Earliest Chess Manuscripts and Books

by Bill Wall

Here is some information on some of the earliest

chess manuscripts, texts, and books that have
come down through history. Many of the early
manuscripts have been lost.

Perhaps the first manuscript to mention chess or a

similar game is found in Vasavadatta by
Subandhu (400?-470?). It was written in Sanskrit
around 450 CE. This was a romantic story which
tells the story of Princess Vasavadatta (daugher
of King Pradyota) of Ujjaini falling in love with
King Udayana of Vatsa. There is a description Bill Wall
for chessmen (nayadyutair) and chess squares
(koshthika) on a two-colored chess board. The
game itself was probably Chaturanga (though not
mentioned by Subandhu), the earliest precursor
of modern chess. Chaturanga in Sanskrit means
four parts. In India, an army platoon had four Chess is a hard game.
parts - elephants, chariots, soldiers on horseback, There are no easy
and foot-soldiers. A passage describes the rainy solutions. —Danny
season as follows: “The time of the rains played Kopec
its game with frogs for nayadyutair [chessmen]
which, yellow and green in color, as if mottled by
lac, leapt up on the black field squares.”
Chaturunga comes from a battle formation
mention in the Indian epic Mahabharata in the
4th century CE.

The first surviving reference to Chatrang (later

becoming shatranj - ?????), the Persian word for
chess, is in the manuscript Karnamak-i-
Artakhshatr-i-Papakan, or Kar-Namag I Ardasir I
Pabagan (The Book of Deeds of Ardashir, son of
Papak). It was a Middle Persian text to honor
Ardashir (Artaxerxes), the founder of the
Sassanid Kingdom, who ruled Persia from 226 to
241. The original was written around 600 in
Pahlavi (Middle Persian). The earliest existing
manuscript dates to the 14th century. The text
mentions that Ardashir was skilled at Chatrang.
A line reads, “Artakhshir did this, and by God's
help he became doughtier and more skilled than
them all in ball-play, in horsemanship, in
shatranj, in hunting and in all other
accomplishments. The sole independent
manuscript of this text to have been identified so
far is codex MK, which was copied in 1322 in
Gujarat, Western India, by Mihraban I Kay-
Hasraw.

Around 625, the manuscript Harsha Charitha

(memoir of Harsha) by Bana Bhatta (Bhattabana
or Banabhatta) was written in Sanskrit. It was a
text to honor King Harshavardhana Siladitya
(Harsha), an emperor in northern India from 606
to 647. He ruled in the Indian city of Kanyakubja
or Kananj. There was a reference to the
ashatapada board used in chaturanga. A line
reads, “Under this monarch, only the bees
quarreled in collecting the dew; the only feet cut
off are those of measurements, and only from
Ashtapadas [gameboard of 8x8 squares] teach the
positions of the chaturanga [four-folded army],
there is no cutting off the four principal limbs of
condemned criminals.” Bana also wrote
"Kadambari" which may have had several other
references to chess.

Around 700 CE, Husraw i Kawadan ud redag-e

(Khosrow, son of Kawad, and the Page) was
written in Pahlavi (Middle Persian). It mentions
chess, ashtapada, and nard. Khrosow I (501-579)
was king of Persia from 531 to 579 AD. He was
also known as King Chosroe I Anushiravan. He
was probably the person who received the first
Indian chessmen and board.

Perhaps the first reference to chess (shatranj) in

Arabic is Naqa'id bayna Jarir wa-al-Farazdaq, a
poem by al-Farazdaq (641-728?). It mentions
baidaq, the pawn (foot-soldier) of shatranj. It was
written around 728. Al-Farazdaq wrote, “I keep
you from your inheritance and from the royal
crown so that, hindered by my arm, you remain a
baidaq (pawn) among the bayadiq (pawns).”

Around 800 Chatrang-namak (Matigan-i-

chatrang) was written in Pahlavi (Middle Persian)
about the history of chatrang and the introduction
of the game into Persia from India during the
time of Khusru I Nurshiwan, who ruled from 531
to 578. It describes the names of the pieces in
chatrang, but not the moves. The earliest
surviving copy is a manuscript dated 1323. From
the manuscript, the game is said to be devised by
‘Dewasarm, the great ruler of India.’ The pieces
consisted of 16 emerald and 16 ruby-red men.
The text reads, “Dewasarm has fashioned this
chatrang after the likeness of a battle, and in its
likeness are two supreme rulers after the likeness
of Kings (shah), with the essentials of rooks
(rukh) to right and to left, with Counsellor
(farzin) in the likeness of a commander of the
champions, with the Elephant (pil) in the likeness
of the rearguard, with Horse (asp) in the likeness
of the commander of the cavalry, with the Foot-
soldier (piyadak) in the likeness of so many
infantry in the vanguard of the battle. Chatrang-
namak may have originated in oral form in the
6th century AD.

Around 800, Yu Kuai Lu (Book of Marvels) was

written in China. It recounts the story, set in 762,
of a man who dreamt of a battle in which the
moves of the forces: horses, commanders,
wagons and armored men, resembled those in
Chinese chess. The man awoke to find a set of
chessmen buried in a nearby well.

Around 840 al-‘Adli ar Rumi (800?-870?) wrote

Kitab ash-shatranj (Book of the shatranj (chess))
in Arabic. This is a lost manuscript, but some of
his problems, endgames, and opening systems
have survived. His book also contained
information on the older game of Chaturanga. It
was considered the first known treatise on the
game of chess. We know of it through referring
manuscripts that preserved some of its texts and
chess problems. The text included chess history,
openings, endings and mansubat (chess
problems). The collection had hundreds of chess
problems. He also classified chess players into
five distinct classes. He also found a system for
sorting out the openings into positions, which he
called Tabiya. His lost work may have also been
the first to describe the knight's tour. Al-Adli also
wrote Kitab an-nard (Book of the nard).

An Arabic book of Shatranj problems was

written by ar-Razi (820?-890?), called Latif fi’sh
shatranj (Elegance in Chess), written around 845.
ar-Razi defeated al-Adli in the presence of the
caliph Mutawakkil (847-862) to become the
strongest chess player in the world. He also wrote
Kitab ash-shatranj, which has since been lost. All
that has survived in ar-Razi's book is a few
opinions on the endgame and a couple of chess
problems.

Around 850, the manuscript Haravijaya (the

Victory of Siva) by the Kashmir poet Rajanaka
Ratnakara Vagisvara, was written in Sanskrit.
The book is an epic which describes the defeat of
demon Andhaka by Siva. It explained the four
units of the old Indian army and the ashtapada,
referring to chess. The four units were patti (foot-
soldiers), ashwa (horses), ratha (chariots), and
dwipa (elephants).

Around 875, Kavyalankara (The ornaments of

poetry) by the Kashmir poet Rudrata, written in
Sanskrit, alludes to the knight's tour problem. It
used a half-chessboard to cover all squares by a
chariot (ratha or rook), elephant (gaja), and
knight (turaga or horse).

Around 910 Abu-Bakr Muhammad bin Yahya as-

Suli (880-946) co-authored a manuscript of
problems (mansubat) and a book of openings (ta-
biyat) for shatranj, called Kitab-ash-shatranj
(Book of Chess), volume one and two. He was
assisted by Abu l-Abbas Ahmad ibn Muhammad
as-Sarakhsi, a physician. His chess book was the
first scientific book written on chess strategy.
One of his books contained the knight's tour on
an 8x8 chessboard. One of as-Suli's books was a
critique on al-Adli's book.

In 923, the historian Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn

Jarir al-Tabari (839-923) wrote Kitab akhbar ar-
rusul wal-muluk. Included was a chess incident
in 802 between Nicephorus, Emperor of
Byzantium and the Caliph Huran ar-Rashid. He
described another incident of how the caliph al-
Mutazz was playing a game of chess when a
messenger brought the head of his rival, al-
Musta'in to him. The caliph paid no attention
until the chess game was over.

Around 930, Abu al-Faraj Muhammad ibn Ubaid

Allah al-Lajlaj (900-970) wrote Kitab mansubat
ash-shatranj (book of chess problems). It is
another lost chess book. Manuscripts containing
some of its contents have survived. He may have
been the first person to analyze and publish chess
openings. al-Lajlaj means the stammerer (one
who lisps). The oldest chess game comes from a
match between as-Suli (his te) and al-Lajlaj.

In 947, Muruj adh-dhahab wa ma-adin al-jawahir

(Meadows of Gold and Mines of Gems) by the
Arabic historian Abu al-Hassan Ali ibn al-Husain
ibn Ali ibn Ali ibn Abdullah al-Masudi (896-956)
was written in Arabic. It was a history of chess in
India and Persia. al-Masudi is known as the
Herodotus of the Arabs. He was the first to
combine history and scientific geography in a
large-scale work. He wrote a 30-volume history
of the world. He described 6 different variants of
chess, including Astrological Chess, Byzantine
round chess, Circular Chess and Cylinder Chess.
He wrote about chess wagers in India, with the
loser losing money or a finger or hand or more.
He described the use of ivory in India to make
chess pieces. The first European version of this
manuscript was published in both French and
Arabic between 1861 and 1877.

In 950, al-Masudi wrote about chess in his travel

diary. He described how they played and betted
on chess in India. Players would wager their
fingers on a game of chess. If a player lost, he
would cut off a finger with his dagger, then
plunge his hand in boiling water with special
ointment to cauterize the wound. Then he returns
to the game. Another loss would mean another
loss of another finger. Sometimes a player who
continued to lose would cut off all his fingers, his
hand, his fore-arm, his elbow, and other parts of
his body. After each amputation, he could
cauterize the wound and return to another game
of chess.

The library of Caliph Hakam II of Cordoba (915-

976) contained an Arabic manuscript on chess
problems. (source: van der Linde, “On the
Literature of Chess,” The Chess Monthly, vol. 3,
1881, p. 42)

In 988, the Kitab al-Fihrist (The Catalogue) was

written by ibn an-Nadim (920?-995). It was a
catalog of all known Arabic books. His catalog
listed chess book titles by al-‘Adli, ar-Razi, as-
Suli, and al-Lajlaj. It included al-Aldi’s Kitab
ash-shatranj (Book of Chess), ar-Razi’s Latif
fi’sh-shatranj (elegance in chess), as-Suli’s Kitab
ash-shatranj in two volumes, al-Laljlaj’s
mansubat ash-shatranj (book of chess problems),
and B. Aliqlidisi’s Kitab majmu’fi mansubat ash-
shatranj (collection of chess problems). These
original manuscripts are now lost, but their
contribution was collected and recopied in at
least 15 other manuscripts written between the
12th and 17th centuries.

Around 997. the first European text on chess

appeared in two manuscripts from Einsiedeln:
MS Einsidlensis 365 and MS Einsidlensis 309.
This was the Medieval Latin poem Versus de
schachis in the Einsiedeln manuscripts. It was a
99-line Latin poem on chess. It described a chess
board in two colors. Only two known copies exist
today. It was found on two manuscripts from
Einsielden, Switzerland, written by a German
monk at the Benedictine Einsiedeln Abbey (built
in 934 AD). The poem’s 98 lines described chess
(scacci), its rules, and some basic strategies. The
work is considered the earliest known reference
to chess in a European text. The poem mentions
the chess queen (regina) for the first time ever,
replacing the old vizier piece. The poem also
described the 64-square chess board with two
different colors for the first time. The piece that
is today known as the bishop was represented by
a count, or aged one. The Einsiedeln Poem began
by praising chess as a unique game that did not
require dice or a gambling bet. The description
was meant to counter religious opposition to
games of chance and gambling. The poem then
described everything one needed to know in
order to play the game. The 32 pieces, 16 on each
side, were colored white and red (not black). The
pieces in the poem were: rex (king), regina
(queen), comes or curvus (count), eques (knight),
rochus or marchio (rook), and pedes (pawn). The
first English translation of the poem was made by
Dr. Henry Aspinwall Howe of McGill College at
Montreal in 1878. The poem was originally
published by Professor Hagen in the Swiss
newspaper Der Bund at Berne, with a German
translation.

The Shahnameh or Shahnama (Book of Kings),

the national epic of Persia, begun by Daqiqi
(900-976) in 975 and finished by Abu'l-Qasim
Mansur Firdawsi (940-1020) in 1011 was written
in Pahlavi (Middle Persian). It is similar to the
Chatrang-namak. It tells how chess (satranj) was
introduced into Iran from Hind (India).
Ambassadors from Kanauj, India (Hind) during
the reign of the Maukhari king Sarvaarman
(reigned between 560-585) came to Persia during
the reign of Khusru I Nushirwan (Chosroes I
Anushirwan or Khusru II Parwiz (590-628)) with
a chess-board and men. If the Persians could
solve how the chessmen were set on a chessboard
correctly, the Indians would pay the tribute to the
Persians. If they could not solve this, India would
no longer have to give tribute to Persia. In fact, if
the Persians could not solve how the pieces were
set up, Persia would pay tribute to India. The
king's vizier, Buzurgmihr (Wuzurgmihr), took
the pieces home and discovered the secret in a
day and a night. Illustrated manuscripts of the
Shahnama from the fourteenth to the sixteenth
centuries include paintings showing the envoy
from Hind and the Persian counselor Buzurgmihr
playing chess. It mentions that chess pieces were
made of ivory and teakwood, both of which were
easily obtained in India.

Around 1030, the manuscript Tarikh al-Hind

(History of India) by Abu-Raihan Muhammad
ibn Ahmad al-Beruni (973-1048), also known as
Alberuni or al-Biruni, was completed. It was
written in Arabic. It was a travel description
which had the rules of 4-handed Chaturanga,
played with dice.

Around 1030, the Latin romance “Ruodlieb” was

written. It is the first reference to chess in
German literature. Portions of the poem were
discovered in the Benedictine Abbey of
Tegernsee (founded in 746 AD) in Upper
Bavaria, Germany. The poem was probably
written by a monk named Froumunt of the
Tegernsee Abbey. The poem was translated by
Baron Tassilo von Heydebrand und der Lasa
(1818-1899). It described the adventures of a
medieval knight named Ruodlieb. He was a
youth of noble birth who goes out to seek his
fortune. Chess (ludus scachorum) featured in one
setting when Ruodlieb was forced to play for
stakes with the court of a foreign king. Ruodlieb
has been regarded as an ancestor of the German
novel. The poem was left unfinished. The
manuscript was cut up and used for binding
books. Fragments of the poem were only
gradually discovered and pieced together from
1807 onwards. Some fragments were discovered
in 1838 under the binding of some old books in
the Abbey of Tegernsee. These fragments were
sent to the Munich Library, which has 34 leaves
of the poem.

Ruodlieb serves a powerful king. At the

conclusion of a war with another king, peace was
arranged by Ruodlieb. Ruodlieb spends time in
the enemy’s camp where he plays chess with the
Viceroy. Ruodlieb wins most of the games, and
only loses when he deliberately plays to lose.
After five days of playing chess with the
Viceroy, Ruodlieb is then admitted to the king’s
presence. Ruodlieb then describes what happens
next.

“The king, calling for the tabula (chess board),

orders a chair to be placed for himself, and orders
me to sit on the couch opposite to play with him.
This I strongly refuse, saying: ‘It is a terrible
thing for a poor man to play with a king.’ But
when I see that I cannot withstand him, I agree to
play, intending to be beaten by him. I say: ‘What
profit is it to poor me to be beaten by a king? But
I fear, Sir, that you will soon be wrath with me, if
fortune help me to win.’ The king laughed and
answered jestingly: ‘There is no need, my dear
man, to be afraid about that: even if I never win, I
shall not become more angry. But know clearly
that I wish to play with you, for I wish to learn
what unknown moves you will make.’
Immediately both king and I moved carefully,
and, as luck would have it, I won three times, to
the great surprise of many of his nobles. He lays
down a wager against me, and would not let me
lay down anything against him. He gives what he
had wagered, so that not one coin remained.
Many follow, anxious to avenge him, proposing
bets and despising my bets, sure of losing
nothing and trusting much to the uncertainty of
fortune. They help one another, and do harm by
helping too much. They are hindered while they
consult variously; through their disputes I win
quickly three times, for I would not play
anymore. They now wished to give me what they
had wagered. At first I refused, for I thought it
disgraceful to enrich myself at their expense, and
to impoverish them. I said: ‘I am not accustomed
to win anything by play.’ They say: ‘While you
are with us, live as we do; when you get home
again, live there as you like.”

In 1061, the Italian cardinal bishop of Ostia,

Petrus (Peter, Pedro) Damiani (1007-1072),
wrote a letter to the pope-elect Alexander II
(pope from 1961 to 1073), and to Archdeacon
Hildebrand (who was Pope Gregory VII from
1073 to 1085), complaining that priests were
playing chess (scacorum). He was particularly
outraged that his traveling companion, the
Bishop of Florence, was seen playing chess in
public (a hotel). Damaini labeled chess as a game
of chance, like dice, which was banned. Damaini
was ignorant of chess and prejudiced against it.
He said that playing chess made” a buffoon of a
priest.” Damiani’s denunciation of chess led to a
number of ecclesiastical decrees which put chess
among the games forbidden to the clergy and
monastic orders. Damiani became a saint and was
made a Doctor of the Roman Catholic Church by
Pope Leo XII in 1828.

Around 1070, Abu Marwan Hayyan ibn Khalaf

ibn Husayn ibn Hayyan al-Qurtubi (987-1075)
wrote a manuscript on the history of Al-Andalus
(Muslim Spain). He records that the vizier Abu
Ja’far Ahmad ibn al-Abbas (980?-1038) of
Almeria was a keen chessplayer. (source:
Murray, p. 203)

Around 1120, a poem, The Song of Chess,

written by the Spanish rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra
(1089-1164) described each chess piece. The
pieces still resembled the Arab style of play,
which did not have the modern chess queen. The
elephant did not move like today’s bishop piece,
but as confined to three spaces diagonally at a
time.

In 1129, the encyclopedia Manasollasa (Delighter

of the Mind), by the South Indian ruler King
Someshvara III (1127-1138), was written in
Sanskrit. It was the first description of chess in
South India. It gave a long list of games played,
including chess.

In 1140, the Abd al-Hamid I Turkish manuscript

was written that quoted Al-Adli as saying, “It is
universally acknowledged that three things were
produced from India, in which no other
anticipated it, and the like of which existed
nowhere else: the book Kalila-wa-Dimna, the
nine ciphers with which one can count to infinity
(numbers), and chess.” The incomplete
manuscript called the Abdul Hamid (Abd-al-
Hamid I or Abdalhamid I) Arabic collection
(known as the AH manuscript) was written
(copied) by Abu Ishaq Ibrahim b. al-Mubarek b.
Ali al-Madhahhab al Baghdadi. The original title
was Kitab ash-shatranj mimma'l-lafahu'l-`Adli
was-Suli wa ghair-huma (Book of chess; extracts
from the works of al-'Adli, as-Suli and others). It
is also called Risala fi’sh-shatranj by Abu’l-
Abbas Ahmad al-Adli. It has nearly 200
problems. It contains problems composed by
Muslim composers such as al-Aldi and as-Suli.
The manuscript contains a short treatise on chess
principles by al-Lajlaj. The existence of this
manuscript came from Dr. Paul Schroeder of the
German embassy, when he discovered it at
Constantinople (now Istanbul) in 1880. It is
Constantinople catalog No. 560. (sources:
Murray, p. 171, and British Chess Magazine, vol
23, 1903, pp. 442-443.)

In 1148 Rajatarangini (River of Kings) by

Kalhana was written in Sanskrit. It was a
chronicle of the kings of Kashmir. It alluded to 4-
handed Chaturanga.
Around 1148, Alexiad, a 15-volume history, was
written. This was the first Greek reference to
chess. This was a biography of the Byzantine
Emperor Alexius Comnena (1050-1118) by his
daugher, Anna Comnena, while in exile. She
describes her father playing chess with friends in
Book 12. She also says that chess was invented
by the Assyrians. The Crusaders may have been
exposed to chess from Emperor Comnena, and
may have brought it back to England.

Around 1190, a manuscript called ‘Risala al-

Lajlaj fi bayan la’bash-shatranj’ (Al-Lajlaj’s
treatise on the demonstration of the game of
chess) was written. The manuscript was
discovered by Dr. Paul Schroeder of the German
embassy, when he discovered it at
Constantinople in 1880. It is called the L
manuscript, As’ad Efendi, Constantinople, No.
1858. An entry on the title page shows that
Sultan Bayazid Khan (1481-1512) gave the
manuscript to his chief butler, Yusaf b. Abdallah
in 1487. (source: Murray, p. 173)

Around 1200, the manuscript Kitab ash-shatranj

(Book of Chess) was written. The manuscript
was discovered by Dr. Paul Schroeder of the
German embassy, when he discovered it at
Constantinople in 1880. It is called the AE
manuscript, the As’ad Efendi, Constantinople
No. 2866. It is 609 pages. It is a compilation
treating all branches of chess. It contains 60
diagrams showing the various points of analysis.
I final section has 194 problems. (source:
Murray, p. 174)

Around 1210 Wigalois by the Middle High

German poet Wirnt von Grafenberg (1160?-
1220?) was written. It is a courtly verse romance.
It mentions Courier chess, played on a 12x8
board.

Around 1215, the Hadith Bayad wa Riyad

manuscript was written in Andalusi Arabic. It is
an Arabic love story. The main characters of the
tale are Bayad, a merchant's son from Damascus,
Riyad, a well-educated girl in the court of an
unnamed Hajib of Iraq, and a "Lady" (al-
sayyida). In one episode of the tale, Bayad waits
for word from Riyad and spends his time by
playing a game of chess. There is an illustration
of Bayad playing chess in the manuscript. It is
the earliest figural depiction of chess pieces in an
Arabic manuscript. It is the only illustrated
manuscript known to have survived from the
Muslim medieval life in Spain and Portugal. The
manuscript is in the Vatican Library, catalogued
as Codex Vatican Arabo 368.

In 1221, a manuscript was copied by Muhammad

ibn Hawa ibn Othman al-Mu’addib. The
manuscript was discovered by Dr. Paul
Schroeder of the German embassy, when he
discovered it at Constantinople in 1880. It is
called the V manuscript, Vefa (Atiq Efendi),
Eyyub, or manuscript no. 2234 of the library of
Atif Effendi, Constantinople (Istanbul). It
contains 77 leaves. Schroeder gave it the title
Mansubat li Abi Zakariya Yahya b. Ibrahim al-
Hakim. The official catalogue gives no author’s
name. (source: Murray, p. 174-175)

In 1224, a manuscript, Kitab al-mujib fi talkhis

akhbar ahl al-Maghrib (The pleasant book in
summarizing the history of the Maghreb) written
by Abdelwahid al-Marrakushi (1185-1230?)
mentions that Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Ammar
(1031-1086) played chess with King Alfonso VI
(1040-1109) of Castile in 1078. The story goes
that Ammar beat King Alfonso in a game of
chess. Ammar’s victor in chess convinced the
king to turn away from Seville.

In 1230, the manuscript Heimskringla was

written in Old Norse in Iceland by Snorri
Sturluson (1178-1241). The story of king Canute
(995-1035) playing chess is mentioned in the
manuscript. According to the story, in 1028, the
king was playing a game of chess with his
brother-in-law, Earl Godwin Ulfnadson , the
husband of the king’s sister, when the king made
a bad move, which led to a loss of one of the
king’s pieces. The king took his move back,
replaced his knight, and told the earl to play a
different move. The earl got angry over this,
overturned the chess board and started walking
away. The king said “Runnest thou away, Ulf
the coward?” The earl responded, “Thou wouldst
have run farther at Helga river if thou hadst come
to battle there. Thou didst not call me Ulf the
coward when I hastened to thy help while the
Swedes were beating thee like a dog.” The earl
then left the king’s quarters. The next day, the
king ordered the earl to be killed. The earl was
stabbed to death at Saint Lucius’ church. In
1035, Canute died at the Abbey in Shaftesbury,
Dorset. According to Henry Bird in Chess
History and Reminiscences, the king was killed
while watching a chess game. Armed soldiers
rushed into the building and slew Canute while
his friend, Valdemar, who was playing chess,
was severely wounded. Valdemar escaped using
the chess board as a shield.

Around 1230, a manuscript now known as the

Carmina Burana (Songs of Benediktbeuern) was
written. It is a collection of 320 poems, including
a medieval Latin poem about chess. The
manuscript was found in 1803 at the southern
Bavarian monastery of Benediktbeuern. In 1847,
this collection of lyric poetry was published as
the Codex Buranus by the librarian Johann
Andreas Schmeller (175-1852). Today, the
original manuscript is in the Bavarian State
Library in Munich.

In 1257, an Arabic manuscript was written

(copied) containing chess. It later formed part of
the library of Claudius James Rich (1787-1820),
collected while he was in Baghdad in the service
of the East India Company. The British Museum
(BM) later purchased it (Arabic Addition 7515).
The author is unknown. It is a quarto volume of
132 leaves. It copies some of al-Adli’s work and
some quotes from al-Lajlaj. The text is dedicated
to some prince (Saladin, or one of his
successors). There are some 200 diagrams. The
manuscript may have been compiled in Persia.
(sources: Murray, p. 173, and Forbes, “Some
Observations of the Origin of Chess,” Chess
Player’s Chronicle, Vol. 16., 1855, p. 141)

In 1258, the Persian poet Saadi (Sa’di) Shirazi

(1210-1292) wrote the manuscript Gulistan (the
Rose Garden). It had several chess references in
story 10 and story 12. In story 12, he wrote,
“Marvelous. A pawn (foot-soldier) of ivory
travels across the squares of the chess-board and
becomes a farzin (Firzan), but the footmen of the
Haj (pilgrim) who has crossed deserts in his
pilgrimage on foot is worse at the end.”

Around 1260 the Quaedam moralitas de

scaccario per Innocentium papum (the Innocent
Morality) was published. It may be the oldest of
chess moralities. The world resembles a
chessboard. Things are in black or white. The
colors represent life and death, or praise and
blame. It was first attributed to Pope Innocent III
(1163-1216), a prolific sermon writer. Later, it
was attributed to John of Wales (1220-1290),
also known as Johannes Guallensis, a Franciscan
friar who taught at Paris and Oxford and was a
chess player. The morality was published around
1470 as part of Summa collationum. It was the
first time that the term for chess appeared in a
printed book.

In 1266, the manuscript known as the Bonus

Socius, Latin for “good companion,” was
originally written in Latin. It is a collection of
chess problems. The original author may have
been Boncompagno da Signa. In 1295, a copied
version in Norman French may have been written
by the scribe Nicholas de Saint-Nicholai, from
Lombardy, Italy. He transcribed the Latin
manuscript and substituted in the prologue his
name in place of Bonus Socius. He writes in the
prologue, "I, a good companion falling in with
the wishes of my companions, have taken the
trouble to collect into a book all the problems
which I have discovered in chess." The Bonus
Socius manuscript is considered the oldest
compilation of chess problems from medieval
Europe. It includes 194 problems, including a
knight’s tour. In the 17th century, the Norman
translation was owned by De Vaubouton. In
1700, it was owned by Sir Andrew Fountaine
(1676-1753) of Narford Hall, Norfolk, England.
In 1902, J. Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913) of New
York purchased the manuscript for the Bennett
Collection. The private version is called the
Fontaine manuscript. Another version of the
manuscript is in the British Museum. One copy is
in the National Library in Florence.

Around 1273, a manuscript called Masnavi was

written. It is a poetic masterpiece of around
25,000 couplets, written by Jalal al-Din
Muhammad Rumi (1207-1273). A copy was
made and published in Isfahan, Iran in 1602,
which contains several illustrations. One image
in the copied manuscript depicts a game of chess.
Two stories are embedded in this narrative in
order to bring its major points to light; the one
illustrated here recounts an episode in which
Sayyid, the Shah of Tirmid, is checkmated by his
court jester, Dalqak, and reacts angrily by
throwing the chessboard at the courtier’s head.
The next time the two sit down to a game, the
jester anticipates the need to protect himself by
covering his head with a turban of felt. The scene
is identified both by the figures seated on either
side of a chessboard as well as by a caption just
above the painting. Its depiction suggests the
importance of this story, perhaps to the patron
who commissioned the manuscript.

Around 1280, Jacobus de Cessolis (1250-1322), a

Dominican monk from Cessole, Northern Italy,
wrote Liber de moribus Hominum et officiis
Nobilium ac Popularium super ludo scacchorum
(Book of the customs of men and the duties of
nobles or the Book of Chess). It was written in
Latin and was based on a series of sermons that
he gave using chess as a framework. The
manuscript uses chess pieces to symbolize
different classes of medieval society and pawns
each representing a different profession. It is one
of the earliest allegories and moralities pertaining
to chess and it began as a sermon. Probably no
other work of mediaeval times was copied so
much. It rivalled the Bible in popularity and
number of printings. The sermon is divided into 4
books and 24 chapters. The first book deals with
the origin of chess and the fourth book deals with
the moves of the chessmen. The other books
explain the pieces as symbolical of the feudal
society. Cessolis attributed the invention of chess
to Babylon during the reign of Evil-Merodach.
Chess corrected the evil manners of this king and
to avoid idleness. It is a version of the original
Innocent Morality. In 1337, this manuscript was
translated into German verse by Konrad von
Ammenhusen, a monk of Stettin. In 1473, the
first of many printed versions appeared in
Utrecht, the Netherlands. In 1481, a second
edition was printed in London. In 1493, the first
Italian edition, Libro di Giuocho di Scacchi
Intitolato by Costumi Deglhuomini & Degli
Officii Denobili, was printed in Florence. Over
100 copies are known to exist. In 1317, Cessolis
was in charge of the inquisition on Genoa.

In 1283, Libros de ajedrez, dados y tablas (Books

of chess, dices and tables) was written for King
Alfonso X (1221-1284), King of Castile. The
manuscript was finished in Seville, Spain. It was
the first encyclopedia of games in European
literature. It was made up of 200 leaves. The first
of the seven parts of the Alfonso manuscript is
devoted wholly to chess, and contains 103
problems or endgames (88 are of Muslim origin
and 15 are of European form). It also includes
descriptions of several chess variants. Note that
the original 13th century spelling of chess was
acedrex, and not ajedrez. The original manuscript
is held in the library of El Escorial, Spain (Codex
T.I.6). (Source: Murray, p. 181)

Around 1295, Engreban d’Arras wrote the poem,

“Ch’est li jus de Esques.” It is a 298-line verse
fragment. The author compares human society to
the pieces of a chess set. The chess
pieces/subjects struggle together as a community.
The manuscript is in the Bibliotheque National
de France in Paris, No. 25566.

In 1298, Dr. von Neustadt (1250?-1312) wrote

Apollonius von Tryland, a poem of 20,644 lines.
In one of the verses, he wrote, “They had much
entertainment. They played chess with each
other: The man made a bad move, he moved one
of his pawns with which he said ‘check’ to the
queen. What damage did that cause? Good advice
was then needed: In a short while in turn the
beautiful maid responded with ‘check’ and
‘checkmate’ more than four times afterwards.”
Later, Apollonius spots a chessboard and takes
all the valuable chess pieces, which later causes a
big battle. In the fight, Apollonius escapes, but
loses a rook in the process.

In 1300, the Civis Bononiae (Citizen of Bologna)

manuscript was written by an anonymous author.
It contains 288 chess problems and 80
backgammon table problems. The oldest copy is
preserved in the Fritzwilliam Museum at the
University of Cambridge, MS No. 372.
Numerous copies appeared in the 15th century. A
later copy is in the British Museum, MS. Catalog
No. Add. 9351.

In 1300, Hugo von Trimberg (1220-1313?) wrote

Der Renner (the runner). It is an epic poem
comprising of 24,600 verses. It is the most
comprehensive didactic poem in the German
language. He used the imagery of chess to
address fundamental concerns of the society. A
number of times in the poem, Trimberg refers to
the chess game as a metaphor and analogy. One
verse deals with using bread pieces to play chess
on a table, and if he captures a pawn, it would not
satisfy his hunger. He would rather capture a
rook or the king to satisfy his hunger with the
bigger bread pieces. In one of the verses, he
wrote, “This world is like a deceptive image,
because it has, like the chess game, kings and and
queen, rooks, knights, bishops, pawns; In this
way God plays a fool’s game with us, if you are
able to notice that.” Trimberg refers to the devil
as a master player on the chessboard of life.

In 1323, a manuscript called “Vicarism-i-

chatrang u nihisn-i-new-artaxser” (Explanation of
the game of Chatrang and invention of the game
of nard) was written.

In 1340, Jean de Vignay (1283-1340?) of Bruges,

Belgium, made a Latin to French translation of
Cessolis’s manuscript, Liber de moribus
hominum et officiis nobilium sive super ludo
scacchorum (Book of the customs of men and the
duties of nobles or the Book of Chess).

Around 1340 the Gesta Romanorum was written

by an unknown author. It is a Latin collection of
stories and moralities. Three chapters relate to
chess.

Around 1341 “Nafa'is al-funun fi’arayis al-

‘uyun,” (Treasury of the Sciences in the Brides of
the Springs), a Persian encyclopedia by
Muhammad ibn Mahmud al-Amuli (1300-1352),
mentions chess in its last three chapters. The first
chapter describes the invention of chess in India.
The second chapter deals with the derived games
of chess, which describes five different chess
variants. The third chapter is the source that first
describes Timur's Great Chess (shatranj al-kabir).
This is known as the Al. manuscript. (source:
Murray, p. 177)

Around 1345, Giovanni Villani (1280-1348)

wrote the manuscript Nuova Cronica (New
Chronicles), a history of Florence, Italy. He
wrote, “During these times there came to
Florence a Saracen, named Buzzecca, who was
the foremost master of the game of chess. At the
Palace of the People in the presence of Count
Guido Novello, he played three finest chess
masters in Florence, simultaneously, for over an
hour. Of these three games, he played two
blindfold and one over the board, winning two
and drawing one of the matches. The result was
considered an outstanding achievement.”

In 1347, Jean Ferron made a Latin to French

translation of Cessolis’s manuscript, Liber de
moribus hominum et officiis nobilium sive super
ludo scacchorum (Book of the customs of men
and the duties of nobles or the Book of Chess).

Around 1360, the manuscript “Nuzhat arbab al-

uqul fi’-sh-shatranj al-manqul” (Delight of the
Intelligent in the Known Game of chess) was
written. It was written by Abu Zakariya Yuhya
ibn Ibrahim al-Hakim. It consists of 57 paper
leaves. It is referenced as the H manuscript in the
John Rylands Library (Manchester) Arabic MS.
59 (or MS 766). Its shorter title is “Kitab an-
nuzhat fi’sh-shatranj” (The Book of the Delight
of Chess). The manuscript tells the story that the
vizier, Ayyub al-Muriyani (720?-771) of the
second Abbasid Caliph, al-Mansur (714-775),
had a friend that was a skilled chess player. This
manuscript was brought to England from
Damascus in the 18th century. It became part of
the collection of J. G. Richards. In 1806, they
passed into the possession of John Fiott (1783-
1866), who later took the name John Lee in 1816.
Nathanial Bland (1803-1865) borrowed them
from John Lee for use in his preparation of his
paper on Persian chess in 1850, but failed to
return them. In 1866, Bland’s Oriental library
was sold to Alexander Lindsay (11812-1880), the
Earl of Crawford and Balcarres. The Lee
manuscript passed into the Haigh Hall Library. In
1906, Lord Crawford’s Oriental manuscripts
were purchased by Enriqueta Augustina Rylands
(1843-1908). She then founded the John Rylands
Library in Manchester, England, in memory of
her husband, John Rylands (1801-1888). (source:
Murray, p. 175, and Somogyi, p. 430)

In 1370, a manuscript (known as the C

manuscript, Mustafa Pasha, Khedival Library
catalog no. 8201) was written on chess that
formerly belonged to Qaitbay (1418-1496) a
sultan of Egypt. In 1880, the manuscript was
analyzed by the German Orientalist Dr. Wilhelm
Spitta (1853-1883), a former director of the
Khedivial Library in Cairo. The manuscript is a
copy of the AH manuscript, the Kitab ash-
shatranj mimma'l-lafahu'l-`Adli was-Suli wa
ghair-huma (Book of chess; extracts from the
works of al-'Adli, as-Suli and others) by Abdul
Hamid (Abd-al-Hamid I or Abdalhamid I. It
consists of 157 leaves.

Around 1375, a manuscript was written with the

title “Kitab anmudhaj al-qital fi la’b ash-
shatrang,” (Book of the examples of warfare in
the game of chess). It was originally written by
Shihabaddin Abu’i-‘Abbas Ahmad ibn Yuhya
ibn Abu Hajala at-Tilimsani alH-anbali (1325-
1375). It consists of 89 quarto leaves in eight
chapters. It is called the Man manuscript (a copy
made in 1446) and is part of the John Rylands
Library, Ryland Arabic MS No. 59 (Mingana
Catalogue No. 767). (source: Murray. P. 176)

Around 1400, Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400)

wrote The Canterbury Tales, a collection of over
20 stories written in Middle English. In “The
Franklin’s Tale,” Chaucer wrote, “Her friends
saw that it was no alleviation, but grief for her, to
roam by the sea, and planned to disport
themselves somewhere else. They led her by
rivers and springs and eke in other delectable
places; they danced and they played at tables
[backgammon] and chess.”

In 1419, a Sanskrit manuscript called the

Sinhasanavatrinskia was written in India. It
contains a story of a gambler talking to King
Vikramaditya (a legendary emperor of ancient
India) on the different games that he knows,
among them being chaturamga.

In 1450 Johannes Ingold (1400-1465) wrote Das

Guldin Spil (Golden Game). It was printed by
Gunter Zainer in Augsburg in 1472. He writes
about the 7 deadly sins, illustrating each with a
game. Chess represented pride and humility.

Around 1450 Panchadandachattraprabandha

mentions chess without dice. The book was a tale
of king Vikramaditya (380-413 AD).

In 1450, a manuscript called Forty Chess

Problems was written by John Porter.

Around 1465, a Swedish anonymous allegorical

poem called Schacktavelslek was written. It
depicts the chess game as the image of medieval
society. It is a Swedish version and loose
translation of Jacobi Cessoli’s Liber de moribus
hominum et officiis nobilium sive super ludo
scacchorum (Book of the customs of men and the
duties of nobles or the Book of Chess). The
Swedish chess allegory emphasizes moral virtue
and education while making the case for national
kingship and a constitutional monarchy. In this
version, only four pawns instead of eight pawns
are mentioned, and only briefly. The manuscript
adds several Swedish events. In 1488, a copy of
the manuscript was made, which is now in the
National Library of Stockholm. Another copy
was made in 1492 by the guardian of the Askeby
abbey, which is now in Copenhagen.

In 1467, the Dominican priest and monk

Francesco Colonna (1434-1527) wrote the
allegory Hypnerotomachia Poliphili. There is a
description of ‘living chess” with a fanciful set of
names for the chessmen. While traveling among
architectural ruins and through a series of
gardens, the principal character, Poliphilo
encounters a living chess game. Two teams
dressed in gold and silver colored clothing move
on a large paved chessboard. In 1499, it was first
printed in Venice, Italy. In 1546, it was translated
into French, Discours du Songe de Poliphile, and
published in Paris. In 1592, it was translated into
English, The Strife of Love in a Dream.

In 1470, The Innocent Morality was published in

Cologne as part of Summa collationum, sive
Communiloguium (the sum of the conferences).
It was the first time that the term for chess
appeared in a printed book.

In 1473, Jacobus de Cessolis’s morality book,

Liber de moribus hominum et officiis nobilium
super ludo scacchorum ('Book of the customs of
men and the duties of nobles or the Book of
Chess'), was first published in Utrecht.

In 1474 William Caxton (1422-1491) completed

his translation into English of Jean de Vignay’s
and Jean Ferron’s Latin to French translation of
Cessolis’s manuscript. Caxton did not translate
directly from the original Latin manuscript, the
Liber de moribus hominum et officiis nobilium
ac popularium super ludo scachorum (The Book
of the Morals of Men and the Duties of Nobles
and Commoners, on the Game of Chess) by
Jacobus de Cessolis.

Around 1475, the poem Scachs d’amor was

written. It was the first text of modern chess.
Scachs d’amor is Catalan for “Chess of
Love.” The complete title of this Catalan poem
is Hobra intitulada scachs d’amor feta per don
franci de Castellvi e Narcis vinyoles e mossen
bernat fennolar sota nom de tres planets co es
Marc Venus e Mercuri per conjunccio e
influencia dels quals fon inventada. The poem
was written by Francesch de Castellvi, Bernat
Fenollar, and Narcis de Vinyoles. The
manuscript was published in Valencia, Spain
around 1475. The poem is conceived as a chess
game between Francesch de Castellvi and
Narciso Vinyoles. Castellvi represented Mars,
Love, and had the red pieces (White in modern
chess). Vinyoles represented Venus, the Glory,
and the green pieces (Black in modern
chess). Mars tries to obtain the love of
Venus. Fenollar (Mercury) acts as an
arbiter. The arbiter, Mossen Bernat Fenollar,
comments and establishes the rules. The poem
uses chess as an allegory for love. Its structure is
based upon 64 stanzas, representing the 64
chessboard squares. The first stanza represents
White’s move, the second stanza represents
Black’s moves, and the third stanza is a comment
on the rules of the arbiter. White makes 21
moves, expressed in 21 stanzas. Black makes 20
moves, expressed in 20 stanzas. The arbiter
comments 20 times in 20 stanzas. There are
three introductory stanzas explaining the
allegory, which adds up to the sum of 64 stanzas.
The manuscript (not a printed book) was
discovered in 1905 by the Jesuit P. Ignasi
Casanovas (1872-1936). He discovered the
manuscript in the Royal Chapel of the Palau de
Barcelona. It was lost during the Spanish Civil
War (1936-1939). The manuscript consisted of
13 written folia and 30 blank pages. This chess
game is the first one documented with the
modern rules of chess (the expanded Queen
move). The game was probably never played,
but invented for the poem which contained the 64
stanzas.

Castellvi (Mars) – Vinyoles (Venus), Valencia,

1475, 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qd8 4.Bc4 Nf6
5.Nf3 Bg4 6.h3 Bxf3 7.Qxf3 e6 8.Qxb7 Nbd7
9.Nb5 Rc8 10.Nxa7 Nb6 11.Nxc8 Nxc8 12.d4
Nd6 13.Bb5+ Nxb5 14.Qxb5+ Nd7 15.d5 exd5
16.Be3 Bd6 17.Rd1 Qf6 18.Rxd5 Qg6 19.Bf4
Bxf4 20.Qxd7+ Kf8 21.Qd8 mate.

In 1476, the first edition of Game and Playe of

the Chesse was printed by William Caxton on a
printing press (invented by Johannes Gutenberg
in 1455) while working in Bruges. It was the 3rd
book printed in English, after the Bible and The
Recuell of the Historyes of Troye (1474).

In 1483, his second edition of Game and Playe of

the Chesse by William Caxton was printed in
Westminster, with woodcuts added for
illustrations. This was the first printed book in
English to make extensive use of woodcuts for
pictures and the first book to ever be reprinted.

Around 1490, a manuscript called Le Jeu des

esches de la dame moralisé was written by an
anonymous author. It is a religious allegory that
tells of a lady who plays chess against the devil.
The devil tempts her with notions of love in an
effort to force her to make a mistake in playing.
It appears in a single manuscript and is now
located in the British Museum (MS Add. 15820).

In 1493, the historian Hartman Schedel (1440-

1514) published the Nuremberg Chronicle,
known as Schedelsche Weitchronik (Schedel’s
World Chronicle), published in Nuremberg,
Germany. Maps in the Chronicle were the first
ever illustrations of many cities and countries. It
mentions the invention of chess by the
philosopher Xerxes in Babylon during the rule of
Merodach, the son of Nebuchadrezzar, and
illustrates the citation with a woodcut of Xerxes.

On May 15, 1495, Libre dels jochs partits dels

schacs en nombre de 100, ordenat e compost per
mi francesch Vicent nat en la ciutat de Segorb e
criat vehi de la insigne e valerosa ciutat de
Valencia" (In the name of 100 chess problems,
ordered and made up of me, Francesch Vicent,
born in the city of Segrob in Valencia) by
Francesch Vicent (1450-1512) was published in
Valencia, Spain in the Valencian language.
Copies were printed by Lope de la Roca (1430?-
1497) and Peter Trincher. All copies of this book
are now lost. The last known copy was seen in
1811. Only the title-page has been preserved,
bearing the date of May 15, 1495. A copy was in
the Biblioteca Communnale in Siena, Italy, and
in the library of Santa Maria de Montserrat. The
copies were lost after the Spanish War of
Independence when French soldiers used the old
manuscripts and parchments in the
manufacturing of bullets. It mentioned the first
modern move of the Queen and Bishop and was a
book of chess openings. The manuscript was the
first treatise on modern chess. (source: Williams,
“The Return of Francesch Vicent,” CHESS, Vol.
71, No. 5, Aug 2006, po. 18-19)

In 1495, Repetición de amores y arte de ajedrez

con CL Juegos de partido (Discourse on Love
and the Art of Chess with 150 match games) by
Luis Ramirez Lucena (1465-1530) was written
(published late in 1497). It was the first surviving
book with the modern rules of chess. Only 8
copies are known to exist. The book was so rare
that it was unknown to historians until the second
half of the 19th century. The book is the first to
include the old rules of chess and the new rules
of chess (most notably, the movement of the
Queen – de la dama). It included, among other
things, analysis of eleven chess openings. Some
of them are known today as the Giuoco Piano
(1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4), Ruy Lopez (1.e4 e5
2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5) , Petroff's Defense (1.e4 e5
2.Nf3 Nf6), Bishop's Opening (1.e4 e5 2.Bc4) ,
Damiano's Defense (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6), and
Scandinavian Defense or Center Counter Defense
(1.e4 d5), though Lucena did not use those
terms. Lucena seems to be the originator of 1.e4
e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5, and not Ruy Lopez, but
openings are usually not named after the first
person playing it.
In January 1496, 30 copies of Francesch Vicent’s
book was sold.

In 1497, the first edition of Repetición de amores

y arte de ajedrez con CL Juegos de partido
(Discourse on Love and the Art of Chess with
150 match games) by Luis Ramirez Lucena was
published in Salamanca. The book was dedicated
to King Ferdinand.

In 1499, Francesco Colonna wrote

Hypnerotomachia Poliphili: Strife of Love in a
Dream. Poliphilo encounters a living chess
game.

In 1500, the manuscript De ludo scachorum (On

the Game of Chess) was written in Latin by the
mathematician and Franciscan friar Luca Pacioli
(1447-1517). The 96-page manuscript contains
49 pages of over 100 chess problems, drawn in
red and black. The manuscript was dedicated to
Isabella d’Este (1474-1539). The manuscript was
originally lost, but rediscovered in 2006. In 2008,
there was a plausible suggestion that the chess
pieces in its illustrations were designed and/or
drawn by Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519). The
manuscript was discovered in 2006 by book
historian Duilio Contin in the 22,000-volume
library of the Palazzo Coronini Cronberg in
Gorizia, Italy. In 1963, the owner, Count
Guglielmo Coronini, bought the manuscript,
along with other old books and manuscripts, from
an unnamed Venetian poet and bibliophile. In
February 2008, Franco Rocco suggested that the
chess pieces in the diagrams were drawn by
Leonardo da Vinci. Da Vinci was a close friend
of Pacioli. (source: BBC News, Feb 26, 2008)

In 1501, a Turkish manuscript was written on

chess. It had a chapter on 6 openings, called
Tabariyi, Iraqiya, Pharough’s fortress, goat-peg,
beautiful and scientific, and wonderful and
lovely.
In 1502, the Cesana manuscript called Ludi Varii
was written, which includes Vicent’s work, Libre
dels jochs partits dels schacs en nombre de 100,
ordenat e compost per mi Francesh Vicent. The
Cesena manuscript was discovered by Italian
chess bibliophile Franco Pratesi in 1995 at the
Biblioteca Malatestiana of Cesena. The chess
problems are copied from Vicent’s lost book.

In 1503, a manuscript containing chess was

compiled at Balakasri in Liva Karasi, Turkey, for
the Sultan Bayezid II (1447-1512). It was an
addition to the Shatranj nama-I kabir by Abu'l-
Qasim Mansur Firdawsi at-Tahihal (940-1020). It
is known as the F manuscript, Nuri Osmaniye,
Istambul, No. 4073. It consists of 94 leaves,
discovered by Dr. Schroeder in 1880 in
Constantinople. (source: Murray, p. 178)

Around 1504, the Perugia (from Perugia, Italy)

manuscript was published. It contains 72 modern
chess compositions. It is an incomplete
manuscript; almost all solutions to the problems
are missing.

Around 1505, the Goettingen manuscript was

published by an unknown author. It introduced
other chess openings such as Philidor’s Defense
(1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6), the Ponziani Opening (1.e4
e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3), the Queen’s Gambit
Accepted (1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4), Bird’s Opening
(1.f4), and the English Opening (1.c4).

In 1507, Jacob Mennel printed a chess

manuscript called Schahczabel at Costentz,
written in German. It was a chess morality. In
1520, additions were made by the publisher
Koebel of Oppenheim. Another addition was
made in 1536 by Egenolff of Frankfurt.

In 1512, Questo libro e da imparare giocare a

scachi et de li partiti was written by the Portugese
apothecary (seller of medicine and drugs) Pedro
Damiano (1480-1544). It was the first chess book
published in Italy (published in Rome). It was
published in both Italian and Spanish text. It
continued the myth that chess was invented by
the philosopher Xerxes in Babylon. There was
not a single reference to the older chess rules or
how it was played. He used the modern version
of how the queen moved. The book went through
8 reprintings.

In 1513, Scacchia Ludus (The Game of Chess), a

chess poem, was written by Marcus Antonius
Hieronymus Vida (1485-1566), Bishop of Alba,
in Latin. He is the first to mention Tower and
castle (rook). It describes a chess game between
the Roman gods Apollo and Mercury. His poem
was a favorite of Pope Leo X. The poem inspired
Sir William Jones (1746-1794) to write the poem
Caissa, the goddess of chess, written in 1763.

In 1525, the chess poem, Scacchia Ludus (The

Game of Chess), but without any credit to Vida.

In 1527, the chess poem, Scacchia Ludus (The

Game of Chess), but with credit to Vida.

In 1531, Thomas Elyot (1490-1546) wrote The

Book Named the Governor. It was a treatise on
how to train statesmen. It states that chess is to
be commended to sharpen a player’s intellectual
faculties. “And it is the more commendable and
also commodious, if the players have read the
moralization o chess; and when they play do
think upon it.”

In 1537, Tratto dell Origine di Firenze, by

Giovanni Villani was published in Venice, Italy.
It releates how the building known today as the
Bargello in Florecne, was the scene of an early
feat of skill in chess. In 1266, in the presence of
the Podesta, Count Guido Novello, Bucecca
played 3 games simultaneously, one over the
board and two without looking.It was reprinted in
1559.
Around 1550, the Arabic manuscript Kitab al-
Munjih fi ‘ilm al-shitranj (A book to lead to
success in the knowledge of chess) was written
by Abu Muhammad ibn Umar Kajina. The
manuscript is now lost. In 1612, the manuscript
was copied by Muhammad ibn Husam ud-
Daulah.

In 1553, an Arabic manuscript was written called

the Q manuscript Munich, 250. 25 Quatr. It is a
manuscript of 87 leaves, and was part of the
Shatranj nama-I Kabir by Firdawasi. It was in
Egypt from 1553 until the Napoleonic invasion in
1798.

In 1555 Olaus Magnus (1490-1557) published

Historia de gentibus septentrionalibus (History of
the Northern Peoples) in Rome. His book was the
first comprehensive history of Scandinavia. He
describes chess in the Scandinavian countries. It
described Norse parents playing chess with the
boyfriends of their daughters, and determining if
they were good suitors by noting thier conduct
during the game.

In 1557, a sermon was given by ibn Sukakir ad-

Dimashqa at the mosque of Aleppo, Syria. He
expounded upon a tale of Sultan Suleiman the
Magnificent (1494-1566) cheating a skilled blind
player at shatranj.

In 1561 Ruy Lopez (pronounced Rue-y Lopeth)

de Segura (1530-1580) wrote Libro de la
invencion liberal y arte del juego del Axedrez.
He wrote the book in response to Damiano's
book. It contains 66 games.

In 1562, James Rowbothum made a translation of

Damiano da Odemira's Libro da imparare giocare
a scachi,under the title The pleasaunt and wittie
play of te cheasts renewed ... Lately translated
out of Italien into Frenche [by Claude Gruget]
and now set forth in Englische.”
In 1564, Rabelais wrote Gargantua and
Pantagruel. The fifth book of Pantagruel has a
game of living chess.

In 1570, George Turberville (1540-1597) wrote

Poems describing the Places and Manners of the
Country and People of Russia. Earlier, he had
gone to Moscow to the court of Ivan the Terrible.
In his poem, he wrote, “The common game is
chess, almost the simplest will/ Both give a
checks and eke a mate, by practices comes their
skill.” Turberville’s account and part of his poem
was reprinted in Hakluyt’s Voyages, published
by Richard Hakluyt (1553-1616) in 1589.

In 1575, an Arabic manuscript on chess was

written by Ahmad ibn Ahmad al-Muhtar al-
Hanafi al-Misri at Balat, Istanbul. It contains 90
leaves, each with a problem and solutions. It is
known as the R manuscript, Rustem Pasha,
Constantinople, No. 375. (source: Murray, p.
178)

In 1579, an Arabic manuscript was completed

containing three treatises by Muhammad ibn
Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Jamaladdin ibn
Sukaikir ad-Dimashqi, preacher of the mosque
al-‘Adiliya at Halab (Aleppo, in Syria). The third
treatise is called “Nafhat kima’im al-ward fi
tafdil ash-shatranj ‘ala’n-nard,” (The fragrance of
the rose; on the superiority of chess over nard).
The manuscript discusses the lawfulness of
chess-playing and gives the usual legends as to
the invention of chess. It is called the S
manuscript, now in the Bodleian Library in
Oxford, Arab. Pocock 16. (source: Murray, pp.
178-179)

In 1579, Philip Sidney (1554-1586) wrote An

Apology for Poetry (or, The Defense of
Poesy). He wrote, “We see we cannot play at
chess but that we must give names to our
chessmen; and yet, me thinks, he were a very
partial champion of truth that would say we lied
for giving a piece of wood the reverend title of a
bishop.”

In 1583, the lawyer Thomas Actius wrote a Latin

chess manuscript, Forosemproniensis De Lvdo
Scacchorum In Legali Methodo Tractatvs that
was published in Pisa. He presented a complete
description of the game. He also tried to prove,
from the point of view of both canon and civil
law, that was exempt from general bans of games
of chance because it was a game of skill.

In 1584, Ruy Lopez's chess book was translated

into Italian by Giovanni Domenico Tarsia and
printed at Venice by Cornelius Arrivabene. It was
called Il Giuoco de Gli Scacchi. In 1655, it was
translated into French and published at Brussels.
The book was dedicated to prince Giacomo
Boncompagni (1548-1612), the Duke of Sora and
the illegitimate son of Pope Gregory XIII.

Around 1585, Giulio Cesare (Julius Caesar)

Polerio (1550-1610) translated the works of Ruy
Lopez from Spanish to Italian after seeing what a
bad job Tarsia did in his translation of Ruy
Lopez. This is known as Codex B. Polerio's
manuscripts included games by Leonardo, Boi,
Ruy Lopez, Alfonso Ceron, Busnardo, and other
Italian players. He wrote analysis on the Polerio
(Muzio) Gambit, the Sicilian Defense, the Center
Counter Defense, Two Knights Defense, Four
Knights Defense, etc.

The Leon manuscript is an unfinished manuscript

in Polerio’s handwriting. It was discovered by J.
A. Leon bound up with a copy of Tarsia’s Italian
translation of Ruy Lopez (printed in Venice in
1584) and Barozzi’s Rythmomachie manuscript
(printed in Venice in 1572). The Leon manuscript
consists of 32 quarto pages (eight sheets) with
many annotations and corrections in Tarsia’s
manuscript. It contains 46 openings or games.
The book originally belonged to Edward Cheney,
then sold by auction in 1886. (source: Leon,
“Forty-Six Games of Chess: by Giulio Cesare
Polerio, From a hitherto unpublished Manuscript
With an Introduction,”British Chess Magazine,
Aug 1894, pp. 317-336).

Polerio wrote a manuscript that was a translation

of Ruy Lopez. This manuscript was discovered in
1854 and is located in the Biblioteca Nazionale in
Florence. It contains 32 original games.

In 1589, Pap with a Hatchet by the English writer

John Lyly (1553-1606) was published in London.
It had several chess references, such as “If a
Martin can play at chess as well as the nephews
his Ape, he shall know what it is for a Scaddle
pawn, to cross a Bishop in his own walk. Such
dydoppers must be taken up, else they will not
stick to check the King.” Lyly is the one who
came up with the phrase, “All is fair in love and
war.”

In 1590, the manuscript known as the

Boncompagni-Ludovisi manuscript was written
by Giulio Cesare Polerio. It is a collection of 98
openings, 12 endgames, and 38 problems with
solutions (mostly from Lucena). The manuscript
is dedicated to his patron, Prince Giacomo
Boncompagni (1548-1612), the Duke of Sora and
the illegitimate son of Pope Gregory XIII.

Another Polerio manuscript is in the Bibliotheque

Nationale in Paris. The incomplete manuscript
contains a translation of the first seven chapters
of the second part of Ruy Lopez. It is also
dedicated to Buoncompagni. (Manuscrits Italiens
No. 955).

In 1594, Polerio wrote another chess manuscript,

Ordini de giuochi degli scacchi…, dedicated to
some unknown person on July 31, 1594. The
manuscript was made of 56 quarto leaves. It
contained 40 openings and 40 problems. This
manuscript is in the Bibliotheque Nationale in
Paris (Manuscrits Italiens No. 948).
In 1597, the first English version of Vida’s
Scacchia ludus poem was published. It was called
Ludus scacchiæ: chesse-play. A game, both
pleasant, wittie, and politicke: with certain briefe
instructions therevnto belonging; translated out
of the Italian into the English tongue. Containing
also therein, a prety and pleasant poeme of a
whole game played at chesse. It was written by
G.B., printed in London by H. Jackson. It was
reprinted in 1810 by Harding and Wright.

In 1597 Orazio (Horatio) Gianutio (1550-1610)

of Mantia wrote Libro nel quale si tratta della
maniera di giucar a scacchi, con alcuni
sottilissimi partiti, published in Turin, Italy. It
contains 6 openings and a few problems.

In 1599, King James VI (1566-1625) of Scotland

(who would later become James I of England)
wrote the Basilikon Doron, a treatise on
government and advice to his sons. In it, he wrote
“And as for the chess, I think it over fond,
because it is over-wise and Philosophic a folly:
For where all such light plays, are ordained to
free men’s heads for a time from the fashious
thoughts on their affairs; it by the contrary filleth
and troubleth men’s heads, with as many fashious
toys of the play, as before it was filled with
thoughts on his affairs.” He later wrote that chess
could be played in bad weather. James disliked
chess because it is an overly intellectual “folly”
(or he was no good at it).

A 16th century Persian manuscript (Risala-I

Shatranj) was presented to the Royal Asiatic
Society by the eminent Orientalist, Major David
Price (1762-1835). It consists of 64 leaves
(folios) about chess, of which half are occupied
by paintings (chess diagrams), and the other half
by text. It has been cataloged as RAS No. 211 in
the library of the Royal Asiatic Society (formerly
catalogued as Morley Handwritten Catalogue No.
260 – referenced by Forbes). The beginning and
ending of the manuscript are lost. The manuscript
includes leaves on the beneficial effects of chess,
Timur’s (Tamerlane) chess (Great Chess), the
invention of chess in India, relative values of the
chess pieces, and some endgame decisions. The
author is unknown, although Murray attributes
this manuscript to Haji Khalifa (1609-1657). It is
written in Naskh, a specific style of the Arabic
alphabet. There are 64 diagrams of chess
problems. Research by Greg Myers suggests that
the manuscript formed part of a gift of
manuscripts given David Price from Hugh Ross.
Ross may have been given the manuscript by
Robert Holford. Price later stayed briefly with
Holford.

On the inside of the first leaf of the RAS

manuscript is an inscription that reads "a gift of"
followed by the name Robert Holford (in
Persian), and directly underneath the phrase "a
gift of" is another name: H. Ross. The catalog
states that the name H. Ross is probably in the
same handwriting as "a gift of". The manuscript
was bequeathed to the RAS in 1835 by Major
David Price. Price wrote a book entitled Memoirs
of the Early Life and Service of a Field Officer. It
mostly consists of accounts of Price's time as an
officer in the East India Company, taking control
of Indian land one city/fort at a time. In 1783 he
met a Lieutenant by the name of Hugh Ross, who
he became very fond of. He recounts several tales
of bravado by Ross in which he often sustained
injuries but kept fighting, and also tells of Ross'
love of Persian culture and manuscripts. Price
cites Ross as the reason he became involved with
Persian study. Ross was killed in December 1791
in a battle while taking over a piece of Indian
land in the third Anglo-Mysore War with Tipu
Sulton while fighting under John Little and less
directly Charles Cornwallis. Less than a month
later, in January 1792, David Price discovered
that Hugh Ross had left him a gift of a collection
of Persian Manuscripts. In Price's memoir he
states it as follows:
25th Jan. – I received from Capt. Little, a letter,
enclosing a copy of my poor friend Ross’s will;
wherein he devised to me his collection of
Persian manuscripts, and Richardson’s
Dictionary. I could not be otherwise than
flattered by such a mark of regard, from an
individual of his distinguished merit.

Later in the same memoir Price talks about

travelling to Cambay, India in service of the East
India Company in the year 1803, and the superior
officer to receives him at the shore is named
Robert Holford. He speaks highly of Holford's
"hospitality" and states that he stayed with him
for a number of days. It turns out that this Robert
Holford was the uncle of Robert Staynor Holford,
a wealthy landowner and collector of art who was
also the founder of the Westonbirt Arboretum.
The family, both uncle and nephew, were fond of
collecting Persian Manuscripts. Greg Myers,
who researched all this, thinks that Holford
shared enjoyment over the manuscript with Price,
perhaps even helping Price translate part of it,
and thus his name ended up on the leaf in
Persian, years after the rest of the
inscription. (sources: Murray, p. 177, Brand, p.
3, Forbes, p. 78-87, and Greg Myers)

In 1600, Bhatta Nilakantha wrote the manuscript

Bhagavant-Bhaskara. It is an encyclopedia of
ritual, law, and politics. It has a section on chess
at the end of the 5th book.

In 1604, Dr. Alessandro Salvio (1570-1640)

published the Italian book Trattato.
Dell'inventione et arte liberale del gioco degli
scacchi del dottor Alessandro Salvio Napolitano.
Diuiso in Discorsi, Sbaratti, e Partitii in Naples.
It contained 31 chapters with chess openings. The
first edition of Salvio’s treatise is dedicated to
Fulvio di Costanzo, marchese di Corleto. A first
edition of the book was later owned by the
Boncompagni family. New editions of the work
were published at Naples in 1612, 1618, 1634
(which included a biography of Giovanni
Leonardo), and 1723.

In 1606, Giovanni Rossi published Libro da

Imparare a Giocare a Scacchi in Bologna. There
is a copy of it in the British Museum.

In 1607, Giovanni Rossi published Mod Facile

per imparar presto de giocar a Scacchi in
Bologna. It included the first part of Damiano’s
work.

In 1610-1611, William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

wrote a play called The Tempest. It may be the
last play that Shakespeare wrote. In Act 5, Scene
1, Prospero gathers everyone around and
dramatically draws back a curtain to reveal his
daughter, Miranda, and Prince Ferdinand playing
chess in the final scene. Miranda accuses
Ferdinand of cheating, but he says that he
wouldn’t cheat her for the whole world.

In 1612, a Persian manuscript was written

(copied) in Delhi on chess. It is known as the Y
manuscript in the British Museum, Add. 16856.
It consists of 63 leaves (foils), written in neat
Nestalik script, the predominant style in Persian
calligraphy It is a Persian translation by
Muhammad ibn Husam ud-Daulah of the Arabic
work Kitab al-munjih fi ‘ilm ash-shatranj, (A
book to lead to success in the knowledge of
chess). by Abu Muhammad ibn Umar Kajina. It
is divided into 14 chapters (Bab). It was stated in
the preface that Umar Kajina’s manuscript was
the most useful treatise on chess. As there was,
however, only one copy of it in the land, and that
an incorrect one, it appeared desirable to make an
abridged version of it in Persian. Husam ud-
Daulah performed that task by the order of a
sovereign. The manuscript tells of the story of
Caliph al Walid I (668-715) who was an
Umayyad caliph who ruled from 705-715. He
was playing chess (shatranj) with one of his
courtiers, who was a much stronger player than
the Caliph, but was purposely making bad moves
in order for the Caliph to win. One day, the
Caliph observed this and was highly
offended. He seized one of the heaviest chess
pieces and hurled it at the courtier’s head saying,
“May evil befall thee, base sycophant! Art thou
in thy senses to play chess with me in this foolish
manner?” The manuscript says that the caliph
broke his opponent’s head with a blow with his
firzan (equivalent to the modern Queen). The
manuscript was in possession by Col. William
Yule (1764-1839). An abstract of the work was
given by Nathaniel Bland in his “Persian Chess,”
published in London in 1850. (sources: Murray,
p. 179 and p. 193, Catalogue of the Persian
Manuscripts in the British Museum, 1881, p. 490,
and Bland, Persian Chess, 1850, pp. 18-25)

In 1612, Alessandro Salvio wrote La Scacchaide

Tragedia, a chess tragedy that was published by
Lazaro Scorrigio in Naples. It was re-published
in 1618.

In 1614, the Jacobean chess-writer Arthur Saul

(1570?-1617) published Famous game of Chesse-
play in London. It classified different kinds of
mate, including stalemate and fool's mate. The
was the first chess book to be written by an
Englishman. It was printed by Thomas Snodham
for Roger Jackson, and was to be sold at his shop
near Fleetstreet-Conduit. It was re-printed in
1618 and 1652.

In 1616, Augustus, Duke of Brunswick-Luneburg

(Gustavus Selenus) (1579-1666), wrote Das
Schach-oder Koenig-Spiel (Chess of the King's
Game). It was published in Leipzig. It was the
first German instructive chess book. Much of it
was a translation of Tarsia's Italian version of
Ruy Lopez's book.

In 1617, the priest Pietro Carrera (1573-1647)

wrote and published Il Gioco degli Scacchi (The
Game of Chess), subdivide into eight books. This
was the first book ever printed in Militello in
Sicily on request of the Princes of Butera, by
Giovanni Rosso from Trento.

In 1618, Famous game of Chesse-play (1614) by

the Jacobean chess-writer Arthur Saul was
reprinted.

In 1619, Gioachino Greco (1600-1634) started

keeping a manuscript of tactical positions and
chess games, and for his patrons, he made
extracts from this collection. Some of his
manuscripts contained only problems (as many as
19 problems), while others contained a history of
the game, explanation of the pieces and how they
move, and complete games. The normal method
of castling was not adopted until 1623, and some
countries recognized castling; others did not. At
least 20 copies of his manuscripts are known.

On February 12, 1620, Greco wrote (scribbled) a

chess manuscript, known as the Corsini
manuscript. He dedicated the manuscript to
Monsignor Corsino di Casa Minutoli Tegrimi.
On the outside of the yellow leather covers are
the Corsini arms. The title is ‘Trattato Del
Nobilissimo Gioco De Scacchi.’

In June 1620, Greco wrote his next manuscript,

called the Casa Orsini (House of Orsini)
manuscript. The manuscript is dedicated to the
Cardinal of Casa Orsini, Allessandro Orsini
(1592-1626). He was created a cardinal in 1615
by Pope Paul V. Cardinal Orsini was a patron of
Galileo.

In late 1620, Greco dedicated another manuscript

to Monsignor (later Cardinal on April 19, 1621
and Archbishop in 1626) Francesco
Boncompagni (1592-1641) of Naples, and to
Cardinal Sauelli.

Around 1620, Thomas Middleton (1580-1627)

wrote a play called Women Beware Women. It
was first published in 1657. Chess is used as a
metaphor in Act II, scene ii this play. The rooks
were called dukes.

In 1621, Greco wrote a manuscript now called

the Lorraine manuscript, which he dated July 5,
1621, but the cover is stamped 1619 in Roman
numerals. It was one of the Florentine chess
manuscripts. The binding was embellished by the
coat of arms of Philip III (1605-1665), the King
of Naples.

On July 5, 1621, Greco wrote a chess manuscript

for the Duke Enrico of Lorraine (1563-1624) in
Nancy.

In 1622, Guillaume Polydore Ancel of Nancy

translated one of Greco’s manuscripts into
French. The manuscript was dedicated to the
Duke of Lorraine.

In 1623, Greco left copies of his chess

manuscript to Sir Francis Godolphin (1605-1667)
and Nicholas Mountstephen of Ludgate, London.
It was in London that Greco developed the idea
to record entire games, rather than chess
positions, for study and inclusion in his
manuscripts. Many of the games were not
actually played by him, but he probably
composed them as good examples of tactical play
to teach his students. If they were played, Greco
would have played against nobility and wealthy
patrons, and he did not wish to document their
names as losers.

In 1623, Greco published several manuscripts in

London. They were written in Italian, but with an
English title. The longest version, written for
Nicholas Montstephen, had 429 pages, which
included extracts from the works of Ruy Lopez
and Salvio. The moves of White were in red; the
moves of Black were in black. One of Greco’s
manuscripts published in London later came into
possession by George John Thicknesse-Touchet
(1783-1837), the 20th Baron Audley, who was a
chess book collector.

In 1623, Greco adopted today’s method of

castling in his manuscripts. The Italians called
this type of castling (castling short Kg1 and Rf1,
or castling long Kc1 and Rd1) “alla Calabrista”
after Greco. At the time, the Italian method of
castling, called free castling, was to put the rook
and king on any of the intervening squares.
Greco also documented a player having two
queens after a pawn made it to the 8th rank.
Some variations in some countries did not allow
a player to have more than one queen at any one
time.

Greco returned to Paris (Parigi) in 1624 where he

rewrote his manuscript collection to reflect his
new ideas, intending to give the manuscripts to
patrons as presents. He eliminated the longer and
less attractive games, and added more
brilliancies. One of his manuscripts, published in
Paris in 1624, shows handwriting of the
dedication differing from all his other
manuscripts. However, the writing of the text is
in the same careless scribble as his other
manuscripts.

In 1624, Thomas Middleton wrote a play called

A Game at Chess. Chess was used to represent
the intrigue of the Anglo-Spanish conflict. This
comic satirical play was first stage in August
1624 by the King’s Men at the Globe Theatre. It
was notable for its political content. It was an
allegory of the conflict between Great Britain
(the White pieces) and Spain (the Black
pieces). The play was stopped after 9
performances after becoming the greatest box-hit
of early modern London. Middleton and the
actors were arrested, reprimanded, and
fined. Middleton never wrote another play after
that. The crime was that it was illegal to portray
any modern Christian king on the stage.
In 1625, Greco published a manuscript in Paris
that was bound in Morocco leather. It consisted
of a title page, then the dedication, followed by a
history of the game and description of the men
and their moves. The handwriting is very set,
square, and beautiful. After that, the handwriting
changes, getting more and more careless to the
end.

Nearly all of Greco’s manuscripts were dedicated

to important patrons, and were frequently written
by a copyist. The tone of the work varied to suit
the taste of the person addressed. One of his
manuscripts was entitled: ‘Trattato del
Nobilissimo et Militare Essercitio de Scacchi.’
The manuscript was intended for a military
officer of high rank, but his name was not
mention in the dedication. This work, although
written in Italian, was never published in Italian,
but many manuscript copies are in existence.
Greco’s earliest manuscripts were in poorly
written and filled with bad grammar. Later
manuscripts improved in form and grammar.
Some scholars suggest that there was such a
difference in text and various signatures that it
may be doubtful whether all the known
manuscripts supposedly written by Greco are
actually by him. When a manuscript was
intended for a wealthy or powerful patron, Greco
had the beginning of the treatise calligraphed and
then he wrote the body of the text. Mistakes
occur in the calligraphed parts, which experts say
indicated that they were written from dictation.
His manuscripts usually contained a dedication; a
sonnet; an explanation of the antiquities and
invention of the game; the shapes, names, and
places of the chessmen; how the pieces and
pawns moved; worth of the chess pieces;
observations in playing the game; chess terms;
the laws of chess; and the rules of chess in
different countries. It is quite likely that other
manuscripts still remain unknown.
In 1630, an unknown Neapolitan chess player
wrote a chess manuscript. It contained 19 games
attributed to Giovanni Domenico d’Arminio, a
leading player in the Naples chess academy.

In 1634, Dr. Alessandro Salvio (1570-1640) re-

published the 1604 Italian book Trattato dell’
invention et arte liberale del Gioco de Scacchi in
Naples. Salvio recorded Greco’s death in 1633 in
this book. Salvio also wrote Il Puttino, altramente
detto al Cavaliero erranted del Salvio; Discorsa
sopra il gioco de’Scacchi, con la sua apologia il
Carrera.

In 1635, Pietro Carrera using an alias, published

the Risposta di Valentino Vespaio contro
l'apologia di Alessandro Salvio ("Valentino
Vespaio's answer against Alessandro Salvio's
explanation"), where he debated the accusations
and criticisms made against him from Salvio
about chess.

In 1640, a second edition of Arthur Saul’s

original 1614 chess book, The Famous Game of
Chesse-Play, Being a Princely Exercise; Wherin
the Learner May Profit More by Reading of this
Small Book, Then by Playing of a Thousand
Mates. Now Augmented of Many Materiall
Things Formerly Wanting, and Beautified with a
Three-fold Methode, Viz. of the Chesse-men, of
the Chesse-play, of the Chesse-lawes was
published in London by Joseph Barbier and
Thomas Paine for John Jackson. It contained the
first mention of the Scholar’s mate (1.e4 e5
2.Qh5 Nc6 3.Bc4 d6 4.Qxf7 mate).

Around 1650, Dr. Marco Aurelio Severino

(1580-1656) wrote a manuscript called La
filisofia overo il perche degli scacchi (The
Philosophy of Chess). He wrote that chess
developed from another board game called
rithmomachia (the philosopher’s game). He listed
30 points of similarity between the two games.
His manuscript was published posthumously in
Naples in 1690.

In 1652, Famous game of Chesse-play (1614) by

the Jacobean chess-writer Arthur Saul was
reprinted.

Around 1653, David Le Clerc (1591-1654), also

known as Davidis Clerici, wrote the manuscript
Oratio de latrunculorum ludo. He ascribed the
invention of chess to the Persians. The
manuscript was published in Amsterdam in
1687.

In 1653, Jean-Francois Sarrazin (Sarasin) (1611-

1654) wrote Oeuvres in Paris. There were 16
pages devoted to chess and the opinions on the
name and the game of chess. He wrote that the
bishops (le fous) were originally called Archers.
He traced where the word chess came from. The
book was printed in 1656, reprinted in 1658, and
1683.

In 1654, the German scholar and diplomat Adam

Olearius (1603-1671) wrote a book called,
Persianischer Rosenthal, published in Hamburg.
It was a poor translation of the Persian poet Saadi
(Sa’di) Shirazi’s (1210-1292) 1258 manuscript,
Gulistan (the Rose Garden). His translation had
an elephant that could traverse the chessboard to
become a Queen. Or, an elephant that takes five
pieces becomes a Queen.

In 1655, a Ruy Lopez manuscript was translated

from Italian to French and published in Brussels.
It was once owned by G. J. Tuchet, the son of
Lord Audley.

In 1656, Oeuvres by an Jean-Francois Sarrazin

(Sarasin) (1611-1654) was published in Paris. It
traced the Latin word scacchi to echecs and
chess. The book was printed in 1656, reprinted in
1658, and 1683.

In 1656, after Greco’s death, his manuscripts

were condensed in a book by the English Francis
Beale (1620?-1670?) in London and published by
Henry Herringman (1628-1704). The engraved
illustrations were done by Peter Stent (1613-
1665). Stent ran one of the biggest printmaking
businesses of his day. Greco’s work was
published under the title, The Royall Game of
Chesse-Play, sometimes The Recreation of the
late King, with many of the Nobility. Illustrated
With almost on hundred Gambetts. Being the
study of Biochimo [sic] the famous Italian. The
late king was Charles I (1600-1649) and a
drawing of his head appeared on the title page.
The book was dedicated to the honorable
Montagu Bertie (1608-1666), 2nd Earl of
Lindsey and contains a long (124 lines) poetical
address (Upon Chesse-play) to Dr. D.S. Budden,
who translated the book from Italian to English.
The book contained 94 gambits (gambetts). The
book was the first to use the verb castle. The
book was reissued in 1750, and again in 1819
(with remarks by William Lewis).

In 1664, Charles Cotton (1630-1687) published

The Compleat Gamester, or, Instructions how to
play at billiards, trucks, bowls, and chess… It
went through many editions. The chess chapter
was entitled “The Warlike Game at CHESS.” It
said that chess was a royal game and more
difficult to be understood than any other game.

In 1669, the first French edition of Greco’s book,

Le jeu des eschets, was published in Paris by
Nicolas Pepingue. It was republished in 1707,
1713, 1714, and 1741.

In 1669, Eberhard Welper (1590-1664) wrote

Das Zeit kurtzende Lust-und Spiel-Haus (The
time-consuming pleasure of the game house). It
first appeared in 1669, but subsequently revised
and modernized to include other games. It
included two engravings showing the chess villa
Stoepke and two people playing chess.
In 1673, there was a re-issue of Arthur Saul’s
chess book, The Famous Game of Chesse Play. It
was published in London, printed by William
Miller at the Gilded Acron in St. Paul’s Church-
Yard.

In 1675, Benjamin Asperling de Rarogne (1650?-

1710?) may have written Traitté du Jeu Royal des
échets and published in Lausanne by the printer
David Gentil (1643-1703). It is known as the
Lausanne treatise. The manuscript did not have
the name of the author, but used the letters
B.A.D.R.G.S as the author. This may have stood
for Benjamin Asperling de Rarogne,
Gentilhomme Suisse. Openings were classified in
an orderly way for the first time. Only two
known copies are known to exist. One of these is
in the Royal Library at The Hague. The other
copy was in the library von der Lasa.

In 1683, the Italian Dr. Francesco Piacenza

(1637-1687) wrote I Campeggiamenti nell
Scacchi ossia nuova disciplina d'attacchi, difese e
partiti del giuoco nello stile antico, che nel nuovo
arciscacchiere, stratagemmi ed invenzioni (new
discipline of attacks, defenses, and openings of
the game). It was 136 pages and published in
Turin, Italy.

In 1687, the manuscript Oratio de Latrunculorum

ludo by David Le Clerc (1591-1654) was
published in Amsterdam.

In 1687, Davidis Clerici (1591-1654) wrote the

manuscript Oratio de Latrunculorum ludo. He
ascribed the invention of chess to the Persians.

In 1689, the English orientalist, Thomas Hyde

(1636-1703) published Mandragorias, seu
Historia shailudii (History of Chess). This was
the first scholarly account of the history of chess.
He documented correspondence chess games
between Venetian and Croation merchants as
early as 1650.
In 1689, Jacques le Febvre (Jacobus Faber
Stapulensis) published Le jeu des eschets, traduit
de l’italien de Gioachino Greco, Calabrois in
Paris. It was a translation from Italian to French
of Greco’s book. He also published the
manuscript Rithmimachie ludus, a game played
on a board resembling a chess board.

In 1690, La filisofia overo il perche degli scacchi

(The Philosophy of Chess), by Marco Aurelio
Severino (1580-1656), was published in Naples.

In 1694, Thomas Hyde published De Ludis

Orientalibus Libri duo (On oriental games, book
II). The book combined two works of Hyde:
Mandragorias, seu Historia shahiludii (History of
Chess), and Historia Nerdiludii (History of
Nard).

In 1697, Barthelemy d’Herbelot (1625-1695)

wrote Bibliotheque Orientale, published in Paris.
At the time, it was the most complete reference
work about Islamic history. He attributed the
invention of chess to the Persian Buzurge Mihiro.
He wrote that the word Rokh in the Persian
language signified a valiant hero seeking after
military adventures, and that’s why it was
introduced in the game of chess.

In 1713, the printer and bookseller Claude

Robustel (1680?-1740) published Greco’s Le jeu
des Eschets, in Paris. It was 343 pages. It was re-
printed in 1714.

In September 1733, in the Craftsman newspaper,

there appeared a paper with the title of A Short
Essay on the Game of Chess. In reply, Rev.
Lewis Rou, pastor of the Huguenot Church in
New York, wrote Critical Remarks upon the
letter to the Craftsman, dated December 13,
1734. The manuscript, now lost, is the oldest
reference to chess in the New World. (source:
New York Times, Aug 2, 1902, p. 8)
In 1735, Captain Joseph Bertin (1695-1736)
wrote The Noble Game of Chess. Containing
Rules and Instructions for the Use of those who
have already a little Knowledge of this Game. It
was printed in London by H. Woodfall. It was the
first worthwhile chess book in the English
language. It contained 78 pages with opening
analysis, 26 games, 12 endings, and useful advice
about the middlegame. Among his rules of chess,
he wrote, “I wish I could give rules to avoid
oversights.” The book was sold only at
Slaughter’s Coffee House in St. Martin’s Lane.

In 1736, Scacchia ludus or, the game of chess. A

Poem. Written originally in Latin by Marcus
Hieronymus Vida, … Translated into English by
Mr. Erskine. With a short introductory essay on
the game of chess; and a translation of Via’s
three pastoral eclogues was published in London.
It had parallel Latin and English texts.

In 1737, Philipp Stamma (1705-1755) published

Essai sur jeu des echecs (test on the game of
chess) in Paris. It was a book containing 100
endgames with diagrams. It was the first book to
use algebraic chess notation. The book brought
the Middle Eastern concept of the endgame to the
attention of Europe and helped revive European
interest in the study of the endgame.

In 1745, Philipp Stamma published his Noble

Game of Chess in London. It contained 100
endgames and 74 opening variations.

In 1748, at the age of 22, Francois-Andre

Danican Philidor (1726-1795) published his
Analyze du Jeu des Echecs (Analysis of the
Game of Chess) in London. It was one of the
most popular chess books of all time and made
Philidor and the publishers wealthy. His book
was the first chess book to be translated into
Russian. This was the first book that organized
the chess openings. He was the first to number
each move and its reply with the same number.

In 1777, another French edition of Philipp

Stamma’s Essai sur jeu des echecs was published
in Utrecht, the Netherlands. A poem of chess of
about 160 lines was added to the book.

Around 1790, an Arabic manuscript was written

in Constantinople. It has no title. It is known as
the Z manuscript of Abd-al-Hamid I,
Constantinople, No. 561. It consists of 46 leaves.
It names al-Hakim as the author in the opening
sentence. The manuscript is based upon the
works of al-Adli and as-Suli. The introduction
contains a large number of stories relating to
chess. (source: Murray, pp. 175-176)

In 1750, another edition of Greco’s book was

published, entitled, Chess made Easy, or the
Games of Gioachino Greco the Calabrian, with
additional games and openings, illustrated with
remarks and general rules….

In 1752, a French edition of Greco was published

in London. Thomas Jefferson owned a copy of
this French edition.

In 1763, Sir William Jones (1746-1794) wrote

the poem Caissa, the goddess of chess.

In 1763, Giambattista Lolli (1698-1769) wrote

Osservazioni teorico-pratiche sopra il giuoco
degli scacchi (Theoretical-practical views on the
game of chess). It was published in Bologna in
the printing office of Thomas Aquinas. It was
one of the first references to the tem fianchetto,
flank attack.

In 1766, Carlo Cozio (1715-1780) included

several of Greco’s games in his treatise, Il giuoco
degli scacchi, for the purpose of pointing out
errors in the games. His book, in two volumes,
was about 700 pages.
In 1784, a German edition of Greco was
published by Moses Hirschel (1754-1823), in
Breslau. A second edition was published in
Leipzig in 1795. The title of the books was Das
Schach des Herrn Giochimo Greco Calabrois und
die Schachspiel Geheimniße des Arabers Philipp
Stamma übersezt, verbeßert und nach einer ganz
neuen Methode zur Erleichterung der Spielenden
umgearbeitet.

In 1795, a Turkish manuscript was written on

chess. It consists of 150 leaves with 128 chess
problems and 182 Turkish draughts problems.
There are no solutions. It is is called the Berlin
manuscript, from the Berlin Royal Library,
Landberg, No. 806. (source: Murray, p. 181). In
1796, Francisco Mendez wrote Typographia
Espanola, published in Madrid. It mentions that
the Vicent chess book Libre dels jochs partits
dels schacs en nombre de 100, ordenat e compost
per mi francesch Vicent nat en la ciutat de
Segorb e criat vehi de la insigne e valerosa ciutat
de Valencia" (In the name of 100 chess problems,
ordered and made up of me, Francesch Vicent,
born in the city of Segrob in Valencia) was part
of the Libreria del Monasterio de Monserrate
(library of the monastery of Montserrat), in
Barcelona.

In 1796, a modern Persian manuscript was

written called Sardarnama (“Book of
Commanders”) by Shir Muhammad-Khan. It was
written for Husainaddin-khan Bahadur. In 1810,
the manuscript was in the possession of Henry
George Keene (1781-1864). In 1884, the
Bodleian library bought it at a Sotheby’s sale. It
is called the Oxf. Manuscript of the Bodleian
library, Persian e. 10. (source: Murray, p. 65 and
181).

In 1799, A. Curnock wrote The Theory of Chess,

published by Bagster in London. It was a small
octavo of 107 pages. He argued that most of the
chess pieces were wrongly named. He wrote that
it was ridiculous that a solider (pawn) be turned
into a Queen, or a Bishop being engaged in a
field of battle, or a Rook (Castle) being handed
about like a portmanteau (suitcase).

In January 1802, the Philadelphia newspaper

Aurora General Advertiser advertised a
subscription for a Philadelphia edition of the
English translation of Philidor's Analyse du jeu
des echecs. It was to be published by James
Humphreys (1748-1810) and Joseph Groff, but
the American edition did not appear until 1826.

In 1802, the first American book devoted solely

to chess, Chess Made Easy: new and
comprehensive rules for playing the game of
chess, was published, printed, and sold in
Philadelphia by James Humphreys (1748-1810).
It is a reprint of an earlier London edition of
Philidor's Analyse du jeu des echecs. It contained
97 pages. The American book also contained
Benjamin Franklin's essay, The Morals of Chess.

In 1802, Les Stratagemes Des Echecs was

published in Paris and Strasbourg. The author
was Alfred de Montigny. The book is about chess
with hand-painted engravings of chess positions.

In 1811, the Monastery of Montserrat in

Barcelona was destroyed, and most of the
library’s treasures, including rare chess books
and manuscripts, including the Vicent chess
book, were lost.

In September 1813, Jacob Henry Sarratt (1772-

1819) translated Alessandro Salvio's 1723 reprint
and published The Works of Damiano, Ruy
Lopez, and Salvio on the Game of Chess. On
page 209, Sarratt wrote that Salvio got the
opening 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 4.Bc4 g4 5.O-
O from Signor Muzio (the person was Mutio, not
Muzio), who commonly defeated Don Geronimo
Gascio with this opening. Sarratt then called it
Muzio's Gambit, when it really was Polerio's
Gambit. Also, Salvio never stated that he got this
opening from Muzio. Sarrat provided a poor
translation. Salvio wrote that Signor Mutio (not
Muzio) d'Alessandro, a third-class player in the
Naples Academy, did see that Girolamo
(Geronimo) Cascio, a priest from Piazza, Sicily,
did play the move order, with the additional note
that it was with free castling, also called "Italian
method" of castling, where the White king ends
up on the h1 square instead of the g1 square.

In 1816, an English translation was made of

Montigny’s Les Strategemes des echecs
(Stratagems of Chess , published in London. A
second edition was published in 1817.

In 1817, William Lewis (1787-1870) wrote

Oriental Chess or Specimens of Hindoostanee
Excellence in that Celebrated Game. It was
published in London in two volumes.

In 1818, William Lewis published Stamma on the

Game of Chess; Containing Numerous Openings
of Games, and One Hundred Critical Situations
in London. It was printed by W. H. Reid,
Whitehall, London. In 1819, a second edition was
published.

In 1819, William Lewis translated and edited

Gioachino Greco on the Game of Chess:
Translated from the French, to which are added,
numerous remarks, critical and explanatory. The
book was reprinted in 1833, and remained the
standard English “Greco” edition until Hoffman
published The Chess Games of Greco in 1900.

In 1909, Esther Singleton (1865-1930) wrote a

history of Dutch settlers in America called Dutch
New York. On page 297, she mentions that chess
was among the pleasure of the age in 17th
century Dutch New York. This would indicate
that chess was played in America in the 1600s
from some early manuscript.
References:

Adams, Power Play: The Literature and Politics

of chess in the Late Middle Ages, 2013
Bland, “On the Persian Game of Chess,” Journal
of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol 13, 1852, pp. 1-
70 (read June 19, 1847)
Bland, Persian Chess, 1850
Cazaux and Knowlton, A World of Chess: Its
Development and Variations through Centuries
and Civilizations, 2017
Cohen, Sarah (batgirl), “The Printing Press,” -
http://www.edochess.ca/batgirl/printing.html
Constable, “Chess and Courtly Culture in
Medieval Castile: The Libro de ajedrez of
Alfonso X, el Sabio,” Speculum, Vol. 82, No. 2,
Apr 2007, pp. 301-347
Eales, Chess: The History of a Game, 1985
Forbes, Observations on the Origin and Progress
of Chess, 1855
Forbes, The History of Chess, 1860
Gamer, “The Earliest Evidence of Chess in
Western Literature: The Einsiedeln Verses,”
Speculum, Vol, 29, No. 4, Oct 1954, pp. 734-750
Garzon, The Return of Francesch Vicent (El
regreso de Francesch Vicent): The History of the
Birth and Expansion of Modern Chess, 2005
Golombek, A History of Chess, 1976
Jones, “On the Indian Game of Chess,” Asiatic
Researches, 1790, pp. 159-165
MacDonnell, “The origin and early history of
chess,” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol.
30, 1898, pp. 117-148
Mingana, Catalogue of the Arabic Manuscripts in
the John Rylands Library, 1934
Monte, The Classical Era of Modern Chess, 2014
Murray, A History of Chess, 1913
Myers, Greg, RAS MS 211 email notes, 2018
O’Sullivan, Chess in the Middle Ages and Early
Modern Age, 2012
Robson, “A Chess Maqama in the John Rylands
Library”
Shenk, The Immortal Game, 2006
Somogyi, “The Arabic Chess Manuscripts in the
John Rylands Library,” Bulletin of the John
Rylands Library, 1959
Storey, Persian Literature, 1977
Van der Linde, “On the Literature of Chess,”
Chess Monthly, vol. 3, 1881
Wall, “al-Adli,” -
http://www.oocities.org/siliconvalley/lab/7378/al
adli.htm
Wall, “Earliest Chess Books,” -
http://billwall.phpwebhosting.com/articles/oldtex
ts.htm
Wall, “Earliest Chess References, “ -
http://billwall.phpwebhosting.com/articles/Earlie
st.htm
Wall, “Greco,”
http://billwall.phpwebhosting.com/articles/Greco.
htm
Wall, “Lewis Rou and the Lost Manuscript,” -
http://billwall.phpwebhosting.com/articles/rou_le
wis.htm
Wall, “Literature and Chess” -
http://billwall.phpwebhosting.com/articles/chess_
literature.htm
Wall, “Polerio” -
http://billwall.phpwebhosting.com/articles/poleri
o.htm
Wall, “Scachs d’amor,” -
http://billwall.phpwebhosting.com/articles/scachs
_damore.htm
Wall, “Shatranj,” -
http://billwall.phpwebhosting.com/articles/Shatra
nj.htm
Westerveld, The Poem Scachs d’amor (1475),
First Text of Modern Chess, 2015

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