In centuries past, man perceived himself as suspended between his own free will and destiny, the finite and the infinite, thought and action. As in a game of dice, everything appeared uncertain and at the mercy of fate, governed by dark and unknown forces. The unpredictability of events generated fear and, at the same time, a desire for control, to bring order to the chaos that governs existence. The invention of chess was precisely an attempt to exorcise, predict, and control superhuman powers, to look beyond this world, albeit only on the level of the game. On the chessboard, destiny could finally be framed within certain rules that could be understood by reason.
The history of chess
The origins of chess are lost in the mists of time. The game as we know it today was invented in northern India around the first half of the 6th century1. However, an older version called chaturanga had already existed for a long time2. The Sanskrit term meant “divided into four” because the Indian army had four different armies: infantry, cavalry, chariots, and elephants3. Chess then arrived in Persia, where appeared in the Kar-Namag story under the name Chatrang, during the reign of the Sassanid Khosrow II (590-628)4. A medieval text from 1140, the al Ta’qubi manuscript, reports that the Persians imported it from India even earlier, under Khosrow I (531-579)5. In the 7th century, the Arabs invaded that region and assimilated some of its customs and traditions. Among these was the game of chess, which they renamed Shatranj in their language.
From the Middle East, it reached North Africa and finally Christian Europe, first thanks to the Arab domination of Sicily, then through the Crusaders returning from the Holy Land. Part of the tradition holds that the Knights Templar contributed significantly to this cultural contamination. The Order’s war flag, the Beauceant, was divided into black and white like the chessboard. This alternation symbolized the struggle between good and evil. The Latin term ludus scacchorum, from which the modern name of the game derives, comes from the Persian expression “shāh māt!“, “the king is dead!”. Even today, we still say “checkmate!”.
The educational value of chess
In addition to its recreational aspect, chess has always had an important educational value. The chessboard, with its 64 squares, hosted two armies arranged in a realistic manner, according to the order of battle in use in India at that time. In this way, princes learned the importance of reflection and strategy in war, as well as patience and temperance. Young people learned to weigh every decision. Through fiction, they understood that no one can win a battle without sacrificing at least one pawn. That is why peace is always preferable. These are the fundamental teachings that have been handed down since the legendary origins of the game.
The chessboard in stories and legends
There are numerous fascinating legends surrounding chess. Most of these stories were written by authors who lived in the early centuries of Islam. According to the oldest versions, the Brahmin Sissa Ibn Dahir invented chess for an Indian king. The sovereign, enthralled by the game, said to its inventor: “Ask for whatever you desire!”6. Sissa Ibn Dahir asked only for one grain of wheat for the first square of the chessboard, two for the second, four for the third, and so on, so that the amount would double each time. The king, surprised by this seemingly modest request, gladly agreed. However, he soon realized that eight hundred years would not be enough to gather all the wheat needed7.
In one of the most popular versions of the legend, it is also said that the Indian king had managed to win an important battle only thanks to the sacrifice of his son8. The king could not find peace until the priest Lahur Sessa, the creator of chess, convinced him that he could not have done otherwise.
The symbolic meaning of the chessboard in the Christian Middle Ages
When chess arrived in the West, it took on Christian symbolism. The alternating black and white squares represented a perfect metaphor for the eschatological struggle between good and evil, light and darkness, life and death. On the chessboard, an orderly image of the cosmos, the powers of heaven and hell clashed. However, as the Holy Scriptures predicted Christ’s final triumph, the board was an image of victory and redemption. We sometimes find the chessboard depicted, with apotropaic value, on the outside of religious buildings. In this way, the evil one remained confined outside the sacred space, destined to succumb in the battle against Christ. With this meaning, the chessboard stands on a wall of the Cathedral of San Lorenzo in Genoa (12th-13th century). We can also find it on the main façade of the Cathedral of Crema.
In Milan, the Basilica of Sant’Ambrogio features a chessboard on its façade and in its left aisle. Moreover it forms the backrest of the throne of the Savior in the mosaic of the apse semi-dome (12th century). In the Basilica of San Savino in Piacenza, the symbol, represented within the 12th-century presbytery mosaic, invited Christians to seek intelligence and temperance, virtues necessary for redemption, as opposed to the foolishness of dice and sin, which leads to death. The chessboard was therefore an image not only of a universal eschatological struggle, but also of the battle that every Christian had to face in order to achieve salvation.
Samuele Corrente Naso
Notes
- H. E. Bird, Chess history and reminiscences, London 1830-1906. ↩︎
- H. J. Murray, A History of Chess, Oxford University Press, 1913. ↩︎
- G. Ferlito, A. Sanvito, Guida per l’archeologia scacchistica. Protoscacchi 400 a.C.-400 d.C., in Scacco, luglio-agosto 1990. ↩︎
- A. Panaino, La novella degli scacchi e della tavola reale. Un’antica fonte orientale sui due giochi da tavoliere più diffusi nel mondo eurasiatico tra Tardoantico e Medioevo e sulla loro simbologia militare e astrale. Testo pahlavi, traduzione e commento al Wizarisn i catrang ud nihisn i new-ardaxsir. La spiegazione degli scacchi e la disposizione della tavola reale, Milano, 1999. ↩︎
- M. Leoncini, La grande storia degli scacchi, Le due torri, 2020. ↩︎
- Ibidem note 2. ↩︎
- Lahur Sessa had asked for 264 – 1 grains of wheat, as the chessboard consisted of 64 squares: this is an incredibly high number. ↩︎
- M. Tahan, L’uomo che sapeva contare, Adriano Salani Editore, 2001. ↩︎
