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 and XBoard) seemed to be sufficiently compatible to adapt and 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. Most are displayed at a size of 35x35 pixels, though a few are smaller and several (especially those not originally intended to go with the Alfaerie set, but even some of those from the original set) are larger.
Pieces
Where a piece has a "standardized," common, recommended, or original move, the XBetza notation for that move is given. (That doesn't mean that you're obligated to use it as-is.)
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 (from Armando Marroquin's Chess Motif font), and myself, as well as other sources.
Also, you may notice that some icons appear on more than one table; this is mainly for organizational purposes.
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 |
| Motif |
kingd |
queend |
bishopd |
knightd |
rookd |
pawnd |
| Utrecht |
kingu |
queenu |
bishopu |
knightu |
rooku |
pawnu |
| Xboard |
|
queenx |
|
knightx |
rookx |
pawnx |
|
|
King | Queen | Bishop | Knight | Rook | Pawn |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alfaerie |
kinginv |
queeninv |
bishopinv |
knightinv |
rookinv |
pawninv |
| Motif |
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 |
| XBoard |
ferzx |
wazirx |
|
The Ferz and Wazir combine to make the King's move (see also "Non-Royal Kings" below), but the atoms can combine in other ways.
| Alfil | Dabbabah | |
|---|---|---|
| Ferz |
Modern |
Fortress (FD) |
|
elephantferz |
warmachineferz |
|
| Wazir |
see text |
War Machine |
|
elephantwazir |
warmachinewazir |
|
|
Alibaba (AD) |
||
|
elephantwarmachine |
||
The Fortress is also the Kirin; the Wazir-Alfil may be called the Phoenix, the Waffle, or (on occasion) Caliph. See the Kirin and Phoenix below.
| Ferz | Wazir | Alfil | Dabbabah | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Knight |
knightferz |
knightwazir |
knightdabbabah |
|
| Camel |
camelferz |
camelwazir |
elephantcamel |
camelwarmachine |
| Zebra |
elephantwazir |
elephantwazir |
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) | Centaur (KN) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alfaerie |
cardinal |
chancellor
champion |
amazon |
amazonrider |
general |
| Cazaux |
cardinalc |
marshalc |
amazonc |
nightamazo |
|
| Motif |
knightbishopd |
knightrookd |
knightqueend |
knightkingd |
|
| Xboard |
cardinalx
|
chancellorx
marshallx |
|||
| Others |
paladin
princess
knightbishopu |
|
angel |
queenknight2 |
centauru |
| General (BDD) | Dragon Horse (BW) | Dragon King (RF) | Wizard (FC) | Sorcerer (WZ) | Kirin (FD) | Phoenix (WA) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alfaerie |
general |
promotedbishop |
promotedrook |
moon |
mooninv |
warmachineferz
dragon |
elephantwazir |
|
mage |
|||||||
| Others |
crownedbishopu |
admiral
crownedrooku |
wizardc
wizardx |
firebird |
|||
| High Priestess (FAN) | Minister/Duke (WDN) | Champion (WAD) | Fad (FAD) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alfaerie |
highpriestess |
minister |
duke |
champion |
|
| Others |
highpriestessg
highpriest |
minister2
minister3 |
dukec |
championx |
|
|
|
Cardinal | Chancellor |
|---|---|---|
| Alfaerie |
cardinalinv |
chancellorinv |
| Motif |
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
- Centaur: Page, 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, or aren't used quite so often.
| Queen | Bishop | Rook | Mann | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Camel | Sultana (QC) | Caliph (BC) | Canvasser (RC) | General (Jinaaral) (KC) |
|
camelqueen |
camelbishop |
camelrook |
camelguard |
|
| Zebra | Malkia (QZ) | Kuhani (BZ) | Mtawala (RZ) | Jikilele (KZ) |
|
zebraqueen |
zebrabishop |
zebrarook |
zebraguard |
(The Caliph and Canvasser were invented and named by Carles Gilman; I came up with the other names.)
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.
Different takes on the Standard Pawn are above; these are mainly variations of the Alfaerie version of that.
|
Berolina Pawn |
Sergeant |
Chinese Pawn |
Fish Pawn (vmWfceFifnmD) |
Horse Pawn (ffN) |
Mongolian Pawn (fmWfcFifmW3) |
Piglet Pawn (fFbmFbmWifA) |
Quick Pawn |
Shogi Pawn |
Weak Pawn |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
berolinapawn
|
sergeant |
chinesepawn |
fish |
knightpawn |
mongolianpawn |
pigletpawn |
quickpawn |
shogipawn |
weakpawn |
These may or may not actually be "common" (in fact, the Piglet Pawn is my own creation), but they don't stray too far from the basic principles of the Pawn. Those that do have moves well outside what pawns normally can do are (what I call) Enhanced Pawns
|
Arrow Pawn |
Lance Pawn |
Luna Pawn (mvWcfFcffC) |
Moose Pawn (fcWfmeFmfsNmfsCifnmD) |
Scorpion Pawn (fmWfceFmfsNifnmD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
arrowpawn |
lancepawn |
lunapawn |
moosepawn |
scorpionpawn |
Then there are Pawns with abilities other than what Pawns normally have.
| Shield Pawn (ifmnDfmWsceWfmpafabcuW) spell=brake |
Zombie Pawn (fFfWbmW) contagious |
|---|---|
|
|
pawnu |
| Linebacker Pawn (fhmKifmnDifmnAfhmpafabucKifhmpafmpafabucK) |
|
|
linebackerpawn |
|
Men
These are icons that are based on the "Man" icon. (I made all but the original of these, by modifying said original.)
|
Abbot (F4N) |
abbot |
Admiral (RF) |
admiral |
Butler (mKcN) |
butler |
|
Chef (sW2F) |
chef |
Courier (NXZY) |
courier |
Dummy (-) |
dummy |
| Magician |
magician |
Man (K) |
man |
Spy |
spy |
The Man is also known by such names as Commoner, Guard, Prince, Fool, or Sage, as well as the alternate (German) spelling Mann.
| Man | Fool | Guard | Prince |
|---|---|---|---|
|
man
manx |
fool |
guard
guard2 |
prince
prince2
princec |
General note: The following will be copied to Part 3 once I'm able to make that page.
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.
Genera note: The following will be copies to Part 4 once I'm able to make that page.
Forward & Back
Several pieces move forward like one sort of orthodox piece or common variant piece, and backwards like another.
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
Mostly on a whim, 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 I accept that few people will be interested in using them. Still, a few might find it interesting, at least theoretically.
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/.
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). They're roughly evenly divided that way, taking all parts of this library into account.
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