stars                                                                                                     “from the ashes”

 

 

 

The Origins of Chess 

The laws of chess and the movement of the traditional western chess MPs/mps have been the same since the sixth century of the second millennium.   The changes that took place have quickened up the rate of play, such as allowing the PA to move two cells on the first move option (FMO).   The origins of chess are obscure, and it is not until the 7^th century of the first millennium that there is a reference to the game in literature.   The first mention of chess is found in a Persian poem according to which the advent of the game took place in India.   Chess migrated to Persia (Iran) during the reigns of KI Chosroe-I Annshiravan (531-579), as described in a Persian book of this period.   This book described chess terminology and the names and function of the MPs/mps in some detail.   Chess is also mentioned in the poems of Firdousi, a Persian poet of the 10^th century in which he describes gifts being introduced by a convoy from the Rajah of India at the court of the Persing KI Chosroe-I.   Amongst these gifts was a game depicting the battle of two armies.   Records show that there were originally four types of piece used in chess.  Shatrang (Indian Sanskrit) means ‘four’ and anga means ‘detachment’.   In the Sassanid dynasty (242-651 AD) a book was written in the Middle Persian Pahlavi language called ‘Chatrang namakwor’ ( ‘A Manual of Chess’  ).   Shatrang (chess) represents the universe, according to ancient Indian mysticism.   The four sides being the four elements ( fire, air, earth and water ), and the four ‘humors’ of man.   Although the names of the MPs/mps are different in various countries today, their movements are strikingly similar.   In Persia the word ‘Shatranj’ was used for the name of chess itself. 

  

The oldest Chess game registered - The shortest Chess game ever played Links to Chess-Poster

History – an account, mostly false, of events, mostly unimportant, which are brought about by rulers, mostly knaves, and soldiers, mostly fools (Cynics Word Book).

                                                      

In the 8^th century the Moors invaded Spain and chess spread to Europe.   The game found its way to the western world after the Moslems conquered lands from India and Persia to the East, and Spain to the West.   The first reference to chess is found in the Catalonian Testament of 1010 AD.   A chess set was presented as a gift to Charlemagne from the famous Moslem ruler Haroon-al-Rashid.   The Muslims also conquered Sicily, and the game reached Russia probably through the Caspian-Volga trade routes.   The names of the Russian MPs/mps (see table of pieces below) clearly indicates the Persian and Arabic origin of the game.   In Russian folk poems chess is mentioned as a popular game.  The Vikings carried the game to north-western Europe via the Baltic.   Chess arrived in Germany around the 11^th century, with the earliest reference to chess being made by a monk, ‘Froumund von Tegermsee’.   Chess spread to Italy (discussed in the next paragraph), from Germany and later on to England and the ‘Emerald Isle’ (Ireland).  Chess also reached Scandanavia by the 11^th century and Bohemia from Italy.  The growing popularity of chess is proven by the vast amount of literature that has been printed over the last few centuries in book form and now on the ‘World Wide Web’, this text being an example. 

                                                     

                   8 x 8 board and Staunton chess set

 Chess in ‘Italian Secular Literature’

This excellent Italian project by Gianfelice Ferlito and Novello Williams has a cultural aim and is based on the construction of a multilingual (Italian, English and French) archive to document and study all the artistic processes in relation to the game of chess. It provides information and photographic documents connected with the history of the game.  These include literature, cinema, philately, historical personages, pictorial and sculptural works of art, treatises/manuscripts, archaeology, historical researches, psychology, collecting, reviews, chess short stories, computer graphics and miscellany.  Just click on any of the sections below. 

Ritorna alla Home Page - 01 Introduction - 02 Giovanni Villani - 03 Dino Compagni - 04 Giovanni Boccaccio - 05 Francesco Petrarca - 06 Franco Sacchetti - 07 Giovanni Sercambi - 08 Tommaso Guardati

above: passenger on train reading the chess column

“They spend their time mostly looking forward to the past”. 

The oldest of the Mansubat (chess problems) were penned by the Arab author Al-Aldi in the 9^th century who also mentioned the differences between the Hindu and Persian rules of the game.   Blindfold play, qualifying contests, chess problems (mansubat), the first chess book and tournaments were known as early as the 7^th century AD.   Today, the game of traditional chess is very similar to the original game that was played in India 1,400+ years ago (ie, the game-tree has not been altered significantly).   Chesmayne allows any game-tree to be used for play. 

UN flag

Today there are 150+ chess playing countries belonging to FIDE.   In the last few centuries traditional chess has truly become international in appeal.   Chess is exciting, demanding skill, and the result is unpredictable.   It is not a physical contest, and there is no element of luck as in card games.   In oriental warfare, a battle could be decided by the death or capture of the KI, which in chess is known as Shah-mat (checkmate, ++CM).   So, two armies line up against each other.  One can try head-on assault or patient outflanking manoeuvres.  One can try bluff, or offer poisoned PAs, or make sacrifices in order to ambush the enemy and capture the commander-in-chief, the KI. 

                                                                  

          The Persians took up Indian chess with enthusiasm.   The caliphs, rulers of the Moslem world, kept chess professionals at court through the 9^th and 10^th centuries.   Chess was brought to Europe by the Moors in Spain before AD 1,000.   There was great confusion throughout medieval Europe concerning the MPs/mps names.  The elephants became archers in Spain, Standard-Bearers in Italy, couriers in Germany, court jesters in France, and BSs in Portugal, England, Ireland and Iceland.   The ‘rukh’ (war chariot) was another enigma.   In 1527, an Italian poet, Vida, fancifully identified the RO as an elephant with a tower on his back, as used by Hannibal seventeen centuries earlier.   This caught on, but the elephant was costly to carve, and disappeared leaving only the tower.  Europe’s first big contribution to chess came about AD 1,000 - a chequered board to assist the eye (before this time the board was unchequered).   Please see Shogi for further details (Japanese chess).   A century later came the second - speeding the opening (:&O) by giving PAs the option of moving two cells on the first move (FMO).   About 1580 an Italian suggested making the QU the strongest MP instead of the weakest.   Promotion of a PA, hitherto a minor incident, became cataclysmic.  The average game was halved in length. 

                                                   

Knight Cap

At the same time, the MP we call a BS, previously very restricted was de-limited.  The new game was nicknamed ‘Scacchi all rabiosa’ (crazy chess) by the Italians, and by the French, ‘Echecs de la dame enragee’ (chess of the maddened QU).   But it swept Europe like a forest fire, except Russia, where the masses stuck to the old game for over two more centuries.    Italy took over from Spain as the leading chess country in the 17^th century.   In the 18^th century, supremacy passed to France.  About 1840, London became the main chess center.  The first international chess tournament was held in London in 1851.   It was won by Adolf Anderssen, a German professor of mathematics.   The fantastic advance of chess in the 20^th century is best shown by figures.   Before 1923 there were rarely more than four international tournaments in a year.  Between 1923 and 1939, the average was six.   After WWII this quadrupled.   In 1974 it jumped to 60, in 1975 to 75, in 1976 to 100.   By the end of 1990 the number had increased to well over 1,000 registered tournaments.   In 1924 FIDE had a dozen member countries.   In 1990 it had 127.   Every two years, a world teams’ tourney is held, known as the Chess Olympiad.   The number of entries in 1927 was 16.   By 1990 it reached 108 teams.   Women’s Olympiads started in 1957 with 21 teams, increasing to a record 65 in 1990.   Russia (or the former Soviet Union) first competed in an Olympiad in 1952 and has won all but two since then.   Only for three years since 1948 has there been a non-Russian (Soviet) champion.   Bobby Fischer (USA) won crushingly in 1972 but did not defend in 1975 when the title went to Anatoly Karpov by default.   In 1985 Karpov lost the title to 22-year old Garry Kasparov in a marathon struggle lasting 72 games, starting in September 1984.  The challenger is found after three years of elimination tournaments, and matches start with Zonal tournaments, continuing with interzonals and culminating with Candidates’ matches.   Women’s World Championships are played under similar procedures.   The title of ‘Chess Champion of the World’ dates strictly from 1886, but it has been conferred retrospectively from 1866 by general consent. Before that, there were players recognized as supreme in their time.   The following list will not be disputed by most mature players (:L01). 

                                           

Akiba K. Rubinstein 1882-1961, Emanuel Lasker 1868-1941 & José R. Capablanca 1888-1942.  

01 Andre Danican Philidor (France) 1747-1795   02 Louis Charles Mahe de la Bourdonnais (France) 1821-1840   03 Howard Staunton (England) 1843-1851   04 Adolf Anderssen (Germany) 1851-1858  05 Paul Morphy (U.S.A. Irish/Spanish/French) 1958-1959   06 William Steinitz born Austrian) 1866-1894   07 Dr Emanual Lasker (born German) 1894-1921   08 Jose Raoul Capablanca (Cuba) 1921-1927   09 Dr Alexander Alekhine (born Russian) 1927-1935   10 Dr Max Euwe (Holland) 1935-1937   11 Dr Alexander Alekhine (died still Champion, FIDE took control) 1937-1946   12 Dr Mikhail Botvinnik (Russia) 1948-1957   13 Vassily Smyslov (Russia) 1957-1958   14 Dr Mikhail Botvinnik 1958-1960   15 Mikhail Tal (Russia) 1960-1961   16 Dr Mikhail Botvinnik 1961-1963   17 Tigran Petrosian (U.S.S.R.) 1963-1969   18 Boris Spassky (Russia) 1969-1972   19 Bobby Fischer (U.S.A.) 1972-1975   20 Anatoly Karpov (Russia) 1975-1985   21 Garry Kasparov (Russia) 1985- 

Portraits of twenty famous chess players

            

above L to R: 1) François André Danican Philidor (France, 1726-1795).  2) 1843-1851: Howard Staunton (England, 1810-1874).  3) 1851-1858 : Adolf Andersen (Prussia, 1818-1879).  4) 1858-1860: Paul Morphy (USA, 1837-1884).  5) 1886-1894: Wilhelm Steinitz. 

            

above L to R: 6) 1894-1921: Emmanuel Lasker (Germany, 1868-1941).   7) 1921-1927: Jose Raul Capablanca (Cuba, 1888-1942).  8) 1927-1935: Alexandre Alekhine (France since 1927 - born Russian, 1892-1946).  9) 1935-1937: Max Euwe (Holland, 1901-1981).  10) 1948-1957: Mikhail Botvinnik (URSS, 1911-1995). 

            

above L to R: 11) 1957-1958: Vassily Smyslov (USSR, Born 1921).  12) 1960-1961: Mikhail Tal (USSR, 1936-1992). 13) 1963-1969: Tigran Petrossian (USSR, 1929-1984). 14) 1969-1972: Boris Spassky (USSR, Born 1937). 15) 1972-1975: Bobby Fischer (USA, Born 1943). 

             

above L to R: 16) 1975-1985: Anatoly Karpov (URSS, Born 1951).  17) 1985-1993: Garry Kasparov (URSS, Born 1963).  18) 1999-2000: Aleksander Khalifman (Russia, Born 1966).  19) 2000: Viswanathan Anand (India, Born 1969).  20) 2000: Vladimir Kramnik (Russia, Born 1975).  

Women Chess Masters

            

 

above left: 01-Alisa Galliamova, 02/03-Erica Sziva, 04-Eva Repkova, 05-Xie Jun, 06-Keti Arakhamia. 

 

          

 

above: 07-Maya Chiburddanidze, 08-Nana Loseliani, 09-Pia Cramling, 10-Zhu Chen, 11-Anjelina Belakovskaia.

Links and further details of major chess players

Kasparov Kramnik in london - Alekhine - Tarrasch, Metger and Teichmann - Bobby Fischer - Karpov vs Kasparov 1985 - Mikhail Botvinnik - Tigran Petrossian - André Philidor - Paul Morphy - Kortchnoi : Simultaneous exhibition in Bordeaux France -   Karpov - Kortchnoi : The 1978 World Championship Match - Anatoly Karpov - Garry Kasparov in Bordeaux, France 1995 - Three pictures of Garry Kasparov - Two pictures of David Bronstein - Mikhail Tal - Mikhail Tal - Two pictures of Vassili Smyslov - Three pictures of Samuel Reshevsky - Xavier Tartakover - Akiba Rubinstein and Rubinstein vs Mieses - Emanuel Lasker - Maurice Raizman. 

                                   

above and below: Steve McQueen and Faye Dunnaway in ‘The Thomas Crown Affair’.  More details on the film at the Internet Movie Database. 

             

During the 19^thcentury, traditional chess (:L01 of Chesmayne) was regarded as a game for the wealthy and leisured classes in society.   It is the national sport in Russia, where it is more popular than football.   Indeed, Russian chess players have dominated world chess since the 1940s, although their superiority is fast being challenged by Britain, which is now established as a strong chess-playing nation in its own right.   Compare it with draughts or the Japanese game of Go (nearly all strategy).  Chess also has the advantage of its finely differentiated playing MPs/mps.   They are not merely rounded lumps of wood or stone but individuals, each with h/er own power and attributes.   It is easy to identify with one’s chess MPs/mps.   Losing a game of draughts never results in the same sense of deep personal loss that one has when the KI is ++CM (checkmated).   It is a game that involves the mind completely.   Chess combines elements of both art and science, what the Dutch call Denksport.   Analyzing a chess game is primarily an exercise in logic, yet arriving at a beautiful checkmating attack or a profound strategical position can bring a genuine sense of creative satisfaction.   There is also the competitive aspect of the game.   Chess is not a solitary exercise, like solving a crossword puzzle, but a battle between two individuals, a struggle of mind and will.  Above all, chess provides a sense of continuity with the past - of belonging to a great chess-playing family extending through thousands of years and embracing all nations from the time of the Egyptian KIs to the present day (and probably before as well).   In the text you will find games played over a century ago (:L01) which still arouse admiration in those who play through them today.   Perhaps one day, new players who are now taking up chess (Chesmayne) will find some of their own efforts gracing the literature of this fascinating game. 

      “Though God cannot alter the past, historians can”, (Erewhon Revisited, 14). 

                                          8 x 8 chessboard and pieces

            Historical 19^th century                             Modern 21^st century 

                         

                                                1880’s                                                                            2002

Western chess: 8 x 8 board and graphic sets – old and new.  Note that 6 types of piece are used for play.                        King, Queen, Rook, Bishop, Knight and Pawn.  KI, QU, RO, BS, KT and PA. 

Traditional chess is one of the world’s most played board games.  It has an old and distinguished pedigree which has been developed for over five centuries.  The wisdom of antiquity has bequeathed it to succeeding generations.   Of the various occidental board games, chess is the KI.  It is the one practiced most widely and has the most-documented and carefully written theory to back it up.   Goethe called chess ‘the touchstone of the intellect’.  The story of chess is amongst one of the most extraordinary inventions in our history, which draws extensively on legend, mythology and symbolism and must rank amongst the greatest stories ever told.   Its theme is the vast and bewildering complexity of the universe of thought - an inspiring symbol of the desire to explore and penetrate the uttermost reaches of the imagination.  An eternal book - somehow impinging on infinity itself - a never-ending story - a mirror of the infinite possibilities of the human mind and one of the purest forms of communication with a unique and unusual set of symbols.  This symbolic world of weightless thoughts is real, vital, and filled with significance.   It seems we are mysteriously connected to the universe.   We are mirrored in it, just as the entire evolution of the universe is mirrored in us.   However, like frogs, sooner or later we have to step outside our limited sensorium. 

  The table below shows the names and monograms of the six traditional chess pieces in different languages

         

In this section the reader is taken through the delightful account of the landmarks and discoveries and pays tribute to the chess players who made contributions, both large and small, not only as painstaking observers of the game, but also as outstanding wo/men of vision whose conclusions were often ahead of their time.   We have traveled through the ages to accumulate a battery of sound chess theories and along this road circuitous detours carried many thinkers far and wide through a wilderness.  At this juncture we must put the whole achievement into perspective and it is well to make some preliminary comments about the state of chess as it now stands.  To settle a group of students a teacher will first tell them a light story when they first come into the classroom, just to put them at ease, focused, and then kind of lead them into.......  

02 Warfare

Before the crusaders and the period of medieval barbarism and megalomania the center of our civilization was placed in Byzantium and the lands of the Arab Caliphates.  This was the period when a horde of crudely racist super-vandals carved out a bizarre trail of pillage, plunder and murder in which soldiers were burnt to death in their armor, some their entrails scorched out, others with their head and shoulders burnt off, making it possible to look down into the bulk of the breast and there take in an anatomy of the secrets of nature - dead men and horses, their bodies full of arrows. 

Crusades Chess Set.   Chess Sets & Accessories Directory Click Here. 

This chess set concentrates particularly on the Third great Crusade led by KI Richard-I of England, who in 1189 joined KI Philip II of France in an effort to recapture the holy city of Jerusalem.  KI Richard, with 8000 troops, seized Cyprus and some cities on the Palestinian coast, but ultimately failed to dislodge the Muslim leader Saladin form Jerusalem.

Designers and craftsmen at ‘Studio Anne Carlton’ have created a magnificent chess set which epitomizes the struggles for domination between Christians and Muslims.  This conflict has continued intermittently for over a thousand years, but it is the period between 1095 and 1292 which has captured our imagination because of the exploits of the Crusader knights.  Printed ‘Parchment Story Sheets’ are supplied with each of these sets which give the history of the set and details of their characters.  Packaged in a fitted presentation box.  Crafted and imported from England.  Kings height 5¼”. 

The History of Crusades Chess Set

It was not only religious fervour that caused these bitter conflicts, many of the Christian armies were raised by leading European monarchs who were searching for land, riches and power.  Likewise, the Muslims were seeking to extend their sphere of influence and continually attacked Christian strongholds in the Mediterranean.  Both sides relied heavily on mercenary soldiers.  European knights from England, France, Spain and Germany were all employed against the Muslims and Richard-I was also supported in the Third Crusade by specialist Italian crossbow men.   The Muslim army contained Saracens, Seljuks, Mameluks, Arabs, Berbers, Turks, Kurds and Egyptians. The army was well equipped and had a vast number of camels, which enabled them to cover long distances very quickly.  The prize, the city of Jerusalem, was fought over continuously by both sides, changing ownership many times.  There was slaughter and suffering in abundance until 1291, the last Christian foothold in the Holy Land was relinquished and fell into Muslim hands.  The Crusades period came to an end when Christian Europe in the 14^th century was devastated by plague, famine and internal strife.  The ‘Hundred Years War’ between England and France flared up and Europe essentially became too weak and distracted by its own affairs to enter into further combat with the Muslims.  The Muslims, meanwhile, had serious problems on their Eastern front and were eventually overwhelmed by Mongol hordes.   The high cost of Crusading financially crippled many European states, but a few prospered, particularly the cities of Venice and Genoa, where many ships were provisioned for their voyages to the Holy Land.  However, contact with the Arabic world brought many benefits to Europe.  Fabrics such as cotton, mohair, taffeta and gauze, foods such as sherbet, syrup, coffee, artichokes, aubergines, oranges, lemons and spinach all resulted from these contacts.   Stories of heroes of the Crusades abound in all cultures.  We invite you now to create your own heroes and villains from within the characters of our chess set. 

The Christian Side

King: King Richard-I of England, also known as Richard the Lionheart, Richard C’oeur de Lion, born 1157 died 1199.  Richard spent less than one year of his reign in the country, the rest in the Crusades and defending his French provinces in Anjou and Normandy.  He fought many battles in the Holy Land against Saladin and his Muslim army.  On his way home to England, he was captured by Leopold of Austria and only released after a very large ransom, raised by taxation, was paid.  Queen: Berengaria of Navarre, wife of Richard-I and QU of England.  Richard’s long absences abroad made her life a solitary and pious one and she is dressed here with only little of the regal finery of a queen.   Bishop: A typical Christian Bishop of the Medieval period.  Knight: There were many Christian knights who fought in the various Crusades, although sometimes the differing group of knights would fight amongst themselves, causing disunity.  The KTs of the Temple, The KTs of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem and the Teutonic KTs were all famous orders, whose original purpose was to protect pilgrims on their travels to and from the Holy Land.  The KT selected for our set is a Teutonic KT.  Rook: The design is based on a tower from the famous Krak de Chevaliers, a large castle in the hands of the Christian Knights of St. John until it was captured by the Muslims in 1272.  The population of such a garrison could number about 2000, equivalent to a major European town at the time.  Pawn: Crossbow archer, probably Italian, used by Richard-I in the Third Crusade. Lightly clad and unarmored, he wears a padded gambeson or tunic for protection. 

The Muslim Side

King: Saladin, as he was known to his Christian enemies, or more correctly Salah Ed-Din, born 1138 died 1193, was the greatest Muslim general and leader of the Crusade period.  He and his armies put an end to Christian supremacy in the Holy Land.  He was of Armenian Kurdish origin and rose to the rank of Vizier before becoming the first Ayubid sultan of Egypt.   He re-united several groups of dissident Muslim sects and then set about the recapture of Syria and most of Palestine from the Christians.  A generous man, even the Christians, admired him for his considerate treatment of prisoners and his encouragement of East-West trade.  Queen: A typical wealthy Islamic woman clothed in silk and gold braid, but very little ostentatious jewelry.  Bishop: A typical Imam or Islamic spiritual leader of the period.  There were many different sects of Muslims, some were more militant than others.  Knight: Most of the Muslim soldiers were accompanied on campaigns by a large camel caravan, these animals being well suited to the hot desert conditions.   However, for fighting purposes, horses were used and our Muslim KT is a member of the Mameluk Cavalry.  Rook: Saladin occupied several castles during his campaigns, but his own castle at Qalaat al Jindi had gates decorated with the sword and shield motif reproduced on our castle chess piece.  Pawn: Islamic archer, probably from the Damascus area of Syria, which is famous for its bowmen. 

                                                           

Circa 1475, Liberale da Verona.  New York - Metropolitan Museum of Art. 

Ritorna alla Home Page.  Ritorna alla pagina degli aggiornamenti.  Vai all'indice della sezione Galleria d'arte. 

          It seems that aggression and violence are innate attributes of homo sapiens and largely irremovable.   We have gained control over the forces of nature to such an extent that we would have no difficulty exterminating one another to the last wo/man and child if necessary.  The real solution to this problem lies in the minds of wo/men.  However, it must be noted that human beings are not, and never have been, born aggressive, but learn it as a response to circumstances. 

                                                                 

Ernest Meissonier : ‘The chess game’ (1836) The Hannover Landesmuseum.  Click on the picture for a larger version.  These drawings are from book 1. in the bibliography - [Main Graphics Page] 

Generations of wo/men have argued that the appropriate solution to human violence is to channel innate aggression into cerebral or physical activities such as sports and games.  Chess being a game admonishes us to come with no other weapon than that of an approving conscience.  It educates individuals to see themselves as members, not of a tribe of white wo/men or black who invent tribal prejudice, fear and suspicion of alien race, culture, religion and ideas, which draw wo/men, as members of a herd or mob to perform acts of collective lunacy which most of them, as reasonable individuals sitting quietly at home with their families would concede as being without sense or justice.  The invention of a common enemy reinforces a tribe’s sense of unity, hence wo/men kill one another without knowing why.  They kill because of a cultivated mob conviction. 

                                     

          The passing of the ancien regime in France was the period in the West when freedom was received with romantic enthusiasm as the natural cradle and aspiration of civilization.  Around this time the hegemony of civilization passed to Western Europe and out of this transference our modern history was born.   The Reformation led to the collapse of a unified Christendom ruled from Rome and replaced it with a new independence of thought and culture embodied by the Renaissance.  This New Europe set about its great geographical and scientific discoveries and founded empires in which it sought to spread its own influence. 

03 Non-violence - the credo of Chess

 

The Avengers TV series

When the series was introduced to America on January 14^th, 1967, the producers considered the whole thing too bizarre for American taste, and decided to introduce the show to the audience with a specially made sequence.   It is known by Avengers fans worldwide as “the chess board intro”. 

The traditional version of chess has been an inexhaustible treasure for over 500+ years, developed and modified during the Renaissance into a game, played by many gentlemen of fair estate and fortune - KIs and QUs, PRs, PSs, DKs, GEs, REs, presidents, academics and school children alike.   Many cultures have produced sets of exceptional craftmanship and beauty thus delighting the aesthetic sense.   At the turn of this century, KIs, QUs and European nobility had chess sets of rock crystal intricately handcrafted with antiqued silver plate or delicately painted by hand to capture every lovely feature.  Many charming hand painted sets have been produced which are a vision of grace and beauty, magnificently sculpted in fine bisque and Tesori porcelain (a blend of powdered porcelain and resins), some accented with multi-faceted crystal, others forever captured in carefully tooled wood carvings with the boards resplendent with inlaid oak, mahogany or rosewood veneers, solid brass fittings and finally those encrusted with semi-precious jewels, found today in places such as Van Cleef & Arpels of Paris or Tiffany’s of New York.   The artistry involved in producing these chess sets has only been rivaled by the priceless creations of Peter Carl Faberge who crafted his Regency, Imperial and Alexandra eggs in shimmering springtime colours and lavishly accented them with regal 22 carat gold or carefully sculpted and hand-painted them down to the tiniest details with blushes of soft pink and powder blue. 

                                     

“Does history repeat itself, the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce?  No, that’s too grand, too considered a process.  History just burps, and we taste again that raw-onion sandwich it swallowed centuries ago” – ‘A History of the World in 10½ Chapters, 1989’. 

          The Staunton pattern is a pulchritudinous example now in use for 150+ years.  When evening falls, and it is time for a well-deserved rest, there is nothing quite like these chess pieces which are like comfortable loveable companions.   It enhances many a home with its beauty and mystique and many feel a sense of family with this pattern.   Born of medieval legend, this is a chess set of supreme quality, capturing romance and drama, myth and magic on the battlefield of the fateful game of KIs.   Clean, clear, well distinguished without being ornate, quite rewarding to the touch and responsive to the move.  They are individually well proportioned, and formally inter-related by means of classical balusters, crowning balls and grooves that, in elevation are either at the same height or at equally measured intervals.   The graduated height of the MPs/mps, although singularly unexpressive of relative power, contributes to the architectonic composition of the whole.   And beyond that, the natural symbolism is well expressed - the KT and the RO are obvious - the more abstract shape of a BSs headdress suggestive of a mitre - the crowns of the KI and QU imperiously clear and the pippalie of the PAs indicative of suckling babies. 

                                                           

 A dedicated campaign website that will remain on-line until chess is recognised as a sport in the UK.  A petition was handed in to Number 10 Downing Street on the 7th April 2000.  See our update page for details.  Petition in HTML format  |   Petition in Word 6.0 format - Mission statement  |   Media and press  |   Petition signatures  |   Supporters  |   Links - Campaign Trail  |   Campaign Update  |   The Chess Files  |   EDM - Adams Interview   |  Speelman Interview - e-mail your support or any questions to: chess@turowski.com. 

The boundless scope of abstraction in representing mythological and historical themes has been used by artists, writers and film makers to suggest an intellectual atmosphere or to express a particular mood such as contemplation, reflection or, the joie de vivre.  The history of chess has been coloured by the contribution of many countries and furnishes a deep sense of continuity with the intellectual community of bygone ages.   Chess and the figurants who grace its stage are the land of imagination, imagery motifs, mythological patterns, shamanic journeys and initiations and a complicated interactive event.   It is a magical place where you can ride on fluffy white clouds wearing a dreamy expression on your face, moving your pieces as you play your favorite game of make believe. Western chess has been a recreation of many of the world’s luminaries including: 

01 Charlemagne 02 King Canute 03 Sir Walter Raleigh 04 Shakespeare 05 Ben Jonson 06 Leibnitz 07 Voltaire 08 Rousseau 09 Peter the Great 10 Fredrick the Great 11 Napoleon 12 Buckle (the historian) 13 Benjamin Franklin 14 Dickens 15 Ruskin 16 R.L. Stevenson 17 Lenin 18 Bonar Law 19 Fritz Kreisler 20 H.G. Wells 21 Charles Boyer 22 Humphrey Bogart 23 Neil Diamond 24 John Wayne 25 George C. Scott 26 Bob Dylan 27 our man in Havana - Fidel Castro 28 Leo Tolstoy 29 and YOU! - & too many contemporaries to mention. 

Charlemagne Chess Pieces

 

http://www.chessopolis.com

Charlemagne never played chess.   However, these pieces were at the Saint Denis Abbey since the end of the 13^th century.   They are dated from the end of the 11^th century and were probably manufactured in Salerne, near Napoli in South Italy. This is confirmed by their Normand military equipment, which can be related to the famous ‘Tapisserie de Bayeux’ (also from the 11^th c.).  These pieces are carved from elephant ivory.   They could have been made for Robert Guiscard (died 1085), tireless Normand warrior who dreamed of conquering an empire, or Pope Gergory VII?   The way they came to Paris is unknown, perhaps as a gift to French KI Philippe II Auguste or, Philippe III bringing back the body of Saint Louis his father, both Kings having stopped in Salerne.   In 1598, 30 pieces were inventoried.  They were 16 in 1794 following the turmoil of the French Revolution: 2 KIs, 2 QUs, 4 Elephants, 4 KTs, 3 Chariots and 1 Foot Soldier.  They are now at the Cabinet des Médailles, Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris. 

                     
            Soldier PA        Chariot - RO      Elephant - BS               KT                    QU                      KI

        The images and photographs shown above are from the following sources: “Pièces d'échecs”, Bibliothèque Nationale, Cabinet des médailles et antiques, catalogue de l’exposition du 7 juin au 30 septembre 1990. 

04 An instrument proclaiming the dawn of a new civilization ruled by reason

En Passant: Software, fonts and graphics for chess publishing

A chessboard and MPs/mps comprise a remarkable instrument capable of being used with intelligence by the human mind.   The traditional game of chess is played on a board of 64 cells, and occupies a unique position in the history of our game.  Centuries of labor went into its making and the resources of powerful nations and the contributions of many millions of people were involved in bringing it to the level at which it is now played.  The sublime beauty of the traditional chess-set can be forgotten by many of its practitioners.   Crowded with its 32 pieces the player looks down auspiciously on their work and presides with unshaken self-possession and undaunted perseverance over the tumult and raging fury of this theatre of war with visage furrowed and darkened by the anguish of contemplation.   Each player probes, pokes, feels and flexes h/er pieces in a nose-to-nose staring competition.  While this is happening some sort of bonding occurs which lends the feeling that one is part of a grand philosophical design and a sense of source and purpose is given.    The warriors of this game-tree of chess with its perfect order and arrangement of ROs, BSs, KTs, PAs, KI and QU - where the workmen execute their orders with a silent and unerring obedience - where each possible contingency can be foreseen - each detail carefully rehearsed - are worthy of the provident self-expression with which they were handed down to us by our forefathers.   In the west chess is considered a game with rules to be learned, openings to be memorized and techniques to be mastered.  Western players do not usually speak of chess as art and metaphysical questions about the game cause people to feel queasy.   Most writing on the subject is dry technical analysis relevant only to serious students of the game with society tending to regard serious players as an eccentric group of heavyweight thinkers whose intelligence is useless.  

“History gets thicker as it approaches recent times”. 

05 Board Games

Human beings have played board games from antiquity, many of which have come and gone during our convoluted history.  Board games have been played in the East for over five millenniums and games using counters or draughts were played in Mesopatamia two millenniums before the birth of the Messiah.   Most of their rules have been mislayed or entirely lost during the intervening centuries.   In ancient Egypt, during the Pharaonic period, board games were an integral part of social life, evidenced by Senet, which was played on a board of 30 cells.   In the Egyptian temple of Kurna, built around 1400 BC, a board of Nine Men’s Morris with nine counters for each player has been found carved into the slab of a roof.   QU Nefertari’s tomb is located near Luxor, in the valley of the QUs (Egypt).  The tomb was discovered in 1904 and was intended as the last resting place of Rameses II’s favourite wife.  It is 3,200+ years old.  The colours of the murals are as bright and rich as if they had just been painted.   It is overwhelmingly beautiful and gorgeously decorated.  This tomb is one of 80 found in the valley of the QUs.  Through the corridors and pillared halls, a life-size Nefertari is shown in numerous scenes, before different gods of the underworld beneath a ceiling of deep-blue sky scattered with gold stars.  Rameses II paid her the honour of building a temple beside his own at Abu Simbel.   Nefertari means ‘beautiful lady’.   She was reputed to be a great beauty and is shown on her tomb walls to be tall and slim, elegant in a long white dress with a simple sash, as with perfect posture she makes her offerings to the gods or plays a game of draughts.   Shading was used to give her face form.   The finest original copy of ‘The Book of the Dead’ is the Papyrus of Ani, now one of the treasures of the British Museum in London.   Written by a royal scribe, this scroll is 78 feet long and 15 feet inches wide, wonderfully illustrated in colour.   It also contains an illustration of the resurrection of the scribe Ani himself and his wife, who are depicted playing chess - which may give lovers of the game some idea of its age.  A game similar to Backgammon was played in Roman times. 

      
Elephants from the “Charlemagne set”, Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris. 

          Games are a direct expression of the patterns and conflicts of the psyche and in general are symbolic of the patterns of life - with chequered patterns referring to chequered careers, of dark episodes alternating with light, ups and downs etc.   The different conflicting forces move, interrelate, lock and fly apart - usually red versus black, in the basic conflict.  The symbolic significance of a game sometimes gives it an irrational appeal, an obsessional quality, as with children’s crazes.  Games are related to the playful inventive and positive side of the child archetype.   If you draw a square, a circle and a triangle and then turn them into pictures, they can be interpreted symbolically. 

          Games are quite useful in that they demonstrate how near the symbolic realm really is, and how it can be fairly consistent between a variety of people.  The square refers to the earth symbolically ie, material outward existence.  The circle, the inner life.   If a circle is turned into a sun for example, all is fairly sunny within, even heroic.   The triangle refers to fire, the passions and sexuality.   If the triangle is drawn pointing upwards (as in the Chesmayne MP/mp set), then the emotional life is usually conscious and rational, better differentiated.  The landscape includes all kinds of fascinating symbolic features, which can be deciphered with intuition, combined through a familiarity with symbolism.   There are many word, card and other board games which exercise the human mind and give many hours of pleasurable enjoyment - bridge, scrabble, poker, backgammon, cribbage and Shogi allow you to have fun competing in the game best suited to your mental ability.  A game that Albert Einstein played as a child sold for $20,000 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, USA, in 1995. 

06 The Greeks

Most games contain an element of chance or luck.  Long before our time, long before Staunton, Ruy Lopez, Shannon and Kasparov, long before the scientific revolution that dragged Europe out of the dark ages, their lived wo/men whose ideas and discoveries marked the very beginnings of chess as we know it today.   It was left to the Greeks to develop a game that required skill and reason.   The ancient Greeks and Italians nurtured two of the greatest flowerings in the history of mankind.  The Athenian Golden Age was populated by Phidias, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and many of the Greek tragicans, who were reflected in the Italian Golden Age of Michelangelo, Leonardo, Machiavelli and Raphael some twenty centuries later. 

Garry K. Kasparov 1963 - World Chess Champion, Level-1. 

          The Greeks who migrated from their homeland to the coastline of Asia Minor in about 1800 BC were different to their contemporaries in Egypt and Babylon.   They were tough, practical and, most importantly, democratic.   Without dogma to retard their development, they began to play Petteia, which was first mentioned by Cratinus in the 5^th century BC and by Plato in ‘The Republic’, who described it as a game requiring skill and long training.   Petteia was a board game requiring pure reason and played without dice.   Greece has produced many great minds - Erasosthenes of Cyrene (276-196 BC) who would later be called a Renaissance Man.   His interests included history, astronomy, geography, philosophy, mathematics and poetry and was colloquially known as b (Beta), as he was considered to be the second best in the world at everything.   A friend of the great Archimedes, he achieved far more than could be dealt with here, but among his greater achievements was a map with 675 stars, a value for the angle of the Earth’s axis to the plane of the Sun’s apparent motion in the sky, a map of the British Islands, Ireland and much more. 

07 The Vasavadatta

The first reference to chess is contained in the Sanskrit prose romance, the Vasavadatta and follows in the footsteps of the epic stories contained in the Mahabharata, Ramayana, Bhagavad Gita, the Grecian Iliad and the Odyssey.  By the 6^th century AD, Chaturanga (the precursor of Chatrang, Shatranj and traditional chess) was being played in India.  This game migrated to Europe via Persia and Spain about four centuries later.  In India the pieces represented divisions of the KIs army.  Elephants, cavalary, chariots and foot-soldiers were led into battle by His Majestic Beneficience and his Vizer.   The Vizer was to become a QU in the European version of the game and in the course of history the Indian elephant has metamorphosised into our BS - the chariot into our RO. 

08 Chatrang - Chaturanga - Shatranj

In Sanskrit the word ‘quadripartite’ means ‘divided into’ or ‘consisting of four parts’.   This word was used to describe the Indian army of the Vedic period in which a platoon had: 5 foot soldiers, 3 on horseback, 1 chariot and 1 elephant. 

Chaturanga was an early version of chess invented in India around the 6^th century.  Chatrang was the name the Persians used for the game when they modified the rules during the 7^th century.   On reaching Arabia the name of the game was modified yet again to Shatranj when Islamic players dominated the game.  The various levels of chess that arose were supreme achievements in their time. 

09 Traditional western chess

Because of its previous preeminence among intellectual pastimes favored by the upper classes, chess is also called the Royal Game.   It originated in India, or China, during or before the 6^th century from ancient forms, derivations of which still persist in regional variants, such as Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Malay, Burmese, Cambodian  and traditional western chess.   Sir William Jones, in his essay ‘On the Indian game of chess’, maintained that Hindustan was the cradle of chess, the game having been known since ancient times by the name of Chaturanga, that is, the four Chatur/Angas, or parts of an army, said to be elephants, horses, chariots, and foot soldiers. 

Cambodian and Thai chess

 
The Silk Road

The very first account of ‘Siamese Chess’ is due to La Loubère, the ambassador of French KI Louis XIV to the Kingdom of Siam in 1687-8.   More was given by  Captain James Low to Asiatic Researches in 1836 and, finally, Edward Falkener supplied reliable information he had got from Prince Devawongsee, Minister of Foreign Affairs of H.M. the KI of Siam, in 1889.   Siamese Chess, also known as ‘Makruk’ is now one of the better recognized chess variants.   It is a very lively game, played in Thailand and a set can be easily bought on the Internet. 

Plastic sets sold in Thailand with roll-up boards - note that the playing area is not chequered.

   
Left: Red and white, photograph by James Master.  Right: Black and red, photograph by Hans Bodlaender. 

Makruk is also widely played in Cambodia as attested by Tim Krabbé.  ‘Cambodian Chess’ by Vuthy Tan also describes this game – his mirror-page can be found at:  Cambodian Chess Games by Vuthy Tan. 

        Find the rules of Makruk, the Thai Chess, on chessvariants.com  

 

above: different chess sets as used around the world - see ‘Varieties’

Ouk Chatrang was most probably played in Cambodia for a long time, as it is depicted in several reliefs found on the Angkor temples which date from the XII^th century.  Also, they were attested to by Marco Polo: in 1285, he went to “Cyamba” which is Champa, a Kingdom located in South Vietnam.   His book says: “There are elephants in this realm and they also have a lot of aloe wood and they have black wood named ebony from which black chess [pieces] are made”.  Chinese chess which is used today in Vietnam (Tuo-cong) did not use ebony pieces, it is very likely that what Marco Polo actually saw was a cousin of the Cambodian Chess. 

ISP of the Cambodian 9 x 9 board and MPs/mps - Chesmayne style/format

                                       

9 x 9 Cambodian board – Chesmayne style/format.  Monograms used are RO, KT, EP, OF, KI and FH.  Rook, Knight, Elephant, Official, King and Fish.  Files are A to J and ranks 1 to 9.  Find the rules of Sittuyin, the Burmese Chess, on chessvariants.com. 

   

The Cambodian board is 9 x 9 cells in size – a total of 81 cells/squares comprise this particular chessboard as shown above.  The pieces used are King, Official, Elephant, Knight, Rook and Fish (the monograms used for play are KI, OF, EP, KT, RO and FH).   Notice that the mps (the Fish, FHs) start the game on rank-4 and 6!  Each player has 18 MPs/mps. 

 

In honour of the legend of Rama, when the monkeys defeated the demons, the Pawns and the Riders are often carved as monkeys - below. 

      

above: Monkeys and Riders

                     

Korean 10 x 9 chessboard.  Red/black MPs/mps are round disks with the name embossed on the top.  Notice that the pieces are placed on the lines instead of within the squares/cells as in western chess.  The King is the large piece – he resides within a palace, the small box of nine points shown on this board.  There are 16 MPs/mps for each player.  Each side has five Korean pawns - KPs, (western chess gives eight Pawns to each contestant).  This is a folding chessboard – notice the two hinges in the middle?  The Chinese chessboard is somewhat similar to the Korean, however, a different set of MPs/mps are used for play.  See ‘Chinese’ chess for further details? 

Find all of these games on Hans Bodlaender’s Chess Variant Pages?

How the six pieces move KI, QU, RO, BS, KT and PA

The King 

 

  

 

The KI may move only 1 cell vertically, horizontally or diagonally. 

                           

10 The Queen 

The QU is the sexiest (curvaceous) of the modern pieces and has undergone changes in name, sex and power.   In Shanranj this MP was called (Farz or, Firz), meaning Counsellor or, General.   The French may have changed it into Fierce, Fierge, and Vierge (Virgin), which if true, might explain why this MP became female.  Another view is that a PA on reaching R$08 was elevated in value and became a ‘Farz’ - a promotion similar to that in Draughts or Checkers.  Thus the PA became a Dame or, QU2 as in traditional chess, and then Dames, Dama, Donna etc.  The BS amongst the Persians was called Pil (elephant) but the Arabs not having the letter ‘p’ in their alphabet, wrote it Fil, or, with their definite article, Al-Fil (the-elephant).   It was the next in command and a force assisting the Counselor or Minister (AD1, our QU1). 

 

      The QU may move any number of cells vertically, horizontally or diagonally. 

                                                          

This diagram shows  how the QU moves.  It can move  up, down, left, right and diagonally.  In the center of the board, she can go up to 27 cells.		The moving proprieties of the QU can emulate those of the KI, RO, BS and PA but not the KT as shown above with red marks.
The QU is blocked by a friendly piece, a RO.  Here the QU cannot move to the cell occupied by the RO nor the cells that lie beyond: G07 and H08.		The QU can capture the KT by removing him from the board and placing herself on the cell G04. The QU cannot move beyond (red mark).

The Rook  

Our RO is similar to an Indian chariot, protecting the army’s flank.  The Cinderella type transformation called promotion (in Chesmayne the sharp symbol [#] is used to indicate this elevation in stature) is also called Queening and really a Coronation, because the usual choice is QU2, the most powerful MP.   If the elevation is not to QU2 it is sometimes referred to as an ‘under-promotion’ (KT3, BS3, RO3, KM3 etc). 

The RO may move any number of cells vertical or horizontal. 

                                                    

 

 

Queen, bone, 1008-1010, Paladru Lake Colletières, Isère, France

Aufin (Bishop), wood, 1008-1010, Paladru Lake Colletières, Isère, France

Rukh (Rook), wood, 1008-1010, Paladru Lake Colletières, Isère, France

 

 

 

The Bishop

 Bishop symbols/syntax

Bishop Sacrifice

Place the MPs/mps on the board as follows: 

 Traditional figurine graphics

The XY notation is used on the left (below).   The Chesmayne acentric notation is indicated on the right (below). 

01A  BS2-D03*H07-PA1+CH - BS2-B02*D14-PA1+CH 

01B  KI-G08*H07-BS2 - KI-D16*D14-BS2

02A  KT2-F03/G05+CH - KT2-B04/C09+CH 

02B  KI-H07/H06 - KI-D14/D13

03A  QU1-D01/G04 - QU1-D04/C08 

03B  RO1-F08/H08 - RO1-D17/D15

04A  KT2-G05/E06-PA5+DC - KT2-C09*B08-PA5+DC 

04B  KI-H06/H07 - KI-D13/D14

05A  QU1-G04*G07-PA2++CM - QU1-C08*C11-PA2++CM 

05B  ++WN for :A ++LS for :B

Set-up the board and play through the moves as shown above. Notice in the above example on move 04A that A-BS1 gives +DC (discovered) to B-KI. 

The BS may move any number of cells diagonally. 

                                                         

Move and capture

The BS can move any number of cells in a diagonal direction and within cells of the same colour. A player starts a game with two  Bishops, BS1 and BS2.		BSs cannot move horizontally or vertically as shown with red marks. Players should have two Bishops: BS1 and BS2, one for the light cells (XL) and one for the dark cells (XD).

 

	The BS is blocked by a friendly piece, a RO.  Here the BS cannot move to a cell occupied by the RO nor the cells that lie beyond: A08 and B07.			The BS can capture the KT by removing him from the board and placing itself on the cell G02 but the BS cannot move to cell H01 (red mark).

The "Lewis set", King, Queen, Bishop, Knight, Warder, Pawn, walrus tusk
Scandinavian (Trondheim ?), Mid XII, British Museum, London. 

 

                    The KT moves in the shape of an ‘L’, 2 x 1 or, 1 x 2. 

                                              

    The PA may move 1 or 2 cells on the first move, only 1 cell thereafter. 

                                                                         

 

11 Renaissance

The rumblings of dissent began in earnest when chess players in the early 15^th century got tired/fed-up playing the then existing game-tree and some Judas had the effrontery to suggest that the Vizer (AD1) be transformed into QU1.   Instead of throwing out the whole cumbersome system these pioneers actually retained much of it.   They kept the perfected square board and six chess MPs/mps (KI, QU, RO, BS, KT and PA).   Some other modifications were also made ie, (allowing the KI to castle and permitting the PA to advance two cells on the initial move, FMO).    These were the most important modifications in over a thousand years.  The theory of chess did not begin to face true critical scrutiny until about the 16^th century when western intelligence began its slow emergence from the quagmire of ignorance in which it had been content to live with for a thousand years.   Within our lifetimes it will be possible finally to be able to understand this vast universe and answer its many riddles in our journey of self-correcting discovery.   On reaching western shores the names and design of the MPs/mps were gradually altered to represent the political and religious mores of European feudalism.  Traditional chess from the Renaissance onwards was initially employed as an exaggerated rigorous and artificial construct of a strictly classical nature.  Until the 15^th century chess remained a game of slow strategic manoeuvre with composed chess problems being the order of the day (please see ‘Shatranj’ for further details).   It was during the Renaissance that the game was once again re-invented.   In 1497, Lucena published a book about the game.   In the closing decades of the 15^th century some changes in the rules took place, QU1 becoming the most powerful MP and the BS being allowed to traverse an entire diagonal - both QU1, BS1 and BS2 becoming long range fighting MPs.   The PA (originally called a Baidaq) was allowed to advance two cells on the initial move (FMO) and the KI was allowed to castle (%Q, %K) into a position of safety in either the left or right side pocket of the board.   Around 1600 castling was established as a single manoeuvre, however, many regional variations were practiced around this time which was referred to as ‘free castling.’ 

12 The Traditional Knight - KT

The KTs as a symbol have come to represent the virtues of chivalry with their mane and tail exquisitely sculpted and flowing in the breeze.   Their features have been delicately accented in the Staunton chess set.   Phidias was the sculptor who worked on the Parthenon (see ‘Elgin Marble’s’) and is considered the greatest sculptor of Ancient Greece.   He was also an architect, painter, designer and mathematician.   Grecian statues were designed in accordance with a set of mathematical proportions and Phidias’s supreme masterpiece was the Parthenon of Athens.   He received his commission to build this edifice from the Athenian statesman Pericles.   The Temple of the Parthenon honored Athene, the goddess of Athens.   As Superintendent of public works he had a team of architects, stonecutters and sculptors under his command.  He personally supervised the construction of the statue ‘Athene Chryselephantine’, (meaning ‘Athene encrusted with ivory and gold’), measuring forty feet high and placed at the center of this building. 

          Phidias made detailed drawings of horse’s heads from which the traditional knight (KT) of the Staunton chess set was used as a model.   If he were alive today he would surely be surprised to find millions of boys and girls using a symbol of which he was the inventor.   The grandeur and drama of his creations were not to be excelled until Brunelleschi and Michelangelo made their appearance in the firmament of the Renaissance universe.   Phidias’s supreme masterpiece (KI of the Gods, the Olympian Zeus) was heralded as one of the ‘Seven Wonders’ of the Ancient World.   It measured 42 feet high and stood in the temple for nearly a thousand years until its removal by Emperor Theodosius-I of Constantinople.  

13 Caissa

Goddess, muse of chess.   The name is taken from a nymph in a poem composed by Sir William Jones in 1763.   It is based on Vida’s ‘Scacchia ludus’ in which the nymph is referred to as ‘Scacchis’.   Mars asks the god of sport to invent a game that will soften the nymph’s heart: 

A lovely Dryad ranged the Thracian wild,

Her air enchanting, and her aspect mild.

To chase the bounding hart was all her joy,

Adverse from Hymen and the Cyprian boy.

O’er hills and valleys was her beauty famed,

And fair Caissa was the damsel named.

                                                                                  

14 Ruy Lopez and Philidor

The Europe that Ruy Lopez lived in was dominated by the science of Aristotle and the philosophy of conservative Christianity.   Like others who preceded him, he helped make the chess world we play in today.   Spain took the lead in chess development with Lopez publishing his book in 1561 and he has since been brought to our rememberance with a chess opening being named in his honour.   In this period players did not play systematically, they just moved their pieces (like many politicians) and hoped that all would turn out well in the endgame.   The game progressed to such an extent that during the 18^th century players such as Philidor could play three or more opponents blindfold.   Philidor published a book emphasizing the importance of the mps being used to block the center part of the board (B$A). 

        

  

20 popular openings (:&O) used in traditional western chess are shown in table-01. 

26 Grandmasters sets of games are given in table-02. 

10,000+ games in PGN format are listed in table-03. 

3 PGN viewers may be up-loaded to your computer from table-04! 

These links will take you to this excellent website run by Jose. L. Badillo.  Note: this is a dual web page.  It is presented in English and Spanish!  The board and pieces will be displayed in an applet so that you will be able to play through the moves of each of these openings, Grandmaster and PGN format games for yourself.  Very swish – why not give it a go – it doesn’t come any better than this - just click on what takes your fancy below?  

 

 

 

other Chess-Poster.com links are given below…….

 Chess-Poster and chess related posters  ( Click here to buy it )

                                                                  

 

 

                                                       

 

01       70 French National Championnships.  

02       A chess inspired poster for the Opéra du Rhin’s 1997 production of Macbeth.  

03       1 International Open of Ajaccio (Corsica).  

04       Kasparov - Karpov match Seville 1987.   

05       Kasparov - Karpov match Seville 1987.   

06       12 ‘Festival des Jeux’, Cannes, France.   

07       1998 World Youth Championships, Cannes, France.  

     

Thanks to Valentin Albillo for the two Karpov/Kasparov posters. 

  

Advanced ‘Chess Techniques’ teaches many very helpful tips to improve a game of chess.  This frame is a three part group: Opening, Middlegame and Endgame.  The Opening part suggests a rapid development of the pieces, to take control of the center, to place ROs on open  files, etc.  The Middle game points out to assess your position during a game, identify the opponent’s weakest points and to develop a strategy.   The Endgame part encourages the KI to become an active piece, techniques to promote a PA, the value of “Opposition”, etc. 

 

This frame contains all the answers for the chess problems ( Fischer games and mate problems ). 

 

The seven frames are packed with lots of information about Castling (frame shown), Check Mate, Chess Notation,  En Passant  Move,  Drawn Games, Promotion and Chess Clock.   Every section explains in detail the procedures, rules and background history.   Frames are accompanied with diagrams and graphics which explain the related topics. 

  

 A graphic description of the elements of Chess ( frame shown above ). 

  

Do you know how many moves theoretically a game can last?  •  How many times Bobby Fischer won the US Championship?  •  Who was the first world Chess Champion?  •  The youngest Chess player ever to win the World Champion title?  •  All this and much more you will find in this interesting “Chess Facts and Notes” frame.

  

‘Great Chess Masters’ frame is a biography of four of the greatest Chess players: Paul Morphy, José Raul Capablanca, Bobby Fischer and Gary Kasparov.   Frame includes date and place of birth, tournaments, world titles, pictures and more. 

  

This frame refers to the study of the theory of Chess Openings throughout centuries by Chess players and their characteristics, advantages and defects unique to each of them.   Four popular variations are fully shown in this section as well as 42 classical Openings are listed by name. 

 

This frame is about certain general rules that are followed by Chess players such as “a touched piece is a moved piece” etc.   The Glossary section explains word definitions like “Gambit” which means “the voluntary sacrifice of a piece in exchange of gaining tempo, development or material advantage”.  Would you like to have this poster on your bedroom or, clubroom wall?  ( Click here to buy it ). 

We appreciate your comments about our site very much.

For the past 6 months we have been updating our site in an almost daily basis with a special effort on our Chesmayne History of Chess section that we consider is the best available anywhere.

To this date, we still have a lot of material to publish on it and we also need to translate everything in Spanish language.  So because of this work, our "Read our Mail" section and much more, you will find new Chess related material published in our website very often.

15 Aron Nimzowitsch

Author of ‘My System’.  He introduced terms such as :ha-PAs (hanging-PAs) and the Nimzo Indian defence etc.   He was born on 7^th November, 1886, in Riga, the son of a wholesale merchant.   He learned the game at the age of eight.   He worked out ‘His System’ during the years 1906-1913 which gave the game a new direction, which led to the hyper-modern or neo-romantic school.   In addition to ‘Mein System’, he was the author of many critical articles, notably his essay Entspricht Dr. Tarrasch’s ‘Die moderne Schachpartie, wirklich moderner Auffassung?’ (1913), a brochure, ‘Die Blockade’ (1925), and ‘Die Praxis meines Systems’ (1929).  He had many chess successes in tournaments over a period of 30 years and died in March 1935 at a comparatively early age when still at the height of his powers.  

Aron Nimzowitsch 1886-1935

16 The immortals

With few exceptions, the really big international stars of chess are definitely larger than life.   Their talent, appearance, strength of character and general ambience single them out from lesser mortals, and the mark of the truly big international star is the ability to stand out without consciously and constantly striving to do so.   Admittedly, there are the ornate Staunton chess pieces on the sumptuous chequered board itself at its most magnificent, the Marie Therese crystal chandeliers, the $1,500 suits that makes them appear almost presidential and those fancy Swiss Rolex watches with matching oyster bracelets which have been used by generations of adventurers and explorers that contain over 200 parts, 29+ synthetic ruby bearings meticulously engineered in pursuit of absolute reliability and tested for hundreds of hours by the Controle Officiel Suisse des Chronometres in Geneva.  John Ridgway (explorer) rowed across the North Atlantic in an open boat, trekked the length of the Amazon from source to sea, made the first crossing of the Gran Campo ice-cap in Patagonia, embarked on a non-stop voyage around the world, sailed his entire family from Scotland to Antartica via Polynesia (a perilous odyssey of 18 months) and paddled alongside the first woman (his daughter) ever to canoe round Cape Horn while wearing a Rolex Oyster which survived hurricanes, blizzards, icebergs and tropical storms.   But, when in play these incidentals fade into the background of the overall image.   It is the talent and the personality that rivet the attention and admiration of an audience.   Such fame, fortune and truly larger-than-life image inevitably draws others by its magnetic attraction.  They live in a world where every hand is turned against every other hand - even their closest friends.

          Nathaniel Cooke designed the six Staunton chess piece set which is still used today as the standard set of symbols for traditional occidental competitions.  The Elgin Marble’s were the inspiration for the KT.    Howard Staunton organized a tournament in London in 1851 and published an annotated account of the competition which attracted many new players to the game.   With fanciful games the talk of many a gentlemen’s club, the game which ignited the world took place in London in 1851 and is now known as ‘The Immortal Game’, which was played between Anderssen and Kieseritzky. 

          Over the last two centuries many players have risen to rank amongst the immortals of the game.  The chess world’s Chevalier’s of the Legion d’Honneur/Croix de Guerre would include Philidor, Staunton, Anderssen, Morphy, Steinitz, Lasker, Capablanca, Alekhine, Euwe, Botvinnik, Karpov, Smyslov, Tal, Petrosian, Spassky, Nimowitsch and of course, Fisher, who are just a few that have been elevated to the chess world’s ‘order of the purple’.   Kasparov was the world’s greatest artist on a canvas of 64 cells and deservedly considered the strongest traditional chess player in the history of our oldest game.  Even now, as I write, there are players and programmers preparing for an expedition to conquer ‘Mount Kasparov’ and defeat the reigning World Champion.  The most recent effort by Anand of India (1995) has not been successful.  Please see section dealing with the set of games played between these two players for a detailed blow-by-blow, punch-for-punch account.  Note: Kasparov has recently lost the world title, Level-01. 

              Alexander A. Alekhine 1896-1946, Robert J. Fischer 1943, Paul C. Morphy 1837-1884

Chess reveals the inner lives and characters of the wo/men who, escaping madness, can unremittingly devote all of their mental energy during 10, 20, 30 or 40+ years to the ludicrous effort of cornering a wooden KI on a chequered wooden board.   Today, the top players are celebrities on the international stage and the tournaments at home and abroad command the ardent following of chess connoisseurs worldwide.   Their magnetic presence has elevated the game to national importance and convinced the world that being a chess player is respectable, even romantic.   Some have become folk heroes with reputations that cross oceans and many generations.  Along with the global fame and whispering reverence comes the immortality that goes with casual mention in a chess handbook.  1970 saw the introduction of the Elo rating system to assess a player’s chess playing strength.  On reaching 2500+ s/he is made a GM of the traditional game.  In 1974, the first world computer championship was held in Stockholm, Sweden, and in 1988 a chess computer program defeated a GM for the first time (please see ‘Kasparov versus Deep Blue’).

17 Chess clocks

Clock Models

In 1836, Le Palemede, the first chess magazine, was published in Paris and in 1861 a chess clock was introduced.   Prior to this the amount of time allowed for moves was not regulated and some games went on for ages.   The chess clock used today has two mechanisms which are joined together Siamese style.   Each of these starts when a lever is pressed on one of the clocks after a move has been made.   Each player is required to make a set number of moves in a given time period.   If the number of moves required in a given time-frame have not been played, the game is forfeited (see game-01 ‘Kasparov versus Short, ++LT’).  This leads to time-scrambles by the players and it often happens that a player will have to make five or ten moves in a few minutes, in order to beat h/er clock. 

Chess table measuring 14 x 18 inches.  A show-piece for your living room.   Rosewood chess table with brass metal. Beautifully handcrafted with a classic touch.   Easy to assemble.   See details here.  Features: round shape table top, measuring 14 inches in diameter.  Height is approximately 18 inches.  Tripod frame for perfect balance.  Perfectly polished to accentuate the rich grains of the rosewood.  Highly skilled work of carving around the table borders and brass strips.   Easy to assemble and comes in six parts.  For full size image, click here - new window will open. 

During the 18^th century the introduction of the clock made chess players careful in the management of their time allocation, and so played a part in speeding up the length of a game.   A suitable clock with set times allocated for playing on the various levels of chess (Chesmayne) is also needed.   The newer boards, 8 x 8 (traditional chess), 10 x 9 (Chinese Chess), 9 x 9 Shogi, 10 x 10, 12 x 12 etc, need longer and longer time periods, depending on the level and complexity of a game.   When playing with friends there is usually no time limit to the number of moves that may be made but in serious play a chess clock is used and each contestant has a predetermined amount of time to make all of h/er plays.   If you cannot make all your moves within the time frame, you forfeit the game.   Usually, the time allowed to decide on a move is limited.   Chess contests are played to a time limit of 40 moves in two hours and 20 moves per hour after this time on an 8 x 8 board (D-Array).   Failure to meet this deadline leads to automatic loss of a match.   On average you would have to move every three minutes to stay within the two-hour deadline.   This may seem a lot of time, but many players find that the clock revolves faster than their brains ability to solve the complex situations that arise in endgame scenarios. 

          Pressure of time can often lead to mistakes as the excitement of a time scramble can disorientate your judgment.  Deep searching play can result in loss of time when in fact the obvious move can be found in less than a few minutes.   A worse case scenario that can arise in a contest, is having to move, say 14 MPs/mps, with five minutes remaining on your clock.   To find yourself in such a position is like giving your opponent odds and can lead to loss of creative play.   You will find that your enemy is the clock and the moral obvious - keep an eye on the time or, you will find yourself in trouble in the latter stages of a contest. 

                                                                 

Plastic mechanical chess clock.  This European mechanical chess clock with sturdy plastic casing and positive action rocker switch.  Note the red flags at the top of clocks? 

Loss on Time   ++LT

Try to play at an even rate and remain objective at all times.   As the contest progresses, the position on the board will also change.    View each new position with a fresh mind without too many flashbacks from earlier stages in the game.   Remember that as long as your opponent has MPs/mps, they can be moved and may become dangerous.   Do not leave yourself short of time, but if you do, keep a note of the number of plays.   If you are in the lead, keep play simple and use your opponents time frame to anticipate the response move.  It is difficult to play a defensive game when time is short.   Give up material to maintain the initiative.   If your opponent is short on time, do not quicken your own pace, as you will be giving away an advantage.   In an amateur club a move is not legally completed until your opponents clock has been restarted.   Games have been lost in the time between playing the last move and the punching of the clock.  (++LT = Loss-on-Time). 

                                                                

     Chess clock.  Note red flags at top?

18 Time Factor

Try to get the most out of each move.   Bring fresh force into play rather than move a MP that is already in play.   This principle applies right through the game.   The player who completes h/er development first has the initiative, which is a real advantage.   The problem of where to place your MPs/mps when you develop them is solved by the maxim: centralize.   Let every MP/mp have some bearing on the center.

Mechanical chess clock with finished wood case and brass buttons.  Made by a well-known clock factory who specialize in mechanical movements. 

 

 

19 :L01 traditional chess - a retrospective

In retrospect, there can be no doubt that the traditional chessboard has had a venerable career.   One cannot fail to be impressed with the great diligence shown by the men and women in carrying through the scheme for the re-organization of traditional chess during the Renaissance and its succeeding centuries.  They obviously had a strong conviction of the value of these changes to work out and present the necessary information and methods and one can have nothing but praise for the way they tackled the job and presented their scheme.   The work was impeccably carried through by those who followed them during the last five centuries and from this point of view a worthy entry in the pages of chess history.   As Charles Dickens would have said “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, all rolled into one”. 

            Unfortunately, for the scheme to be a contribution of practical value to the future of chess, deeper issues are raised, and it is in dealing with these or, rather, failing to deal with them that traditional chess falls short of continuing success.   Many have risen to personal glory on its 64 cells and anyone who wishes to begin playing chess will find many books devoted to :L01

.  Traditional chess has been a system that has been used to determine the best chess player in the world for many decades. Being generous, it can perhaps best be seen as a mixture of the spirit of the UN and that of the most ruthless Darwinism - a product of the untalented, sold by the unprincipled to the utterly bewildered - too many flowers - too little fruit. 

          Chess in its various forms (Chatrang, Chaturanga, Shatranj, Korean, Burmese, Chinese and Thai, etc) has endeared itself to all those who have come in contact with it during the last forty centuries and it has succeeded in performing its task, the measure of which can be appreciated from the fact that the traditional game has survived for nearly 50 decades in its European version - as a monument and a remarkable tribute to the skill of the players who grace the pages of chess history.   It is an everlasting credit to the wo/men who opened up new avenues of mental exploration. 

          As we turn the page on the previous millennium of chess history, mature players must bid farewell - au revoir - to traditional occidental chess and press onwards to what lays ahead in futurity and the new levels described in this text.   It is our good fortune that traditional chess has been handed down - for it is on this very foundation that Chesmayne has been constructed. Chesmayne players have recognized the value of the new boards and notation - the larger the array, the more MPs/mps and number of moves playable (not to mention blockers).   The traditional game of chess is the version officially recognized by the ruling body of traditional chess and is played nationally and internationally by 100+ nations.  FIDE or, the ‘Federation Internationale des Eches’ motto is, ‘Gens una sumus’ (‘we are the people’). 

     Chesmayne notation for 8 x 8 chessboard

                                                         

Notation: files are lettered A to H on the bottom.  Ranks are numbered 1 to 8.  This diagram also shows the Chesmayne ‘Acentric’ notation for the 8 x 8 chessboard – Block-A, B, C and D. 

          Notice in the above diagram that the files are lettered A to H on the bottom.  The ranks are indicated by the numbers 1 to 8 on the right-hand-side.  This board also uses a second notation – there are four blocks of cells – A in the middle of the diagram, then B, then C and finally D, being the outer block of cells.  Therefore, a chessboard is composed of ranks, files, diagonals and blocks of cells as shown above.  

A change of the sort which is advocated in this treatise is one which cannot really be half-adopted.   The far-reaching changes are based on a solid foundation.  Furthermore, as Chesmayne rapidly approaches the point of integration with wider fields ie, computer programming, it should gain a wider common usage.   The issues raised are quite extensive and I have attempted to justify the ideas in this wider context.  The division of the board into blocks of cells is necessary for the new notation used to describe the moves of a chess game.   The Chesmayne symbols are the best available and all are readily accessible from a QWERTY keyboard.  Pragmatic criteria - its ease of use etc, are not the only ones by which such a system should be judged.    It is to be hoped that time will justify the suggestions and as traditional chess stands, whilst paying tribute to our predecessors in the field and their industry and grasp of the practical application of traditional chess, one must set the occidental system aside and as is usual in such circumstances the work on traditional chess up to the present time will carry its own intellectual reward for those engaged in its evolution. 

20 Rating

Long ago attempts were made to find a method to determine the strength of a chess players ability.   A rating system was introduced in Germany in 1948 and was known as the Ingo-System.  The Ingo System was developed by A. Hoesslinger.  Differing systems were developed in England, U.S.A., Switzerland, Canada and Russia.  At Siegen in 1970 FIDE adopted Professor Arpad Elo’s system/method to determine titles in traditional chess.   The concept of rating chess play dates back to the 19^th century.  The ELO system is based wholly on statistical probability theory and is a scientific approach to the evaluation of a chess players strength.   FIDE maintains an International Rating List known as the IRL and awards titles:

01 International Grandmaster.   02 International Master.   03 Woman International Grandmaster.   04 Woman International Master and  05 FIDE Master.

The performance norms are achieved in 24 games or more within a three-year period. 

21 Centuries of progress

There are many ways to view chess history and the processes that underlie the stage at which we have now arrived.   The present state of affairs can be seen as the culmination of many centuries of progress.    The two processes that operate on the chessboard, tactics and strategy, are what the Chinese call Yin and Yang and the interaction of the two, the Tao.   Thirty years ago the rate of change in chess theory could be described as leisurely, though today this rate of information and knowledge has become almost exponential.    Chesmayne, the game on which you are about to embark is a contest that caters for the intellectual capacity of the modern mind.  The higher levels will require the computer technology of the present decade for rendition and implementation (download the free ‘Zillions’ demo at: http://www.zillions-of-games.com/index.html).   However, the instantaneous human judgment in chess is still to be treasured more than the tireless calculations of the artificial brain in a computer chip. 

 

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• Review of Zillions of Games. By David Howe.
• Additional review of Zillions of Games. By Hans Bodlaender.

• Zillions of Games. Official home page. (Link.)
• Zillions' Chess Variants index page. (Link.)
• Wishlist for features in next version of Zillions of Games. Maintained by David Howe. (Link.)
• The Art of Games. Website of Jens Markmann, with games for Zillions and information on the zrf-language. (Link.)

• O - 9, A - I. Download the first set of zip-files.
• J - R. Download the second set of zip-files.
• S - Z. Download the third set of zip-files.

• Save Game: Omega Chess Sherzer- Polgar. Saved-game file for Zillions - with the program you can easy play through the moves.
• Chess (Variant) Graphics by Jean-Louis Cazaux. Useful for making zrf's yourself.

 

above: Screen shot selector

22 Modern board games

Modern board games such as Trivial Pursuit, Scrabble (invented 1948), Monopoly (invented in 1934 by Charles Darrow) and Bridge are played the world over.  There has been a phenomenal global interest in mental games in recent decades.   100+ million people play Trivial Pursuit and Monopoly.   200+ million play Scrabble and complete Crosswords. 60+ million play bridge, 250+ million play draughts/checkers, and over 300+ million play traditional chess and many more play Chinese chess.   Of all the board games, chess in its various forms seems to have the ideal mix of tactics, strategy, skill, type and shape of board and selection of MPs/mps for play.   Compare a card game such as Chem-de-fer (a variation of Baccarat in which the cards are dealt by a banker with two or more punters), where the outcome is subject to the luck of the hand dealt, or with checkers, where the similarity of the pieces makes the game mundane.   The only other board games which compare in intellectual depth are Chinese Chess, Go, Bridge and the Japanese game of Shogi.   Shogi and Chinese chess can also be played on a Chesmayne board in a western format.  Chesmayne with its new MPs and mps still allows traditional chess to be played but it is only used by beginners, as the initial starting level-01. This determination to make Chesmayne as exciting as possible by permitting different levels to co-exist side-by-side allows the game to be taken to the limit of possibility and will enable you to play at a new level of performance. 

 

 

Clear blue glass chess set.  This glass chess set is extremely beautiful.  The contrast of blue and clear glass is very attractive.  It can be used as a home decor item.  A perfect affordable gift to present to loved ones.  14 x 14 inches size. 

23 The future

Any account of chess is likely to be an individual one and suffer from the peculiarities of the person formulating it.  One of the ways to understand chess is to ask the following questions: 

01 What is a chessboard?

02 What symbols are used?

03 What variants are available?

A chessboard is a playing area that contains MPs/mps, and it is thanks to the marvelous property of the chess pieces that an intellectual game is possible.  You can manipulate your MPs/mps any way you wish within defined rules and your opponent can respond with h/er own moves, which in turn presents the players with a set of problems.   Playing chess is highly personal and the strength of your play will be due to the fluency of your playing ability.   It is impossible to predict what the future of Chesmayne will be, but whatever occurs, it is hoped that this text will be useful to future students of the game, both in terms of the nature of chess and its social, mythological, symbolic and psychological aspects.   Much potential for improvement lie in this field of thought and it remains open to new ideas and developments from any source.  Fresh concepts will emerge from its practitioners and it is the author’s hope that many such new ideas will emerge in the years ahead.  Authors and Authoresses wanted. 

24 A Chesmayne board

                                        8 x 8 chess board Level-01

The above diagram shows a typical 8 x 8 chess board used for playing traditional western chess - Level-01 of Chesmayne.  The pieces used for play are King, Queen, Rook, Bishop, Knight and Pawn (the monograms to identify them are KI, QU, RO, BS, KT and PA).

The word Chesmayne is used in reference to occidental, oriental or the newer levels of play described elsewhere in this text.  For historical reasons Chesmayne has become the term to describe this new game as distinct from particular game-trees of east and west.   This name is an indication of the fact that it is a global form of chess.   The traditional game of chess is played on a board 8 x 8 cells in size with 16 :A

 and 16 :B MPs/mps.   Chesmayne boards may be any number of cells in size and individual cells may be blocked off on the playing area or, used to alter the actual shape of the board.   Blocked cells are of different distinct types: red (XR), white (XW) and blue (XB) being examples.  The dark cells are indicated by XD and the light cells by XL.   See ‘Blocker’ for further details.

                                         8 x 8 chess board Level-02

                                       

Notice in this diagram that 8 GUs (Guards) are used (not PAs, Pawns).  On Level-02 you could also have two types of mps in the ISP – ie, 8 PAs versus 8 GUs in the ‘Initial Starting Position’ [ISP].  This is called a ‘Handicap’ game.  Or, each player could be given 4 PAs and 4 GUs etc to commence a game ie,

01:  PA1 PA2 PA3 PA4 PA5 PA6 PA7 PA8 (all PAs, eight of one type).

02:  GU1 GU2 GU3 GU4 GU5 GU6 GU7 GU8 (all GUs, eight of one type). 

03:  PA1 PA2 PA3 PA4 GU1 GU2 GU3 GU4 (PAs and GUs, four of each type).

The advantage when playing with the ‘Chesmayne chess set’ is that different types of MP/mp may be used ie, you could also have a RO and CN (Cannon), BS and VC (Vaunt Courier), Knight, KT and a Chinese Knight (KN) on the board at the same time ie,

PA1 GU1 PA2 GU2 PA3 GU3 PA4 GU4  Rank-02

RO1 KT1 BS1 QU1 –KI VC1 KN1 CN1  Rank-01

As you can see the Initial Starting Position (ISP) is infinitely variable!  All you have to do is use your imagination when setting-up a starting position.  An explanation of the above chess pieces may be found elsewhere in the dictionary. Please see Vanguard, Cannon, Vaunt-Courier etc.  Note: each Chesmayne chess piece is identified by a ‘monogram’ ie, KI, QU, RO, BS, KT, PA, GU, CN, VC, RE, KM, BQ, KN, EL, EP, FH, FS, AD, GG, SG etc – there are 500+ different monograms!  Each piece is also given a ‘number’ ie, RO1 and RO2, BS1 and BS2, KT1 and KT2.  The pawns are numbered from 1 to 8 ie, PA1, PA2, PA3 etc.  A promoted PA becomes QU2.  If you ‘underpromote’ a PA it would become KT3, BS3 or, RO3 – its as simple as that. 

25 Other levels of play

My purpose here is not to re-examine the traditional game but, to examine its fundamental components in a little more detail - how we got to where we are - where we are going and also to review what we are capable of as individuals, and then to examine what the future capabilities, if utilized, might enable you to do.   For the reader who likes to peek at the end to see how it all comes out, I will conclude this section by saying that, so far, we have examined chess and its variants from its origins - touched on various other similar board games and looked at Chesmayne and its higher levels of play.  The paragraphs below examine some of the finer minutiae. 

26 Breath of fresh air

Chesmayne brings a breath of fresh air to the traditional game of chess and propels it into the 3^rd millennium.   The game lends itself particularly to the conflicts surrounding aggression.  It is a cerebral activity that calls for an intellectual and thoughtful mind, creative thinking, deduction and depth of perception.   The nature of thinking that operates and the levels of mental activity required can be described as vision or intuition, reasoning, calculation, maturity of judgment, individual style and a balanced psychological demeanor.   The qualities that make a good chess player are patience, concentration, a capacity to put duty before personal feelings, profound analysis and cool appraisal of objective realities, the ability to think ahead, marking time as a way of holding a position in view of later objectives and the readiness to study the relevant material and precedents.   In studying the example games in the text you will learn the underlying principles of strategy and tactical technique.   There are three obvious phases or parts in a game of chess - opening (developing the MPs/mps, control of the middle section of the board, etc), the middle game (exploiting weaknesses in your opponents KIs position, defense and attack, plans are brought to fruition, etc) and the endgame (where PA promotion can lead to victory, etc).  

27 Theory of the game

I am sure that traditional oriental and occidental chess players will be ready converts to the paradigm shift outlined in this text.  The aim has been to provide a brief but comprehensive introduction to Chesmayne which will enable the average chess player, with a little practice, to achieve a reasonable competence in a short time.  Try to understand the reasoning behind each move - study the endings, as the finale is a weakness of amateurs.   In order to be an excellent player you must be capable of excelling in all aspects.   At one point the game may seem calm and undisturbed but at the next moment there will come a sudden flurry of movement and almost before you know what has happened you will find yourself in the center of a hurricane.   When the atmosphere is on a knife-edge the rivalry will be keen. 

          How do you choose a correct move from a miasma of alternatives?  What factors will affect your selection of the correct move?   These problems are complex and will vary from contestant to contestant.  First, you will need to acquire a working knowledge of the new MPs/mps and levels of play.   Knowledge of middle game techniques including strategy and tactics and how to play from a given position and win are also desirable.   During the endgame phase, specific knowledge of what to do from a given position will enable you to determine whether a game can be won or drawn.   Knowledge of the theory underlying the game in all its ramifications will be important in determining your thinking technique.   During most games of chess victory depends on ingenuity and the ability of being able to think on your feet.   This means that you will have to analyze each position as it crops-up on the particular level you choose to play. 

28 MP and mp endings

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You will also need knowledge of MP and mp endings.  This problem can be exasperating when there are numerous alternative moves for both contestants.   The ability to visualize before your eyes positions arising two, three or more moves ahead is an important attribute to possess and can only be gained by constant practice and analysis.   There are restrictions to this technique, as some positions are overly complex to handle, this being particularly the case when the time allowed for deep searching thought is restricted.  Some positions are impossible to analyze.  In other positions you will have to study the whole oeuvre of your opponent.  Chess is an adversarial relationship, in which one side is doing h/er damndest to defeat the other.   This can be a one-against-one encounter.   It is played entirely in the open, sequentially, one move at a time.  All the moves are immediately visible and the power of the MPs/mps precisely regulated - this is the real mystery of the game. 

29 Chess and it’s various forms

The skill is easy to acquire.   It is pleasing for children to play, learning its simple rules in their formative years.   Duffers succumb to its temptation.   It requires a mental effort with more than a dash of art and imagination thrown in - clearly an improving hobby.  Chess can arouse deep and violent human passion’s as it is symbolic of a pseudo-war.   In some countries chess is only second in popularity to other sports.  Traditional chess is played in most countries with Japan having its own form, Sho-gi, probably derived from Chinese chess.   Traditional chess has been played for many centuries, though in the 1940s it became serious business for the former Soviet Union (Russia). 

30 Russia

Chess in Russia goes back more than a thousand years to the byliny, the ancient heroic epic poem period.  It seems to have been introduced from the East, as distinct from the Arabic influence in Western Europe, and was favored by all classes and was even played by Peter the Great who carried special soft-leather chess-boards during military campaigns, one of which has survived and is on show at the Hermitage museum in Leningrad.   Catherine the Great liked the game and one of the most beautiful chess sets ever made, by the Tula arms factory, in burnished steel was a gift to her.   Catherine the Great bought an automatic chess machine from Wolfgang von Kempelen.  “I shall be an autocrat: that’s my trade.  And the good Lord will forgive me: that’s his”, (attributed to Catherine the Great).  Ivan the Terrible died in the middle of a chess game.  

‘Russia was thus clearly top nation, and History came to a’.  

  

Barnet Chess Club.  All problems at this excellent web page are taken from the games of Garri Kasparov. This site is a ‘must see’ for every fan of the world champion. 

In Russia, chess is regarded as a noble profession and many write short stories and poetry about the game. The Russian school of traditional chess has been distinguished from other styles of play by its rigorous use of scientific methods of experimentation and systematic analysis.  For those interested in developing artificial intelligence, chess provides the raw material for serious scientific investigation into the nature of human intelligence.   Since the 1920s, chess has also been regarded as a training ground for Russian political life – President’s Gobrachov, Yelstin and now Putin rule as Tsars.  When younger persons show talent they are cultivated by professional coaches so as to bring them up to a mature standard of play and eventually may become the creme de la creme of Russian society.  Chess was played by Nikolai Lenin and due to state sponsorship has become a sport in which Russia dominated the entire world.   The Soviet system of chess was started by Lenin’s colleague Nikolai Krylenko, who commandeered the trade union movement to spread traditional chess throughout the new socialist state.   Botvinnik introduced into chess the total dedication which became characteristic of the Soviet players who developed a style of total warfare, deliberately dragging out games or manipulating results amongst themselves.   The Russian school encouraged the aggressive stare at the board and Mikhail Tal was the most famous exponent of this practice, developing the intimidating stare into something approaching an art form.   Even Benko took to wearing wraparound mirrored sunglasses in order to avert an opponent’s gaze - much like the pop stars Bono from U2 and Roy Orbinson – even the Pope John Paul has been known to don a pair.   Maybe they are trying to stop light escaping rather than entering! 

          In the former Soviet Union chess was supported by the government.   During Stalin’s time victories were used in international chess tournaments to propagandize the notion that the best minds flourish under the Communist system.   Top players had the assistance of 40, sometimes 50 aides.   They analyze positions, perform physical therapy and provide sophisticated psychological profiles of opponents.  Chess was entirely political in Russia with many players being asked to draw and sometimes asked (kindly) to lose games.   The world championships have stirred the passion and patriotic pride of millions of Russian chess players and fans, and for forty years despite their disdain for royalty, their wo/men have given us an outstanding intellectual performance in the game of KIs. 

                                                                                   

          Chess Life magazine (USA) and the prestigious Russian magazine ‘64’ are filled with profiles of GMs with pages of ratings in near-microscopic print, puzzles and the dense analysis of GM games.   In the past the annotated games of traitors and non-persons (from the point of view of the Russian establishment), were also included.   When such people played in competitions, their results were usually not included in accounts published in Russian newspapers and magazines (as if the native GMs had played ghosts).  Russian chess players of international strength were supported by the state and an instructor’s income from teaching was greater than that of a doctor or engineer.  Enthusiasm for the game is also a reflection of social values - a socially useful cultural activity.  Top players are national heroes/heroines and revered as stars.  Chess is a barometer of Russian cultural supremacy and they have come to believe the game to be their permanent treasure.   A national fear arises that something is rotten in the land when they are defeated - part of the national consciousness - like football in the west where the top players are frequently in the tabloids and even the broadsheets or seen signing autographs. 

          Chess can be played by any person of any race, colour or, creed, and if given the facility of equipment and instruction s/he can make a start.   In some countries it has been put on the syllabus of a number of schools, the objective being to elicit creativity and intelligence in the general population.    It has been found that the methodological teaching of chess helps elevate the IQ and develops a new form of thinking and its practice creates a new form of abstract exercise which is self-motivating. 

31 Origins of chess

The Indian Brahmin who designed the original concept some 25 centuries ago conceived it as picturing the warfare of his era and provided elephants, horses and chariots, in addition to foot soldiers to do battle for the KI, who had an Adviser by his side to plan his strategy.   1,400 years went by before the game reached the western world.   The Moors brought it to Spain at about the same time the Italians learned it from the Saracens and it penetrated throughout Europe with remarkable speed.  The carved chess pieces which the Moslems brought with them included towers/castles (called ROs in English) in place of the chariots, which had long ago become obsolete in warfare.   The elephants were represented by short upright pieces deeply split on top, symbolizing the tusks of these animals.   This shape was erroneously interpreted as a fools cap in France and as a BSs miter in Portugal.   To this day this MP is called BS in English speaking countries, Portugal and Brazil and Fou (fool) in France.   The Spanish continue to call this MP Alfil, the Arabic word for elephant and this term is also used in all South American countries outside of Brazil.   The Italians made Alfiers out of Alfil, meaning Standard Bearer.   Possibly this is the reason why the name Laufer (Courier) was given to the BS by the Germans, who learned the game from the Italians.   The Adviser was replaced by a QU in Europe, where women did not play the subordinate role assigned to them in the orient.   The horse became identified with the rider on horseback, KT in English, Cavalier in French, Cavaliere in Italian, Springer in German, and so on.   Only in the Spanish tongue is the name still Caballo - the horse. 

32 Transition phase

  

For 500 years chess was played in Europe with the rules inherited from the Moslems.  But it took so long to play a whole game that most players confined themselves to solving chess ditties, ie, special positions contrived by problem composers in which a hidden winning manoeuver has to be discerned.   During the latter part of the ‘Middle Ages’, leading Spanish and Italian players proposed sweeping changes in the rules which shortened the game considerably.  These changes increased the power of the QU and the BSs and introduced a simultaneous move of KI and RO1/RO2 with the objective of getting RO1 or RO2 more quickly into active play.   By the end of the 15^th century the new rules had been accepted in all European countries and gradually the oriental countries followed suit.   As players everywhere preferred the shorter game, it transpired that within a hundred years it was again played with the same rules but on a near global basis. 

            The game framework has remained fixed since this period.   It is a square board on which horizontal and vertical lines mark off eight rows of eight cells each.   It is always placed so that the players have a light coloured cell (XL) at their lower right.   The squares on traditional boards are always referred to as black and white, the same as the chessmen, regardless of their actual colour.  The players themselves are also called white and black.   Many Jewish and Christian scholars have played chess.   Opposition to the game in the past has abated as it has distinguished itself from gambling and time wasting games.   Chess is played in many eastern countries which shows that the game has global appeal.   The early Christian church condemned the game which shows the full force of the intolerant medieval mode of thinking prevalent during that period of floresence.   By the year 1,400 prohibition ceased as the church, following the nobility, embraced a more enlightened view of the game and those engaged in its practice.   Many new insights have been gleaned on :L01 .   For some it has become boring due to the limited size of the board and number of MPs/mps and for most ‘the thrill has gone.’ 

33 Draught’s

It seems that the origins of modern traditional chess arose in the 5^th century AD in northwest India.   It is not known for sure who invented the original concept for this amusement.   Alongside traditional chess and played on the exact same board is the game of draughts or, checkers.   The 12 pieces on each side move diagonally and forward on the board on the same coloured dark cells (XD) from their initial starting positions (ISP) on R$01, 2 and 3.   On reaching the top rank (R$08), they undergo a metamorphosis becoming kinglets, this being indicated by placing one draught on top of a similar draught that has been captured or, by turning the mp to its obverse position, upon which the symbol for a crown or, the royal letter ‘K’ has been embossed onto its circular disk.   It appears to be descended from Alqueque, which dates from 1,400 BC.   The objective of this game-tree is to capture all of your opponent’s MPs/mps or make them immobile.   A capture must always be made if this is possible. 

          The disks are usually about 35mm in diameter, 6mm in depth and serrated on the circumference which allow the checker’s to be gripped between thumb and finger.  The 12 draughts are placed on the dark cells (XD) of the board, the light cells (XL) being left vacant and unused during a contest.   These diminutive combatants are permitted to move forward one cell diagonally but when capturing are allowed to vault over a diagonally placed adversary.  This means that the draught moves two cells forward on the capturing manoeuvre, the captured MP/mp being removed from the playing area and kept in reserve for when a mp is promoted to a MP (kinglet).   All mps start off being of equal value and all can become of equal value once again on reaching the 8^th rank of cells (8 x 8 board).   On being promoted a kinglet is allowed to move one cell diagonally in any direction and may capture in the same manner in which they existed prior to their new emergent state.   The contest is concluded when all the pieces of either :A or :B have been captured.   There are two types of MP/mp in the Chesmayne version of this game.   DR1 to DR12, the initial set of mps which start the game and K1 to K12 (the kinglets), to which the mps aspire.   The pieces used in this game-tree are referred to as a ‘draught’ in Europe and ‘checker’ on the North American continent. 

34 Marion Tinsley

Professor of mathematics and world draught champion.   He was the world’s top checker champion from 1954 and during this period only lost seven times.   Tinsley defeated Chinook, a computer program that is considered the number-two in the world, which has the ability to calculate 3-million moves a minute, and which has a 27-billion position database.   He was born in Irontown, Ohio, in 1927.   He took up the game by chance when he read two books about the game in his local library.  He first became World Champion in 1954 and for his meritorious service to the game he was awarded the title of World Champion Emeritus in 1992.   He died in June 1995. 

35 X’s and O’s

        

The game of X’s and O’s is basically a very simplified form of chess with one type of piece and a board of nine cells.   Each player inputs an X, or O, onto this board alternately.   The first player to connect three X’s or three O’s, either vertically, horizontally or diagonally is the victor.   X’s and O’s can be played on a piece of paper, on a frosted or dirty window, or on the sand at the beach.   X’s and O’s is played nearly everywhere in the world at some time or other by boys and girls and is similar to Japanese Go, in that the board starts empty and pieces are added as the game continues.  Traditional chess on the other hand starts with a full board and the pieces are subtracted.    Shogi (Japanese chess) pieces are always available for play ie, either on the board itself or in a ‘reserve’ base.  

36 Traditional chess MPs/mps - Staunton pattern   

The Chesmayne chess MPs/mps are triangular shaped.   Large triangles are used for the MPs and small triangles are used for the mps.  Each triangle has the monogram of the MP/mp printed on it ie:

01 PA1, PA2, PA3, PA4, PA5, PA6, PA7 and PA8 for the mps.

02 The monograms RO1, RO2, BS1, BS2, KT1, KT2, QU1 and KI for the MPs on :L01, traditional chess. 

King - KI	Queen - QU	Bishop - BS
Knight - KT	Rook - RO	Pawn - PA

Now - to learn the names of the MPs/mps.   The KIs in a traditional chess set have a cross, or possibly a crown, on top.   The QUs have a jagged edge around the top like a coronet.   The BSs are shaped like a mitre, the headress worn by BSs.   They have a rounded top with a slit through it.   The KTs look like horse’s heads.   The ROs look like castle keeps with battlements.   Some people call them ‘castles’, but to all real chess players they are ROs.   Last but by no means least there are eight small mps of each colour.   These are the PAs, and they go in front of the MPs.  Now stop and look at the board.   The hardest thing to remember is where the KIs and QU1s go.  On :L01 (traditional chess) A-QU1 is placed on an XL cell ($D01) and B-QU1 on ($D08), an XD cell.  Finally, always remember this - the :A MPs/mps start on R$01 and R$02 (:L01).   The :B MPs/mps start on R$07 and R$08 (Initial Starting Position - ISP). 

37 Traditional chess-set - Chesmayne pattern

The KI is allowed to move one cell diagonally, forward, back, or horizontal on the chessboard.   At the extreme left and right of each player a RO is inserted.   Notice that there are not one, but two ROs, RO1 and RO2.    To the left and right of the KI and QU1 are two BSs (BS1 and BS2).   However, you will have noticed that these two BSs operate on different coloured diagonal cells (one for the XL and one for the XD cells).   Although the two BSs move with the same diagonal movement they never come into contact with each other during a game.   One BS is quite powerful and can sweep diagonally the length and breath of the board.   BS1 and BS2 used together are an even more formidable force to contend with.   To the left and right of the BSs are placed two similar moving KTs (KT1 and KT2).   These move in a 2 x 1 fashion and also have the ability to jump over the heads of all other MPs/mps including the KI and QU.  To the front of these powerful MPs are inserted eight mps (PAs) that are representative of the army of soldiers who can be promoted/enrobed if they do well in battle and disposed, or sacrificed if and when the need arises.   These soldiers, or PAs are not allowed to retreat from battle unlike the more powerful MPs who can run and escape during a conflagration.   With the mps in place the :L01 chess board is complete and ready for action. 

          At the far end of the board a similar army of belligerents are assembled and between the two opposing sides are four ranks comprising 32 cells on which to move forward and into the fray.   A board of 8 x 8 has a total of 64 cells.   You could have a board of 9 x 9, 12 x 8 or, any conceivable combination of vertical and horizontal cells of your choosing.   A total of 32 MPs/mps are placed on the traditional chessboard.   Due to the fact that a board is 8 x 8 cells in size, this limits the total number of MPs/mps to 16 for each opponent and allows space for them to advance without getting in each others way, while at the same time enabling both sides to get their hands on one another. 

          This then, is the traditional chessboard, which has been handed down through the centuries by our ancestors who made various modifications to the rules as the need arose.   There were no alterations regarding the number of cells in the centuries that followed.  The 8 x 8 board became the accepted ‘final standard’.  Modifications have included introducing the :ep (‘En Passant’) rule during the middle ages and permitting the PA to move 1 or 2 cells forward on the initial move (FMO, First Move Option).   From the 16^th century onwards the game of traditional chess became quite popular and when the printing press was invented it became a pastime the layperson could engage in during their leisure hours.   Today traditional chess columns appear in many daily newspapers, The London Times being an excellent example, and magazines.   TV coverage of major events, video and CD ROMs are also an imposing resource and quite popular. 

Sixty-four cells

There is reason to suspect that the 64 cells (:L01, 8 x 8 board) is based on the military formations of the Alexandrine phalanx and the parataxis and of those of the later Byzantine period. 

38 Other boards, MPs/mps, Rules

The game of chess is old, no one knows for certain how old.  Its genesis in the first millennium dates back to an era of which we have only fragmentary knowledge - a rare document or the remnants of some scattered scripts being our only evidence.   Some researchers in the field have deduced that the game was invented in India.   A thousand years before this time the Chinese invented a game called ‘Go’ in which dark and light pebbles kill one another by surrounding each other, hence it is called ‘surrounding chess’.  The Go board was modified sometime during the T’ang dynasty, AD 618-907.   This alteration made play more complex.   The variant of chess played in the west is mirrored by the equally playable Xiangqi (Chinese Chess) and Shogi (Japanese Chess).   In the 1920s Capablanca expressed concern that traditional chess would be eventually played-out, and - do you know what? - he was right!   A malaise in the traditional game of chess prompted a number of leading GMs to voice a need for a reform of the game.   Practical suggestions have included…….   

01 Abolishing ‘castling’, %

02 Grade draws.

03 Ballot openings.

04 Use RO+KN, BS+KN, QU+KN, QU+BS etc, combined pieces. 

05 Allow the game to commence with the double-move of PA4 and PA5.  See ‘Paso-Doble’. 

06 Allow the mps to advance up to three cells on the initial move (FMO). 

07 Allow two consecutive moves every ten plays. 

08 Modify the castling rule. 

09 Changing the ISP of the MPs/mps. 

10 Allowing a mp to be promoted to a BS or KT on R$07. 

11 In the event of a ++DR (awarding a percentage to each player in accordance with the value of the MPs/mps remaining.   QU = 9, RO = 5, BS and KT = 3 and PA =1 point. 

12 Allowing mps to move horizontally. 

13 Allowing a BS to alter the colour of the cells it controls (moving from the XL cells to the XD cells) by a single cell move (of which there is good precedent in Reformation and modern times).   See ‘Japanese’ chess.   Japanese Bishop = JB and JR = Rook. 

14 Allowing BSs to jump over mps on their first move (FMO).

15 Permit the two-cell advance of a PA to be exercised at any time on a PAs advance to R$08. 

16 Giving equal powers to the KI and QU.

17 Giving BS1 and/or BS2 the power of a KT.

18 Giving QU1 the added power of a KT.

19 Replacing BS2 with QU2.

20 Giving RO2 the added power of a KT. 

21 A player who gives +PC should score 0.0 and the opponent given 0.5. 

22 Allowing :A and :B to begin a game by making two moves apiece. 

23 Giving combined MPs new names ie, Squire, Canon, Lord, Archbishop, Marshall, Chancellor, Duke etc. 

          The University of Trinity College, Dublin, applauded Capablanca’s game (10 x 10 board with new MPs).   Some were concerned that any alteration to the game would abolish centuries of chess literature [this is also partially correct].   Dr. Tarrasch found it difficult to express his opinion of Capablanca’s ideas in parliamentary language!   However, the London Times gave Capablanca’s ideas a sympathetic reception.  ‘Blanchess’ was suggested for Capablanca’s new form of chess.  At the time, his suggestions would have invalidated existing knowledge, introduced unfathomable possibilities and increased the chances of making sacrificial combinations in the game of chess.  

Chinese Chess

Xiangqu Board

Chinese chess is played on a board of 90 points or, cells and has a river separating the two opposing armies.   The General (GE) must remain inside his Palace, sometimes called a fortress and each side has been given 16 MPs/mps which have different moving capabilities to their occidental cousins.   They are comprised of: 

                                      

Chinese Checkers with 15-inch hexagonal board and marbles.  Wooden hexagonal Chinese checkers, constructed on 15-inch wooden board.  A perfect family game for indoors and out.  Easy to learn and great fun. Lock coloured marbles into game board holes and you’re ready to play.  Move all your marbles from one point of the star to the opposite point to win! 

Wood Chinese checkers is constructed on 16-inch wooden board.  Move all your pegs from one point of the star to the opposite point to win! 

The Chinese Howard Staunton set

These pieces were designed Charles Wohrer who was an ardent promoter of Xianqi in France during the 1970s and 1980s.  His designs were patented and then commercialized “L’Impensé Radical” in Paris.   The MPs/mps were manufactured by Chavet Chess, Jura, France.  A complete set (32 chessmen + 4 Elephants + 4 Cannons) was distributed in France by “Relais des Jeux Descartes”.  According to their paper catalogue, it is still in sale in France!   Try their web site for further information. 

                                                   
                                        Elephant – MR (Minister)                                Cannon – CN

                                                     

White Staunton pattern Xiangqi set – Back: RO, KN, MR, AD, GE.  Front: CN and 5 x FSs.  Rook, Knight, Minister, Adviser, General, Cannon and Foot Soldiers – 7 types of chess piece are used in Chinese Chess – only 6 are used when playing western chess.  Total of 16 MPs/mps per player.  FSs are not promotable.   Board is 9 x 10 cells in size. 

5 Foot Soldiers FS - 2 Rooks RO - 2 Knights KN - 2 Ministers MR - 2 Cannons CN -   2 Advisers AD - 1 General GE - Total of 16 MPs/mps per side. 

Set of Xiangqi pieces found in Kaifeng (circa 1105). 

 

Chinese graphic set

Chinese chess includes rules peculiar to this variation of the game (please see ‘Chinese Chess’ for further details).   The Japanese have a board of 81 cells in their variant of chess (Shogi) and the rules are somewhat more exotic than the Chinese game, at least for western players.   Please also see ‘Tori-Shogi’.  

Other variations of chess exist in India, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia and Mongolia. 

39 Chinese chess - Xiangqu

Total of 16 pieces per side - Chesmayne style/format

Chess migrated from India to China in the 8^th century, but there is some residual supporting evidence to conclude that it was imported from India in the 2^nd century AD.  The pieces, board and moves of the MPs/mps are somewhat different from those used by Chinese chess players of modern times.   In the 9^th century the Prime Minister of the Tang dynasty added two new MPs called Cannon to the game.   The earliest publication on this game dates from the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) and this book contains a collection of seventy endgames and their solutions (published in 1522).  Another book in ten volumes and regarded as the second oldest in the literature was published in 1570 and contained 550 endgame examples with solutions provided.  In 1632 ‘The Secret Inside the Orange’ was published by Jin-zhen Zhu.   This book gives us a list of many complete games and 133 endgames.  ‘The Plum-Blossom Meter’ is a hand written manuscript by Zai-yue Wang which was printed in 1917 for the first time. 

 

 
Krishna playing against Radha on an Ashtapada board. (Miniature, XVIIIth century, National Mueum, New Delhi).

The Chesmayne version of this game is played on a board of 10 x 9 cells.   Each side has sixteen MPs/mps.   In this format it is more understandable and easily playable for western players.   It is known as ‘Elephant Chess’ in China.   The Chinese use a ‘grid’ of 9 x 10 lines for their board and place the MPs/mps on the intersections of these lines, not inside the cells as in western chess.   The Chinese notation numbers the lines 1 to 9 right-to-left for :A and 1 to 9 right-to-left for :B and use the letters ‘f’ for forward, ‘b’ for back and ‘h’ for horizontal.   Therefore, C4b6 means that the Cannon on line 4 moves back six spaces, ie, the notation indicates the ‘name’ of the MP/mp, the ‘line’ on which the MP/mp is located, and the ‘direction’ in which the MP/mp moves (f, b, h).   A further complication of Chinese chess is that :A and :B each have a notation for their side of the board.   Chinese Chess is known as ‘Hsiang-ch’i’ in China.   It should be noted that the names of corresponding MPs/mps of the opponent’s armies are in some cases different.   The dividing area in the middle of the board is known as the ‘Yellow River’.  The MPs/mps are moved on the intersections of lines rather than on cells - this pattern being familiar to the Chinese from the game of Go, which was well known before chess arrived from India.  

            

          Chinese 9 x 10 board ISP. 

In China, the earliest description of Xiangqi with all its pieces, are more recent. They are from the ‘Bei Song Dynasty’, around 1,000 AD and depicted the modern Xiangqi already.  They are two armies, one blue and one red, with 16 pieces placed on the intersections of an 8 x 9 cases board, then 9 x 10 points. 

 

40 Enlargement of our chess concept

Chesmayne is the synthesis of all these variations and is an enlargement of our chess concept.   The game is a little more complex and the rules have been expanded to cater for the intellectual capacity of the modern mind.   It has managed to retain the romanticism with which chess was imbued in the past and this despite our modern analytical approach to the game.   However, traditional chess seems to have become an intellectual exercise with a fixed set of rules, a fixed number of cells and a fixed number of MPs/mps.   This situation has promoted stagnation.   Chesmayne rules are flexible and the number of squares, called cells (symbol ‘$’ on the XY axis) of your own choosing.   The number and types of MPs/mps are selected from a palette of available combatants.   With its studied refinements, its aesthetic visual appeal and picturesque terms it has the benefit of an added dimension and I am sure you will agree, is the richer for it. 

                  

41 Japanese chess - Shogi

       

                           ISP for 9 x 9 Shogi                  Pieces in-hand/captured     Closeup view of pieces – red/black

Japanese form of chess, the history of which is also obscure (nebulous).   Traditionally it is thought to have originated in India and to have been transmitted to Japan via China and Korea.   Shogi like traditional chess is played on a squared board with MPs/mps of varying powers, and the object is checkmate (++CM) of the opposing KI.   It is played on a square board of 9 x 9 or, 81 cells with MPs/mps of differing powers.   Two distinctive features, however, differentiate Shogi from European chess: 

01 Captured MPs/mps are not dead but may be pointed in the opposite direction and replayed as part of your own or your opponent’s forces. 

02 The mps (JPs - Japanese Pawns) capture one cell straight ahead.  :A and :B have twenty MPs/mps each at the beginning of the game (ISP). 

Note that the board is not chequered    Wooden 9 x 9 board and some pieces

Each player has 20 MPs/mps, which oppose each other on a board composed of 9 horizontal and 9 vertical rows.   There are 9 mps (Fu), a RO (Hisha), a BS (Kaku), one KI (Osho), 2 Gold Generals (JGs, Kinsho), 2 Silver Generals JSs (Ginsho), 2 JKs (Keima), and 2 Lance (Kyosha, JL).  The MPs/mps vary in power of movement, roughly (and I mean very roughly) corresponding to those of western chess.   BS and RO oppose each other diagonally.    The traditional Japanese MPs/mps are flat, blunt, and taper slightly toward the front.  Each bear Japanese identifying characters.  All MPs/mps except the KI and Gold Generals (GGs) may be promoted on entering the last three ranks of enemy territory.   The promoted rank of each MP is marked on the reverse, most (but not all), become Gold Generals (GGs).   Captured MPs/mps are held at reserve bases until they are needed on the field again.   They retain their original rank (ISP status) and may be reentered on any unoccupied cell.  If entered within your opponent’s territory, they qualify for promotion on making their first move.  Tsume Shogi are classical strategic puzzles.  The object is to checkmate the king.  The opponent’s move should be assumed to be in the direction which will most prolong the game. 

                                   

                                Homemade chess set

The first picture shows a close-up of the pieces.  It also shows a JP (Japanese Pawn) on its edge to give you a side-view of how flat these pieces actually are (quite slim compared to a normal Staunton chess piece).  The second picture shows the end of a Shogi game.  The KI has been checkmated. 

                           Graphic set for Shogi

      KI     GG     SG      JK     JL      JP      RO     BS    Monograms for MPs/mps

   Japanese name is stamped on top  Wooden Shogi 9 x 9 set

Japanese (Shogi) - Monogram and name

 Just click on this link to the Chess Variants Pages for more info?

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Variants on Shogi

• Annan Shogi, or Korean Shogi. Shogi variant where pieces move like a friendly piece directly behind it.
• Chu Shogi. Shogi variant on 12 x 12 board. (Link.)
• Cannon Shogi and Cannon Chess. Played on a 9 x 9 Shogi board, feature various types of 'Cannon' pieces. By Peter Michaelsen.
• Dai Shogi. Shogi variant on 15 x 15 board. (Link.)
• Hand Shogi. Modern shogi variant with many pieces to drop.
• Hasami Shogi. Popular Japanese game, playable with Shogi set.
• Five-Minute Poppy Shogi, or Microshogi. Small shogi variant on a 4 x 5 board.
• Four Player Shogi. Variant of Shogi for four players.
• Heian Shogi, or Early Shogi. A predecessor of Shogi.
• Hex Shogi, a new family of hexagonal Shogi variants by Fergus Duniho.
• Hex Shogi 41. Hexagonal shogivariant on board with 41 squares. By Fergus Duniho.
• Hex Shogi 81, a hexagonal Shogi variant on an 81-space board.  By Fergus Duniho.
• Hex Shogi 91, a hexagonal Shogi variant on a 91-space board. By Fergus Duniho.
• Judkin's Shogi. Small shogi variant on 6 x 6 board.
• Ki Shogi. Variant of Shogi played without a board, and pieces are cubes. By L. Lynn Smith.
• Kyoto Shogi and Hex Kyoto Shogi Small shogi variants. (Link.)
• Minishogi. On a 5 x 5 board.
• Pawn Shogi. Experimental shogi variant with different types of pawns.
• Sho Shogi. Historic predecessor of shogi.
• Southern Shogi. Shogi variant where pieces move like friendly pieces ‘south’ of them.
• Three Player Hex Shogi 91, a hexagonal Shogi variant for three players. By Fergus Duniho.
• Tori Shogi, or Bird Shogi. A variant of Japanese Chess on a 7 x 7 board.
• Tori Shogi.
• Roger Hare's description of Tori Shogi. (Link.)
• Unashogi. Parachute all pieces, starting with an empty board.
• Wa Shogi. A variant of Japanese Chess on an 11 x 11 board. (Link.)
• Whale Shogi.
• Yari Shogi. Modern Shogi variant by Christian Freeling.

42 Shatranj

Indian Muslim set, similar to the one depicted by Hyde in 1694. (Coloured silver tin).

Another Muslim set, style of Lahore, Punjab, circa 1870. (Wood and ivory).

Shatranj is the name by which chess was known from the seventh century of the first millennium.   The KI is allowed to move one cell in any direction and the Adviser (AD), is also only allowed to move one cell diagonally in any direction.   The fil or, elephant (EL) moves two cells in any direction and is permitted to hop over any intervening MP/mp.  The Faras (KT) moves in the same fashion as its traditional occidental counterpart.   The Rukh (RO) is the most powerful MP and has exactly the same motion as our modern equivalent.  Castling is not permitted as this double-move was introduced to chess some eight hundred years after the introduction of Shatranj, in the 15^th century.   :A may commence a game of Shatranj on R$01 and R$02 or on R$07 and R$08.  

 

Hindu style from south India, circa 1790. (Ivory).

A Sikh set, Punjab, circa 1890. Sikh in green against Chinese in white. (Ivory)

The first known game of chess (Chaturanga and then Shatranj, the Arabic form of the word) was the kind of chess played by the Arabian people in the middle ages.   Instead of the Queen [QU], they had the Firzan who could only move a cell [square] diagonally a time. 

  
Left: Set from Murshidabad, Bengal, representing a mogul army. (Ivory).   Right: A King, India, XVIII or XIX century.  The set is conserved at Musée de Chartres, France. (Painted ivory). 

Instead of the Bishops [BSs], they had the Alfils who move diagonally skipping a cell/square.  The mps or, Pawns [BQs] used in Shatranj could only move a cell/square at a time and could only be promoted to a Firzan.   King, Rooks and Knights moved as usual.   Castling was unknown and you could win by Checkmate and by Stalemate.   A game of Shatranj was played between Abu-Bakr Muhammed Ben Yahya as-Suli and Abu’l- Faraj bin al-Muzaffar bin Sa’-id al-Lajlaj in the 10^th century. 

         Chess graphic for   Firzan and        Alfil - note elephant graphic.  

          Shatranj has its own canon of names for openings etc, ‘Goat Peg’, ‘Wonderful and Lovely’, ‘Pharaoh’s Fortress’ and the ‘Sword’ opening being examples, which are called Tabia.   Please see dictionary under ‘Shatranj’ for an in depth discussion and examples in the Chesmayne format.  In the 15^th century the convention of allowing white to open was introduced.   The main difference between Shatranj and traditional western chess as we know it, is that in Shatranj, a win can be achieved by taking all of your adversary’s MPs/mps, except the KI - you do not need to force checkmate (++CM). 

      This elegant western Mah-Jongg game comes with a handsome faux-alligator case, which makes it easy to carry around.  Each set includes 168 tiles including 4 spare blanks and 2 spare jokers, 4 racks and 3 dice and instructions. This is a lovely set. 

43 As-Suli

It is difficult for modern players to grasp that As-Suli’s city, Baghdad, was at one time the capital of chess and capital of the world from the 9^th century onwards.    It was founded in 762 AD by Caliph Al-Mansour who had 100,000 men erect a circular city with a diameter of 8655 feet, encompassed by a rampart of 360 towers.    By 814 AD this had grown to 40 square miles.   As-Suli came from a place bordering the Caspian Sea and elevated to be the favourite of the Caliph Al-Muktafi.   He fled the city on uttering an unwelcome political comment and died in Basra at the grand old age of 92 years.   He was also a composer of chess ditties/puzzles and the writer of the first book on how to play Shatranj correctly and an excellent conversationalist with encyclopedic knowledge.   He owned a large library, wrote historical books as well as two volumes on Shatranj.   Al-Lajlaj was one of his students.  

44 Aladdin - Ala’Addin at-Tabrizi

The first painting of a chess game in Sicily kept at the Cappella Palatina in Palermo, Sicily. 

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14^th century chess player who could play blindfold chess.   He was a lawyer and considered the best chess player in the world who could play four blindfold games at once, plus another game under normal conditions while carrying on a conversation with the spectators.   He was given the nickname Ali Shatranj (Ali the chess player), better known to us as Aladdin, the chap with the wonderful lamp who appears in Christmas pantomimes. 

          Aladdin: in The Arabian Nights Entertainments: the son of a poor widow in China.  He becomes the possessor of a magic lamp and ring, with which he commands two genii to gratify all his wishes. 

Fil

Originally used in the game of Shatranj and placed on $C01 or $F01.  The word has its origin in the word ‘pil’ (Sanskrit ‘gaja’) elephant. 

45 Go

Go Board

Japanese board game with 10-million+ players in Japan alone.   It is considered to have originated in China 4,000 years ago and is called ‘wei ch’i’ (the surrounding game) in China.   It migrated to Europe in the 19^th century.   It is usually played by two players.   Recently pair-Go for four contestants has been introduced.   In Go, taking prisoners, the acquisition of territory, the invasion of enemy territory and the establishment of influence that counteracts your adversary’s ability to form territory, all fluctuate in relative value during the course of a game.  The Go board is spacious enough for several independent conflicts which may only be related in the closing stages of a game.   The normal board is a 19 x 19 grid.    Beginners use a board of 9 x 9.   Stones are placed on the intersections of the lines of this ‘grid’.   Half are white and half black, and they do not move once played.   It is simple - and it is.   There are only a few rules.   A chess game becomes simpler as MPs/mps are removed from play by capture, but in Go the board starts empty and increases in complexity as more pieces are added to it (this is its main distinction from chess and similar to X’s and O’s). 

46 Varieties of chess

‘Through the Looking Glass’ by: Lewis Carroll

Various boards have been used or invented during its long history including:

                                                  

A Brief History of Chess - Goddess

We’re pleased to present the following synopsis of the history of ‘The Game’ from the excellent ‘Chessmayne Encyclopedia’.  While it contains some generally long-accepted (though questionable) assertions about ‘The Games’ early beginnings, it also contains fascinating information about the development of ‘The Game’ from approximately 1000 CE onward, and the facts he presents shows the depth of his  research and knowledge of historical chess.  This article will give the casual chessophile an excellent base of knowledge regarding the history of ‘The Perfect Game’.   Click on the links below……. 

47 Courier board

12 x 8 board that has 12 MPs and 12 mps.   This board dates from at least 1209 AD, and the method of setting-up the board is as follows (Chesmayne format):

Chesmayne Monogram and name

RO2 KT2 AL2 CR2 SC1 FE1 -KI MA1 CR1 AL1 KT1 RO1---------------Rank-08

BQ12 BQ11 BQ10 BQ9 BQ8 BQ7 BQ6 BQ5 BQ4 BQ3 BQ2 BQ1 ----Rank-07

BQ1 BQ2 BQ3 BQ4 BQ5 BQ6 BQ7 BQ8 BQ9 BQ10 BQ11 BQ12------Rank-02

RO1 KT1 AL1 CR1 MA1 -KI FE1 SC1 CR2 AL2 KT2 RO2-----------------Rank-01

Courier Board

 

A 12 x 8 board appears in the 16^th century painting ‘The Chess Game’ by Lucas van Leyden.   This game commences with the advance of the BQs in front of the ROs.   Castling is not allowed. 

48 Cafe de la Regence - Coffee Houses

First opened in 1670 in Paris when players moved here from the Cafe Procope and frequented by Voltaire, Robespierre and Napoleon.   Ignazio Calvi, (1792-1872) taught traditional chess here and earned 40,000 francs during a four-year period. Coffee houses were popular meeting places for chess players in the 18^th and 19^th centuries and even today you can play chess at the Cafe Mozart in Hampstead in old Viennese-style surroundings (73 Haverstock Hill, Hampstead, London).   Ms. Edith C. Price of the ‘Gambit Chess Rooms’ had the following notice displayed on her premises……. 

‘The Gambit Chess Rooms are open to chess players for the enjoyment of social games.  Visitors can usually obtain an opponent by applying at the counter for an introduction.   Playing for money stakes is quite unnecessary and the management strongly discourage the principle.  Should any visitor be pestered or annoyed by strangers asking them to do so, information to the management will be much appreciated’.   Other clubs in London in the past have included:

London: 01 Slaughter’s.   02 Parsloe’s.   03 White’s Choclate House.   04 Tom’s.   05 Salopian.   06 Huttman’s Garrick Chess Divan.   07 Gatti’s.   08 Cafe Caro.   09 Kilpack’s Divan.   10 Starie’s Philidorian Chess Rooms.   11 Purssell’s.   12 Gliddon’s Divan.  13 Gambit Chess Rooms (Budge Row).   14 Dr Butler’s Head. 

Other countries: 01 Amsterdam: Roode Leeuw. 02 Berlin: Bauer, Belvedere, Konig. 03 Geneva: Cafe de la Couronne.  04 Madrid: Cafe du Levant.  05 Leipzig: Hanisch.  06 New York: International.  07 Rome: Palazzo de’ Cinque.  08 Vienna: Rabel, Central.  09 Riga: Reuter. 

49 The Lewis Chessmen

 Lewis Chessmen

11^th century chess MPs/mps made from walrus tusk and found on the Isle of Lewis (Hebrides) and now in the British Museum.   The Lewis chessmen were found in 1831, buried in a sandbank in the Isle of Lewis, the largest island of the Outer Hebrides (Scotland).  Carved of walrus ivory, they may have come from Iceland and some authorities date them to the 12^th century.   There were four sets, not all complete.   According to legend they were stolen by a sailor from a ship anchored in Loch Hamnaway soon after the year 1600.   A shepherd known as Ghillie Ruadh murdered the sailor to get the treasure, but fearing discovery, carefully buried the MPs/mps.  A few years later he was hanged in Stornoway for another crime, and is said to have made a dying confession to the murder of the sailor. 

                          

                    KI               QU            BS               KT             RO          PA

They are 93 pieces forming parts of four or five sets, two complete.   82 are in the British Museum in London and 11 are in the National Museums of Scotland in Edinburgh.  They are 8 Kings, 8 Queens, 16 Bishops, 15 Knights, 12 Warders (Rooks) and 19 Pawns.  In addition, there are 14 plain disks for a Tabula game (a Backgammon ancestor) and 1 belt-buckle.  The vast majority are carved from walrus tusk, a very few from whale teeth.   Some are stained with red.   The dimensions are from 7 to 10.2 cm for the major pieces and 3.5 to 5.8 cm for the pawns.  If the Lewis chessmen were to be placed on a board, each square would have to be at least 10.3 x 10.3 cm.   Such a board would have been 82 cm across.  It is believed that these chessmen were crafted in Scandinavia, probably Trondheim in Norway where fragments and drawings of similar chessmen have been found.   Until 1266, the Outer Isles were politically subject to the kingdom of Norway - they are now part of the United Kingdom.  The Lewis Chessmen belong to the Scandinavian Romanesque art of the mid XII^th century.  For more details, see: Neil Stratford, “The Lewis Chessmen and the enigma of the hoard”, British Museum Press, 1997. 

The images and photographs shown on this page are coming from the following sources:

        Neil Stratford, “The Lewis Chessmen and the enigma of the hoard”, British Museum Press, 1997.

The authors of theses works, books and photographs, are kindly acknowledged.

“Scene from a Novella”, today at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. 
 “A group of youths”, today at Villa I Tatti, Florence. 
 “The Chess Players”, today at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.     

 The first scene shows a young man in a street with friends and a blonde girl at a window. The man and the girl have a dialogue which seems from their body language to be a request to visit by the man and a consent to come in by the girl.  The second scene shows a group of young men watching the game played in the adjoining room which has columns.   The third scene is the celebrated chess game.
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50 Clarke Richard William Barnes

1910-1975.   Inventor of the British Grading System.   FIDE awards traditional chess titles on the basis of a players Rating or Grading.   9^th century Islamic players were called ‘Aliyat.’   Some players were rated by the handicap they received (odds of 1, 2 or 3 moves, an extra RO, KT, etc).   Today, the expression ‘top board’ is used to indicate the best player in a club or team. 

51 Correspondence chess

Title: ‘Check to the Kaiser!’ (Scacco al Kaiser!) by Alberto Martini, 1914, lithograph. The work: it’s the 9^th lithograph out of a set of 54 which are called “La danza macabra europea” (the gruesome European dance). Alberto Martini, at the beginning of the 1^st world war, intended to use them as a contribution to the propaganda against the Austroungaric Empire. For this aim, during the years 1915 and 1916, these lithographs were printed on postcards by the Longo’s factory in Treviso, which were distributed among the soldiers. This lithograph has been included in the first group of 12 postcards, which were sold in elegant envelopes and included an explanatory note. The price was 1.8 liras. 

Invented by Professor J.W.D. Wildt of Gottingen, Germany.  A chess game played using the postal service or by electronic means (using a computer modem).  The International Correspondence Chess Federation (ICCF) was founded in 1961 and publishes a monthly magazine ‘Fernschach’ in German for traditional chess players. This was a very popular way of playing chess in the 19^th century due to the price of a postage stamp being reduced to one penny in 1840.   Correspondence notation is used for transmitting the moves of a game. Each cell is defined by two digits (the file first, the rank second) ie, A-PA5-$E02/E04 translates into 5254.   %K = 5171.  A promoted mp is shown by a 5^th digit ie, 1, 2, 3 and 4, for QU, RO, BS, KT. 

According to the ‘The Chess Players’ Chronicle of 1878, the first chess game to be played by telephone, was between F. Thompson, editor the Derbyshire Advertiser, and a friend on January 25, 1878.   The first county telephone match to be played in England was between Norfolk and Gloucestershire in 1934.  The first telephone chess match was between Cardiff and Swansea on March 18,1884. 

(according to The Encyclopedia of Chess by Anne Sunnucks pg.135, 457.)

52 Tournament

                                                              

   Natura morta con scacchiera, Louvre.  Ritorna alla Home Page

Tournaments are run by arbiters or controllers.   These officials are always ready to advise new players about the rules and regulations of :L01. 

01 All Play All: this sort of tournament is exactly what it says: everybody in the tournament plays everyone else.   There could be as few as four players in the tournament or as many as, well, everyone in your chess club. 

02 Knock Out: knock out chess tournaments are not very common, but you might find that your school chess club championship is run like this. 

03 Swiss: most important Level-01 tournaments are run this way.  The tournament will usually be somewhere between five and eleven rounds and you can have as many players as you want in it.  What happens is that the winners from Round-01 play each other in Round-02.   And so it goes on through the tournament.   In every round you will play someone with, as far as possible, the same score as yourself.   The pairings for each round are usually displayed on a pairing board, so that you can see who you are playing in your next game and what board number you are playing on. 

53 Simultaneous Display - Exhibition

                                    

1508, Lucas van Leyden, Partita di scacchi.  Autoritratto (Pinacoteca di Brunswick). 

From Chess-Poster.com Lucas van Leyden was a pioneer of the Netherlandish genre tradition, as witness his “Chess Players” (Staatliche Museen, Berlin) which actually represents a variant game called ‘Courier’ - and his Card Players (Wilton House, Wiltshire), while his celebrated Last Judgement triptych (Lakenhal Museum, Leiden, 1526-7) shows the heights to which he could rise as a religious painter.  It eloquently displays his vivid imaginative powers, his marvelous skill as a colourist and his deft and fluid brushwork.

Source:http://www.kfki.hu/~arthp/bio/l/lucas/biograph.html
 

A strong player takes on 20, 30 or more players at once, playing on each board in turn.   If s/he plays all the games without looking at the boards, it is called a ‘Blindfold Simultaneous Display’.  The world record for the greatest number of participants in a simultaneous exhibition is 301 players.   And the record for the most games played simultaneously by a chess master (who was playing all the games blindfold) is 62 games. 

54 Howard Staunton

                                                

                         1855-57, Title: Chess Player. Oil on canvas. Honoré Daumier, Parigi - Pétit Palais. 

Traditional chess sets have varied enormously down the ages from the exquisitely carved ivory pieces of the Chinese sets made in the 1850s to the inlaid wooden chessboards and delicate pieces from the late 17^th century belonging to the diarist Samuel Pepys.  In the 20^th century many amusing sets were created. The traditional chess MPs/mps became standardized in the 19^th century.  Howard Staunton commissioned Nathaniel Cook in 1849 to design the chess set which is used in all international traditional chess competitions. The height of the KI in the Staunton set is usually about 9.5 cm (3.75 inches) and the boards have 5.5cm, (2.25 inch) cells. The Staunton chess MPs/mps are manufactured objects which have been promoted to the dignity of art and function today as a decisive comment on chess tradition and dogma. As an icon, logo or trademark, the Staunton set is likely to be remembered for very many years to come. 

                                             

        Title: ‘Two Chess Players’, oil on canvas, about 1590 by Ludovico Carracci, Kaiser Friedrich Museum.

          The boards themselves are made from various materials including cloth, wood, rigid and roll-up plastic and even paper-boards are common (all of the Chesmayne chess boards and pieces may be printed on your printer!).   Folding chessboards are a convenient type produced and suitable for hand-carry aboard modern airliners.  Other sets are produced including larger models for public parks and pocket portable chess sets.  Demonstration boards are used to exhibit the moves of important competitions, and for giving lectures to large audiences in auditoriums.   Sets for blind chess players are also available.   Timing devices, special stationery, score sheets and adjournment envelopes are also produced.   Since the mid 19^th century slight variations on the original Staunton pattern have been manufactured in many countries and plastic MPs/mps produced in Hong Kong are used the world over.    Yugoslavia designed a special variant of the Staunton chess set for the Dubrovnik 1950 Olympiad and Olga Kazic produced a design for the 1972 Skopje Olympiad.   Although traditional chess is centuries old, there were no official unified rules until 50 years ago.  How the pieces move in traditional chess basically assumed their present day form by the end of the 15^th century.   A hodge-podge of various regulations existed in different countries concerning castling, stalemate, en passant, promotion of mps and many of these rules went through a complicated evolution before becoming generally accepted. 

55 Claude Shannon

His seminal paper was first presented to the National Convention of the Institute of Radio Engineers in New York.  Shannon pioneered computer chess as we know it today, and his ideas have been employed in almost every chess program ever written.   It was Shannon who showed the way.   A chess problem is sharply defined both in allowed operations (the moves) and in the ultimate goal (++CM).   The thesis he developed was that modern general-purpose computers can be used to play a tolerably good game of chess with the use of a suitable computing routine or ‘program’.   In chess there is no chance element apart from the original choice of which player has the first move which is in contrast to a card game ie, Bridge, Poker or, Backgammon, where the play or move is randomized or, controlled by dies. 

          Konrad Zue (1945) also made a theoretical contribution and Henri Vigneron described a special purpose chess machine (1914) that played the ending of KI and RO versus KI.  Alan Turing wrote a paper that included a description of a ‘program’ simulated by hand.   In his paper Turing posed the following questions…….  

01 Could a machine be made to play a game of chess? 

02 Obey the strict rules of chess?

03 Solve chess problems?

04 Play a decent game?

05 Improve its own playing strength?

06 Answer questions?

Alan Newell was one of the first to become involved in writing a real computer program that could play chess.   He attempted to construct a program for one of Rand’s computers, ‘JOHNNIAC’.   He divided the problem into four areas: 

He concluded that the only difference between a good design and the actual machine would be the time and effort spent constructing it.   He introduced the concept of the minimax tree search.  

                       

Title: Chess play by Sofonisba Anguissola.  1555.  Poznan – Collection Radzinsky.

 [Right: Self-portrait - oil on canvas; cm 17 x 12, - Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Gemäldegalerie].  

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56 F.I.D.E

                                            

French: Federation Internationale des Eches (International Chess Federation).   Its motto is ‘Gens una sumus’ (‘We are the people’).   It is divided into 12 zones formed by geographic location and has a President who is elected for four-year terms of office. 

A rating is achieved by attaining a certain score against other rated players.   The method was invented and codified by a professor of mathematics, now retired to Wisconsin, U.S.A., Arpad Elo.   According to some people, Elo changed the nature of chess as radically as the Italian amateur in Renaissance times who gave the PA the option of moving two cells on the first move, instead of just one, some 500 years ago.   The Elo system is based on players’ performances in international and national events, and forms a network throughout the world, monitored and reported by FIDE who publish its standings twice a year and adjudicate on all disputes on :L01. 

          The qualification for international honours is complicated but very precisely laid down.  International ratings are published by FIDE twice a year, on the 1^st January for events from the preceding June to November, and on the 1^st July for events in the preceding December to May.   There are two lists, one for men over 2,200 and the other for women over 1800.   The equivalent British grades are 200 and 150 (British grade x 8 + 600 = Elo rating).   The rules are reviewed at the FIDE congress each year and usually tinkered with - the subject is fraught with prestige, argument and complexity and, not least, intrigue, because possession of a high rating is very important to traditional chess players, being the passport to expenses and appearance fees, invitations to foreign tournaments and, overall, the opportunity to earn a crust and being recognized as a genius by friends and foes.   Founded in 1924.   FIDE also publish books called ‘Albums’ which contain problems and studies.  Composers are awarded points for a study, problem or, composition.  Since 1975 they have been awarded titles.  A breakaway group known as the ‘Grandmasters Association’ (GMA) was founded in 1987.  The awarding of FIDE titles were instituted in 1950:

                                                                                  

Male: 01 International Grandmaster. 02 International Master. 03 FIDE Master. Female: 04 International Woman Grandmaster. 05 International Woman Master. 06 Woman FIDE Master. Correspondence: 07 International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster. 08 International Correspondence Chess Master. Compositions: 09 International Grandmaster (chess compositions). 10 FIDE Master for Chess Compositions. Solving: 11 International Grandmaster for Solving. 12 International Master for Solving. 

57 Rating

International Grandmaster  - International Master  - Woman International Grandmaster  - Woman International Master  - FIDE Master 

These performance norms are achieved in 24 games or more within a three year period.  The United States Chess Federation also categorizes players by rating:

Class E, Class D, Class C, Class B, Class A.   Expert Master, Senior Master. 

An A-player has a rating between 1800 and 1999 and is among the top 17% of all tournament players.  Numerical ratings are estimates of chess skill based on tournament results.  Rating points are awarded or subtracted for winning or losing games in recognized tournaments.  More points are gained for beating stronger opponents or lost for losing to weaker ones. 

58 World Champions

3-D CHESSBOARDS

This section looks briefly at the careers and sporting styles of the greatest chess players of all time, the world champions.   One of the best ways to improve your strength at the chessboard is by studying the games of the most distinguished proponents of the art of chess from the past.   Each champion has their own particular brand of play - be it aggressive, attacking, tactical or strategic - which is just as personal as their signature.   Try to identify which champion’s appeal most to you and then study them in depth.   This will provide you with a systematic method of playing.  The ‘adopt a legend’ technique has worked well for many chess experts.  This is probably the best way to improve your playing style once you have got over the hurdle of the elementary stage.   Choose a hero/heroine and examine h/er games in depth.   An attacking player could choose from Tal, Alekhine or Kasparov.   The strategic player could emulate Petrosian, Botvinnik or Capablanca. 

Palamede: major world chess sites working together

          The first officially recognized world chess championship was held in 1886, when Wilhelm Steinitz beat Johannes Zukertort in a match held in the USA.   The outstanding players before this date are known, but there were no official champions.  Lopez achieved his reputation by beating the best Italian players and by writing the ‘Libro del Axedrez’, a collection of chess openings and general advice and analysis.    The leading Italian players at this time were Paolo Boi and Leonardo da Cutri.   Boi was renowned for his ability to play three games at once without sight of the board, a skill that astonished his contemporaries.  A generation later, Gioaccchino Greco was the best known Italian master.   He traveled throughout Europe playing matches for high stakes and compiled manuscripts on chess openings, two of which survive in the Bodleian Library in Oxford and the British Library in London.   In 1620 he wrote his analysis of some composed games and illustrated two different ways to play chess - the player who tries to capture as many of the opponent’s MPs/mps as possible and the player who sacrifices MPs/mps.   He considered tactics very important. 

          The 18^th century player, Philidor, was a master of blindfold chess.  Francois Andre Danican Philidor, musician and composer, dominated French and English chess circles for nearly half a century.   He was the first player to try to systematize chess knowledge and his ‘Analyse du Jeu des Echecs’ (Chess Analyzed), a very influential book of the period which appeared in 100+ editions.   Philidor was the first great player to understand the importance of PAs, which he described as ‘the soul of chess’ and drew attention to their strengths and weakness in his book.  Philidor’s middle game advice was his most important contribution to posterity.  He saw planning as an extremely important part of the game (once your MPs/mps are developed you should plan an overall goal - kingside or queenside attack etc).   He believed that a mobile mass of PAs were an important factor during the middle game.   Allowing PAs to be isolated, doubled or backward was another important insight and he was also the first to discuss how a BS could be ‘good’ or ‘bad’ depending on the PA structure.   He also discussed the ‘Positional Sacrifice’ by which a player obtains an advantage ie, MP mobility or mp structure.  Another Frenchman, Alexandre Deschapelles was an extremely talented player and his pupil Louis La Bourdonnais was recognized as unofficial world champion.   In 1834 he defeated the leading Irish player Alexander McDonnell over 85 games. 

                                                          

                                                                 circa 1500, La partite a scacchi, Turin

          By 1843 Howard Staunton became Europe’s leading player.  In 1841 he founded the first successful chess magazine the ‘Chess Player’s Chronicle’.   His two great contributions to chess literature were the books ‘Chess Praxis’ and ‘The Chess Player’s Handbook’.   Wilhelm Steinitz became world champion when he defeated Adolf Anderssen in 1886.   His influence on modern chess was immense.   Steinitz understood the importance of building up positional advantages in order to win, and his ideas were published in his book ‘Modern Chess Theory’.   He remained world champion until 1894 when he was 58 years of age.  He coined the term 'hole' (a vunerable cell that has lost its PA protection and may be occupied by an opposing MP) and is seen as the first player to take an academic/scientific approach to chess playing.   Emanuel Lasker won the title in 1894 and held it for a record 27 years.    In 1921 Jose Capablanca won the title.   Max Euwe had a brief two years as champion.   Smyslov became champion in 1957/58.   The greatest attacking genius of modern chess, Mikhail Tal was champion from 1960 to 1961.  The world champion between 1963-1969 was Tigran Petrosian.  1969 saw Boris Spassky take the title.  Bobby Fischer became champion in 1972. Anatoly Karpov became champion in 1975. Gary Kasparov became world champion in 1985 , :L01. 

Wilhelm Steinitz 1836-1900

  

By Larry Parr

                                                                              

Is there a meaningful distinction between “the champion of the chess world” and “the chess champion of the world”?   The answer to this often unasked question has, as we shall see, important ramifications about who does or does not belong in the pantheon of world chess champions.   The conventional, though by no means universal, wisdom is that the family tree of world title holders is a mere sapling, dating back only to 1886, when Wilhelm Steinitz defeated Johann Zukertort in “the first official match,” as the phrase goes, for the world chess championship. But in our “THE KINGS OF CHESS: A 21-PLAYER SALUTE,” we extend the world championship line back to the mid-18^th century and Andre Philidor, thereby adding seven champions to the 14 commonly or officially recognized from Steinitz to the present-day kingpins. 

                               

Earliest Chess Games by Bill Wall

Here are 25 of the earliest chess games known.   The earliest chess game seems to be the following……. 

01 of 25 Castellvi - Vinoles, Barcelona 1490 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qd8 4.Bc4 Nf6 5.Nf3 Bg4 6.h3 Bxf3 7.Qxf3 e6? [7...Nc6] 8.Qxb7 Nbd7 9.Nb5 Rc8? [9...Bd6] 10.Nxa7 Nb6 11.Nxc8 Nxc8 12.d4 and White wins and mates in 21 moves.

 

02 of 25 The next game is between Ruy Lopez de Segura and Giovanni Leonardo di Bona.   Lopez was a Spanish priest who came to Rome in 1559 for the accession of Pope Pius IV.    Lopez - Leonardo, Rome 1560 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6?! 3.Nxe5 fxe5? [3...Qe7] 4.Qh5+ g6 5.Qxe5+ Qe7 6.Qxh8 Nf6 7.d4 Kf7 8.Bc4+ and White won.

 

03 of 25 The next game is between Ruy Lopez de Segura and Giovanni Leonardo di Bona.   Lopez was a Spanish priest who came to Rome in 1559 for the accession of Pope Pius IV.    Lopez - Leonardo, Rome 1560 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6?! 3.Nxe5 fxe5? [3...Qe7] 4.Qh5+ g6 5.Qxe5+ Qe7 6.Qxh8 Nf6 7.d4 Kf7 8.Bc4+ and White won.

 

04 of 25 The next game is between Ruy Lopez de Segura and Giovanni Leonardo di Bona.   Lopez was a Spanish priest who came to Rome in 1559 for the accession of Pope Pius IV.    Lopez - Leonardo, Rome 1560 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6?! 3.Nxe5 fxe5? [3...Qe7] 4.Qh5+ g6 5.Qxe5+ Qe7 6.Qxh8 Nf6 7.d4 Kf7 8.Bc4+ and White won.

 

05 of 25 The next game is between Ruy Lopez de Segura and Giovanni Leonardo di Bona.   Lopez was a Spanish priest who came to Rome in 1559 for the accession of Pope Pius IV.  Lopez - Leonardo, Rome 1560 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6?! 3.Nxe5 fxe5? [3...Qe7] 4.Qh5+ g6 5.Qxe5+ Qe7 6.Qxh8 Nf6 7.d4 Kf7 8.Bc4+ and White won.

 

06 of 25 The next game is between Ruy Lopez de Segura and Giovanni Leonardo di Bona.   Lopez was a Spanish priest who came to Rome in 1559 for the accession of Pope Pius IV.  Lopez - Leonardo, Rome 1560 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6?! 3.Nxe5 fxe5? [3...Qe7] 4.Qh5+ g6 5.Qxe5+ Qe7 6.Qxh8 Nf6 7.d4 Kf7 8.Bc4+ and White won.

 

07 of 25 The next game is between Ruy Lopez de Segura and Giovanni Leonardo di Bona.   Lopez was a Spanish priest who came to Rome in 1559 for the accession of Pope Pius IV.  Lopez - Leonardo, Rome 1560 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6?! 3.Nxe5 fxe5? [3...Qe7] 4.Qh5+ g6 5.Qxe5+ Qe7 6.Qxh8 Nf6 7.d4 Kf7 8.Bc4+ and White won.

 

08 of 25 The next game is between Ruy Lopez de Segura and Giovanni Leonardo di Bona.   Lopez was a Spanish priest who came to Rome in 1559 for the accession of Pope Pius IV.  Lopez - Leonardo, Rome 1560 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6?! 3.Nxe5 fxe5? [3...Qe7] 4.Qh5+ g6 5.Qxe5+ Qe7 6.Qxh8 Nf6 7.d4 Kf7 8.Bc4+ and White won.

 

09 of 25 The next game is between Ruy Lopez de Segura and Giovanni Leonardo di Bona.   Lopez was a Spanish priest who came to Rome in 1559 for the accession of Pope Pius IV.  Lopez - Leonardo, Rome 1560 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6?! 3.Nxe5 fxe5? [3...Qe7] 4.Qh5+ g6 5.Qxe5+ Qe7 6.Qxh8 Nf6 7.d4 Kf7 8.Bc4+ and White won.

 

10 of 25 Lopez later played and lost to Leonardo and Boi in 1575 at Madrid.   It was the first documented chess competition.  Only the opening is known between Leonardo and Lopez…….   Leonardo - Lopez, Madrid 1575 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Qe7 5.b4 Bb6 6.a4 a6 7.Ba3 d6 8.d3 Nf6 9.Qe2 Bg4 10.Nbd2

 

11 of 25 Leonardo - Lopez, Madrid 1575 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bc4 f5 4.d3 Be7 5.Qe2 c6 6.h3 f4 7.g3 fxg3 8.fxg3 and Leonardo went on to win.

 

12 of 25 The next game comes from Rome.   It is an interesting miniature. Busnardo - Unknown, Rome 1590 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Qe7 5.O-O d6 6.d4 Bb6 7.Bg5 f6 8.Bh4 g5 9.Nxg5 fxg5 10.Qh5+ Kd7 11.Bxg5 Qg7?? [11...Nf6] 12.Be6+ Kxe6 13.Qe8+ Nge7 13.d5 mate 1-0

 

13 of 25 In 1600 Gioacchino Greco was born in Calabria.  At Rome in 1619 he compiled a manuscript on openings for several wealthy patrons.   In 1623 he put together another manuscript of complete games to illustrate his openings.  The games are probably ficticious.  In 1680 Caze recorded chess games played by the best Paris players.   Here are a few games, all King’s Gambits…….  Abbe de Lionne and Morant - Auzout and Maubisson, Paris 1680 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc3 Qh4+ 4.Kf1 g5 5.Qf3 Bc5 6.g3 Qh6 7.Ne2 Nc6 8.gxf4 Qf6 9.Qb3 d6 10.d3 Bb6 11.Nbc3 Bh3+ 12.Ke1 Nd4 13.Nxd4 Qxd4 14.Nd1 O-O-O 15.Be3 Qf6 16.Bxb6 cxb6 17.f5 Nh6 18.Nc3 Rhe8 19.Kd2 Qd4 20.Rae1 Ng4 21.Kc1 f6? [21...Qf2] 22.Qa4 a6?? 23.Be6+ Rxe6 24.Qxd4 1-0

 

14 of 25 Lionne and Morant - Auzout and Maubisson, Paris 1680 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.h4 Be7 4.Qg4 d5 5.Qxf4 dxe4 6.Qxe4 Nf6 7.Qa4+ c6 8.d3 O-O 9.Bf4 Re8 10.Be2 Na6 11.c4? Bb4+ 12.Kf1 Qd4 13.Bd2 Bc5 14.Be1 Bg4 [14...Nd5!] 15.Nc3 Re5 16.Nf3 Bxf3 17.gxf3 Rae8 18.Qd1 Nh5 19.Ne4 Bb6 20.Bc3 Ng3+ 21.Kg2 Qe3 22.Kxg3 Rxe4 23.dxe4 Rxe4 24.Qd3?? [24.Kh3] Qf2+ 25.Kh3 Rxh4 mate 0-1

 

15 of 25 Lionne and Morant - Auzout and Maubisson, Paris 1680 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.h4 Be7 4.Qg4 d5 5.Qxf4 dxe4 6.Qxe4 Nf6 7.Qa4+ c6 8.d3 O-O 9.Bf4 Re8 10.Be2 Na6 11.c4? Bb4+ 12.Kf1 Qd4 13.Bd2 Bc5 14.Be1 Bg4 [14...Nd5!] 15.Nc3 Re5 16.Nf3 Bxf3 17.gxf3 Rae8 18.Qd1 Nh5 19.Ne4 Bb6 20.Bc3 Ng3+ 21.Kg2 Qe3 22.Kxg3 Rxe4 23.dxe4 Rxe4 24.Qd3?? [24.Kh3] Qf2+ 25.Kh3 Rxh4 mate 0-1

 

16 of 25 Morant - Abbe de Feuquieres, Paris 1680 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 Ne7 4.d4 g5 5.Nxg5 Ng6 6.h4 Bg7 7.Bc4 O-O? 8.Qh5 h6 9.Qxg6! hxg5 10.hxg5 1-0

 

17 of 25 Jannisson and Morant - Pennautier and Maubisson, Paris 1680 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4 Qh4+ 4.Kf1 g5 5.d4 d6 6.Nf3 Qh5 7.Nc3 Ne7 8.e5 Nf5 9.Nd5 Be7 10.Kg1 Bd8 11.Qe1 O-O 12.exd6 Nxd6 13.Be2 Bg4 14.b3 Bxf3 15.Bxf3 g4 16.Be4 Bh4 17.Qe2 Nc6 18.Bxf4? [18.Nxf4] Nxe4 19.Qxe4 Rae8 20.Be5 Nxe5 21.dxe5 Rxe5 0-1

 

18 of 25 De Villette Murcey - Maubisson, Paris 1680 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 4.Bc4 g4 5.Bxf7+ Kxf7 6.Ne5+ Ke8 7.Qxg4 Nf6 8.Qxf4 d6 9.O-O Bg7 10.Nc3 Nc6 11.O-O Bg7 12.d3 Rf8 13.Qg5 Be6 14.Ne3 Kd7 15.Bd2 Rae8 16.Ncd5 Bxd5 17.exd5 Ne5? [17...Nd4] 18.Nf5 Qf7 19.Nxg7 Re7 20.Qf5+ Kd8 21.Ne6+ Ke8 22.Nxf8 Kxf8 23.Qxf6 and wins 1-0

 

19 of 25 Lafon l’aisne - Maubisson, Paris 1680 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 4.Bc4 Bg7 5.h4 h6 6.hxg5 hxg5 7.Rxh8 Bxh8 8.d4 Qe7 9.Qd3 Nc6 10.c3 d6 11.Bb5 Bd7 12.Bxc6? [12.d5] Bxc6 13.d5 Bd7 14.Nd4 Bxd4 15.Qxd4 f5 16.Nd2 Nf6 17.Kf1 fxe4 and Black wins 0-1

 

20 of 25 Lafon le jeune - Roussereau, Paris 1680 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 4.h4 g4 5.Ne5 h5 6.Bc4 Nh6 7.d4 d6 8.Nd3 Qe7 9.Nc3 Nf5 10.Bxf4 Nxh4 11.Qd2 Ng6 12.O-O-O c6 13.Rhf1 Be6 14.Bg5 Qxg5 15.Qxg5 Bh6 16.Qxh6 Rxh6 17.Bxe6 fxe6 18.Rf6 Kd7? [18...Ke7] 19.Nf4 Nxf4 20.Rxh6 1-0

 

21 of 25 It would be over 100 years before another recorded chess game could be found.   In 1783 Philidor, at age 57, played the following game blindfolded while playing two other games blindfolded…….   John Bruhl - Philidor, London 1783 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 c6 3.Qe2 d6 4.c3 f5 5.d3 Nf6 6.exf5 Bxf5 7.d4 e4 8.Bg5 d5 9.Bb3 Bd6 10.Nd2 Nbd7 11.h3 h6 12.Be3 Qe7 13.f4 h5 14.c4 a6 15.cxd5 cxd5 16.Qf2 O-O 17.Ne2 b5 18.O-O Nb6 19.Ng3 g6 20.Rac1 Nc4 21.Nxf5 gxf5 22.Qg3+ Qg7 23.Qxg7+ Kxg7 24.Bxc4 bxc4 25.g3 Rab8 26.b3 Ba3 27.Rc2 cxb3 28.axb3 Rfc8 29.Rxc8 Rxc8 30.Ra1 Bb4 31.Rxa6 Rc3 32.Kf2 Rd3 33.Ra2 Bxd2 34.Rxd2 Rxb3 35.Rc2 h4 36.Rc7+ Kg6 37.gxh4 Nh5 38.Rd7 [38.Rc6] Nxf4 39.Bxf4 Rf3+ 40.Kg2 Rxf4 41.Rxd5 Rf3 42.Rd8 Rd3 43.d4 f4 44.d6 Rd2+ 45.Kf1 Kf7 46.h5 e3 47.h6?? [47.Rd7] f3 [threatening 48...Rd1 mate] 0-1

 

22 of 25 Bowdler - H. Conway, London 1788 1.e4 e5 2,Bc4 Bc5 3.d3 c6 4.Qe2 d6 5.f4 exf4 6.Bxf4 Qb6 7.Qf3? [7.c3] Qxb2 8.Bxf7+ Kd7 9.Ne2 Qxa1 10.Kd2 Bb4+ 11.Nbc3 Bxc3+ 12.Nxc3 Qxh1 13.Qg4+ Kc7 14.Qxg7 Nd7 15.Qg3 b6 [15...Nf6] 16.Nb5+ cxb5 17.Bxd6+ Kb7 18.Bd5+ Ka6 19.d4 b4 20.Bxb4 Kb5?? [20...Qf1] 21.c4+ Kxb4 22.Qb3+ Ka5 23.Qb5 mate 1-0

 

23 of 25 Smith - Philidor, London 1790 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d3 c6 4.Bg5 h6 5.Bxf6 Qxf6 6.Nc3 b5 7.Bb3 a5 8.a3 Bc5 9.Nf3 d6 10.Qd2 Be6 11.Bxe6 fxe6 12.O-O g5 13.h3 Nd7 14.Nh2 h5 15.g3 Ke7 16.Kg2 d5 17.f3 Nf8 18.Ne2 Ng6 19.c3 Rag8 20.d4 Bb6 21.dxe5 Qxe5 22.Nd4 Kd7 23.Rae1 h4 24.Qf2? [24.f4] Bc7 [24...hxg3! 25.Qxg3 Nh4+ 26.Kf2 Bxd4] 25.Ne2? [25.exd5] hxg3 26.Qxg3 Qxg3+ 27.Nxg3 Nf4+ 28.Kh1 Rxh3 29.Rg1 Rxh2+ 30.Kxh2 Rh8+ 31.Nh5 Rxh5+ 32.Kg3 Nh3+ 33.Kg4?? [33.Kg2] Rh4 mate 0-1

 

24 of 25 George Atwood - Harrowby, London 1795 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 4.Bc4 g4 5.d4 gxf3 6.Qxf3 Qf6 7.e5 Qc6 8.Bd5 Qxc2 9.Bxb7? [9.Nc3] Bb4+ 10.Kf1 Qc4+ 11.Kf2 Qxd4+ 12.Kf1 Qc4+ 13.Kf2 Bc5+ and Black wins 0-1

 

25 of 25 J. Wilson - Atwood, London 1795 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 4.Bc4 g4 5.O-O gxf3 6.Qxf3 Qf6 7.c3 Nc6 8.d4 Nxd4 9.Bxf7+ Qxf7 10.cxd4 Bh6 11.Nc3 Ne7 12.e5 c6 13.Ne4 d5?? [13...O-O] 14.Nd6+ 1-0