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.
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.
It is critical to use the version provided here to view chessboards generated by HTMLTTChess. 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.
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.
- First version of the font (by Armando Hernandez Marroquin).
- Mapping to Unicode.
- Available here or in first commit on GitHub.
- 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.
- 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.
The installation procedure is similar to any other fonts. Here are some more detailed instructions depending on your platform:
| Platform | Instructions |
|---|---|
| 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 OSX | 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. |
See file chess_merida_unicode.html for the complete keymap.