On this round chess-board, supposing the black king to be placed in number 48 on the fourth circle, the queen stands on !mintier 17 at his left hand ; the bishops in 33 and 2 ; the knights 18 and 47 ; the castles 3 and 50 ; the pawns on 19, 4, 49, 64, and 46, 51, 32, 1. The white king will then stand in 25, opposite to the black queen ; the white queen in 40, opposite to the black king, and so forth. ln playing on a board of this kind, it will be found that the power of the castle is double to that in the common game, and that of the bishop only one half; the former having 16 squares to range in, and the latter only four. The king can castle only one way ; and it is very difficult to bring the game to a conclusion.
The Russians are said to be great prolicicnts at chess ; and with them the queen has, in addition to her other moves, that of the knight also ; which, according to Philidor, spoils the game, but renders it much more com plicated. The Russians play also at chess with four per sons at the same time, two against two ; for which pur pose the board is longer than usual, contains more men, and is provided with a greater number of squares.
In Thibet and the Birman empire, as indeed through out all the East, this game is held in high estimation. The board used by the Birmans, as we learn from Symes's Embassy to Ava, (vol. iii. p. 289.) is exactly similar to ours, containing 64 squares, and the number of their troops the same, 16 on each side ; but the names, the power, and the disposal of them differ essentially. The king and his minister (corresponding to our queen) are mounted on elephants ; these are defended by two cas tles, two knights on horseback, two officers on foot, and eight loot soldiers ; the forces of each party are arranged in three lines, by which eight squares remain unoccu pied ; none of the pieces possess equal force with our queen ; by which restricted operation, according to Mr Symes, the Birman mode of playing is rendered more complex and difficult than ours. The game is known in that country by the name of chedreen, which bears some resemblance to the appellation by which it is distinguish. ed in most other parts of the world.
It appears likewise from Lord Valentia's late travels in the East, that the game of chess is a favourite amuse ment with the Abyssinians. " In the evening," says Mr Salt, (who was sent by his lordship into Abyssinia,) " we went into the hall, and found the Ras at chess in the midst of his chiefs. The chess men, which arc coarsely made of ivory, are very large and clumsy. When they have occasion to take any one of their adversary's pieces, they strike it with great force and eagerness from its place. I observed that their game differs much from ours. Bishops jump over the heads of knights, and are only allowed to move three squares. The pawns move only one step forward at starting, and get no rank by reaching the end of the hoard. They play with much noise, every person around, even the slaves, having a voice in the game, and seizing the pieces at pleasure, to spew any advisable move. We observed, however, that
they always managed with great ingenuity to let the Ras win every game." The game of chess is allov;.-ed upon all hands to be of very great antiquity ; but concerning its origin, as well as the etymology of the name by which it is so general ly denoted, a great variety of opinions have prevailed. It has been maintained by many learned writers, that the inventiou of this game was due to Palamedes at the siege of Troy. The :various passages of the ancients, which have been relied on in proof of this opinion, may be seen in Stephen's Thesaurus, under the word a Jtebble. One of the principal is the following line of Sophocics : But from this nothing more can he inferred, than that Pahunedes invented some game which was played with pebbles. From a line in the first book of the Odyssey, it has been inferred; that Penelope's suitors amused them selves with this game before the gates of Ulysses's pa lace. The game played by Penelope's suitors, and call ed 7rerntre, is particularly described by Athenxus, on the authority of a native of Ithaca ; (Deipnosoph.l. 1.) and it differs very materially from chess, the number of the pieces being 108 instead of 32. The game called vrrrrcia, in Greek, was by the Romans termed calculi, or latrun culi and Ovid (.4rt. Am. I. 3.) has so described the manner of playing it, that no person who is in the least acquainted with chess, can conceive that it alludes to this game.
It seems probable, that chess was introduced into Eu rope by the crusaders in the 11th or 12th century, at which period it was a game in very common use both among the Greeks and Saracens. The Princess Anna Comnena, in the life of her father Alexis Comnenus, who was emperor of the Greeks in the 11th century, informs us that the game of chess, which she calls Carqosicy, came from Persia into Greece ; so that it is in the East that we are to look for its origin. The Persians themselves lay no claim to this invention, but unanimously agree, that they received the game from the Indians at the be ginning of the 6th century, during the reign of Chos roes the Great. " The Persians," says Sir William Jones, though as much inclined as other nations to ap propriate the ingenious inventions of a foreign people, unanimously agree, that the game (of chess) was import ed from the west of India, together with the charming fables of Vishnasarman, in the sixth century of our era." (4siatic Researches, vol. ii.) This profound orientalist coincides with the learned Hyde, and is decidedly of opinion, that chess was invent ed in Hindustan, where, he says, it has been immemo rially known by the name of Chaturanga, that is, the four angas, or members of an army, viz. elephants, horses, chariots, and foot soldiers ; and, in this sense, the word is frequently used by epic poets in their descriptions of real armies. The Arabic writers have likewise ascribed the honour of this invention to the Indians, and have de livered the following interesting and well-known tradi tion concerning its origin.