/ChessCuernavacaOFL

OFL licensed Chess diagram font

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Cuernavaca

Chess Cuernavaca is an OFL licensed font suitable for making Chess diagrams.

Its graphics are mostly based on public domain vector files available at the Wikimedia commons. Those vector files are in turn based on raster PNG images. The PNG images, in turn, are renderings of symbols in the open source Skak Chess Font, but do not, as per Eltra Corp. v. Ringer, fall under the license for that font. Since the SVG files are derived from raster PNG images, Adobe Systems, Inc. v. Southern Software, Inc. does not apply.

Note that this font is not public domain in some jurisdictions which allow fonts to be copyrighted, but is still available under a different open source license. Since some jurisdictions which protect fonts only protect them for shorter terms, it appears that the Shak font was first published in 2002, so copyright expired before 2013 in Germany (10 years protection without registration), and expired before 2018 in Ireland (15 years protection).

To use, install the ChessCuernavaca.ttf file in one’s operating system.

Here is a diagram made with the font:

Cuernavaca Chess Font

There is some support for fairy chess pieces.

Note that this font is also available with a different license at the following location:

https://github.com/samboy/ChessGraphics

The chess pieces

  • A is a white upsidedown bishop
  • S is a black upsidedown bishop
  • D is a white rook + knight fairy piece
  • F is a black rook + knight fairy piece
  • G is a white upsidedown knight
  • H is a black upsidedown knight
  • P is a white pawn
  • O (the letter) is a black pawn
  • RNBQK are the expected white pieces (as per English algebraic notation)
  • TMVWL are the corresponding black pieces
  • A + is an empty black square
  • A (blank space) is an empty white square

Note that the mapping is (generally) compatible with Chess Merida and Armando Hernandez Marroquin’s other excellent freeware Chess fonts.

Uppercase pieces are on black squares; lowercase pieces are on white squares.

The following text looks like the starting position for Modern Carrera Chess (where an upsidedown bishop also has the knight’s move, and the piece which is a knight with rook is the rook + knight piece) in the ChessTepoztlan font:

!""""""""""#
$tSmVwLvMfT%
$OoOoOoOoOo%
$ + + + + +%
$+ + + + + %
$ + + + + +%
$+ + + + + %
$pPpPpPpPpP%
$RaNbQkBnDr%
/(((((((((()

Note that the font works best on a QWERTY keyboard (since the corresponding black piece is next to the white piece; e.g. V is a black bishop where B is a white bishop). Uppercase is a dark square; lower case is a light square.