The first printed work on chess to survive to the present day is Luis de Lucena's "Arte de axedres", printed in Salamanca, Spain. It can be dated to 1496 or 1497. It presents a number of chess problems, some of which are in the old rules ("del viejo"), some in the new rules ("dela dama"). This suggests that the transition is not quite complete, and some readers might not know about the new rules. By 1512, when Damiano published his "Questo libro e da imparare giocare a scachi" in Rome, it only included problems with the new rules, and does not mention the medieval game. The same applies to the Gottingen manuscript, probably written in Spain or Portugal. Though it has been claimed to be earlier, its content suggests it was not written before 1500. England and Germany received the reformed game by 1530. After that, the old game was effectively dead—in Europe, at any rate. A version of the old game survived in India until recently.
Modern chess theory was slow in developing. After the new moves of the pieces, players spent their time playing gambits, and trying to mate each other. The games of Gioacchino Greco (1600– ~1634) clearly show this. The first ideas as to how to win indirectly, 'positionally', started with Philidor. Modern chess has a lot of indirect manoeuvering of a kind the old Arabic players would have understood. They could not attack directly, because their Alfil and Firzān (our bishop and queen) had such limited moves.
One interesting fact is that the Arabs divided their game into the same three stages which we do today: opening, middlegame and endgame.
At the start of a game, the Arabic masters took a number of moves before the pieces were in contact with the other side.
The table, based roughly on square control, suggests the modern game deploys about 20% more force on the board than the older game. However, this understates the case, since the table does not allow for castling, nor the initial optional double move of the pawn. Also, the pawn promotion to the new queen is hugely significant when it takes place. No exact value can be placed on these elements, but perhaps the modern game makes use of up to a third more force than in the original game. Also, the fast development of the pieces makes the opening far more important in the modern game.
Single pieces found in archaeology are seldom taken as chessmen; they are much more likely to be general art objects. "Groups" of small objects are more likely chessmen if there are of more than two types. Many board games have used two kinds of pieces, but only chess uses six different kinds. A dig might not turn up all six forms, but more than two is indicative of chess. If the forms have characteristic chess figures (foot soldiers, kings, man on horse) this is even more convincing.
The evidence from archaeology comes mostly from the discovery of early chess sets, and also from rock art: carvings (petroglyphs) and paintings on rock.
The earliest chessmen found are the Afrasiab collection. In 1977 the Uzbekistan Academy of Archaeology conducted a dig at Afrasiab, near Samarkand. Samarkand is one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world, and at times it has been one of the greatest cities of Central Asia. Samarkand is on the trade route between China and the Mediterranean (the Silk Road), and so it is a logical place for a trader to store some of his precious goods.
The Afrasiab finds include seven chess pieces. They are heavily worn, but they include: two foot soldiers with shields and short swords (= our pawns); a war elephant with chain armour and a rider in full battle-dress (= our bishop); a visier (= our queen) with two horses with armed rider; two mounted riders with sword and shield (= knights); and the Shah, on a three-horse chariot, holding a mace-like symbol of power (= our king). That is five out of the six types of piece, and completely convincing as a chess set. The rukh (rook) is also known: it features a three-horse chariot with two men, one driving, and the other armed with sword and shield.
This group is dated to the 7th–8th centuries, and probably come from the end of the Sassanid Empire just before the Arabic conquest. They are "representational", meaning they are small carvings (though somewhat crude) of war men and equipment. Later Arabic sets became abstract shapes, in accordance with their religious teaching.
Shani
Shani is one of the Navagraha which are the nine main celestial beings in Hindu astrology, or Jyotiṣa. Shani is embodied in the planet Saturn. Shani is the Lord of Saturday; the word Shani also denotes the seventh day or Saturday in most Indian languages.
Wolfgang Wagner
Wolfgang Wagner (born 30 August 1919 - 21 March 2010) was a German opera director. He was the grandson of the opera composer Richard Wagner and great-grandson of the composer Franz Liszt. For 42 years he was director of the Bayreuth Festival, which was created by Richard Wagner for the performances of his operas. At first he was director together with his brother Wieland. After Wieland died he continued to be director until he retired in 2008. He tried to get rid of the festival’s Nazi past, and put on productions which were very symbolic: using lighting effects instead of complicated scenery and heavy costumes.
Wagner was born in Bayreuth. His mother, Winifred Wagner (born Williams-Klindworth), was English. She married Richard Wagner’s son Siegfried, who was much older than she was. Although Siegfried was gay they had two sons (Wieland and Wolfgang) and two daughters.
When Siegfried died in 1930 Winifred took over the running of the festival. She was friends with Adolf Hitler who often came to the performances. Hitler became a family friend. The children called him “Uncle Adolf” or “Uncle Wolf” (his nickname). When World War II started, Wieland did not have to fight in the army because Hitler said he was too important for German culture. However, Wolfgang had to fight, and he was wounded in Poland, but got better. He started to produce operas in Berlin. Hitler liked him, but he never joined the Nazi party.
During the war a lot of Bayreuth buildings were damaged, but not the theatre. The Americans used it for religious services. After the war Winifred was not allowed to run the opera house because of her Nazi past, but Wieland became director and Wolfgang looked after the money. The two brothers started the festival again in 1951. They formed the orchestra again, and invited Hans Knappertsbusch and Herbert von Karajan to conduct. They deliberately avoided using lots of scenery and made use of symbolic ideas, especially lighting.
When Wieland died in 1966 Wolfgang was the only director. He continued the modern ideas of his brother, using very simple staging techniques. The production of Wagner’s "Ring Cycle" in 1976 by the opera director Patrice Chéreau was particularly important. Many people loved it, others disagreed with it. The production of the Ring Cycle in 1983 by Peter Hall, conducted by Georg Solti celebrated the 100th birthday of Richard Wagner. People argued about this production, too. Since then, many famous people have visited the festival, including the German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the German President Horst Köhler. In 1982 Grace Bumbry was the first black person to sing at the festival (she sang the part of Venus in "Tannhäuser". Some of the audience thought this was shocking, but she sang so beautifully that everyone applauded for 30 minutes. She had to take 42 curtain calls.
Wolfgang married twice. His first wife was Ellen Drexel. He had two children by this marriage. He argued with them. His son did not like the family’s past Nazi connections, and the daughter Eva argued about the control of the festival. Wolfgang later married Gudrun Mack, with whom he had a daughter Katharina. Eva and Katharina now run the festival.
Wolfgang died aged 90 in Bayreuth in 2010.
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