The Chess Merida Unicode TrueType font

Introduction

Chess Merida Unicode is a TrueType font that was first designed by Armando Hernandez Marroquin in February 5, 1998. This package contains a new version of that font, with the major difference that the glyphs are now mapped to Unicode to allow portable usage in HTML. Actually I created this version so that it can be used along with the HTMLTTChess script, a javascript I wrote to ease writing of chessboard positions in HTML. Recently I ported this script into PHP, and now the same functionality is provided in a MediaWiki extension called FenTT.

The font is renamed to Chess Merida Unicode in order to avoid confusion with the previous versions since the mapping Unicode is not compatible with the previous versions.

Using the Chess Merida Unicode font with HTMLTTChess

It is critical to use the version provided here to view chessboards generated by HTMLTTChess or FenTT. Besides being remapped to Unicode, this version contains additional glyphs needed for the rendering of color chessboards. For this, either the font must be installed on the client, or delivered to the font via CSS webfonts.

History and license information

Armando Hernandez Marroquin released the font as freeware, so obviously this new version is freeware as well. I hope you'll find this version useful. This is actually my first step in the vast world of typography, so if you have comments or suggestion, don't hesitate to contact me. Of course, all credits related to the beauty of the fonts should go to Armando Hernandez Marroquin. If interested, you can find other fonts from him here.

v1.0 (February 5, 1998)

v1.1 (August 12, 1998)

v1.2 (August 13, 2007)

Installing the Chess Merida Unicode TrueType font

The installation procedure is similar to any other fonts. Here are some more detailed instructions depending on your platform:

Linux

On Linux, there are several possibilities. A way to do this, at least on my system (OpenSUSE 10.x), is to simply copy the file in directory .fonts in your home directory (ie. just type in a console cp chess_merida_unicode.ttf ~/.fonts). Please check that there is no other version of the font available on the system. Also it is safer to quit and restart your browser after installation.

Font rendering is greatly improved if hinting/anti-aliasing is activated. Please check your Linux distribution documentation for more information.

Windows

To install the font on Windows, you simply have to copy the file chess_merida_unicode.ttf into the "fonts" directory of Windows main directory (typically C:\Windows\Fonts). In case you have an older version of the font already installed, you must first delete that version before installing the new one. Also it is safer to quit and restart your browser after installation.

On Windows XP, font rendering is greatly improved if ClearType is enabled on the client machine. Check out Microsoft's online ClearType Tuner for more information.

Mac OS X

You simply need to drag&drop the file in the fonts directory of system directory. Also it is safer to quit and restart your browser after installation.

Keymap

This is the complete keymap for the Chess Merida Unicode font. The coding conventions for the keymap are:

Highlighted glyphs are new in the last version.

Board square   x00A0 xE100 xE200
Bullet x2022 xE122
X x2715 xE115
King x2654 xE154 x265A xE15A xE254 xE400
Queen x2655 xE155 x265B xE15B xE255 xE401
Rook x2656 xE156 x265C xE15C xE256 xE402
Bishop x2657 xE157 x265D xE15D xE257 xE403
Knight x2658 xE158 x265E xE15E xE258 xE404
Pawn x2659 xE159 x265F xE15F xE259 xE405
Row 1 1 1 xE310 xE320 xE340 xE350
Row 2 2 2 xE311 xE321 xE341 xE351
Row 3 3 3 xE312 xE322 xE342 xE352
Row 4 4 4 xE313 xE323 xE343 xE353
Row 5 5 5 xE314 xE324 xE344 xE354
Row 6 6 6 xE315 xE325 xE345 xE355
Row 7 7 7 xE316 xE326 xE346 xE356
Row 8 8 8 xE317 xE327 xE347 xE357
Column a a a xE318 xE328 xE348 xE358
Column b b b xE319 xE329 xE349 xE359
Column c c c xE31A xE32A xE34A xE35A
Column d d d xE31B xE32B xE34B xE35B
Column e e e xE31C xE32C xE34C xE35C
Column f f f xE31D xE32D xE34D xE35D
Column g g g xE31E xE32E xE34E xE35E
Column h h h xE31F xE32F xE34F xE35F
Border simple
square/round corner
xE300 xE301 xE302 xE308 xE301 xE309
xE303 xE304 xE303 xE304
xE305 xE306 xE307 xE30A xE306 xE30B
Border double
square/round corner
xE330 xE331 xE332 xE338 xE331 xE339
xE333 xE334 xE333 xE334
xE335 xE336 xE337 xE33A xE336 xE33B
Miscellaneous xE4FF xE4FE