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.
These tables include not only the original and expanded Alfaerie sets, but also selected pieces from the Utrecht and XBoard sets, and those created by Jean-Louis Cazaux, Fergus Duniho, and myself as well.
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.
| 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) | Minister (WDN) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alfaerie |
general |
promotedbishop |
promotedrook |
moon |
mooninv |
highpriestess |
minister
duke |
| Others |
admiral |
wizardc |
highpriestessg
highpriest |
minister2
minister3
dukec |
| Cardinal | Chancellor | |
|---|---|---|
| Alfaerie |
knightbishopd |
knightbishopd |
| Duniho |
downknightbishop |
downknightrook |
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
- Minister: Duke
Uncommon Compounds
These pieces combine the above pieces in other ways, or aren't used quite so often.
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. (I made all but the original, by modifying the original.)
|
Abbot (F4N) |
abbot |
Admiral (RF) |
admiral |
Butler (mKcN) |
butler |
|
Chef (sW2F) |
chef |
Courier (NXZY) |
courier |
Dummy (-) |
dummy |
| Magician |
magician |
Mann (K) |
man |
Spy |
spy |
Beasts
There's a long-standing tradition of pieces being named for animals, both real and mythical.
| Camel (C) | Zebra (Z) | Giraffe (NY) | Antelope (FX) | Gnu (NC) | Okapi (NZ) | Bison (CZ) | Buffalo (NCZ) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
camel |
zebra |
giraffe |
antelope |
wildebeest1 |
okapi |
wildebeest |
wildebeest2 |
As you probably noticed, there are no dedicated images for the Bison or Buffalo, but three for the Wildebeest (aka Gnu). These images can be considered interchangeable; what's shown is just my personal preference.
| Lions | Elephants | |
|---|---|---|
| Alfaerie |
lion |
|
| Cazaux |
lionc
|
elephant4 |
| Utrecht |
lionu |
|
| Others |
lion2
lion3 |
elephant3 |
There are many takes on the Lion, and not just in the multiple icons that are available. Different games have different moves for it as well:
- Modern Lion (KAND Lion) (KAND)
- Japanese Lion (KANDcaKmavK)
- Murray Lion (ADcK)
- Fairy Lion (pQ)
- Congo Lion (KkcQ)
- Leon (Spanish Lion) (CH)
- Leo (mQcpQ)
Elephants are arguably even worse. Different versions include:
- Alfil (Persian Elephant) (A)
- Modern Elephant (FA)
- Musketeer Elephant (KAD)
- Indian Elephant (FfW)
- Chinese Elephant (nA)
- Korean Elephant (afsnW)
- Ciccolini's Elephant (Z)
- von Wilpert's Elephant (QNN)
There's nothing preventing more than one of either (or both) from being in the same game together, so take your pick.
Nobility & Clergy
Another chess tradition is pieces named for royalty, nobility, clergy, and their staff. Typically, those named for nobility have mainly orthogonal moves, while those named for clergy have diagonal moves, in keeping with the Rook and Bishop respectively.
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 and would like to see soon, please just let me know in the Comments. (That also goes for seeing anything out of place here!)
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