Chess in the arts explained

Chess became a source of inspiration in the arts in literature soon after the spread of the game to the Arab World and Europe in the Middle Ages. The earliest works of art centered on the game are miniatures in medieval manuscripts, as well as poems, which were often created with the purpose of describing the rules. After chess gained popularity in the 15th and 16th centuries, many works of art related to the game were created. One of the best-known, Marco Girolamo Vida's poem Scacchia ludus, written in 1527, made such an impression on the readers that it singlehandedly inspired other authors to create poems about chess.

In the 20th century, artists created many works related to the game, sometimes taking their inspiration from the life of famous players (Vladimir Nabokov in The Defense) or well-known games (Poul Anderson in Immortal Game, John Brunner in The Squares of the City). Some authors invented new chess variants in their works, such as stealth chess in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series or Tri-Dimensional chess in the Star Trek series.

History

10th to 18th century

Palatine Chapel in the Norman Palace in Palermo you can admire the first painting of a chess game that is known to the world. The work dates from around 1143 and the artists who created the Muslim players were chosen by the Norman king of Sicily Roger II of Hauteville, who erected the church.

The earliest known reference to chess in a European text is a Medieval Latin poem, Versus de scachis. The oldest manuscript containing this poem has been given the estimated date of 997.[1] Other early examples include miniatures accompanying books. Some of them have high artistic value. Perhaps the best known example is the 13th-century Libro de los juegos. The book contains 151 illustrations, and while most of them are centered on the board, showing problems, the players and architectural settings are different in each picture.[2] Another early illustrated text is the Book of the customs of men and the duties of nobles or the Book of Chess (Latin: Liber de moribus hominum et officiis nobilium super ludo scacchorum) which is based on the sermons of Jacopo da Cessole and was first published in 1473.[3]

The pieces illustrating chess problems in Luca Pacioli's manuscript On the Game of Chess (Latin: De ludo scacchorum, c. 1500) are described as "futuristic even by today's standards"[4] and may have been designed in collaboration with Leonardo da Vinci.[5]

After chess became gradually more popular in Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries, especially in Spain and Italy, many artists began writing poems using chess as a theme.[6] Chess of love (Catalan; Valencian: Scachs d'amor), written by an unknown artist in the end of the 15th century, describes a game between Mars and Venus, using chess as an allegory of love. The story also serves as a pretence to describe the rules of the game. De ludo scacchorum (unrelated to the manuscript mentioned above) by, also created at that time, is a collection of gameplay advice, presented in poetic fashion.[7] [8]

One of the most influential[9] works of chess-related art is Marco Girolamo Vida's Scaccia ludus (1527), centered on a game played between Apollo and Mercury on Mount Olympus. It is said that, because of its high artistry, the poem made a great impression on anyone who read it, including Desiderius Erasmus. It also directly inspired at least two other works.[10] The first is Jan Kochanowski's poem Chess (c. 1565), which describes the game as a battle between two armies, while the second is William Jones' Caissa, or the game of chess (1772). The latter poem popularised the pseudo-ancient Greek dryad Caïssa to be the "goddess of chess".

19th century onwards

Since the 19th century, artists have been creating novels and – since the 20th century – films related to chess. Sometimes, they are inspired by famous games, like John Brunner's The Squares of the City, structured after the famous match between Wilhelm Steinitz and Mikhail Chigorin; Poul Anderson's short story Immortal Game, inspired by the 1851 game played by Adolf Anderssen and Lionel Kieseritzky (which also appears in the film Blade Runner); or Waldemar Łysiak's Szachista (Polish: The Chess Player), centered on a game played between Napoleon Bonaparte and The Turk. The game Frank Poole versus HAL 9000 from the film 2001: A Space Odyssey is also based on an actual match, albeit not widely known.[11]

Other artists have drawn their inspiration from the life of players. Vladimir Nabokov wrote The Defense after learning about Curt von Bardeleben,[12] while the musical Chess was loosely based on the life of Bobby Fischer.[13] Some authors invented new chess variants in their works, such as stealth chess in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series or Tri-Dimensional chess in the Star Trek series.

Another connection between art and chess is the life of Marcel Duchamp, who almost fully suspended his artistic career to focus on chess in 1923.[14] Salvador Dalí and Man Ray were also chess players and both designed chess sets.[15] The three artists played chess together, and one of the chess sets designed by Dalí is called Echecs (Hommage à Marcel Duchamp).[16] [17] Duchamp's 1910 painting The Chess Game depicts his brothers Raymond Duchamp-Villon and Jacques Villon playing chess in the garden of Villon's studio.[18] Another Duchamp painting from the following year again depicts his brothers at the chess table.[19] Duchamp wrote a book titled Opposition and Sister Squares Are Reconciled which was published in 1932.[20] Man Ray and Duchamp are seen playing chess in René Clair's film Entr'acte.[21] A book titled Marcel Duchamp: The Art of Chess was published in 2009.[22]

Pablo Picasso and Juan Gris were also chess players, and both made many references to the game in their work.[23] [24]

The design of Bauhaus professor Josef Hartwig's early 1920s chess set uses the shape of each piece to indicate its permitted movement.

Artists such as Yayoi Kusama, Barbara Kruger, Damien Hirst, Gavin Turk,[25] Jake and Dinos Chapman, Tim Noble and Sue Webster,[26] Rachel Whiteread, Paul McCarthy, Tom Friedman,[27] and Tracey Emin have also either designed chess sets or made works that reference the game.[28] [29]

In literature

Poems

Novels

Short stories

Comics

Plays

In film and television

Feature films, short films and made-for-TV films

Television series

In painting

As the popularity of the game became widespread during the 15th and 16th centuries, so too did the number of paintings depicting the subject.[40] Continuing into the 20th century, artists created works related to the game often taking inspiration from the life of famous players or well-known games. An unusual connection between art and chess is the life of Marcel Duchamp, who in 1923 almost fully suspended his artistic career to focus on chess.[41] [42] [43]

In video games

In music

See also

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Gamer . Helena M. . 1954 . The Earliest Evidence of Chess in Western Literature: The Einsiedeln Verses . . 29 . 4 . 734–750. 10.2307/2847098. 2847098 . 162079385 .
  2. Web site: Los Libros de Acedrex Dados E Tablas: Historical, Artistic and Metaphysical Dimensions of Alfonso X's Book of Games . Sonja Musser Golladay . 2007 . University of Arizona . 6 August 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110717133812/http://etd.library.arizona.edu/etd/GetFileServlet?file=file%3A%2F%2F%2Fdata1%2Fpdf%2Fetd%2Fazu_etd_2444_1_m.pdf&type=application%2Fpdf# . 2011-07-17 . dead .
  3. The Immortal Game: A History of Chess
  4. News: Raymond Keene . Raymond Keene . 10 March 2008 . Renaissance chess master and the Da Vinci decode mystery . . 2022-12-04.
  5. News: 14 March 2008 . Experts link Leonardo da Vinci to chess puzzles in Renaissance treatise . Winnipeg Free Press . 4 August 2010.
  6. Litmanowicz (1974), p. 11
  7. Litmanowicz (1974), p. 12
  8. Web site: Elenco romanzi e racconti sul gioco degli scacchi . List of novels and short stories on chess . Terni Scacchi . 2 August 2010 . it . https://web.archive.org/web/20110716211110/http://www.terniscacchi.com/scacchi-scuola/scacchi-elenco-romanzi-racconti.htm . 16 July 2011 . dead .
  9. Litmanowicz (1974), p. 13
  10. Litmanowicz (1974), p. 14
  11. http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1254321&kpage=1 Roesch vs Willi Schlage (1910)
  12. Web site: Tim Krabbé . Tim Krabbé . Open chess diary 1–20 (entry 3) . 4 August 2010 . Tim Krabbé's blog.
  13. Web site: Harold C. Schonberg . Harold C. Schonberg . 8 May 1998 . Does Anyone Make a Bad Move In 'Chess'? . 2008-04-27 . The New York Times.
  14. Book: Marcadé, Bernard . Marcel Duchamp : la vie à crédit : biographie . 2007 . Flammarion . 978-2-08-068226-0 . [Paris] . fr . XIX CHESS MANIAQUE A BUENOS AIRES . 319214976.
  15. News: Dont forget. Marcel Duchamp. A game of chess with Man Ray and Dalí . Murcia Today . 2022-12-03.
  16. Web site: Dalí . Salvador . Echecs (Hommage à Marcel Duchamp) . 2022-12-03 . Christie's.
  17. Web site: Imagery of chess exhibition brochure, Duchamp Research Portal . 2022-12-03 . www.duchamparchives.org.
  18. Web site: The Chess Game . 2022-12-03 . philamuseum.org . en.
  19. Web site: Portrait of Chess Players . 2022-12-03 . philamuseum.org . en.
  20. Web site: Castle . Jack . 2020-03-31 . 'Finding the right move': Marcel Duchamp and his passion for chess . 2022-12-14 . Christie's.
  21. Web site: René Clair. Entr'acte. 1924 MoMA. 2022-12-04. The Museum of Modern Art. en.
  22. Web site: Oisteanu . Valery . 2009-11-05 . Marcel Duchamp: The Art of Chess . 2022-12-03 . The Brooklyn Rail . en-US.
  23. Web site: Picasso . Pablo . Chess, Paris, autumn 1911 . 2022-12-03 . The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
  24. Web site: Gris . Juan . Chessboard, Glass, and Dish . 2022-12-03 . Philadelphia Museum of Art . en.
  25. Web site: Turk. Gavin. The Mechanical Turk. 2022-12-04. Christie's.
  26. Web site: Tim Noble & Sue Webster – DeadAlive, 2012. 2022-12-04. www.timnobleandsuewebster.com.
  27. Web site: Yayoi Kusama, Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin, Paul McCarthy and Tom Friedman star in The Art of Chess art Agenda Phaidon. 2022-12-04. www.phaidon.com.
  28. Web site: 7 Chess Sets Designed by Famous Artists . 2022-12-03 . Widewalls . en.
  29. Web site: 2012-09-06. Checkmates: how artists fell in love with chess. 2022-12-04. the Guardian. en.
  30. Web site: Quarantine . Arthur C. Clarke . Arthur C. Clarke . . 2 August 2010.
  31. Book: Richard Genée's The Royal Middy (Der Seekadett). Dario Salvi. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. 2017. 9781527505292.
  32. News: Bell . Steve . Gorce . Tammy La . 2016-12-02 . Which Famous Actor Hustled Chess Games in New York City? . en-US . The New York Times . 2022-12-17 . 0362-4331.
  33. Book: Christie, Ian . Ian Christie (film scholar) . A "Matter of Life and Death" . 2000 . British Film Institute . London . 0-8517-0479-4 . 77 . A chess game as a metaphor for the struggle for life eleven years before Bergman's The Seventh Seal: to Powell and Pressburger the idea may have been suggested by the death of Alekhine in 1946, the very year in which they made this film.
  34. Web site: The Actual Chess Endgame in the Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Movie . 2023-12-10 . The-Leaky-Cauldron.org.
  35. Web site: The Jeremy Silman (Harry Potter position) – Chess Forums . 2023-12-10 . Chess.com . en-US.
  36. http://www.hbo.com/documentaries/bobby-fischer-against-the-world/index.html hbo.com
  37. Web site: BFI Screenonline. The Saga of Noggin the Nog. 31 July 2010.
  38. Web site: Columbo: Season 2, Episode 7 . 2024-02-20 . Rotten Tomatoes . en.
  39. Web site: Heisler. Steve. The West Wing: "Hartsfield's Landing". 2021-12-28. The A.V. Club. 15 August 2011 . en-us.
  40. Władysław Litmanowicz, Dykteryjki i ciekawostki szachowe (Chess trivia and anecdotes), in Polish. Warsaw: Sport i Turystyka. 1974, pp. 11–27
  41. "Marcel Duchamp." Kynaston McShine.1989.
  42. Web site: "Becoming Duchamp" by Sylvère Lotringer . Toutfait.com . 2014-05-11.
  43. Brady, Frank: Bobby Fischer: profile of a prodigy, Courier Dover Publications, 1989; p. 207.
  44. Web site: "Becoming Duchamp" by Sylvère Lotringer . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20130312133029/http://www.toutfait.com/issues/issue_2/Articles/lotringer.html . 12 March 2013 . 11 May 2014 . Toutfait.com.
  45. Roy . Wilkinson . Roy Wilkinson . One of these men is God . . July 1997 . 60.