What’s Here
º More than 100 desktop icons with chess motifs.
º A kit for creating chess diagrams, using the icons' figurine designs.
º Graphics and wallpapers based on the chess diagrams.
º A kit for creating chess diagrams, using the icons' figurine designs.
º Graphics and wallpapers based on the chess diagrams.
What’s New
20-Jun-09
Another wallpaper based on the ‘Buttons’ icons can be found on the Graphics page, called Green discs.
14-Jun-09
A new wallpaper, Blue discs, is available from the Graphics page.08-Jun-09
Sometimes I get requests to use Virtual Pieces graphics on websites and elsewhere (permission must be sought, of course), and here are two such instances where the icons are nicely employed. ActionChess, developed by Martin Grider, is an iPhone game that combines chess and Tetris. The game utilises the figurine pieces from Diagramkit. IM Goran Vojinovic's Chess Lessons site features graphics from Chessicons, and it is created by Elevation Web Designs.
Sometimes I get requests to use Virtual Pieces graphics on websites and elsewhere (permission must be sought, of course), and here are two such instances where the icons are nicely employed. ActionChess, developed by Martin Grider, is an iPhone game that combines chess and Tetris. The game utilises the figurine pieces from Diagramkit. IM Goran Vojinovic's Chess Lessons site features graphics from Chessicons, and it is created by Elevation Web Designs.
29-May-09
After a break, I have completed a new wallpaper, Transformation - check it out on the Graphics page.
After a break, I have completed a new wallpaper, Transformation - check it out on the Graphics page.
28-Mar-09
Version 2 of Diagramkit is available from the Diagrams page. The figurine pieces now come in twelve colours - the six new ones are dark/light red, green, and violet. The dark and light blue pieces have also been revised to improve their legibility.
Version 2 of Diagramkit is available from the Diagrams page. The figurine pieces now come in twelve colours - the six new ones are dark/light red, green, and violet. The dark and light blue pieces have also been revised to improve their legibility.
11-Feb-09
On the Graphics page you will find a new wallpaper, named Transfiguration.
On the Graphics page you will find a new wallpaper, named Transfiguration.
18-Jan-09
An improved version of Diagramkit can be downloaded from the Diagrams page. Based on the new icons from Chessicons v4, the figurines now have a smoother look. I have also increased the colour contrast of these pieces to make them more legible against the board background. On another note, I recently discovered a nice feature of Paint.NET that should make it faster to set up a diagram. Instead of opening the required figurines one by one in Paint.NET, you can open them all simultaneously by selecting them in Windows Explorer and dragging the selection to the Paint.NET window.
An improved version of Diagramkit can be downloaded from the Diagrams page. Based on the new icons from Chessicons v4, the figurines now have a smoother look. I have also increased the colour contrast of these pieces to make them more legible against the board background. On another note, I recently discovered a nice feature of Paint.NET that should make it faster to set up a diagram. Instead of opening the required figurines one by one in Paint.NET, you can open them all simultaneously by selecting them in Windows Explorer and dragging the selection to the Paint.NET window.
26-Dec-08
All of the wallpapers on the Graphics page are now available in the widescreen format.
All of the wallpapers on the Graphics page are now available in the widescreen format.
22-Dec-08
I have uploaded Sienna glasses, a version of the Dark glasses wallpaper. Both are available in the widescreen format as well. Dark glasses has been revised very slightly (mostly to be consistent with the new widescreen version).
I have uploaded Sienna glasses, a version of the Dark glasses wallpaper. Both are available in the widescreen format as well. Dark glasses has been revised very slightly (mostly to be consistent with the new widescreen version).
08-Dec-08
A new wallpaper, Dark glasses, has been added to the Graphics page.
A new wallpaper, Dark glasses, has been added to the Graphics page.
16-Nov-08
Chessicons v4 can now be downloaded as a single zip file from the Icons page. This is a fairly large file, best if you have the latest version of Windows (Vista) or Macintosh (Tiger or later) that makes use of the large icon formats. For visitors whose OSs are older and don't require the larger images, I have put together Chessicons v3.6. This is a much smaller download without the 256x256px images, and it includes the improved versions of all the icons as found in Chessicons v4.
Chessicons v4 can now be downloaded as a single zip file from the Icons page. This is a fairly large file, best if you have the latest version of Windows (Vista) or Macintosh (Tiger or later) that makes use of the large icon formats. For visitors whose OSs are older and don't require the larger images, I have put together Chessicons v3.6. This is a much smaller download without the 256x256px images, and it includes the improved versions of all the icons as found in Chessicons v4.
13-Nov-08
The ninth set of large icons, Glasses, is now available. This is the final addition to Chessicons v4, and to finish off, a brand new design.
The ninth set of large icons, Glasses, is now available. This is the final addition to Chessicons v4, and to finish off, a brand new design.
23-Oct-08
I have uploaded Set 8 of the large icons, Boxes. This is another group that noticeably improves on what was in Version 3.5.
I have uploaded Set 8 of the large icons, Boxes. This is another group that noticeably improves on what was in Version 3.5.
18-Oct-08
The seventh set of large icons, Folders, has been added.
The seventh set of large icons, Folders, has been added.
07-Oct-08
The large versions of the Borders icons are now available from the Icons page.
The large versions of the Borders icons are now available from the Icons page.
24-Sep-08
The fifth set of large icons, Figurines, can be downloaded. The smaller formats for these icons have been improved as well, with more details shown.
The fifth set of large icons, Figurines, can be downloaded. The smaller formats for these icons have been improved as well, with more details shown.
20-Sep-08
The large versions of the Staunton icons are now added. These are the only ones I did not make from scratch, but are based on digital photos of my chess set.
The large versions of the Staunton icons are now added. These are the only ones I did not make from scratch, but are based on digital photos of my chess set.
18-Sep-08
Another set of large icons, Shapes, has been added. This includes a few spheres that weren't in the previous version of Chessicons. I created the new 3D shapes using Paint.NET, which made the task far easier, and the final icons are also a huge improvement on what was in Version 3.5.
Another set of large icons, Shapes, has been added. This includes a few spheres that weren't in the previous version of Chessicons. I created the new 3D shapes using Paint.NET, which made the task far easier, and the final icons are also a huge improvement on what was in Version 3.5.
16-Sep-08
The second set of large icons, Boards2 & Buttons, is now available. This set involves the figurine designs, and enlarging the images of these individual pieces proved to be quite laborious, since to use a graphics program to resize them automatically would generate figures that look either too jagged or too fuzzy. So there was no avoiding some manual redrawing of these figurines, though once the largest version of each piece is drawn, a program can adequately reduce it to the smaller formats. In fact, an unexpected outcome was that when I automatically resized a 256x256px figurine to 48x48px, the result looks slightly better - smoother - than the original 48x48px icon!
11-Sep-08
The first set of large icons, Boards (for both Windows and Mac) has been added to the Icons page.
The first set of large icons, Boards (for both Windows and Mac) has been added to the Icons page.
The icon format for Windows has changed significantly since a decade ago, when I first began the project of drawing these tiny chess-related images. The early versions of Chessicons, for Windows 95, comprised images of just 32x32 pixels and 16 colours. The icons of the current version 3.5, for Windows XP, are sized 48x48px and involve truecolor and transparency effects. Windows Vista's new icon format considerably increases the image size to a maximum of 256x256px. Such an image type - not so tiny anymore - requires a great amount of details, making it less practical for non-professionals, like me, to produce good-looking results. Nevertheless, with a few excellent graphical tools, I intend to convert at least some of the chess icons to the Vista variety. These will be released in a number of small packages, rather than as a single set.
What’s Near
º More Wallpapers.
º More Wallpapers.
