Similar ivory chess pieces were found in a bog near Clonard, County Meath in Ireland. Though found in 1831, these pieces are dated to the 12th century.

If the Norwegian king in Króka-Refs saga were lucky, he might have set his reversible game board with pieces like the Lewis Chessmen. An original artifact of the playing board seen here is now on display at the National Museum of Ireland. The character Bárðr brings gifts from Greenland to the king of Norway, including a board in which both hnefatafl and chess could be played interchangeably (possibly by turning the board over).Ī popular 'Celtic chess' game called Fidchell which has very similar rules to Hnefatafl. This Irish game is based on a legend that Lugh the Ildána (Celtic God of Light and Inspiration) devised this game around the 9th Century.įidchell is also known as: fidhcheall, fidceall, fitchneal fithchill or gwyddbwyll. One passage in the Króka-Refs saga describes this manifold interest. The Vikings did not abandon their other games, though.

Their word for checkmate ( mát) quickly started showing up in the sagas. Still called shetranj on the continent, the Vikings called it skáktafl. Today, many versions of these games are colloquially called “ Viking chess.”Ĭhess was eagerly embraced, probably because the various pieces' unique qualities added new dimensions and almost endless strategic possibilities to explore. The underlying concept inspired the outdoor game of kubb. These games all have different rules and pieces, but the same basic gist. Other variations include tablut, tawlbwrdd, brandubh, ard rí, and alea evangelii. Hnefatafl belongs to a whole family of games collectively known as tafl (“table” games). Ideas also traveled on this route, including chess. Through this arc, furs, honey, wax, slaves, weapons, exotic animals, whalebone, and walrus tusk ivory made their way east while silks, luxuries, and plenty of silver made their way west. The Vikings of the Kievan Rus traded along the Volga and Dnieper Rivers with the fabled lands of the East in a trade network known as the Northern Arc. Not friends of Charlemagne or his progeny, the Vikings most likely encountered chess (or the version in use then, called shatranj) through their contacts with the Byzantine Empire and through direct contact with Islamic ambassadors and merchants. However, the magnificent pieces on display in Paris are almost certainly of Norman/Italian and from much later. The Abbasid caliph, Harun al-Rashid (of 1001 Arabian Nights fame), even gifted an ivory chess set to Emperor Charlemagne. This game quickly spread to Persia and across the silk roads of the flourishing Arab world by the 9 th century. Chaturanga had pieces with different properties and revolved around capturing a king. However, most experts identify an ancient game from India called chaturanga as the earliest known chess precursor. Considerably more abstract pieces of about the same period were excavated by the Metropolitan at Nishapur in the 1930s whereas a knight roughly contemporaneous with this one in the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum in Munich is far more realistic.Games involving boards, pieces, and strategy were widespread throughout human history, especially in Asia and Europe. The horses and figures are sufficiently abstracted to be incorporated in a compact form but despite the piece's worn condition, it can be seen that it portrayed most of the essential details. Here we see an example of an early phase. Although few early chess pieces survive, the extant material indicates that representational and abstract types existed side by side from early on. Chess Piece The game of chess, of Indian origin (according to tradition) and imported into Iran in the Sasanian period, enjoyed enormous popularity in Islamic realms, whence it was transmitted to Europe. Figural pieces such as this represent a minority within the Islamic world, although a group dating to the seventh century was excavated at Afrasiab (Samarquand).

Chess Piece, Rook This armed horse and rider with shield and sword is a knight or perhaps a rukh (rook).

Islamic chess piece names