--- a/src/thread.cpp
+++ b/src/thread.cpp
@@ -36,23 +36,13 @@
 /// Thread constructor launches the thread and waits until it goes to sleep
 /// in idle_loop(). Note that 'searching' and 'exit' should be already set.
 
-Thread::Thread(size_t n) : idx(n), stdThread(&Thread::idle_loop, this) {
-
-  wait_for_search_finished();
-}
+Thread::Thread(size_t n) : idx(n) { searching = false; }
 
 
 /// Thread destructor wakes up the thread in idle_loop() and waits
 /// for its termination. Thread should be already waiting.
 
-Thread::~Thread() {
-
-  assert(!searching);
-
-  exit = true;
-  start_searching();
-  stdThread.join();
-}
+Thread::~Thread() {}
 
 
 /// Thread::clear() reset histories, usually before a new game
@@ -79,63 +69,29 @@
 /// Thread::start_searching() wakes up the thread that will start the search
 
 void Thread::start_searching() {
-
-  std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lk(mutex);
   searching = true;
-  cv.notify_one(); // Wake up the thread in idle_loop()
+  search();
+  searching = false;
 }
 
 
 /// Thread::wait_for_search_finished() blocks on the condition variable
 /// until the thread has finished searching.
 
-void Thread::wait_for_search_finished() {
-
-  std::unique_lock<std::mutex> lk(mutex);
-  cv.wait(lk, [&]{ return !searching; });
-}
+void Thread::wait_for_search_finished() {}
 
 
 /// Thread::idle_loop() is where the thread is parked, blocked on the
 /// condition variable, when it has no work to do.
 
-void Thread::idle_loop() {
-
-  // If OS already scheduled us on a different group than 0 then don't overwrite
-  // the choice, eventually we are one of many one-threaded processes running on
-  // some Windows NUMA hardware, for instance in fishtest. To make it simple,
-  // just check if running threads are below a threshold, in this case all this
-  // NUMA machinery is not needed.
-  if (Options["Threads"] > 8)
-      WinProcGroup::bindThisThread(idx);
-
-  while (true)
-  {
-      std::unique_lock<std::mutex> lk(mutex);
-      searching = false;
-      cv.notify_one(); // Wake up anyone waiting for search finished
-      // Start ponder search from separate thread to prevent deadlock
-      if (Threads.size() && this == Threads.main() && XBoard::stateMachine && XBoard::stateMachine->ponderMove)
-      {
-          NativeThread t(&XBoard::StateMachine::ponder, XBoard::stateMachine);
-          t.detach();
-      }
-      cv.wait(lk, [&]{ return searching; });
-
-      if (exit)
-          return;
-
-      lk.unlock();
-
-      search();
-  }
-}
+void Thread::idle_loop() {}
 
 /// ThreadPool::set() creates/destroys threads to match the requested number.
 /// Created and launched threads will immediately go to sleep in idle_loop.
 /// Upon resizing, threads are recreated to allow for binding if necessary.
 
 void ThreadPool::set(size_t requested) {
+  requested = std::min(requested, size_t(1));
 
   if (size() > 0)   // destroy any existing thread(s)
   {
--- a/src/tt.cpp
+++ b/src/tt.cpp
@@ -84,29 +84,7 @@
 //  in a multi-threaded way.
 
 void TranspositionTable::clear() {
-
-  std::vector<std::thread> threads;
-
-  for (size_t idx = 0; idx < Options["Threads"]; ++idx)
-  {
-      threads.emplace_back([this, idx]() {
-
-          // Thread binding gives faster search on systems with a first-touch policy
-          if (Options["Threads"] > 8)
-              WinProcGroup::bindThisThread(idx);
-
-          // Each thread will zero its part of the hash table
-          const size_t stride = size_t(clusterCount / Options["Threads"]),
-                       start  = size_t(stride * idx),
-                       len    = idx != Options["Threads"] - 1 ?
-                                stride : clusterCount - start;
-
-          std::memset(&table[start], 0, len * sizeof(Cluster));
-      });
-  }
-
-  for (std::thread& th : threads)
-      th.join();
+  std::memset(table, 0, clusterCount * sizeof(Cluster));
 }
 
 
--- a/src/uci.cpp
+++ b/src/uci.cpp
@@ -611,4 +611,26 @@
 
 Protocol CurrentProtocol = UCI_GENERAL; // Global object
 
+// Browser transport: commands run synchronously inside one dedicated Worker.
+void browser_command(std::string cmd) {
+  static Position pos;
+  static StateListPtr states(new std::deque<StateInfo>(1));
+  static bool initialized = false;
+  if (!initialized) {
+    pos.set(variants.find(Options["UCI_Variant"])->second, variants.find(Options["UCI_Variant"])->second->startFen, false, &states->back(), Threads.main());
+    initialized = true;
+  }
+  istringstream is(cmd);
+  string token;
+  is >> token;
+  if (token == "uci") sync_cout << "id name " << engine_info(true) << "\n" << Options << "\nuciok" << sync_endl;
+  else if (token == "isready") sync_cout << "readyok" << sync_endl;
+  else if (token == "setoption") setoption(is);
+  else if (token == "position") position(pos, is, states);
+  else if (token == "go") go(pos, is, states);
+  else if (token == "ucinewgame") Search::clear();
+  else if (token == "stop" || token == "quit") Threads.stop = true;
+  else if (token == "d") sync_cout << pos << sync_endl;
+}
+
 } // namespace Stockfish
diff --git a/src/ffishjs.cpp b/src/ffishjs.cpp
--- a/src/ffishjs.cpp
+++ b/src/ffishjs.cpp
@@ -760,7 +760,7 @@ EMSCRIPTEN_BINDINGS(ffish_js) {
   function("setOption", &ffish::set_option<std::string>);
   function("setOptionInt", &ffish::set_option<int>);
   function("setOptionBool", &ffish::set_option<bool>);
-  function("readGamePGN", &read_game_pgn);
+  function("readGamePGN", &read_game_pgn, return_value_policy::take_ownership());
   function("variants", &ffish::available_variants);
   function("loadVariantConfig", &ffish::load_variant_config);
   function("capturesToHand", &ffish::captures_to_hand);