1<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> 2<html> 3<head> <title>Lucas van Leyden - The Chess Players - Courier Chess - Analysis</title> 4 5<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> 6 7<meta name="DESCRIPTION" content="Courier chess, recreated from Lucas van Leyden's painting The Chess Players, the historic great chess of ancient Europe."> 8 9<meta name="KEYWORDS" content="courier chess, courier game, currier chess, renaissance chess, medieval chess, kurierschachspiel, chess variants, kurrier, ancient chess "> 10 11</head> 12 13<body bgcolor="#1F5458" link="#133437" vlink="#1F5458"> 14<table bgcolor="#1F5458" width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> 15 <tr> 16 <td bgcolor="#1F5458"></td> 17 <td bgcolor="#1F5458" width="95"> </td> 18 <td bgcolor="#1F5458" width="700"> <div align="left"><img src="graphics-functional/menu-spacer.jpg" width="22" height="25"><img src="graphics-functional/menu-spacer.jpg" width="22" 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src="graphics-functional/button-chess-collectors.jpg" alt="Chess Collectors Message" width="90" height="78" border="0"></a><a href="thepieces.htm"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br> 34 <br> 35 The Unique Chess Pieces</font></a><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br> 36 <br> 37 <a href="thepainting.htm">Van Leyden's Famous Painting</a></font></font></strong></p> 38 <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><strong><font size="2"><a href="thehistory.htm">History 39 of Courier Chess</a></font></strong></font></p> 40 <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><strong><font size="2"><a href="thelinks.htm">Links 41 to<br> 42 More Great<br> 43 Chess Sites</a></font></strong></font></p> 44 <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><strong><font size="2"><a href="thecontact.htm">Contact 45 Us</a></font></strong></font><strong><br> 46 <br> 47 <br> 48 <br> 49 <br> 50 <br> 51 <br> 52 <br> 53 <br> 54 <br> 55 <br> 56 <br> 57 <br> 58 <br> 59 <br> 60 <br> 61 <br> 62 <br> 63 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<br> 290 <br> 291 <br> 292 <br> 293 <br> 294 <br> 295 <br> 296 <br> 297 <br> 298 <br> 299 <br> 300 <br> 301 <br> 302 <br> 303 <br> 304 <br> 305 <br> 306 <br> 307 <br> 308 <br> 309 <br> 310 <br> 311 <br> 312 <br> 313 <br> 314 <br> 315 <br> 316 <br> 317 <br> 318 <br> 319 <br> 320 <br> 321 <br> 322 <br> 323 <br> 324 <br> 325 <br> 326 <br> 327 <br> 328 <br> 329 <br> 330 <br> 331 <br> 332 <br> 333 <br> 334 <br> 335 <br> 336 <br> 337 <br> 338 <br> 339 <br> 340 <br> 341 <br> 342 <br> 343 <br> 344 <br> 345 <br> 346 <br> 347 <br> 348 <br> 349 <br> 350 <br> 351 <br> 352 <br> 353 <br> 354 <br> 355 <br> 356 <br> 357 <br> 358 <br> 359 <br> 360 <br> 361 <br> 362 <br> 363 <br> 364 <br> 365 <br> 366 <br> 367 <br> 368 <br> 369 <br> 370 <br> 371 <br> 372 <br> 373 <br> 374 <br> 375 <br> 376 <br> 377 <br> 378 <br> 379 <br> 380 <br> 381 <br> 382 <br> 383 <br> 384 <br> 385 <br> 386 </strong></p> 387 </div></td> 388 <td bgcolor="#FFFFFF" width="700"> 389<div align="center"> 390 <h1><font color="#133437" size="1" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><strong><font color="#FFFFFF" size="7">j 391 </font><font size="5">Lucas van Leyden's Painting "The Chess Players" 392 1508<font size="4"><br> 393 <font size="5">A Detailed Analysis</font></font></font></strong></font><br> 394 <font color="#FFFFFF" size="-7">courier game - kurrier - renaissance 395 - medieval - 8 by 12 - chess players - chess match - kurierschachspiel 396 - chess variants - ancient chess<img src="graphics/Van_Leyden_Painting_The_Chess_Players_675.jpg" width="675" height="521"></font></h1> 397 <table width="600" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" > 398 <tr > 399 <td > 400<div align="center"> 401 <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Lucas 402 van Leyden was a master painter and leading engraver of the 403 16th century. If you find the perspective of his painting a 404 little askew, please cut the master a little slack. <a href="theprint.htm"><img src="graphics-functional/button-art-print.jpg" alt="Chess Collectors Message" width="90" height="78" hspace="8" vspace
404="8" border="0"align="right"></a> 405 He was living 406 at time when the rules of perspective had not been widely established, 407 and he hadn’t yet met his lifetime mentor Albrech Dürer 408 – and, by the way, when he painted this masterpiece, Lucas 409 van Leyden was only a teenager!</font></p> 410 <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">There 411 is so much to see in this painting – the drama of the 412 characters consulting and kibitzing, the detail of dress and 413 expression, the implied time period and social milieu. What 414 we are interested in here is the drama of the game in play on 415 the great 8 by 12 courier chess board.</font></p> 416 <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Thanks 417 to the generous expository nature of van Leyden’s rendering, 418 and a little bit of historic insight, we can analyze the pieces 419 and position – and recreate the actual game in great detail.<br> 420 <br> 421 For the true chess enthusiast, we go into a bit of detail here 422 as to exactly how the game shown in van Leyden's painting has 423 been recreated.<br> 424 </font></p> 425 <p align="center"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">ANALYSIS 426 OF THE GAME</font></p> 427 <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">So, 428 what is this game presented in the painting? It is just a haphazard 429 arrangement of pieces or a carefully constructed real or possible 430 game? But then what piece is what? They are obviously conventional 431 “abstract” pieces of some tradition – but 432 this particular sort is long since forgotten! Can we possibly 433 make sense of this ancient array of figures? Let's look at what 434 we know, what we can observe ... and what can be revealed.<br> 435 </font></p> 436 <p align="left"> </p> 437 <p align="center"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><img src="graphics/courier-chess-initial-array-black-side.jpg" alt="Murray's Courier Chess Array" width="403" height="337" hspace="25" vspace="8"align="right">THE 438 PUZZLE</font></p> 439 <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Let’s 440 first look at the known information. Although no text survives 441 to tell us simply what the strange figures on van Leyden’s 442 board represent, we do have a record of how the game of courier 443 chess was played. </font></p> 444 <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The 445 initial array of pieces shown here is adapted from H.J.R. Murray 446 (A History of Chess, 1913), who was informed by Gustav Selenus 447 (Das Schach Oder Konig Spiel, 1616). Our view is from the side 448 of “black”, to make easier reference to woman’s 449 side in the painting. The pawns are just shown as spots (yellow 450 on the “white side; black on the “black” side).</font></p> 451 <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Also 452 from Selenus (1616), we get the moves of the pieces. Note that 453 some pieces – bishop, queen and pawn – have their 454 older, medieval, pre-16th century moves.</font></p> 455 <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Rook 456 – like our modern rook<br> 457 Knight – like our modern knight<br> 458 Bishop – the medieval bishop – moved only two spaces 459 diagonally!<br> 460 Courier – the ‘novel’ piece in Courier chess, 461 moved like our modern bishop<br> 462 Sage – moved just like the modern king, but could be captured 463 in play<br> 464 King – like our modern king<br> 465 Queen – the medieval queen – moved only one space 466 diagonally!<br> 467 Jester – moved only one space forward, backward, left 468 or right.<br> 469 Pawn – like our modern pawn but only one space at a time 470 – no double jump!</font></p> 471 <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Furthermore, 472 we historic texts tell us that the game opened with four peculiar 473 moves on each side. Each player moved the two rook pawns, the 474 queen’s pawn, and the queen herself forward two spaces. 475 This opened the game more quickly, allowing the rooks and queens 476 to get into play quickly.<br> 477 </font></p> 478 <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><img src="graphics/courier-chess-pieces-from-van-leyden.jpg" alt="Chess Pieces isolated from van Leyden's painting" width="300" height="1254" hspace="25" vspace="8"align="right">Now, 479 let’s look at these mysterious pieces, one by one. They 480 are shown here, isolated from the painting, and given letters, 481 A through T, for reference. </font></p> 482 <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">A, B, 483 C and D are somewhat similar to each other. A looks like a big 484 ball, but B looks a little squashed; C and D could be the same 485 thing viewed “from the side”. This doesn’t 486 look like any known piece, either ancient or modern – 487 although it has some resemblance to the rooks in the painting 488 “Three Sisters Playing Chess” (Sofonisba Anguissola, 489 Italy, 1555).</font></p> 490 <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">E has 491 a split top, typical of medieval rooks or bishops. F is barely 492 visible in the lower left corner of the board as seen in the 493 painting, but seems to be of the same shape. Because of the 494 medieval bishop’s very limited move – exactly two
495 spaces diagonally – each bishop has only 12 spaces on 496 the entire 96-square board that he can possibly move to. It 497 happens that E stands on one of these possible squares, and 498 could have reached it in three moves from the bishop's starting 499 position. (Only one other piece – B, apparently a king 500 – stands on another possible bishop-occupied square).</font></p> 501 <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">G, H, 502 I and J are very similar to each other, looking somewhat like 503 the heads of modern bishops. They are taller than most pieces, 504 perhaps indicating power or importance. Texts tell us that the 505 courier was considered to be the most powerful piece (though 506 modern players would disagree).</font></p> 507 <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">K and 508 L are the very symbol of kings in modern diagrams – but 509 they may not be kings at all. That particular symbol didn’t 510 come into fashion until the late 19th century. Still, one suspects 511 that the crowns must indicate some sort of royalty.</font></p> 512 <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">M and 513 N (barely discernible behind the lady’s hand), also crowns, 514 must also be some sort of royalty, but of less prestige or power.</font></p> 515 <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">O and 516 P appear to be the same figure at different angles. Could they 517 be an abstracted horse’s head? That is one tradition that 518 has survived many centuries, from medieval through modern times.</font></p> 519 <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Q and 520 R are a peculiar sight to us today, but for several centuries 521 this three-tiered Christmas tree was the established form of 522 the king. </font></p> 523 <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Finally, 524 S is similar to Q and R, but also similar to T which is painted 525 with more care and detail. Jester? Queen? Courier? Bishop? It 526 could be just about anything.</font></p> 527 <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Just 528 looking at the pieces, with some knowledge of historic forms 529 of chessmen gives us a few clues – but not enough to be 530 very certain.</font></p> 531 <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">What 532 fills in the picture then, is the position of pieces on the 533 board. Our working hypothesis is that this is a real game in 534 progress, either recorded by the artist or deliberately created. 535 If that isn’t the case, we’ll soon find that our 536 position is ridiculous if not totally impossible. </font></p> 537 <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><img src="graphics/courier-chess-position-unidentified.jpg" alt="Chess Pieces isolated from van Leyden's painting" width="403" height="294" hspace="25" vspace="8"align="right">This 538 diagram shows the pieces laid out on and off the board, as they 539 are in the painting – using our letters, A through T as 540 reference. Let’s see what can be observed.</font></p> 541 <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">White’s 542 king pawn (adjacent to piece H) has not advanced. From this, 543 we can surmise that the king's side is on the right and the 544 queen's side is on the left – for if it were the queen’s 545 pawn, it would have to be advanced two spaces in the opening.</font></p> 546 <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">L is 547 being threatened by a white pawn, but the woman playing black 548 is not moving to defend it. This supports our assertion that 549 K and L are not kings. They are, however, on the correct color 550 squares to be queens (considering the medieval queen’s 551 diagonal-only move) – and they happen to be working on 552 the queen’s side of the board. </font></p> 553 <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">M is 554 out of play, while N is busy over on the “king’s 555 side” (also the "sage's side) of the board. </font></p> 556 <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">O, if 557 it is a knight, could have easily reached its present position 558 in 3 simple leaps (P is out of play).</font></p> 559 <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Q and 560 R appear to be very active kings, with black moving a piece 561 right up to the white king, possibly threatening it.</font></p> 562 <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">S is 563 apparently the same as the much more detailed figure T. No on-board 564 evidence for this one … but with that ball, frilly collar 565 and hat, it may well be a jester.</font></p> 566 <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Finally, 567 we must consider that rooks, knights bishops and couriers come 568 sets of two to each player, while kings, queens, jesters and 569 sages come one to each side. So a piece that appears twice in 570 one color must be one of the former pieces, while a piece that 571 appears only once in each color is probably one of the latter.</font></p> 572 <p align="center"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><img src="graphics/courier-chess-position-solved.jpg" alt="Chess Pieces isolated from van Leyden's painting" width="403" height="373" hspace="25" vspace="8"align="right">SOLUTION</font></p> 573 <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">So, 574 taking all of this into account, here’s what we’ve 575 come up with. Take a look at the diagram at right. With the 576 pieces identified in this way, every piece is properly in play, 577 in a legal and quite possible position. The woman playing black 578 is just at the moment of giving check with a rook, which is 579 defended by a courier. The white king is not yet trapped; he 580 may move to either of the white squares adjacent to his own 581 courier … and the pursuit will continue for a few moves 582 yet, before black’s overwhelming forces finally trap the 583 white king into a checkmate.</font></p> 584 <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">AND SO …</font></p> 585 <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Having 586 analyzed the position and derived the identities of the pieces,
587 we have been able to recreate the entire set, as it would have 588 been recognized at the dawn of the 16th century. Here is the 589 starting line-up of the pieces. Quite a cast of characters! 590 Charming, interestingly diverse – and powerfully inviting 591 the 21st century player to step back in time and take part in 592 one of Old Europe’s most enduring contests of wit!</font> 593 </p> 594 <p align="center"><img src="graphics-new/full-lineup-courier-chess.jpg" width="600" height="93"></p> 595 <p align="left"><font color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a href="newsletter/CCI-Courier-Chess-Article.pdf" target="x"><img src="graphics-functional/button-cci-article.jpg" alt="Chess Collectors International Article" width="150" height="130" hspace="8" vspace="8" border="0"align="right"></a></font><font size="3" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br> 596 <br> 597 In March, 2009, an article appeared in The Chess Collector — 598 the official magazine of Chess Collector International, discussing 599 courier chess in detail, and referring to this new re-creation. 600 You can download the full illustrated article (in PDF form) 601 by clicking <a href="newsletter/CCI-Courier-Chess-Article.pdf" target="x">this 602 link</a>.</font></p> 603 </div></td> 604 </tr> 605 </table> 606 <table width="600" border="3" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="15"> 607 <tr> 608 <td><div align="center"> 609 <p><font color="#FF0000" size="+1" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><strong>The 610 Courier Chess Reproduction<br> 611 <br> 612 <img src="graphics-new/opening-position-courier-chess.jpg" width="550" height="259"> 613 </strong></font></p> 614 <p align="center"><font color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">above: 615 The opening position of courier chess<br> 616 </font><font color="#FF0000" size="+1" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><strong><br> 617 </strong></font><font color="#FF0000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><strong><font color="#333333"><em><font size="-1">I 618 already purchased one of your sets and I love it! <br> 619 It exceeded my expectations. I hope you can continue <br> 620 producing these sets, you're doing a valuable service <br> 621 making this extinct game available again<font size="1">. </font></font></em></font></strong></font><br> 622 <font color="#FF0000" size="1" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><strong><font color="#333333"><em><font color="#FFFFFF">_______________________________________________</font></em><font color="#FFFFFF">_</font>—</font></strong></font><font color="#FF0000" size="-1" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><strong><font color="#333333"> 623 Jeff S. of Everett, Washington, USA </font></strong></font></p> 624 <p align="left"><font color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><strong>The 625 complete set of 48 pieces</strong> stand between ¾ inch 626 and 2 ¼ inches tall (1.8 ~ 6 cm), the same size of those 627 depicted in van Leyden’s painting.<br> 628 Hand crafted in Riverside, California, made of solid resin, 629 steel reinforced where needed and hand detailed to recreate 630 the 500-year-old painting as closely as possible.<br> 631 They are felted for comfort in play, and protection of the board.<br> 632 This copyrighted reproduction is available only through CourierChess.com, 633 selling as rickofricks on eBay.</font></p> 634 <p align="left"><font color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Since 635 the first production of in 2008, additional versions of the 636 chessmen and board have been created. See the link below for 637 currently available sets.<br> 638 <br> 639 <strong>The board</strong> measures 19 ¾ by 13 ¾ 640 inches; ½ inch thick (35 by 50 by 1.25 cm), just like 641 the one depicted in van Leyden’s painting.<br> 642 The playing surface is a photographic image of a fine hand-painted 643 German beech wood replica – likely materials for van Leyden’s 644 original subject. It is reproduced here fixed to sturdy fiberwood 645 board (MDF).<br> 646 <br> 647 <strong>A quality print</strong>, the same size as the original 648 painting, is included (details below).</font></p> 649 <p align="left"><font color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><strong>Further 650 productions</strong> are being developed. Check our listings 651 for fine brass sets and hand made boards.<br> 652 <br> 653 <strong>The illustrated rule booklet</strong> clearly lays out 654 the original rules of play with diagrams, pictures and explanations.<br> 655 <strong><br> 656 To see this and further Courier Chess listings, select the link 657 below.</strong></font></p> 658 <p align="center"><strong><font color="#000000" size="+3" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a href="http://stores.ebay.com/World-Chess-and-Fine-Arts/_i.html?_nkw=courier&submit=Search&_sid=121288948" target="x">CLICK 659 HERE FOR AVAILABLE<br> 660 COURIER CHESS SETS AND PRINTS</a></font></strong></p> 661 <p align="center"><br> 662 <font color="#000000" size="-1" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a href="thecontact.htm">Any 663 Questions? </a></font></p> 664 <p align="left"><font color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><strong> 665 </strong></font></p> 666 </div></td> 667 </tr> 668 </table> 669 <br> 670 <table width="600" border="3" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="15"> 671 <tr> 672 <td><div align="center"> 673 <p><font color="#FF0000" size="+1" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><strong>Quality 674 Print of Lucas van Leyden's Painting<br> 675 <br> 676 <img src="graphics-new/vanleydenpaintingposter550.jpg" width="550" height="367"></strong></font></p> 677 <p align="left"><font color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><strong>Original 678 size: </strong> The image is reproduced in the same size as 679 the original painting: <br> 680 10.6 x 13.8 inches (27 x 35 cm). Including the border, this 681 print measures 12 x 18 inches (30.5 x 45.7 cm).<br> 682 <br> 683 <strong>Restored:</strong> Scrapes and damages have been carefully 684 removed, restoring this painting to its original beauty.<br> 685 <br> 686 <strong>Fine quality:</strong> The image is finely detailed, 687 printed with a glossy finish on a firm 10 point paper (about 688 the thickness of a standard card stock).<br> 689 </font></p> 690 <p align="center"><font color="#000000" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br> 691 </font><strong><font color="#000000" size="+3" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a href="http://stores.ebay.com/World-Chess-and-Fine-Arts/_i.html?_nkw=courier&submit=Search&_sid=121288948" target="x">CLICK 692 HERE FOR AVAILABLE<br> 693 COURIER CHESS SETS AND PRINTS</a></font></strong></p> 694 </div></td> 695 </tr> 696 </table> 697 <br> 698 <table width="600" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> 699 <tr> 700 <td><p align="center"><font size="-1"><a href="index.htm"><br> 701 HOME</a><font color="#FFFFFF">__</font> <a href="thepieces.htm">THE 702 PIECES</a><font color="#FFFFFF">__</font> <a href="thepainting.htm">THE 703 PAINTING</a><font color="#FFFFFF">__</font> <a href="thehistory.htm">THE 704 HISTORY</a><font color="#FFFFFF">__</font> <a href="thelinks.htm">LINKS</a><font color="#FFFFFF">__</font> 705 <a href="thecontact.htm">CONTACT US </a><font color="#FFFFFF">__</font><br> 706 <br> 707 </font></p></td> 708 </tr> 709 </table> 710 <p> </p> 711 </div></td> 712 <td bgcolor="#1F5458"> </td> 713 </tr> 714</table> 715<table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> 716 <tr bgcolor="#1F5458"> 717 <td> </td> 718 </tr> 719</table><br> 720
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