''Chess or the King's Game'' (german: Das Schach- oder Königsspiel) is a book on

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

. It was published in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

in 1616 under the name of ''Gustavus Selenus'' ("Gustavus" being an anagram of "Augustus" and "Selenus" referring to the Greek moon goddess

Selene In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Selene (; grc-gre, Σελήνη , meaning "Moon"''A Greek–English Lexicon's.v. σελήνη) is the goddess and the personification of the Moon. Also known as Mene, she is traditionally the daughter of ...

, linked to the Latin origin of the name "Lüneburg"), the

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

of Duke Augustus of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1579–1666). As a young prince, Augustus probably had learned of the game during his voyages to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and purchased numerous chess books from the Augsburg merchant and art collector

Philipp Hainhofer Philipp Hainhofer (21 July 1578 – 1647) was a merchant, banker, diplomat and art collector in Augsburg. He is remembered, among other things, for the curiosity cabinets (''Kunstschränke'') which he created with the assistance of a large num ...

. The first textbook on chess in the German language, the work is mainly based on the ''

Libro de la invencion liberal y arte del juego del axedrez ''Libro de la invencion liberal y arte del juego del axedrez'' (translation: "Book of the liberal invention and art of the game of chess") is one of the first books published about modern chess in Europe, after Pedro Damiano's 1512 book. It was ...

'' written in 1561 by the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

priest

Ruy López de Segura Rodrigo "Ruy" López de Segura (c. 1530 – c. 1580) was a Spanish chess player, author, and Catholic priest whose 1561 treatise '' Libro de la invención liberal y Arte del juego del Axedrez'' was one of the first books about modern chess in ...

, but also contains extensive philosophical and historical considerations (e.g. on the "chess village" of

Ströbeck Schachdorf Ströbeck is a village in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, which since 1 January 2010 is part of the town of Halberstadt in the Harz district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Located about west of the city centre, the ''Schachdorf'' ("chess village" ...

). In addition to chess instruction, the book contained interesting illustrations of contemporary German chess pieces by

Jacob van der Heyden Jacob van der Heyden (1573–1645) was a Flemish Baroque painter, sculptor and engraver. According to Houbraken he was a painter from Strasbourg who painted for royalty.Selenus chess set The Selenus chess set is a style of chess set, in use before the standardization of chess pieces that happened after the Staunton chess set was launched in 1849 by games manufacturer John Jaques of London. The Selenus sets were typical of Germany ...

s”. Over time, pieces became taller, thinner, and more elaborate. Their apparent floral nature lead some to name them "Garden chess sets" or "Tulip chess sets". Selenus pattern sets were commonly made in Germany and Central Europe until about 1914 when they were completely eclipsed by the more playable and stable

Staunton chess set The Staunton chess set is the standard style of chess piece, chess pieces, recommended for use in competition by FIDE, the international chess governing body. The journalist Nathaniel Cooke is credited with the design on the patent, and they ar ...

Pattern, which was introduced in 1849 by manufacturer Jaques of London.

References

{{Reflist Chess books 1616 books 17th century in chess Chess in Germany

See also

References