More tests:
1 ║♜♞♝♛♚♝♞♜
2 ║:chess_pawn:
3 ║⚊⚊⚊⚊⚊⚊⚊⚊
4 ║⚊⚊⚊⚊⚊⚊⚊⚊
5 ║⚊⚊⚊⚊⚊⚊⚊⚊
6 ║⚊⚊⚊⚊⚊⚊⚊⚊
7 ║♙♙♙♙♙♙♙♙
8 ║♖♘♗♕♔♗♘♖
__._a_b_c_d_e_f_g_h
1 ║♜♞♝♛♚♝♞♜
2 ║:chess_pawn:
3 ║⚊⚊⚊⚊⚊⚊⚊⚊
4 ║⚊⚊⚊⚊⚊⚊⚊⚊
5 ║⚊⚊⚊⚊⚊⚊⚊⚊
6 ║⚊⚊⚊⚊⚊⚊⚊⚊
7 ║♙♙♙♙♙♙♙♙
8 ║♖♘♗♕♔♗♘♖
[FONT=“Fixedsys”]____a_b_c_d_e_f_g_h[/FONT]
Now with some pieces in:
1 ║♜♞♝♛♚♝♞♜
2 ║:chess_pawn:⚊:chess_pawn:
3 ║⚊⚊⚊⚊♟⚊⚊⚊
4 ║⚊⚊⚊⚊⚊⚊⚊⚊
5 ║⚊⚊♙⚊⚊⚊⚊⚊
6 ║⚊⚊⚊⚊⚊♘⚊⚊
7 ║♙♙⚊♙♙♙♙♙
8 ║♖♘♗♕♔♗⚊♖
__._a_b_c_d_e_f_g_h
1 ║♜♞♝♛♚♝♞♜
2 ║:chess_pawn:⚊:chess_pawn:
3 ║⚊⚊⚊⚊♟⚊⚊⚊
4 ║⚊⚊⚊⚊⚊⚊⚊⚊
5 ║⚊⚊♙⚊⚊⚊⚊⚊
6 ║⚊⚊⚊⚊⚊♘⚊⚊
7 ║♙♙⚊♙♙♙♙♙
8 ║♖♘♗♕♔♗⚊♖
[FONT=“Fixedsys”]____a_b_c_d_e_f_g_h[/FONT]
Tabby_Cat’s shogi pieces are much wider than chess pieces, here. And GIGObuster’s recent attempts are just fine for the board itself, but the column letters are way too wide (maybe try them without the underscores between them?).
GIGObuster,
Several of those tests look very good to me. I wonder whether you have seen or heard anything about doing something similar for playing cards? Specifically, I’m thinking about doing something for the game of Bridge.
It is so much more work to use a graphics based approach to representing a Bridge game. It would be so much easier if people could use ASCII characters to represent individual playing cards.
If those cards could also be produced using colors - Red for Hearts and Diamonds - Black for Spades and Clubs, many current systems could be greatly simplified.
It’s just a thought. But I’m sure many people would love to know if such a thing could be possible.
Ditto.
Based on feed back, we are going back to Quartz’ example and doing some tweaks:
FixedSys font with one single space separating chess pieces and lines, letters with Courier New
8 ║♜ ♞ ♝ ♛ ♚ ♝ ♞ ♜
7 ║:chess_pawn:
6 ║⚊ ⚊ ⚊ ⚊ ⚊ ⚊ ⚊ ⚊
5 ║⚊ ⚊ ⚊ ⚊ ⚊ ⚊ ⚊ ⚊
4 ║⚊ ⚊ ⚊ ⚊ ⚊ ⚊ ⚊ ⚊
3 ║⚊ ⚊ ♘ ⚊ ⚊ ⚊ ⚊ ⚊
2 ║♙ ♙ ♙ ♙ ♙ ♙ ♙ ♙
1 ║♖ ⚊ ♗ ♕ ♔ ♗ ♘ ♖
[font=“Courier New”]>> a b c d e f g h
[/FONT]
On edit: this looks great on Firefox in Linux, but off in Android Opera. Lines do not show up.
Off in Chrome, too. And for some odd reason, the columns between lines 1 and 2 are not aligned. That should never be the case?
:rolleyes: :dubious: :o :rolleyes:
[O][O][O][O][O][O][O][O]
[O][O][O][O][O][O][O][O]
[O][O][O][O][O][O][O][O]
[O][O] [O][O][O][O][O]
[O] :rolleyes: :dubious: :o :rolleyes:
FixedSys font with one single space separating chess pieces and boxes, letters with Courier New
8 ║♜ ♞ ♝ ♛ ♚ ♝ ♞ ♜
7 ║:chess_pawn:
6 ║❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑
5 ║❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑
4 ║❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑
3 ║❑ ❑ ♘ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑
2 ║♙ ♙ ♙ ♙ ♙ ♙ ♙ ♙
1 ║♖ ❑ ♗ ♕ ♔ ♗ ♘ ♖
>> a b c d e f g h
Hey, those boxes are almost aligned in Android! So far the best.
And: Bad Aquadementia! Bad Aquadementia! No Castle for you! 
FixedSys font with one single space separating chess pieces and boxes, on the previous one the letters were not resized, again with Courier New:
8 ║♜ ♞ ♝ ♛ ♚ ♝ ♞ ♜
7 ║:chess_pawn:
6 ║❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑
5 ║❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑
4 ║❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑
3 ║❑ ❑ ♘ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑
2 ║♙ ♙ ♙ ♙ ♙ ♙ ♙ ♙
1 ║♖ ❑ ♗ ♕ ♔ ♗ ♘ ♖
>> a b c d e f g h
I know,I know. I had the king and queen mixed-up. I feel so king.
Using the best example that almost works for Firefox and Android: FixedSys font with one single space separating chess pieces and boxes, Courier New for letters:
8 ║♜ ♞ ♝ ♛ ♚ ♝ ♞ ♜
7 ║:chess_pawn:
6 ║❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑
5 ║❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑
4 ║❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑
3 ║❑ ❑ ♘ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑
2 ║♙ ♙ ♙ ♙ ♙ ♙ ♙ ♙
1 ║♖ ❑ ♗ ♕ ♔ ♗ ♘ ♖
>> a b c d e f g h
Now with just Courier New:
8 ║♜ ♞ ♝ ♛ ♚ ♝ ♞ ♜
7 ║:chess_pawn:
6 ║❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑
5 ║❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑
4 ║❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑
3 ║❑ ❑ ♘ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑
2 ║♙ ♙ ♙ ♙ ♙ ♙ ♙ ♙
1 ║♖ ❑ ♗ ♕ ♔ ♗ ♘ ♖
>> a b c d e f g h
The pure Courier New one looks perfect to me, aside from possibly being a bit over-large.
What’s wrong with a Fixedsys board using Fixedsys column letters?
No problem with the boxes on Android or Linux. Still nothing works right with the letters, though.
Gigo, 41, 42, & 46 all have those annoying boxes with numbers and letters in them for me (“26/8a”)…
The problem is that there is no standard fixed-width font that implements the chess graphics. The only reason the fixed-width fonts work at all is due to font substitution.
Fortunately, all the chess characters are the same width in pretty much every font. If they can find a space character that is also the same width, that would be enough to show proper chess boards.
I honestly think the letters are superfluous. They’re nice, but we all know how to count from A to H.
Yes, in android the lines do not appear either, hence the boxes now; they do show up in Android and seem to have the same size as the chess pieces, still the letters are a pain to make them work but I think we are getting closer.
In the first example of post Number 52 the letters look perfect in Firefox linux and Android, but not in Chrome. Still off.
Courier new, size 4; letters in fixedsys:
8 ║♜ ♞ ♝ ♛ ♚ ♝ ♞ ♜
7 ║:chess_pawn:
6 ║❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑
5 ║❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑
4 ║❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑
3 ║❑ ❑ ♘ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑
2 ║♙ ♙ ♙ ♙ ♙ ♙ ♙ ♙
1 ║♖ ❑ ♗ ♕ ♔ ♗ ♘ ♖
>> _a _b _c _d _e _f _g _h
All of the recent ones look absolutely terrible in Chrome, though.
FixedSys font with one single space separating chess pieces and boxes still looks better in Firefox and Chrome in Linux, with Courier New for the letters:
8 ║♜ ♞ ♝ ♛ ♚ ♝ ♞ ♜
7 ║:chess_pawn:
6 ║❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑
5 ║❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑
4 ║❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑
3 ║❑ ❑ ♘ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑
2 ║♙ ♙ ♙ ♙ ♙ ♙ ♙ ♙
1 ║♖ ❑ ♗ ♕ ♔ ♗ ♘ ♖
>> a b c d e f g h
Checking if code makes it better:
8 ║♜ ♞ ♝ ♛ ♚ ♝ ♞ ♜
7 ║♟ ♟ ♟ ♟ ♟ ♟ ♟ ♟
6 ║❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑
5 ║❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑
4 ║❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑
3 ║❑ ❑ ♘ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑
2 ║♙ ♙ ♙ ♙ ♙ ♙ ♙ ♙
1 ║♖ ❑ ♗ ♕ ♔ ♗ ♘ ♖
>> a b c d e f g h