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.

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

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:

• 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)

And then there are the Unicorns:

• Unicorn (BNN)
• Cazaux's Grant Acedrex Unicorn (NmpafsyafW)
• Murray's Grant Acedrex Unicorn (BimN)
• Musketeer Unicorn (NC)
• Various non-square Unicorns (triangular, 3D, 5D, etc.)

There's nothing preventing more than one of any of these 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.

Common Beasts

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

Some alternate names:

• The Roc may also be called the Caribou.
• The Mastodon is also called a Mammoth, Squire, or Pasha.
• The Griffin (which can have a variety of spellings) is also known as the Eagle (hence the bird image), or sometimes the Aanca.
• The Rhinoceros is also known as the Manticore.
• The Snake is often called by its original name, Snaketongue.

Uncommon Beasts

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

Rare Beasts

The move shown for the Dog is the Musketeer version; in shogi, the Dog moves fWbF.

Very Rare Beasts

Singular Beasts

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

Mysterious Beasts

These are icons for which no consistent XBetza move was readily available.

Notes

Missing Beasts

There are several animal-based pieces for which I currently have no icons, or for which better icons are sorely needed. Discounting Shogi pieces and those of my own invention, these include Basilisk, Bear, Bison, Boar, Chameleon, Donkey, Duck, Flamingo, Ibis, Kirin, Locust, Manticore, Monkey, Newt, Octopus, Osprey, Quail, Wallaby, Wyvern, and Zebu. I invite anyone so inclined to create such icons.

Last revised by Bob Greenwade.