The Story of Chess

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Overview

Two nations were at war over a great island for years, and both sides lost many people before a truce was signed. The kings of these nations decided to reward ther person who could devise the greatest memorial to the fallen so that the war would never be repeated.

After a steady stream of inventors, artists, and storytellers tried and failed, a man appeared with a box and a gameboard. So begins the story.

The man explains how each piece moves, and why. For example, the king is all-powerful, so he can move in any direction. But because a ruler must be cautious, he can move only one square per turn. he animosity of the kings is so great that they can never occupy adjacent squares, and their importance is such that if a side loses its king, it has lost the war. Each piece is given similar treatment, as are such moves as check, checkmate, castling, and en passant. The highly individualistic illustrations help demonstrate the mechanics of the game explained in the text, and a more conventional board-and -piece icon on each page show that more literal interpretation of the move. Through an illustrated story of the creation of chess, this book provides narratives and visual devices for learning the game and remembering the moves.

The Story of Chess will excite and teach children new to the game and will emphasize each piece's importance for those already familar with the rules.

Other Details: 48 full-color illustrations 48 pages 10 x 10" Published 1998

Editorial Reviews

School Library Journal

Gr 3-6-An imagined retelling of the origins of chess. The narrator traces the game to, "a great island that has since disappeared." (In truth, its roots lie arguably in either India or China and it developed through Europe until it came to be the game we know today.) The story is about the leaders of two warring nations who, after suffering great losses battling one another, wish to leave a tribute so that such devastation would not be repeated. A man named Sissa devises a game that he presents to the kings as the commissioned memorial. Each two-page spread introduces a player and offers reasoning for the moves it is allowed. "These counselors and messengers [the Bishops]...begin the game at the side of their kings and queens in order to whisper advice in their ears. They will move in the direction of their voices. In other words, diagonally." Special moves such as "castling" are also addressed within the framework of the story. The book can serve as a starting place for beginners, but they will need to look elsewhere for more detailed instruction on strategy and defense. Dark, foreboding, and stylized illustrations show the animated versions of the pieces, daggers drawn or advancing on their opponents. They're depicted as grim, fierce characters of battle and evoke images of Lewis Carroll's royal court from Alice in Wonderland. Centuries of play have proven chess' enduring nature. This book will certainly spark interest in it in the next generation.-Christy Norris Blanchette, Valley Cottage Library, NY

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780789202505
Publisher: Abbeville Press, Incorporated
Publication date: 5/28/1998
Edition description: 1 ED
Edition number: 1
Pages: 45
Sales rank: 632,456
Age range: 9 - 12 Years
Product dimensions: 10.32 (w) x 10.33 (h) x 0.40 (d)

Read an Excerpt

Introduction

This is the story of the game of chess, or at least the story as it was told to me when I was a child. They say it began a long time ago, before there were books or even the written word. It is the story of two nations, one black and the other white, that lived on and fought over a great island that has since disappeared.

They say that so many people died in the war and that the sadness of the two kings was so great that they decided to leave a tribute to the war so that it would not be repeated. The kings knew the task would not be an easy one, so they offered a large reward to the person who could tell the story in an original and memorable way.

From that moment on, inventors, jesters, and storytellers began to parade before the court, but none of them could devise a fitting memorial. So much time passed that the kings were losing hope of ever seeing their wishes fulfilled.

Then one day a man named Sissa came into the kingdom and declared that he had the answer to all the royal wishes. When the two courts, bored and skeptical as they had become, were brought together the stranger spoke: "The story you request is locked inside this wooden case." He then placed a box and a playing board at the feet of the kings.

Author Biography: Horacio Cardo is an illustrator living in New York and Buenos Aires. His work has appeared in the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Wall Street Journal, and many other periodicals.

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The Story of Chess

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