Medieval chess promoted racial harmony

[Neill Cooper]

"How the so-called ‘game of kings’ defied racial attitudes by celebrating the intellectual prowess of winners, irrespective of their skin colour."

"Cambridge historian Dr Krisztina Ilko has found a wealth of international evidence of chess subverting racial stereotypes and structures in the Middle Ages."

A very interesting article at https://www.cam.ac.uk/stories/medieval- ... al-harmony

[Matt Mackenzie]

Doesn't that remain a valid argument for our noble game now?

[Rob Coles]

Amusing to see an article full of medieval artwork where the board is oriented correctly, followed by a contemporary photo where it's unfortunately the wrong way round...

[Christopher Kreuzer]

I pointed this out twice earlier, but both times failed to start a new thread. Good to see Dr Ilko's theories reaching a wider audience, though I stand by my comment back in December 2024 (that this is more medieval studies than recent chess history).

I foolishly buried it in the "Media Comments on chess" thread, but I did point out back in March 2024 the work of historian Krisztina Ilko.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=5043&hilit=chess+ac ... 55#p305360

I will requote here, but it will doubtless remain equally buried here. Maybe a proper thread with a proper title could draw together some of these thoughts and previous ones (there was a thread on academic theses on chess, and the history of women in chess).

Non-paywalled version from different newspaper:

https://nypost.com/2024/03/03/world-new ... val-tower/

Doing a search for Krisztina Ilko and chess brings up lots of interesting material.

https://www.hoart.cam.ac.uk/news/dr-kri ... iddle-ages

"Chess and Skin Colour in the Global Middle Ages

Speaker: Dr Krisztina Ilko
Queens’ College, University of Cambridge

Wednesday 8 November 2023, 9am-10.30am GMT

World History Seminar, Chinese University of Hong Kong. Online via Zoom."

"How could the game of chess facilitate cross-cultural interaction? To perambulate this question, this talk explores medieval images of chess games between players of contrasting skin colour. Key pieces of medieval art, like the lavishly illuminated gaming manual commissioned by King Alfonso X of Castile, are brought into conversation here with little-known pieces, such as a fourteenth-century Mallorcan altarpiece. Despite chess often being perceived through the lens of western European chivalric culture, these examples highlight a much more diverse social and cultural spectrum for this ‘game of kings’. This talk investigates the crucial role of colour in the chequered world of chess, and highlights new avenues to refine our understanding of the representation of skin colour and diversity in the Global Middle Ages."

https://www.history.ox.ac.uk/people/dr-krisztina-ilko

"My project, ‘The Pawns of History: A New Approach Towards the Global Middle Ages,’ uses the game of chess and surviving chess pieces to find a tangible approach towards the global medieval past. In contrast to previous histories which have focused on the development of gameplay, my project employs chess to study cross-cultural communication in the Afro-Eurasian world between 800 and 1400. Scholars have often approached the multicultural Middle Ages either through its connectivity or as a period of barrier making and cultural difference. Chess, however, opens up the possibility to trace interconnectivity between different geographies, cultures, and social strata, but also show how the same connections could be used to create separation and distinctiveness. The primary goal is therefore a critical rethinking of wider processes, practices, and products of cross-cultural interaction. Ultimately, my project addresses how the ‘global’ was experienced in the medieval era, and contributes to broader discussions about how the Middle Ages overlaps but also differs from the modern global world."

It is quite exciting to see chess get this sort of attention from academic historians (this sort of history tends to go beyond a simple narrative exposition, delving deeply into archives, verging into the philosophical and theoretical, pushing the boundaries on new and cross-disciplinary concepts - it can be a difficult read [not everyone's cup of tea] and is not generally aimed at the public reading market, but is invariably extremely rigorous with huge amounts of research and lots of peer review).

It will take years, but will be very interesting to see the end results of her work. Deserves its own thread in the 'Chess History' section at some point.

Of course, that research by Krisztina Ilko is really medieval studies. It has very little to do with the study (historical or otherwise) of 19th-century and 20th century chess.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Have now read the article (the University of Cambridge 'Stories' one) and some fascinating examples of this (e.g. the Mallorcan altarpiece one). Not read the 'Speculum' journal article yet but will try to access it at some point. Looking forward to seeing the book: 'The Pawns of History: A New Approach towards the Global Middle Ages'.