Icon Clearinghouse 1
What follows is (or, rather, eventually will be) a display of nearly every icon I could find on this site for use in chess variants, plus several that I created myself by one means or another. I've tended toward the Alfaerie set and icons derived from it, though a few others (such as Utrecht) seemed to be sufficiently compatible to mix in.
This listing is somewhat dynamic; while none will be deleted, more may be added at any time.
All of these are .png files, just for the sake of consistency.
Pieces
Where a piece has a "standardized," common, recommended, or original move, the XBetza notation for that move is given.
With each pair of pieces is the identifier for that pair. The actual filenames add w or b to the beginning, and .png to the end.
Orthodox Pieces
The six orthodox pieces (King, Queen, Bishop, Knight, Rook, and Pawn) have many variations. You might even find reason to use one set for the actual orthodox pieces, and select others for variant pieces.
The first two tables include not only the Alfaerie and Utrecht icons, but sets designed by Jean-Louis Cazaux and Ferbus Duniho as well.
| King (K) | Queen (Q) | Bishop (B) | Knight (N) | Rook (R) |
Pawn |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alfaerie |
king |
queen |
bishop |
knight |
rook |
pawn |
| Cazaux |
kingc |
queenc |
bishopc |
knightc |
rookc |
pawnc |
| Duniho |
kingd |
queend |
bishopd |
knightd |
rookd |
pawnd |
| Utrecht |
kingu |
queenu |
bishopu |
knightu |
rooku |
pawnu |
|
|
King | Queen | Bishop | Knight | Rook | Pawn |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alfaerie |
kinginv |
queeninv |
bishopinv |
knightinv |
rookinv |
pawninv |
| Duniho |
downking |
downqueen |
downbishop |
downknight |
downrook |
downpawn |
Atom Pieces
The four basic "atoms" for chess pieces are Ferz, Wazir, Alfil, and Dabbabah, all of which have histories going back centuries.
|
|
Ferz (F) | Wazir (W) | Alfil (A) | Dabbabah (D) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alfaerie |
ferz |
wazir |
elephant |
warmachine |
| Cazaux |
generalc |
governor |
elephant4 |
catapult |
Common Compounds
These are compounds of two (or more) of any of the above pieces (except Pawns) that are immediately familiar to chess variant fans.
| Cardinal (BN) | Chancellor (RN) | Amazon (QN) | Amazonrider (QNN) | Page (KN) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alfaerie |
cardinal |
chancellor |
amazon |
amazonrider |
general |
| Duniho |
knightbishopd |
knightrookd |
knightqueend |
knightkingd |
|
| Cazaux |
cardinalc |
marshalc |
amazonc |
nightamazo |
|
| Others |
paladin
princess |
champion |
angel |
queenknight2 |
| General (BDD) | Dragon Horse (BW) | Dragon King (RF) | Wizard (FC) | Sorcerer (WZ) | High Priestess (FAN) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alfaerie |
general |
promotedbishop |
promotedrook |
moon |
mooninv |
highpriestess |
| Others |
highpriestessg
highpriest |
Some alternate names:
- Cardinal: Archbishop, Princess, Paladin
- Chancellor: Champion, Empress, Marshal, Nobleman, Elephant
- Amazon: Angel, Commander, Wyvern, Superqueen, Dragon
- Amazonrider: Queen of the Night, Terror, Centauride
- Page: Centaur, Crowned Knight, Counselor, Judge
- Dragon Horse: Crowned Bishop, Missionary
- Dragon King: Crowned Rook, Sailor, Admiral
Uncommon Compounds
These pieces combine the above pieces in other ways.
Pawns
There are many kinds of pawns used in many chess variants, and there's no reason that all pawns in a game have to be the same.
Menn
These are icons that are based on the Mann piece.
|
Abbot (F4N) |
abbot |
Admiral (RF) |
admiral |
Butler (mKcN) |
butler |
|
Chef (sW2F) |
chef |
Courier (NXZY) |
courier |
Dummy (-) |
dummy |
| Magician |
magician |
Mann (K) |
man |
Spy |
spy |
Animals
There's a long-standing tradition of pieces being named for animals, both real and mythical.
Nobility & Clergy
Another chess tradition is pieces named for royalty, nobility, clergy, and their staff.
Military & Artillery
And another tradition is pieces named for military ranks, artillery, and similar things.
Shogi
These icons, while not specifically resembling shogi pieces, are designed specifically for use with shogi games.
Numbers & Symbols
Sometimes a simple digit or other symbol is all that's needed.
Tifinagh
On a lark, I designed several pieces based on letters of the Tifinagh (the Berber alphabet). There are several variants on that alphabet, and I didn't stick to just one, and not everyone will be interested in using them, but one or two might be interesting.
Other Stuff
These are icons that don't fit neatly into any of the other categories.
Rules
Anyone using this site may feel free to use these graphics for Interactive Diagrams, Game Courier, or other purposes. Just set the graphics directory to /membergraphics/MSiconclearinghouse/ (preceded by https://www.chessvariants.com if need be).
Notes
The pieces that are my "original" work fall into three categories: compounds (splicing two pieces, superimposing one over another, or combining them in some other way), modifications (removing and/or adding parts), and originals (created from scratch).
As for everything else, I do take requests; if you know of an icon or set of icons that I haven't added yet, please just let me know in the Comments.
This 'user submitted' page is a collaboration between the posting user and the Chess Variant Pages. Registered contributors to the Chess Variant Pages have the ability to post their own works, subject to review and editing by the Chess Variant Pages Editorial Staff.
By Bob Greenwade.
Last revised by Bob Greenwade.
Web page created: 2023-10-22. Web page last updated: 2024-01-21