412 C H 
flerge be a lady, a queen, or the king’s wife, by what odd 
metamorphofis does the pawn change his fex, and be¬ 
come a woman that was a foldier before? And how do 
they make him marry the king, in recompence of that 
valour of which he has given iuch proofs? This abiur- 
clity proves that the fecond piece of chefs has been mal 
apropos called lady or queen. 
The third piece of chefs, which we call the bifhop; 
the French, fol; the Spaniards, alferez ; and the Italian , 
alhere ; lerjeanf, in the Eaft; was of the figure of an ele¬ 
phant, and whole name it bore. 'The knight, which is 
the fourth piece, has the fame name and‘figure every 
where. The fifth piece, which we call the rook, and the 
French tour, is called by the eaftern people, the rokb, 
and the Indians make it of the figure of a camel, mounted 
by an horfeman with a bow and arrow in his hand. The 
name of rokb, which is common both to the Periians and 
Indians, fignilies, in the language of the Eaft, a fort of 
camel ufed in war, and placed upon the wings of their 
armies by way of iight-horfe. The rapid motion of this 
piece, which jumps from one end of the board to the 
other, agrees fo much the better with this idea of it, as 
at firft it was the only piece that had this motion. The 
king, queen, and pawn, made but one (tep, the bifhop 
•but two, as well as the knight, neither of them going 
farther than the third fquare, including that which they 
quitted. The rook alone was unbounded in his courfe, 
which may agree to the lightneis of the dromedary, but 
in no way to the immobility of towers, or fortrefles, the 
figures which we now generally give to thole pieces. The 
•fixth, and laft piece, is the pawn, or common foldier, 
which has hitherto buffered no change. The Cliinefe, if 
mot the inventors, certainly made great alterations in 
.this game; they introduced new pieces, under the form 
.of artillery. Tamerlane made yet greater changes in this 
game; and, by the new pieces which he invented, and 
-the motion he gave them, he increafed the difficulty of 
a game already too complicated to be looked upon as a 
mere amufement; but thefe additions have not been ap¬ 
proved of, and the ancient manner of playing, each with 
fixteeen pieces only, and upon a board of fixty-four 
fquares, lias taken place again. Much confufion, how¬ 
ever, has arifen, from the arbitrary change of the names, 
as well as forms, of the cheffmen, by different nations. 
Some have retained the forms, whillt they have altered 
the names; and others the names, after having changed 
the forms. Thus it has happened with cards; we retain 
the Spnnifh name of clubs and fpades, whillt we have 
adopted the French fuits. 
It is faid that this game was imported from Conftanti- 
nople, during the time of the crufades, fir ft into Italy 
and Spain, and then into England, and other countries; 
and hence arofe the general corruption and variation of 
the European names of the cheftinen. With us, the queen 
lias been tlilecl the old --woman, or nurfe ; but, by the French, 
and after them the Englifh in the middle ages , fierca, 
fievges, See. but the title queen is, neverth'elefs, of con- 
fiderable antiquity. The bifhop appears to have been 
termed by Englifh writers, alpbin, aufin , See. from an 
Arabic word which lignifies an elephant ; the French 
fometimes denominated it fol, lbmetimes an archer: by 
the Germans it was called the hound or runner ; by the 
Ruffians and Swedes, the elephant-, by the Poles, the priejl. 
The knight has always retained this diftinftion on the 
French and Englifh chefs-board; the Germans, from the 
nature of their motion, give them the appellation of 
leapers-, and the Ruffians call them horfes. The rook has 
been confidered as a caftle or fortrefs. It is probable 
that the European form of the caftle was copied in part 
from fome ancient Indian piece of the elephant with a 
a caftle on his back. The pawns are fuppofed to receive 
their name from pedones, a barbarous Latin term for foot- 
loldiers. The Germans, Danes, and Swedes, have con¬ 
verted them into peafants. The writers of the middle 
£' S S. 
ages, in 1'peaking of the cheffmen, univerfally ftile them 
fdfnilue. 
We next come to (peak of placing the men on the 
board, and the rules by which the game is to be played. 
The white Icing is to he placed on the fourth black'houfe 
from the corner of the board, in the firft and lower rank ; 
and the black king is to be placed on the fourth white 
home, on the oppofite, or adversary's fide of the board; 
the queens are to be placed next to the kings, in houfes 
of their own colour. Next to the king and queen on 
each hand, place the two bifhops; next to them the two 
knights; and, laft of all, on the corners of the board, 
the two rooks. The pawns are to be placed, without 
diflinSion, on the fecond rank of the houfe, one before 
each of the dignified pieces. Having thus difpofed of 
the men, the onfet is commonly begun by the pawns, 
which march ftraiglit forward in their own file, one houfe 
at a time, except the firft moves, when it can advance 
two houfes, but never moves backwards. The manner 
of their taking the adversary's men is tideways, in the 
next houfe forwards; where, having made captures of 
the enemy, they move forward as before. The rook goes 
forward, or croffwife, through the whole file, and back 
again : the knight (kips backward and forward to the 
next houfe, Cave one of a different colour, with a fidling 
march, or aflope; and thus kills his enemies that fall in 
his way, or guards his friends that may be expofed on 
that fide : the bifhop walks, always in the fome colour of 
the field that he is placed in at firft, forward and back¬ 
ward, aflope, or diagonally, as far as he can : the queen’s 
walk is more univerfal, as (lie takes all the lteps of the 
before-mentioned pieces, excepting that of the knight; 
as to the king’s motion, it is one houfe at a time, and 
that either forward, backward, (loping, or lideways. A 
figure of the cheffmen and chefs-board is added, for the 
better information of the reader. 
King. Queen. Bifhop. Knight. Rook. Pawn* 
