Chess and Monarchy

Chess is called The Royal Game, I guess the reason behind the name is clear. It is because of the numerous historical references to Kings playing or patronizing the game. 

How the game came into this reality is actually a legend found in myth books, the story goes something like this : 

One ancient legend that many children might even find in their maths books is about the tyrannical Indian king, Shahram, and a wise man in his kingdom. The wise man wanted to convince Shihram of the importance of each kingdom resident.

So, he invented a game to represent the kingdom consisting of the king himself, his queen, rooks, bishops, knights, and pawns, all of which were important.

The king liked the game very much and understood that the game was just like real life. So, he ordered everybody in his kingdom to play chess! Shahram offered the man all the gold and silver that he wanted, but the wise man didn’t want any treasure.

Together with the king, he went to a chessboard and asked him to put one grain of wheat on the first square, and two on the second and to keep doubling it until the chessboard was full.

First, the king felt highly offended, but then he ordered his servants to fulfil the man’s wish. Desperately, the servants conveyed that such an enormous amount of wheat did not exist!

The king understood that the wise man had given him a second lesson. Just like the pawns in chess, you should never underestimate the small things in life!

The history of chess started in the North of India, travelled to Persia, and then spread throughout the Asian continent. In the Eastern World, for example in India or Persia, chess became a part of the courtly education of the nobility. In those days words like “Shāh!” – Persian for the king – or “Shāh Māt!” – the king is helpless – were used in the games. These words are very similar to the terms we use today with “check” and “checkmate”.

So, Chess was actually a royal game, and to date- we still adore the thematic idea of the game. 

Royalty and Chess 

English history records that in 1027 King Canute [son of Sweyn Forkbeard] (995—1035), believed to be the first English king who played chess, ordered the execution of Earl Ulf, following an incident at the chessboard. The Earl lost his temper because the King took back a move and overturned the board, an act for which he was condemned to death. Several royal tempers seem to have been lost over the chessboard.

William the Conqueror (1027—1087) is said to have broken a chessboard over the head of the Prince of France after losing a game, and his youngest son, later King Henry I (1068—1135), had some chess pieces are thrown in his face by the French Dauphin, Louis le Gros after the Dauphin had lost a game to him.

In 1213 King John [John Lackland] insisted on finishing a game of chess before he would give the audience to a messenger bringing news of the siege of Rouen, and in 1647 King Charles 1 (1600—1649) was playing chess when the news was brought to him that the Scots had agreed to surrender him to the English.

Other English monarchs who played chess were : 

Henry II (1133—1189)
Richard 1(1157—1199)
Edward I (1239—1307)
Henry VI (1421—1471)
Elizabeth I (1533—1603)
Charles II (1630—1685)
George III (1738—1820)
Victoria (1819—1901)
Edward VII (1841—1910)
George V (1865—1936)

H. R. H. Prince Leopold, later Duke of Albany, was President of Oxford University Chess Club in 1875 and used to play chess with Bird! 

Other European monarchs were just as keen as the English monarchy on chess. Alfonso the Wise of Spain (1221—1284) was a keen player and caused a treatise to be written on the game, while another Spanish King, Philip II (1527—1598), a great lover of the game, had the first international match played at his court in either 1574 or 1575, between Spain and Italy. Kings Alfonso VI and X of Castile, John I and Martin of Aragon, Louis XIII and Louis Philippe of France and Knut V and Valdemer of Denmark were all keen players. King Knut V was killed while playing chess with Valdemer, by his enemy King Sweyn. Valdemer escaped after defending himself by using the chessboard as a shield.

The East also produced chess enthusiasts among its heads of state. In 808, during the siege of Baghdad, the Caliph Al Amoun protested at being disturbed during a game when the news was brought to him that the city was in danger of falling. The Mogul conqueror, Timur the Terrible (1336—1405) was reputed to have been. a strong player and the Sultan of Turkey, Abdul Hamid 11(1842—1918) would never allow affairs of state to interfere with his chess and employed a Hungarian player as a court chess player.

The Great Akbar (1542—1605) had a gigantic board laid out on his palace grounds at Fatehpuri, near Agra, and used real horses, elephants and camels as pieces; and about 300 years ago Shah Jehan [builder of the Taj Mahal] built a chess palace at Jehanpore, using ladies of the harem as pieces and serving boys as Pawns.

Chess and British Royalty - Writings and Images from Edward Winter

Information Taken From : 

• History of Chess – A Guide to the Origins of the Game of Kings - iChess.net
• Anne Sunnuck's Encyclopedia of Chess/  Sarah's Chess Journal
• Chess and British Royalty by Edward Winter