Chess variants 14th/15th century
Posted: 01 Feb 2010, 14:25
Well,
I think it wise to know about chess in 14th/15th century, cause there are some reasons to assume, that chess had a role in the invention of Tarot. So I start to collect a little bit ...
Tamerlane or Tibur ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timur
... was a successful ruler in ...
... and he reigned from 1370–1405 (living 8 April 1336 – 18 February 1405), in other words, in the period, when playing card found larger distribution in Europe. He was not of very high birth, but a successful conquerer, best seen by his successful war against the Golden Horde ...
... In 1402/1403 there has survived evidence of contact between Timur and the French crown
* July 30, 1402, letter from Timur to Charles VI, king of France, suggesting him to send traders to the Orient. It was written in Persian.
* May 1403 letter. This is a Latin transcription of a letter from Timur to Charles VI, and another from Amiza Miranchah, his son, to the Christian princes, announcing their victory over Bayezid, in Smyrna.
Timur saved Constantinople then against the Osmans, furious about Venetians and Genuese, who saved a great part of the Osmanic army with their ships (!). Around 1405 Timur was on his way to attack Ming-China, but his attempt met a very strong winter and Timur died during the enterprise.
His descendants, the Timuriden-dynasty, ruled the region till 1505, when they were overcome by hostile Usbeken. A branch of the family had then extended to India, which they ruled a long time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mughal_Empire
Chess
Timur had a specific favor and this had been chess, not the usual "small chess" as the chess played in Europe, but a larger chess played on a board with totally 112 fields and 56 figures, 28 for each side.
Remarkable are the two extra fields, left and right, adding to the number of fields from 11x10 = 110 to a 112, which is precisely the double of the number of figures (56), as it is also done in the common European chess (2x16=32 figures versus 8x8=64 fields). They are called "citadels" ... and "When the opposing king occupies a player's citadel, the game is declared a draw. No piece other than a king may occupy a citadel." (the idea of citadels appears also in other older variants).
So a secret chance of escape, when the war on the board doesn't run well - a possibility to "fool" the opponent.
Well, and for Tarot and Chess, please count ... 56 small arcana, that's the number of the figures on the board. And there are 10 rows and 11 columns (this is a 21) and we count the 2 citadels as an extra field-category, then we a "fooling" 22.
And if you count the type of participating figures, there are 10 officers and 11 different pawns, as in this game the pawns have individual function, so again we have 10+11=21.
"There are several ways for an opening setup to be arranged. A common one is as follows: White's side, bottom row, from the left- Elephant, Space, Camel, Space, War Machine, Space, War Machine, Space, Camel, Space, Elephant. Second Row from the left- rook, knight, picket, giraffe, general, king, vizir, giraffe, picket, knight, rook. Third row from the left- pawn of pawns, pawn of war engines, pawn of camels, pawn of elephants, pawn of generals, pawn of kings, pawn of vizirs, pawn of giraffes, pawn of pickets, pawn of knights, pawn of rooks."
* King - Moves as a traditional King
* General - Moves one square diagonally
* Vizir - Moves one square horizontally or vertically
* Giraffe - Moves one square diagonally and then a minimum of three squares horizontally or vertically
* Picket - Moves as a Bishop in traditional chess, but must move a minimum of two squares
* Knight - Moves as a knight in traditional chess
* Rook - Moves as a rook in traditional chess
* Elephant - Moves two squares diagonally and is unobstructed by pieces in between
* Camel - Moves two diagonally and two straight, unobstructed by pieces in between
* War Engine - Moves two horizontally or vertically, unobstructed by pieces in between
* Pawns - Move as pawns in traditional chess, but with no initial double move or en passant capture. Every piece (including the pawn) has a corresponding pawn. Hence; Pawn of Kings, Pawn of Vizirs, Pawn of Giraffes, etc.
Pawns
(row from left to right - but I've seen contradictions)
Pawn of the Elephants Promotes to Elephant
Pawn of the General Promotes to General
Pawn of the King Promotes to King (Prince)
Pawn of the Pickets Promotes to Picket
Pawn of the Rooks Promotes to Rook
Pawn of the War Engines Promotes to War Engine
Pawn of the Knights Promotes to Knight
Pawn of the Camels Promotes to Camel
Pawn of the Vizier Promotes to Vizier
Pawn of the Giraffes Promotes to Giraffe
Pawn of the Pawns Promotes special
Very interesting are the rules for "Pawn of the King" and for the "Pawn of the pawns"
see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamerlane_Chess
Wiki
http://www.pathguy.com/chess/Tamerlan.htm
with a online computer player, against whom you can play the game ... it plays bad, but one learns to distinguish the figures
http://history.chess.free.fr/tamerlane.htm
with other variants
I think it wise to know about chess in 14th/15th century, cause there are some reasons to assume, that chess had a role in the invention of Tarot. So I start to collect a little bit ...
Tamerlane or Tibur ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timur
... was a successful ruler in ...
... and he reigned from 1370–1405 (living 8 April 1336 – 18 February 1405), in other words, in the period, when playing card found larger distribution in Europe. He was not of very high birth, but a successful conquerer, best seen by his successful war against the Golden Horde ...
... In 1402/1403 there has survived evidence of contact between Timur and the French crown
* July 30, 1402, letter from Timur to Charles VI, king of France, suggesting him to send traders to the Orient. It was written in Persian.
* May 1403 letter. This is a Latin transcription of a letter from Timur to Charles VI, and another from Amiza Miranchah, his son, to the Christian princes, announcing their victory over Bayezid, in Smyrna.
Timur saved Constantinople then against the Osmans, furious about Venetians and Genuese, who saved a great part of the Osmanic army with their ships (!). Around 1405 Timur was on his way to attack Ming-China, but his attempt met a very strong winter and Timur died during the enterprise.
His descendants, the Timuriden-dynasty, ruled the region till 1505, when they were overcome by hostile Usbeken. A branch of the family had then extended to India, which they ruled a long time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mughal_Empire
Chess
Timur had a specific favor and this had been chess, not the usual "small chess" as the chess played in Europe, but a larger chess played on a board with totally 112 fields and 56 figures, 28 for each side.
Remarkable are the two extra fields, left and right, adding to the number of fields from 11x10 = 110 to a 112, which is precisely the double of the number of figures (56), as it is also done in the common European chess (2x16=32 figures versus 8x8=64 fields). They are called "citadels" ... and "When the opposing king occupies a player's citadel, the game is declared a draw. No piece other than a king may occupy a citadel." (the idea of citadels appears also in other older variants).
So a secret chance of escape, when the war on the board doesn't run well - a possibility to "fool" the opponent.
Well, and for Tarot and Chess, please count ... 56 small arcana, that's the number of the figures on the board. And there are 10 rows and 11 columns (this is a 21) and we count the 2 citadels as an extra field-category, then we a "fooling" 22.
And if you count the type of participating figures, there are 10 officers and 11 different pawns, as in this game the pawns have individual function, so again we have 10+11=21.
"There are several ways for an opening setup to be arranged. A common one is as follows: White's side, bottom row, from the left- Elephant, Space, Camel, Space, War Machine, Space, War Machine, Space, Camel, Space, Elephant. Second Row from the left- rook, knight, picket, giraffe, general, king, vizir, giraffe, picket, knight, rook. Third row from the left- pawn of pawns, pawn of war engines, pawn of camels, pawn of elephants, pawn of generals, pawn of kings, pawn of vizirs, pawn of giraffes, pawn of pickets, pawn of knights, pawn of rooks."
* King - Moves as a traditional King
* General - Moves one square diagonally
* Vizir - Moves one square horizontally or vertically
* Giraffe - Moves one square diagonally and then a minimum of three squares horizontally or vertically
* Picket - Moves as a Bishop in traditional chess, but must move a minimum of two squares
* Knight - Moves as a knight in traditional chess
* Rook - Moves as a rook in traditional chess
* Elephant - Moves two squares diagonally and is unobstructed by pieces in between
* Camel - Moves two diagonally and two straight, unobstructed by pieces in between
* War Engine - Moves two horizontally or vertically, unobstructed by pieces in between
* Pawns - Move as pawns in traditional chess, but with no initial double move or en passant capture. Every piece (including the pawn) has a corresponding pawn. Hence; Pawn of Kings, Pawn of Vizirs, Pawn of Giraffes, etc.
Pawns
(row from left to right - but I've seen contradictions)
Pawn of the Elephants Promotes to Elephant
Pawn of the General Promotes to General
Pawn of the King Promotes to King (Prince)
Pawn of the Pickets Promotes to Picket
Pawn of the Rooks Promotes to Rook
Pawn of the War Engines Promotes to War Engine
Pawn of the Knights Promotes to Knight
Pawn of the Camels Promotes to Camel
Pawn of the Vizier Promotes to Vizier
Pawn of the Giraffes Promotes to Giraffe
Pawn of the Pawns Promotes special
Very interesting are the rules for "Pawn of the King" and for the "Pawn of the pawns"
see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamerlane_Chess
Wiki
http://www.pathguy.com/chess/Tamerlan.htm
with a online computer player, against whom you can play the game ... it plays bad, but one learns to distinguish the figures
http://history.chess.free.fr/tamerlane.htm
with other variants