Scachs d’amor: The Poem That Gave Birth to Modern Chess
José Garzón has sent several articles to complement his lecture given in Valencia on 5 September, which was entitled: Spain as the cradle of modern chess
These fascinating articles will be published in several instalments, with a summary in English and the full text in Spanish. Here is the first one.
Many thanks to José for allowing us to publish these texts.
Valencia, 1475 — when poetry invented the Queen
by José Garzón
In the twilight of the fifteenth century, in the brilliant humanist city of Valencia, three poets — Bernat Fenollar, Narcís Vinyoles, and Francí de Castellví — created a remarkable work titled Scachs d’amor (“Chess of Love”).
Behind its courtly allegory lies nothing less than the birth certificate of modern chess.
For nearly seven centuries Europe had played the medieval shatranj, inherited from the Arab world. But around 1475, this Valencian poem introduced a genuine revolution: for the first time appeared the Queen, the most powerful piece on the board, replacing the modest medieval alferza.
The bishop also gained its modern movement, and we already find the double pawn move, the en passant capture, and the first outline of castling.
The poem stages an allegorical game between Mars (Castellví) and Venus (Vinyoles), with Mercury (Fenollar) acting as arbiter.
Across 64 stanzas — like the 64 squares of the chessboard — unfolds the earliest known game played with modern rules, ending with a brilliant checkmate delivered by the Queen herself.
It was a perfect reflection of the time: the triumph of a powerful female figure inspired by Queen Isabella the Catholic and by the Marian devotion that permeated Valencian poetry.
Discovered in 1905 in Barcelona, the Scachs d’amor manuscript was later lost, probably during the Spanish Civil War. Yet preserved photographs have allowed historians such as José A. Garzón to confirm its fundamental role: it predates Francesch Vicent’s Llibre dels joch partits dels scachs (1495) and the later treatises of Lucena and Damiano that spread the new rules throughout Europe.
Thus, Valencia rightfully stands as the cradle of modern chess —
and we may say, without exaggeration, that the Queen was born in a love poem.
Reference:
Garzón, José A. «El acta de nacimiento del ajedrez moderno: el poema Scachs d´amor». En: Pasiones Bibliográficas 5. Valencia: Societat Bibliogràfica Valenciana Jerònima Galés, 2021, 95-110.