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The Book Page
I'll be reading bits of several books this weekend but the primary book of interest:
The Immortal Game: A History of Chess or How 32 Carved Pieces On A Board Illuminated Our Understanding of War, Art, Science, and the Human Brain; David Shenk, c. 2006.
I don't read enough about chess and I play even less, so I can't make any comments one way or the other regarding this book. I'm reading it mostly for the history of the game. Absolutely fascinating. I was completely unaware how much the game changed in the 15th century in Europe, probably Spain.
The modern movement of the queen in chess, combining the powers of the rook and bishop, emerged in Spain in the 15th century.
The change is widely believed to have happened during the reign of Queen Isabella I of Castile. Her influence likely inspired the chess queen's transformation from a weak piece, which initially moved only one square diagonally, into its current powerful form.
The earliest known writing describing the modern queen's movement, along with the bishop and pawn, is "Repetición de amores e arte de axedres con CL iuegos de partido" by Luis Ramírez de Lucena. It was published during Isabella's reign. A Valencian poem from 1475 called "Scachs d'amor" showed a chess game featuring the queen with her modern moves.
For translation of above "quote," see wiki. I find this incredibly interesting, incredibly fascinating.
The
author has an interesting way of telling the story. Each chapter --
twelve chapters divided among three parts -- is, in turn, divided into
two parts. The chapters are arranged chronologically. The first part of
each chapter tells the story and the history of chess, from its
beginnings to its present day. The second part of each chapter follows
what is referred to as "The Immortal Game." Each vignette is a single
move by both players as the "immortal" game is played.
The Immortal Game was supposed to be a forgettable practice game, a throwaway. No one, least of all the two players, had any idea that they were about to produce one of chess's all-time gems, a game some would consider the most remarkable ever played.
The game: London, June 21, 1851, Adolf Anderssen vs Lionel Kieseritzky.
The Immortal Game was a chess game played in 1851 between Adolf Anderssen and Lionel Kieseritzky during the London 1851 chess tournament, an event in which both players participated.
It was itself a casual game, however, not played as part of the tournament.
Anderssen won the game by sacrificing all of his major pieces while developing a mating attack with his remaining minor pieces.
Despite losing the game, Kieseritzky was impressed with Anderssen's performance.
Kieseritzky published the game shortly afterwards in La Régence, a French chess journal which he helped to edit.
Ernst Falkbeer published an analysis of the game in 1855, describing it for the first time with its sobriquet "immortal."
The Immortal Game is among the most famous chess games ever played. As a miniature game, it is frequently reproduced in chess literature to teach simple themes of gameplay.
Although Kieseritzsky himself indicated that the game ended before checkmate, the Immortal Game is frequently reproduced with a brief continuation involving a queen sacrifice—a further loss of material—leading to checkmate. This continuation is commonly presented as part of the complete game, as if the final moves were actually played as part of the real historical game. Some authors also permute certain moves, deviating from Kieseritzky's report, although such permutations typically transpose to distinct lines of play that eventually return to the moves and positions reported by Kieseritzky.
Other connections:
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