Chess is peculiar because of its unique position in the world of religion. Even back in its early days, chess was both the subject and object of religious discussion, influencing religious metaphors and being influenced by religious ideals. During the first half of the second century in Europe, the game was known and played by people of Muslim, Jewish, and Christian faiths, each of which adapted and responded to the game in different ways.
Of these three faiths, the Muslims were the first to play chess, bringing the game to Spain and thus Europe around 711. Despite the love of chess by the Islamic people, religious issues caused them to question the game. Because the Qur’an forbids idols, the Sunni Muslims decided that the realistic portrayal of humans and animals on a chessboard broke this law. Because of this, the game was changed, at least in the Muslim world, and all the pieces became abstract shapes representing ideas. In 10th-century Spain, this type of chessboard persisted within both Muslim and Christian territories, showing that while the change was originally religiously-motivated, the change had far-reaching influence. In this case, it was religion that affected the game of chess.
Despite the introduction of abstract chess sets, not every religion found the change to be necessary. Most Jews were less stringent concerning the “graven images” forbidden to them, and European Christians even encouraged the artistic creation of living beings. As a result, both abstract and realistic sets of chess pieces persisted.
The Jewish community seems to have accepted chess more or less without qualm. For instance, in the 11th century, the Spanish rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra used chess as the subject of a poem, notably mentioning the queen as one of the pieces. Although the idea of a female on the chessboard was new (it originally was the “general” or the “vizier”) and somewhat controversial, Marily Yalom speculates in her book Birth of the Chess Queen that ibn Ezra would find it easy to accept the idea of an powerful woman because of similar examples of strong women in the Old Testament (such as Deborah).
A passage from another Jewish poem, written in the 12th century by Bonsenior ibn Yehia, acts as a tribute to women disguised as a description of the chess queen. Not only does this show the Jewish attitude of acceptance of chess, but it echoes similar passages from the Bible in Proverbs 31 and the Song of Solomon. In this case, religion and chess draw from each other, blending together in a single metaphor.
Among Christian cultures, chess was more directly influential on religious imagery. In the 13th century, the Italian Dominican friar Jacobus de Cessolis gave a series of sermons that was eventually published as the Book of Chess. These sermons used chess as a societal model and as a tool to present Christian values, such as the monogamy of the chess king, who has a single queen. This metaphor proved incredibly popular, because by the 16th century, only the Bible exceeded the Book of Chess in numbers of copies in print.
The English Franciscan monk John of Wales also used chess for religious symbolism during the same century, presenting chess as a picture of life, death, sin, and redemption, in which death comes for everyone in the end. Both these examples demonstrate that not only could religion affect the game of chess, but that the game of chess could extend its influence into religion.
But Christianity is not without its influences on chess, either. In The Birth of the Chess Queen, Marilyn Yalom talks about the “Cult of the Virgin Mary” and how some poets, such as Gautier de Conci (late 12th/early 13th centuries) in Miracles of Our Lady, present the Virgin Mary as “God’s Chess Queen” who fights the Devil on the chessboard. Yalom speculates that this depiction may in part be responsible for the rise of the chess queen to prominence over the original general and vizier.
On the subject of Christianity and chess, it is also interesting to note a division between the Protestant and Roman Catholic denomenations. Roman Catholic countries such as Spain, Italy, and France refer to the chess queen with terms that evoke ideas of “Our Lady,” that is the Virgin Mary. Intentionally distinguishing themselves from the “Cult of the Virgin Mary,” Protestant Reformed nations such as England and Germany adopted more secular, regal terms. Once again, religion influenced the game of chess.
Despite all of these examples, chess was not always accepted positively by religion. Islamic caliphs, Jewish rabbis, and Christian bishops have all placed bans on chess at various times for various reasons. Objections to the game were usually in reaction the practices of gambling over chess games or occasionally throwing dice to determine the moves. There was also some concern about disputes that arose from chess games, which was in fact a legitimate issue. For instance, in the 13th century in London, there were at least two “chess homicides” that arose from hot-tempered sore losers. Furthermore, the Muslim community held the additional concern that playing chess would distract from their religious duties.
All these concerns aside, chess has managed to persist. Even if a bishop might forbid the clergy from playing chess, the laity would continue to play and eventually the games popularity would supersede its religious concerns. Likewise, recently in the 1980s, when the Taliban forbade chess for the Muslim public in Afghanistan, the chess sets were hidden only to reappear as soon as the Taliban lost power. Thus, even though religion and chess both had strong influences on each other, the influence of religion over chess was never absolute when it came to one of culture’s favorite board games.
Daniel Fuller
Dfuller3
Works Cited:
1. Yalom, M. (2004). The Birth of the Chess Queen. New York: Harper Collins.
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