Check out Janggi (Korean Chess), our featured variant for December, 2024.

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

camelx

zebrac

zebrax

giraffec

antelopec

wildebeest1

gnuc

gnux

zebrax

bisonc

bisonu

wildebeest

buffaloc

wildebeest2

As you probably noticed, there are three versions of "wildebeest." 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

elephantc
Utrecht

lionu

  
XBoard

lionx

elephantx
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

squirrelc

castle

cheetah

sabretooth
Dire Wolf

wolf

wolfc

wolfx

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

When the Sabertooth uses a 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  

mammothc

falconc

unicornc

  

griffinc

rhinoc

snakec
XBoard    

birdx

  

birdx

gryphonx

  

snakex
Others

roc

squire

falcon2		    

aanca

  

snake2

snake3

Some alternate names:

Uncommon Beasts

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

Walrus
(B3mAmG)

turtle

kangaroo

kangarooc

pegasus

pegasus1

crab

barc

frog

ox

bullc

impala

dolphin

dolphinc

dolphinx

walrus

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

Rare Beasts

Rare Beasts
Horse (mafsW)

Goose (fAbD)

 Grasshopper
(gQ)		 Snail (WfD) Spider (NDF2) Stag (DY) Tiger
(ZmpafsmpafyafW)		 Whale
(vRbB)

horse

goose

grasshopper

grasshopperc

snail

spider

stagu

lancer

rabbit

tiger

tigerx

whale

The Stag is also known as the Lancer or Hare.

Very Rare Beasts

Very Rare Beasts
Jackal
(GZ)		 Cobra
(RcabF)		 Viper
(BcabW)		 Butterfly
(fNbsNbFfsC)		 Flying Kingfisher
(KAADD)		 Rabbit
(BNYN)		 Raccoon
(FDN)

Sparrow
(mQcK)

jackal

snake

snakex

snake2

snake3

butterfly

butterflyx

flyingkingfisher

rabbit

raccoon

sparrow

Obscure Beasts

These are, admittedly, all my own inventions (except that the Owl icons are pre-existing).

Obscure Beasts
Bongo
(ANCZ)		 Serval
(DHCFX)		 Seahorse
(nN)		 Swordfish
(K2)		 Manta
(F2cabW)		 Jellyfish
(K)
spell=freeze		 Owl
(WNZNYZY)		 Pussycat
(FNCFXNX)		 Tressym
(KNCZNYZYFXNX)

bongo

cheetah

seahorse

swordfish

manta

jellyfish

owl

owlx

cat

tressym

Singular Beasts

Singular Beasts

Indrik
(ByafsF)

 Simurgh
(RyafsW)		 Pushmi-Pullyu
(mQcyabQcyabmKcyabcyabmK)		 Thunderbird
(WB3afafyasfF)

indrik

simurgh

pushmepullyu

thunderbird

The Indrik and Simurgh are alternate names for the Metropolitan and Ancress, respectively.

Mysterious Beasts

These are icons about which I have little to no other information, that were made deliberately to be generic, that have multiple move assignments in different games, or that were made for environments other than square movements.

Mysterious Beasts
Bat Crandodo Dire Knight Draft Horse Dragon Hippo Hydra Leopard Lizard Scorpion Wader

bat

crandodo

direknight

drafthorse2

dragon

hippo2

hydra

leopardx

lizard

scorpion

wader

 


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