From its birth, chess has always been a war game. Its board and pieces represent the field of battle and soldiers in abstract form. Chess has been used for hundreds of years to practice and learn the tactics of warfare. Despite this, during the Middle Ages chess underwent a cultural transformation where it began to become associated with love. Couples would play chess as they flirted with each other. An example of this can be seen in a stained glass window at the Hotel de la Bessee, where a couple playing chess are leaning in close to each other, with the woman resting her hand on the man’s arm while he gazes at her face (Yalom, Plate 12.) This aspect of chess was very prominent in Western Europe and it arose out of a general codification of the rules of courtship at the time.
While chess was common among both the upper class and the lower class at the time (Yalom, p 76), its relationship to courtship seems to be unique to the upper class. Women and men were both expected to learn how to play chess as a part of their schooling (Yalom, p 75.) This, combined with society’s acceptance of mixed gender chess matches, gave couples during the Middle Ages a rare chance to get to know each other personally. The more leisurely chess rules of that era also allowed players to focus more on each other than on the game.
The romantic aspects of chess appeared in many different areas of medieval culture. Couples can be seen playing together in stained glass windows, in illustrated manuscripts, and carved in relief into ivory. Chess was also used as a symbol of romantic love in literature. In Tristan, a chess game between the hero and Iseut serves as a “metaphor for their love affair (Yalom, p 129.)” In one Arthurian legend, Lancelot sent a chessboard to Guinevere. Yalom mentions that some books contained images of chess matches on their covers to indicate that the book was about love, even if chess was never mentioned in the book (Yalom, p 144).
However, not everyone approved of chess and its romantic effects on people. “Since the chessboard qualified as a sexual space, it was reputed to hold special dangers for women (Yalom, p 136),” writes Yalom. She relates the story of “The Romance of the Count Anjou,” where a father fell in love with his daughter during a chess match, and then tried to pressure her into his bed. The author of this piece illustrates how chess can lead a good Christian into sin because of the cultural connotations the game had at the time. Also, there were critics of chess that called it a game of chance and a waste of time. At times, the Church has banned chess, although with little success. Despite its critics, chess was still a very popular game as well as an area where courting couples could interact without reproach. The effect that chess had on courtship was to allow woman to confront men as an equal in the relationship.
Works Cited
Yalom, Marilyn. Birth of the Chess Queen A History. New York: Harper Perennial, 2005. Print.
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