Scachs d'amor
Encyclopedia
Scachs d'amor whose complete title is Hobra intitulada scachs d'amor feta per don franci de Castelvi e Narcis vinyoles e mossen fenollar is the name of a poem written by Francesc de Castellví, Bernat Fenollar, and Narcís de Vinyoles, published in Valencia, Spain towards the end of the 15th century.
The poem is conceived as a chess
game in which the opponents are Franci de Castellvi, as White (in modern chess), (Mars
Març, Love
Amor and red pieces in the play), and Narcis Vinyoles, playing Black (Venus
, the Glory
Gloria, and green pieces). They debate about love, and Bernat Fenollar comments and establishes the rules. The opening in the game is the Scandinavian Defense
. Green
and Red
are still used in Xiangqi
as colours for the pieces.
The poem uses the game as an allegory
for love. Its structure is based upon sixty-four stanza
s (the same number as for the chessboard squares), nine verses each. The stanzas are grouped three after three: The first stanza in the group represents the White move, the second one the Black's move, and the third one a comment on the rules by the arbiter. The three stanzas in the beginning are an introduction and the last one is checkmate
.
Supposedly, the game played is the first one documented with the modern rules of chess.
The poem is conceived as a chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
game in which the opponents are Franci de Castellvi, as White (in modern chess), (Mars
Mars (mythology)
Mars was the Roman god of war and also an agricultural guardian, a combination characteristic of early Rome. He was second in importance only to Jupiter, and he was the most prominent of the military gods worshipped by the Roman legions...
Març, Love
Love
Love is an emotion of strong affection and personal attachment. In philosophical context, love is a virtue representing all of human kindness, compassion, and affection. Love is central to many religions, as in the Christian phrase, "God is love" or Agape in the Canonical gospels...
Amor and red pieces in the play), and Narcis Vinyoles, playing Black (Venus
Venus (mythology)
Venus is a Roman goddess principally associated with love, beauty, sex,sexual seduction and fertility, who played a key role in many Roman religious festivals and myths...
, the Glory
Glory (religion)
Glory is used to denote the manifestation of God's presence in the Judeo-Christian religious tradition. God's glory is often associated with visible displays of light, e.g. thunderbolts, fire, brightness....
Gloria, and green pieces). They debate about love, and Bernat Fenollar comments and establishes the rules. The opening in the game is the Scandinavian Defense
Scandinavian Defense
The Scandinavian Defense is a chess opening characterized by the moves:The Center Counter Defense is one of the oldest recorded openings, first recorded as being played between Francesco di Castellvi and Narciso Vinyoles in Valencia in 1475 in what may be the first recorded game of modern chess,...
. Green
Green
Green is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 520–570 nanometres. In the subtractive color system, it is not a primary color, but is created out of a mixture of yellow and blue, or yellow and cyan; it is considered...
and Red
Red
Red is any of a number of similar colors evoked by light consisting predominantly of the longest wavelengths of light discernible by the human eye, in the wavelength range of roughly 630–740 nm. Longer wavelengths than this are called infrared , and cannot be seen by the naked eye...
are still used in Xiangqi
Xiangqi
Xiangqi is a two-player Chinese board game in the same family as Western chess, chaturanga, shogi, Indian chess and janggi. The present-day form of Xiangqi originated in China and is therefore commonly called Chinese chess in English. Xiangqi is one of the most popular board games in China...
as colours for the pieces.
The poem uses the game as an allegory
Allegory
Allegory is a demonstrative form of representation explaining meaning other than the words that are spoken. Allegory communicates its message by means of symbolic figures, actions or symbolic representation...
for love. Its structure is based upon sixty-four stanza
Stanza
In poetry, a stanza is a unit within a larger poem. In modern poetry, the term is often equivalent with strophe; in popular vocal music, a stanza is typically referred to as a "verse"...
s (the same number as for the chessboard squares), nine verses each. The stanzas are grouped three after three: The first stanza in the group represents the White move, the second one the Black's move, and the third one a comment on the rules by the arbiter. The three stanzas in the beginning are an introduction and the last one is checkmate
Checkmate
Checkmate is a situation in chess in which one player's king is threatened with capture and there is no way to meet that threat. Or, simply put, the king is under direct attack and cannot avoid being captured...
.
Supposedly, the game played is the first one documented with the modern rules of chess.