficiently, and would result in the same quality of play as a twice faster average time per move where the engine can distribute its time (like 40 moves / 200 sec).
tvt2020 wrote:This is a 17 seconds fixed time per move game, I was wondering why winboard used "go time 17000 movestogo 30" instead of "go time 17000 movestogo 1".
24885 <first : # to engine : position fen rnbakabnr/9/1c5c1/p1p1p1p1p/9/9/P1P1P1P1P/1C5C1/9/RNBAKABNR w - - 0 1 moves c3c4
24885 <first : # to engine : go time 17000 movestogo 30
24885 <first : go time 17000 movestogo 30
This can't have been a 17sec/move game. (This could only be determined from the log of the complete game, which also shows what XBoard sent to UCI2WB at the start of the game.) Otherwise it would be a UCI2WB bug. Btw, what is should have sent is "go movetime 17000", which is subtly different from "go time 17000 movestogo 1".