Early Chess (1500-1600)

 

In the 16^th century, a manuscript now in Perugia, Italy described a new chess piece called “Amazon.”  This unorthodox piece combined the powers of a rook, bishop, and knight.  This piece was sometimes used up to the 18^th century as a substitute for the queen.  In Vida’s famous poem, the queen was sometimes called the Amazon, probably the first use of this word to describe a chess piece.  (source: Hooper, p.13)  For the rest of the 16^th century, “Amazon” cropped up as an alternative term for “chess queen” in various European languages.  (source: Yalom, p. 218)

Around 1500, the Gottingen manuscript was written.  It is the earliest known work devoted entirely to modern chess.  It is a Latin text of 33 pages (leaves).  The manuscript received its name because it was discovered in the library of the Gottingen university by Professor Oesterley in 1869.  It contains 12 games or openings and 30 problems.  It may have been written by Lucena.   (source: Monté, p. 74)  The text used Latin terms for the chessmen, but the diagrams accompanying the text used initials based on French names.  The manuscript appears to have been a conscious attempt to spread chess beyond Spanish borders for French consumption.  (source: Yalom, p. 215) 

Around 1500, Franciscan friar Luca Pacioli (1447-1517) wrote De Ludo scacchorum (On the Game of Chess).  He dedicated his treatise to the chess-minded Marquess Isabellla d’Esteand her husband Francesco III Gonzaga.  The manuscript was probably written with the help of his best friend, Leonardo da Vinci.   The chess pieces in its illustrations were designed or drawn by da Vinci.  The manuscript has 114 chess problems.  Pacioli’s manuscript disappeared in 1508.  A Latin version was found in 1963.  An Italian version was found in 2006.  (source: Monté, p. 25) 

In 1502, the Cesena manuscript called Ludi Varii was written, which includes Vicent’s lost work, Libre dels jochs partits dels schacs en nombre de 100, ordenat e compost per mi Francesh Vicent. The Cesena manuscript was discovered by Italian chess bibliophile Franco Pratesi in 1995 at the Biblioteca Malatestiana of Cesena. The chess problems are copied from Vicent’s lost book.  The Cesena manuscript as at least two handwritings in it.  It is written in Italian interlaced with Spanish words (the problems), and Spanish (the solutions).  In some examples, there are traces of Latin words.  (source: Monté, p. 62) 

Around 1505, the Escorial manuscript was written.  It is preserved in the San Lorenzo monastery of the Escorial.  It is a collection of 89 chess problems, in which 16 use the modern rules of chess.  It is written in Castilian, Italian, and Latin.  (source: Monté, p. 25)

In September 1509, the first Portuguese expedition arrived off Malacca (modern-day Malaysia).  Its commander, Diego Lopez de Sequeira (1465-1530), was playing chess when a Javan from the mainland came on board.  The native recognized the game at once.  (source: Murray, p. 96) 

In 1510, master painter and engraver Lucas van Leyden (1494-1533) painted The Chess Players when he was 16 years old.  It depicts a game of Courier Chess in progress.  Courier Chess was a variant of chess devised in Germany in the 15^th century.  Play took place on a board of 96 squares (8x12).  *source: Brace, p. 73)

In 1512, a Portuguese apothecary (pharmacist) named Pedro Damiano (1480-1544) wrote a book on chess called Questo libro e da imparare giocare a scachi et de li partiti (This book is to be learned playing chess and other games).  It was published in Rome.  In it, he described an opening in which a pawn was sacrificed for the sake of better position (a gambit).  (source: Davidson, p. 58-59)  The book was rich in problems and opening analyses.  It is the earliest Italian printed work on chess.  It included advice such as ‘when you find a good move, look for a better.’  It ran through 8 Italian editions in the 16^th century and was translated in French, German, and English.  In it, he analyzed what has come to be known as Damiano’s Defense (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6) and refuting it with 3.Nxe5.  (source: Divinsky, p. 52)  The book included 72 problems (though not original).  It is the oldest book that definitely states that the square on the right of the row to each player must be white.  In 1518, a second edition was printed.  In 1524, a third edition was printed.   In 1530, a fourth edition was printed.  His booklet was the most widely disseminated work of chess in the 16^th and the beginning of the 17^th centuries.  (source: Monté, pp. 85-116)  Damiano suggested that chess was invented by Xerxes, which is why it was known in Spanish as Axedrez.  Nearly 50 years passed before another chess book was published.  (source: Hooper, p. 101) 

In 1513, the Bishop of Alba and poet Marco Girolamo Vida (1485-1566) wrote a popular poem Scacchia Ludus (The Game of Chess).  The poem explained the origin of chess involving a chess game among the gods (Apollo and Mercury) and the nymph Scacchis (Caissa) who taught it to mortal men.  (source: Eales, p. 13)  Chess was presented to the Gods of Olympus at the wedding Of Oceanus (the Latin name for the sea-god Poseidon) to the Earth Mother.  (source: Buehrer, p.12)

In 1520, Bona Sforza d’Aragona (1494-1557) was Queen of Poland.  She came from Italy and chess gained prestige and popularity during her reign.  Chess became a palace game.  (source: Gizycki, p. 39) 

In 1533, the French poet Gratien de Pont (1500-1545) wrote, Les controverses des sexes masculin et feminine, published in Toulouse in 1534.   The poet devised a chessboard, abusing each square by calling 64 nasty and obscene names.  In protest of the new rules of chess and the powerful move of the queen that had been added, we wrote an insult for the queen on each of the chessboard squares.    (source: Monté, p. 32)  Insults included misleading woman, infinite liar, mirror of laziness, wicked, smelly, biting, etc.  (souce: Yalom p. 219) 

In 1536, Christian Egenolff (1502-1555) published Des Altenn Ritterlichenn spils des Schachzabels, gruentlich bedeutung.  It was an updated chess book by Mennel.  Egenolf’s book gave the rules of the old game and added a description of the modern one.  He called the modern game of chess the Current or Italian game.  It is considered the first German document on chess (source: Golombek 1976, p. 83) 

Around 1545, Henry Howard (1516-1547), Earl of Surrey, wrote a poem called To the Ladie that Scorned her Lover.  The poem was printed in 1557.  He mentions the chess piece ferse (queen), checking the king, and giving mate.   (source: Monté, p. 24)

In 1547, Juan de Timoneda (1520-1583) wrote Ingenio, the first book on checkers.  It was published in Valenica, Spain, the home of many early chess books.

In May 1547, Duke John Frederick (1503-1554), Elector of Saxony, was taken prisoner by the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V (1500-1558).  Frederick was condemned to death as a convicted rebel and was to be beheaded at the Wittenburg gate.  While in prison at Worms, Frederick played chess the Ernest IV of Brunswick, his fellow prisoner.  He also played chess with his Spanish guards.  He was not executed and was released in 1552 after being pardoned by Emperor Charles V on recommendation from several other dukes.  (source: Pruen, p. 18)

In 1547, after a visit from abbot Don Juan Sobrino, 29 of the collection of 44 pieces (originally 96 pieces) of the Ager crystal chessmen were missing.  Later the 15 remaining pieces came into the possession of a countess in Paris.  The pieces then ended up in a museum in Barcelona.  Before 1990, the pieces were bought by the emir of Kuwait.  (source: Monté, p. 5)  The pieces were then plundered by Iraqi soldiers during the Gulf War (Aug 2, 1990 to Feb 26, 1991).  The pieces were later returned to Kuwait.  

In 1549, Paolo Boi (1528-1598) an Italian chess player, beat Pope Paul III (1468-1549) in a chess match.  He was brought up by the church and was supposed to be a leading church member.  However, he escaped to Greece, and then to Saragossa, and finally returned to Sicily as a well-known chess player.  In 1549, Boi was supposedly offered a Cardinal’s hat by Pope Paul III (source: Sunnucks, p. 55).  In 1564, he had defeated all the chess players in his home town of Syracuse, Sicily, and had begun his travels through Italy.  Pope Pius V (1504-1572) offered him a rich benefice if he had entered the clergy, which he didn’t.  In 1575, he traveled to Spain and defeated Ruy Lopez and Alfonso Ceron (1535-1600) in a chess tournament in Madrid.  King Philip II rewarded him with appointments in Sicily that yielded 500 crowns annually.  On his return from Spain, he was allegedly captured by Algerian pirates and sold as a slave.  He later obtained his freedom by winning large sums for his mater through his skill at chess.  Boi was able to play 3 chess games simultaneously.  He travelled and played chess in Genoa, Milan, Venice and even as far as Hungary, where he played chess against Turks while mounted on horseback.  (source: Divinsky, p. 25) In 1598, he played chess against Salvio at Naples.  After his match with Salvio, he was supposedly poisoned by jealous rivals (or suicide by poison) and died.  (source: Brace, p. 41)    However, he did not die of poisoning.  At age 70, he died in Naples of a stomach ache after an exhausting hunt.  (source: Monté, p. 211)

In 1551, chess was prohibited in Russia as noted in the Stoglav, also known as the Book of One Hundred Chapters.  This was a collection of decisions of the Russian church council that regulated the canon law in Russia.

In 1560, the first mention of castling appeared in chess literature.   Castling originated from the king’s leap, a two-square king move added to European chess in the 14^th century.  In 1560, castling existed in 3 different ways.  The current version of castling was established in France in 1620 and in England in 1640.  In 1811, Johann Allgaer introduced O-O notation for castling kingside (O-Ol for kingside and O-Or for queenside).  In 1837, Aaron Alexandre introduced O-O-O notation for castling queenside.  (source: Monté, p. 387)

In 1560, Claude Gruget (1525-1560) wrote Le plaisant jeu des Eschez renouvelle and published in Paris.  It was a French translation of Damiano’s Italian chess book.  (source: Monté, p. 105)

In 1560, Etienne Pasquier (1529-1615) wrote Les recherches de la France, published in Paris.  It mentioned for the first time that when a pawn reaches the 8^th rank, underpromotion is allowed and can be replaced by a minor piece.  Underpromotion was still not allowed in Naples up to 1634.  (source: Monté, p.109) 

In 1560, Giovanni Leonardo Di Bona da Cutri (1542-1597) played a chess match with Ruy Lopez in Rome and lost.  From 1566 to 1572, he travelled and played chess in Rome, Genoa, Marseille, and Barcelona.  He had played many times against Paolo Boi in Italy, and they were regarded as being equal in their chess strength.  In 1575, he won the first known international master tournament, held in Madrid, therefore becoming the strongest chess master of the time.  He returned to Italy and died in Naples in 1597.  He is believed to have been poisoned by Jealous rivals.  (source: Schoneberg, p. 16)  He was nicknamed ‘il Puttino’ (the boy) while in Rome.  In 1587, he was an agent to the prince of Bisignano.  (source: Brace, p. 167)  Details of his life are recounted in Salvio’s chess book, Il Puttino, but Salvio’s chronology is suspect, and some incidents are embellished to show Greco in a favorable light.  (Colombek 1977, p. 179)

In 1561, the Spanish Catholic priest Rodrigo “Ruy” Lopez de Segura (1530-1580) wrote Libro de la invencion liberal y Arte del juego del Axedrez (Book of the liberal invention and art of the game of chess), one of the first books about modern chess in Europe.  Ruy Lopez introduced the word ‘gambit,’ which derives from an Italian word describing the act of tripping up an opponent in wrestling.  (source: Saunders, p. 12)  Ruy Lopez wrote that bare king was an inferior (half) win in Spanish chess.  Ruy Lopez dedicated his book to Don Garcia Alvarez de Toledo y Osorio (1514-1577, a Spanish general and governor.  (source: Monté, p. 42)

In 1562, James Rowbotham translated Gruget’s French book into English, with the title, The Pleasant and wittie Play of the Cheasts renewed.  (source: Monté, p. 105)

Around 1563, Lorenzo Busnardo (1531-1598) was a Jesuit parish priest, who neglected his duties over chess.  He was addicted to the game and became a profession chess master, playing for money inside and outside Venice.  In 1577, 1581, and 1587, he stood three trials before the Inquisition.  (source: Monté, p. 209)

Around 1565, Count Annibale Romei (1530-1590) wrote a chess treatise called Le fatiche sopra il giuoco degli scacchi.  After Pacioli’s problem collection, his treatise is the oldest known work on modern chess written extensively by an Italian author.  (source: Monté, pp. 188-189)

Around 1566, Alfonso Ceron wrote a treatise on chess called De latrunculorum ludo.  No copy of this manuscript is known today. 

In 1566, Teresa of Avila (1515-1582) wrote The Way of Perfection.  She demonstrated her knowledge of chess, even though chess was frowned upon for Carmelite nuns.  She chose the chess queen as her model for humanity.  Because she used the game of chess as a metaphor for moral progress, she was named the patron of Spanish chess in 1944.  She became a patron saint in 1626.  (source: Yalom, p. 221)

In 1568, Francisco Borgia (1510-1572), great-grandson of Pope VI and General of the Jesuit Order, enacted a rule that chess was not forbidden for monks, but it should not be praised.  (source: Monté, p. 102)

In 1570, rabbi Moses Isserles (1530-1572) of Cracow allowed chess to be played on weekdays and on the Sabbath, but not for money.  (source: Monté, p. 15)

In 1572, Ruy Lopez defeated several eminent players in Rome.  As a reward, King Philip II gave Ruy Lpez several remunerative church livings and a fine golden chain with a golden rook pendant.    (source: Gizycki, p. 29)

In 1575, after the plague of Cremona, Italy, the rabbis declared that all games except chess (ishkaki) were primary evils and the cause of all troubles.  All games except chess were prohibited for a year.  (source: Murray, p. 447)

In 1575, Paolo Boi (1528-1598) lost a chess game to Scovara that was played in Spain.  The game is the only recorded one for Boi, despite playing chess for over 30 years with no other game recorded.  Scovara was a servant to the Archbishop of Seville, Spain.  (source: Monté, p. 210)

In 1584, M. Gio Domenico Tarsia, published Il Giuoco De Gli Scacchi Di Rui Lopez, Spagnuolo; Nuovamente tradotto in lingua Italiana (The Game of Chess by Ruy Lopez, Spagnuolo, newly translated into Italian).  It was an Italian translation, published in Venice, of Ruy Lopez’s Spanish chess book.  The printer was Cornelio Arrivabene and the book was dedicated to S. Iacopo (Giacomo) Buoncompagni (1548-1612). The treatise was a quarto of 214 pages.  Tarsia added a sentence that chess was invented in Castile, which does not appear in the Lopez work.  (source: Monté: p. 175)

 

In 1585, the third Mexican Provincial Council allowed chess to be played, but only privately, but not in the company of women or for money.  (source: Monté, p. 304)

In 1590, the manuscript known as the Boncompagni-Ludovisi manuscript was written by Giulio Cesare Polerio (1550-1610?). The title of the treatise is Questo Libro é di Giulio Cesare Polerio Lancianese al Suo Comando, e Deli Amici à PressoIt.  It is a collection of 98 openings, 12 endgames, and 38 problems with solutions (mostly from Lucena). The manuscript is dedicated to his patron, Prince Giacomo Boncompagni (1548-1612), the Duke of Sora and the illegitimate son of Pope Gregory XIII.  The manuscript is now preserved in the Bibliotheque Nationale de France.  (source: Monté, pp. 194-195)

In 1594, Polerio wrote Ordini di giuochi degli scacchi indiversi modi, part of the Manuscrits Italients No. 948 (8109-5) in the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris.  It is dedicated to an unnamed patron. It consists of 49 openings and 40 problems. This manuscript is an improved and corrected copy of the Toulouse manuscript. It is in Polerio's handwriting.  This manuscript mentions the first example of Sicilian Defense (1,e4 c5) for the first time in chess literature.  It was the only new opening discussed in this manuscript.  It was casually mentioned by Salvio in 1604 and 1634, and by Pietro Carrera in 1617.  The Sicilian Defense derived its name from Gioacchino Greco, who called it giuocho siciliano.   (source: Monté, p. 255)

Around 1595, chess was introduced in Japan.  Its best chess (shogi) player was Ohashi-Sokei (1555-1634).   Sokei wrote the oldest existing shogi exercise book, called Shogizobutsu.  (source: Murray, p. 139)

In 1597, Orazio (Horatio) Gianutio della Mantia published a chess treatise that surpassed all previous chess book in analysis of games and endings.  The book was called Libro nel quale si tratta della maniera di gioucar à scacchi. It was published in Turin and was 57 pages long.  (source: Monté, pp. 278-279)  This was the first chess pamphlet by a player from the Italian school.  He discussed 6 openings, odds-fiving, and 11 problems.  In 1817, it was translated into English by J. H. Sarratt.  It discussed different ways of castling, called free castling.  (source: Divinsky, p. 75)

 

In 1598, King James (1566-1625) (James VI of Scotland at the time) had a negative view of chess.  He considered it a folly and it was a game the troubled men’s heads.   There were three things he want to get rid of: tobacco, witchcraft, and chess. (source: Monté, p. 185)