![]() ![]() Perhaps the most famous and valuable chess set is the Lewis Chessmen hoard, found in 1831 in the far reaches of northern Scotland. But for the lack of a halo and a princess in need of rescue standing nearby, he might be mistaken for Saint George, who, according to legend, slayed a dragon. This example, perfectly poised on his fine horse, battles a dragon, a symbol of evil. The popularity of the game in Europe is a testament to a world with growing global connections, which were built through trade, like that between Norway and Scotland.Īlthough the number of Knights and Bishops on the chessboard is the same, more medieval chess pieces in the form of Knights survive. For them, the structure of the game and its pieces was a way to make sense of a chaotic world. Many lived lives filled with wars, disease, difficult work, and little agency. The game and its pieces served as a metaphor for the forces at work in a world that was hard to comprehend. Brought by Islamic traders from India, where it was invented around 500 BC, the game was adapted to fit European societal structures. In Medieval times, chess grew in popularity across Europe. ![]() The Knights of society are the people who are really good at one and only one specific thing. ![]() The Knight might not be the most powerful or the most willing to follow his leader around, but his skill set is unique and gets him the recognition needed to be used frequently. "The Chess Players", Liberale da Verona, ca 1475, Metropolitan museumĬhess also is a great analogy for society, its limitations, and how each class of society interacts with each other. Indeed, life could easily be compared to an engaging game of chess, with each person having to deal with one’s own set of pawns, knights, kings or queens and applying the many strategies of the game in the art of planning, adapting to situations, problem solving and more. In great works of literature and history, life has been metaphorically alluded to a game of chess. In Sicilian it is called sceccu, a slang term for a donkey, derived from the Arabic sheikh, who during the Islamic period rode from village to village on donkeys collecting taxes. Some languages refer to it as the "jumper", reflecting the knight's ability to move over pieces in its path: Polish skoczek, Danish/Norwegian springer, Swedish springare, German Springer, Luxembourgish Sprénger, Slovene skakač. The knight is colloquially sometimes referred to as a "horse", which is also the translation of the piece's name in several languages. Over time, the proud chess horse managed to get rid of the rider in all the chess states of the world, but the name “knight” remained. And therefore, in many countries in ancient times, chess figures fought, depicting a rider on a horse.Ĭhess Piece in the Form of a Knight, Date: ca. In Europe it was accepted that a knight without a horse does not even have the right to be called a "cavalier". And in chess, the knight can decide the outcome of the game. She could decide the outcome of any battle. Many centuries ago, cavalry was the most important branch of the army. In the ancient shatrang - ancient Persian chess, the figures were Indian warriors sitting on mighty horses. In all countries, wherever chess appeared, the army included figures depicting a horse or a rider on a horse. ![]() Having evolved from the Indian game chaturaṅga around the sixth century, the thirty-two pieces and sixty-four squares have made their way to nearly every continent and culture in the intervening centuries. ![]()
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