Thursday, June 7, 2007

What's the Oldest Evidence of Chess?


There’s an old saying "If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck and looks like a duck, it is probably a duck."

That’s why some of us Goddesschess folks believe that this little piece (approximately 1.5 inches tall) is a chess piece, probably a king. It was identified as a chess piece (a king or queen) by the archaeologists who excavated it in July, 2002 during an ongoing dig at the cultural heritage site of Butrint, Albania, and dates to approximately 465 CE.

The assertion that this piece was a chess piece caused quite an uproar within the insular and sedate world of chess historians. More about this tomorrow.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

a chess king from 465 AD? Located in Albania, no less?? This could certainly change our entire perspective on chess!

Jan said...

Hi Scott,

Well, just as in "chess politics" where there are forces of darkness, there are certain factions in the world of chess historians that don't want to see the age of chess pushed back beyond what's been generally accepted for the past 100 years or so. Well, slap me, I suppose I shouldn't says forces of darkness :)

Anonymous said...

An interesting article that is related to
this article from Bill Wall

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