The Open File - Chessicons

Submitted by NM Zug on Mon, 02/02/2009 at 6:11am.

The Open File

by Life Master Mike Petersen (Zug)

Chessicons

How many of you use "emoticons" in your email and text messages? There are lots of them. For example, :) is a smile, while :( is a frown, and ;) is a wink. They're fun to use, and can sometimes take the sting out of what might otherwise be a misunderstood comment. This makes me ask the question, are there emoticons for chess? So, I did some research, and you know what? There aren't any!

Well, this just isn't right. There ought to be emoticons for chess. It's only fair. Besides, chess does bring out very strong emotions in many of its practitioners. So I have decided to introduce chess emoticons, which I have dubbed "chessicons". Check 'em out. Let me know what you think. And, if you have any ideas for additional chessicons, leave a comment to this column with your suggestions.

So, below is my list of chessicons. It is important to note that if the chessicon starts out with the eyes, it's from white's side, and if the eyes come last, it's from black's side. I have therefore listed them as follows: the white chessicon, its definition, then the black chessicon.

:> I have an attack <:

:< My opponent has an attack >:

:[] I just played the only move (box) []:

&:( I'm hung over ):&

:? I made a bad move ?:

:! I made a good move !:

:@ Send me a good move @:

:z I'm in Zugzwang z:

:Z My opponent is in Zugzwang Z:

:h I'm hoping for a draw h:

:d Game was a draw d:

:#( I got mated )#:

:#) I mated him (#:

:e My opponent doesn't speak English e:

;e My opponent has an accent e;

:i I have an idea i:

:K I just moved my king K:

:Q I just moved my queen Q:

:R I just moved my rook R:

:B I just move my bishop B:

:N I just moved my knight N:

:p I just moved my pawn p:

:u Unclear position u:

:= Equal position =:

:T We're still in theory T:

:x I'm dead in this position x:

:) I won (:

:( I lost ):

:(-- My game sucks (straw) --):

So, there you have them. I think I did great. As a matter of fact, I think this whole column was :[] and :!