Chess symbols in Unicode

Chess symbols are part of Unicode. Instead of using images, one can represent chess pieces by characters that are defined in the Unicode character set. This makes it possible to:

Use figurine algebraic notation, which replaces the letter that stands for a piece by its symbol, e.g. ♘c6 instead of Nc6. This enables the moves to be read independent of language (the letter abbreviations of pieces in algebraic notation vary from language to language).
Produce the symbols using a text editor or word processor rather than a graphics editor.

In order to display or print these symbols, a device must have one or more fonts with good Unicode support installed, and the document (Web page, word processor document, etc.) it is displaying must use one of these fonts.^[1]

Unicode version 12.0 has allocated a whole character block at 0x1FA00 for inclusion of extra chess piece representations. This includes rotated pieces, neutral (neither white nor black) pieces, knighted pieces, equihoppers, and xiangqi pieces.^[2] Shatranj pieces have been provisionally assigned for a future version.^[3]^[4]

Unicode characters

In Unicode, chess symbols are in two groups:

Regular chess symbols, the basic six pieces in black and white (as part of Unicode block Miscellaneous Symbols), and
Uncommon and fairy chess pieces and xiangqi pieces, in a block named Chess Symbols.

The basic 12 chess pieces

**Chess Symbols**
Unicode.org chart (PDF)
Name	Symbol	Code point	HTML (decimal)	HTML (hex)
white chess king	Template:Chess Unicode	U+2654	♔	♔
white chess queen	Template:Chess Unicode	U+2655	♕	♕
white chess rook	Template:Chess Unicode	U+2656	♖	♖
white chess bishop	Template:Chess Unicode	U+2657	♗	♗
white chess knight	Template:Chess Unicode	U+2658	♘	♘
white chess pawn	Template:Chess Unicode	U+2659	♙	♙
black chess king	Template:Chess Unicode	U+265A	♚	♚
black chess queen	Template:Chess Unicode	U+265B	♛	♛
black chess rook	Template:Chess Unicode	U+265C	♜	♜
black chess bishop	Template:Chess Unicode	U+265D	♝	♝
black chess knight	Template:Chess Unicode	U+265E	♞	♞
black chess pawn	Template:Chess Unicode	U+265F	♟	♟

Fairy chess pieces, xiangqi and shatranj pieces

Chess Symbols^[1]^[2] Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)
	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	A	B	C	D	E	F
U+1FA0x	🨀	🨁	🨂	🨃	🨄	🨅	🨆	🨇	🨈	🨉	🨊	🨋	🨌	🨍	🨎	🨏
U+1FA1x	🨐	🨑	🨒	🨓	🨔	🨕	🨖	🨗	🨘	🨙	🨚	🨛	🨜	🨝	🨞	🨟
U+1FA2x	🨠	🨡	🨢	🨣	🨤	🨥	🨦	🨧	🨨	🨩	🨪	🨫	🨬	🨭	🨮	🨯
U+1FA3x	🨰	🨱	🨲	🨳	🨴	🨵	🨶	🨷	🨸	🨹	🨺	🨻	🨼	🨽	🨾	🨿
U+1FA4x	🩀	🩁	🩂	🩃	🩄	🩅	🩆	🩇	🩈	🩉	🩊	🩋	🩌	🩍	🩎	🩏
U+1FA5x	🩐	🩑	🩒	🩓
U+1FA6x	🩠	🩡	🩢	🩣	🩤	🩥	🩦	🩧	🩨	🩩	🩪	🩫	🩬	🩭
Notes 1.^ As of Unicode version 16.0 2.^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points

Chessboard using Unicode


8	Template:Chess Unicode	Template:Chess Unicode	Template:Chess Unicode	Template:Chess Unicode	Template:Chess Unicode	Template:Chess Unicode	Template:Chess Unicode	Template:Chess Unicode
7	Template:Chess Unicode	Template:Chess Unicode	Template:Chess Unicode	Template:Chess Unicode	Template:Chess Unicode	Template:Chess Unicode	Template:Chess Unicode	Template:Chess Unicode
6
5
4
3
2	Template:Chess Unicode	Template:Chess Unicode	Template:Chess Unicode	Template:Chess Unicode	Template:Chess Unicode	Template:Chess Unicode	Template:Chess Unicode	Template:Chess Unicode
1	Template:Chess Unicode	Template:Chess Unicode	Template:Chess Unicode	Template:Chess Unicode	Template:Chess Unicode	Template:Chess Unicode	Template:Chess Unicode	Template:Chess Unicode
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

References

^ "Test for Unicode support in Web browsers".
^ "Chess Symbols" (PDF). unicode.org. Retrieved 21 August 2023.
^ Bala, Gavin Jared; Miller, Kirk (22 December 2023). "Unicode request for shatranj symbols" (PDF). unicode.org. Unicode. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
^ Unicode. "Proposed New Characters: The Pipeline". unicode.org. The Unicode Consortium. Retrieved 4 February 2024.

[alanwoodTestForUnicodeSuportInBrowser-1] "Test for Unicode support in Web browsers".

[2] "Chess Symbols" (PDF). unicode.org. Retrieved 21 August 2023.

[shatranj-3] Bala, Gavin Jared; Miller, Kirk (22 December 2023). "Unicode request for shatranj symbols" (PDF). unicode.org. Unicode. Retrieved 4 February 2024.

[pipeline-4] Unicode. "Proposed New Characters: The Pipeline". unicode.org. The Unicode Consortium. Retrieved 4 February 2024.

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