Volume 9–2 (Low Res).pdf

exact facts about the origin of the
game are murky. But it is generally
accepted that a version of the game
was played in India as early as
500 A.D. It spread to Persia,
where it acquired the name, chess,
from the Persian word for King,
Shah. Arabic peoples learned the
game when they conquered Persia
in the 7th century and carried it
with them into Europe when they
invaded Spain in the 10th century.
There is also reason to believe that
the game was introduced into Europe
by traders and travelers returning
from the Byzantine world. Whatever
the origins, the nature of the
game has remained much the same
for hundreds of years, although
the playing pieces have varied in
strange and fascinating ways.
or design-oriented
people, it is the evo-
Flution of the chesspeople
that is probably more
interesting than the evolution of the
game itself From the earliest versions
of the game, the cast of characters
has included an all powerful
figure—a King—standing at the
center of his army. He was aided
and abetted by a counselor on
either side, a soldier mounted on an
elephant, horse or camel (depending
on which animal was indigenous to
the locale) and a charioteer or
rukhkh at the extreme flanks. In
front of this hierarchy stood a line
of foot soldiers.
era to era, and
country to country,
Ft
he characterization
of chesspeople varied reflecting
political, social and cultural institutions.
In Medieval Europe, for
instance, when the Church exer-
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19th century Indian
The illustrations by Frank Riccio are adapted from
photographs from the picture collection of the New York
Public Library and from photographs in
the book Chessmen, by Frank Greygoose G 1979
by Frank Greygoose, published by David & Charles, Ltd.,
Great Britain.
cised considerable power in affairs
of state, a Bishop replaced the original
counselor at the King's side.
The King's castle replaced the charioteer
at the extreme flanks, but
retained the name "rook" from the
original rukhkh. And during this
chivalrous age, the soldier on horseback
became the Knight—a most
essential figure in the defense of the
King's domain.
lin hundreds of years,
the moves and objectives
of the game
have hardly varied. But the images
in which the pieces were created
show tremendous breadth of imagination
and skill. Indian and Persian
sets created for fabulously
wealthy potentates were marvels of