An AutoHotkey test...

1. e4 e5 2. ♗c4 ♝c5 3. ♕f3 ♞c6? 4.♕×f7 mate.

Back when I used the non-Unicode version of AutoHotkey, a one-liner along the lines of

:*?:\euro\::{ASC 0128}

would allow me to type \euro\ on my keyboard and have a euro symbol (€) show up on the screen. I had an extensive set of such one-line macros that would allow me to insert accented and other characters without having to call up menus or jump through hoops.

With the Unicode version of Autokey, the same macro literally puts "{ASC 0128}" on the screen. After digging around a little, it turns out the desired result can be achieved using the following code:

:*?:\euro\::
Send {U+20AC}
return

I am still working through the list of characters I've created macros for, and while most of them appear to work, some (like the diameter sign) either do not work or work in some arcane manner I need to learn more about.

And while I was snooping around various Unicode charts, I ran across the symbols for chess pieces, which are not very useful for constructing diagrams, but apparently will suffice when it comes to writing games in so-called "figurine algebraic." (Although the font used to display this post appears to have pieces of different size, depending on whether they are white or black, e.g., ♗ and ♝.)

Cheers...