Courier Chess |
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This Chess variant is one of the most known.
It has been played in some places of Germany, especially in
Ströbeck,
for a rather long period. Having appeared in Middle Age, it has
been remarked for its early introduction of a piece moving all
along the diagonals, like a forerunner of the modern Bishop.
The Chess players, Lucas van Leyden (c. 1508) DESCRIPTION: The board has 12 columns and 8 raws, with checkered colors. The painting shows a white square at players' righ hand, whereas a conserved board at the Ströbeck Chess Museum has a black one. There were probably no firm rule for this point. Board conserved in the Ströbeck Chess Museum Every player has 24 men: 1 King, 1 Queen, 1 Sage or Counsellor (Mann, Ratgeber), 1 Jester or Spy (Schleich), 2 "Couriers" (Kurrier), 2 Archers (Schütze), 2 Knights, 2 Rooks and 12 Pawns. Conventional setup RULES:
The Pawn initial double step was not allowed. Instead, an "advanced" position was normally used to start the games where 3 particular Pawns (those of Rooks and Queen) where placed 2 steps ahead and where Queen was also placed two steps ahead as illustrated here: Advanced setup REMARK: The Courier was really a novelty for German Chess players who were then playing the Bishops with old limited move coming from Shatranj, a diagonal jump at the 2nd square. Naturally, that new piece gave its name to the game. The contemporary players were not used to visualize the diagonals on their length and believed that this so surprising piece was surpassing the Rook in strength. HISTORY: This special Chess game has a surprising rather long history, mostly confined to Germanic lands.
Courier Chess sketched by Jan de Bray (possibly a self-portrait) It seems that the game was not in use anymore for the beginning of the 19c. Lucas van Leyden's painting had a tumultuous history: it was hosted in the Königlihes Museum in Berlin. In 1945, it was sent to safety outside of Berlin on one order from Hitler. General Patton's army found it along with many treasures in a salt mine few months later and the painting was sent to USA, in National Gallery of Art in Washington. In 1948, it has been returned to Germany. It is now in the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Preußischer Kulturbesitz Gemäldegalerie. RENAISSANCE: Several attempt have been made to modernize Courier Chess with modern rules. One has been proposed by FIDE Master Paul V. Byway. A description and some annoted games can be found on this link. Much before this date, a "Courier-Spiel" was proposed by H. G. Albers from Lüneburg in 1821. It is described on this link. Another manner of making a new birth for this game was to reconstruct it. This was brightly done by Rick Knowlton who made a replica after a deep study of van Leyden's painting. This replica is available and sold on this wonderful dedicated web site: http://courierchess.com/. Set of pieces designed and sold on http://courierchess.com/ The game painted by Lucas van Leyden can now be pursued up to its end! |
References:
H.J.R.Murray, "A History of Chess", Oxford, 1913.
Many thanks to Rick Knowlton. Many thanks also to http://www.schachmuseum-stroebeck.de/
The Jester (Schleich), Ströbeck, Germany
06/07/2024