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Icon Clearinghouse 2

Part One of this series of pages showed icons for orthodox pieces, their close relatives, and other commonly-seen chess pieces. For this page, we'll be taking a look at some of the many chess pieces that have been named for animals.

Note that these are subject to all of the same rules and guidelines as Part One, including finding the graphics themselves at /membergraphics/MSiconclearinghouse/ (not the counterpart for this page!).

Pieces

There's a long-standing tradition of pieces being named for animals, both real and mythical.

Note that some of the "alternate" icons (and at least one of the "official" icons) aren't animals at all. They're included just to show alternate ideas.

Very Common Beasts

These are the beasts that you'll actually see most often.

Very Common Beasts
  Camel (C) Zebra (Z) Giraffe (NY) Antelope (FX) Gnu (NC) Okapi (NZ) Bison (CZ) Buffalo (NCZ)
Alfaerie

camel

zebra

giraffe

antelope

gnu

okapi

zebracamel

knightcamelzebra
Others

camelc

  

giraffec

  

wildebeest1

gnuc

  

wildebeest

wildebeest2

As you probably noticed, there are no dedicated images for the Bison or Buffalo, but three for the Wildebeest (not counting Jean-Louis Cazaux's Gnu). These images can be considered interchangeable; what's shown is just my personal preference.

Ubiquitous Beasts

Ubiquitous Beasts
  Lions Elephants
Alfaerie

lion

elephant
Cazaux

lionc

leo

elephant4
Utrecht

lionu

  
Others

lion2

lion3

elephant2

elephant3

These pieces aren't actually more common than those above; there are simply more different versions of each, both in icons and in how they're applied.

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:

Elephants are arguably even worse. Different versions include:

There's nothing preventing more than one of either (or both) from being in the same game together, so take your pick.

Ringleaders

The "Ringleaders" shown here are those that leap to any square at a specific distance.

Ringleaders

Squirrel

(AND)

Cheetah

(GZCH)

Sabertooth

(ANDGZCH)

squirrel

castle

cheetah

sabretooth

wolf

The Squirrel is also sometimes called a Bear, though I don't currently have an icon for that.

When the Sabertooth uses the wolf icon, it's usually called the Dire Wolf.

Common Beasts

These pieces aren't used as often, but are recognized by most players, with a commonly-recognized move.

Common Beasts
  Roc (AC) Mastodon (KAD) Falcon
(nCnZ)		 Unicorn (BNN) Raven (RNN) Griffin
(FyafsF)		 Rhinoceros
(WyafsW)		 Snake
(vWvyafsW)
Alfarie

elephantcamel

mammoth

falcon

bird

unicorn

bird

bird2

gryphon

bird

rhino

snake
Cazaux    

falconc

    

griffinc

    
Others

roc

squire

falcon2		        

snake2

snake3

Some alternate names:

Uncommon Beasts

Uncommon Beasts
Turtle (Q4AD) Kangaroo (NA) Pegasus
(NmpafsyafF)		 Crab (ffNbsN) Barc (bbNfsN) Aurochs (NFX) Impala (NYN) Dolphin
(R3mDmH)

Walrus
(B3mAmG)

turtle

kangaroo

pegasus

pegasus1

crab

barc

ox

impala

dolphin

walrus

Some games give the Pegasus a move of ZFX, while older fairy chess problems use NNgQ.


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: 2023-10-25. Web page last updated: 2024-01-21

Revisions of MSiconclearinghouse2