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)

First version of the font (by Armando Hernandez Marroquin).
Mapping to Unicode.

v1.1 (August 12, 1998)

Second version of the font (by Armando Hernandez Marroquin).
Mapping to Symbol.
Extra figurine glyphs with different vertical alignment to allow in-text movement notation.

v1.2 (August 13, 2007)

Third version of the font (by Michaël Peeters).
Mapping to Unicode.
Font renamed to Chess Merida Unicode to avoid mapping compatibility problem with the previous version.
Extra glyphs for top and right coordinates (simple / double border).
Extra glyphs for border-less coordinates.
Extra glyphs to allow color rendering in HTML (dark square and figure enveloppes).
Small fix on the black knight.
Modified keymap to increase compatibility across browsers.
Modified font metrics (to prevent as much as possible white pixel lines between board rows).
Redesigned coord. glyphs to use components instead for uniform rendering.
Redesigned border glyphs for better rendering at small resolution.
Manually hinted all coord. glyphs for better rendering and consistent weight at all resolutions.

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

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.

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:

Mapping to existing Unicode character whenever possible (Chess symbol, full block...)
Exception for the Full Block character that is not correctly renderered in IE5.x and IE6.x.
Mapping to Private Use Area (End User Subarea) otherwise:
- xE000-xE0FF board symbols on light square (for B&W and color rendering).
  This section is empty in this version since all symbols are mapped to existing Unicode character.
- xE100-xE1FF board symbols on dark square (for B&W rendering).
- xE200-xE2FF enveloppe of board symbols (for color rendering).
- xE300-xE3FF Border drawing (for B&W rendering).
- xE400-xE4FF Other symbols.

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