Andorra Chess - From the Pyrenees to Valencia: How Iberia Shaped Modern Chess
My chess friends, this summer I have been spamming you with updates about chess in Andorra, especially the 41st Andorra Chess Open. But the action was not limited to our country. Our players packed their bags and spread out across Europe to play in all sorts of tournaments.
This summer, one tournament in particular stayed with me, the 6th Valencia Cradle of Modern Chess International Open. Cradle of Modern Chess! That name alone is enough to spark curiosity: bold, symbolic, and impossible to ignore. Yet Valencia wasn’t the only place that left its mark on me. Also struck a chord: The Sort Chess Open, held in a small Pyrenean village fighting to keep its tournament alive.
Valencia claims the title of “cradle of modern chess,” while Sort embodies resilience, carrying forward a tradition against all odds. Between the grandeur of Valencia and the quiet determination of Sort, I found myself drawn to a bigger question: how did these regions, so different in scale and spirit, become woven into the story of the game itself? Later in this blog, I’ll step away from tournament recaps to uncover those deeper roots, tracing chess through the valleys of the Pyrenees and into the heart of Valencia, where its modern form was born.
Table of Contents
1. Andorra’s Summer Expeditions
2. Keeping the Flame Alive in Sort
3. 6th Valencia Cradle of Modern Chess International Open
4. From the Pyrenees to Valencia: How Iberia Shaped the Game of Chess
4.1 Pyrenean Beginnings (1007–1068)
4.2 The Queen Emerges (1475–1495)
1. Andorra’s Summer Expeditions
Here is a quick look at where our players have been this summer:
· 10th Porticcio Open (June 28 – July 4): Andria Ercoli participated.
· Benasque International Open (July 4–13): One of the strongest tournaments in Spain, with FM Daniel Gómez, FM Jesús Cortés, CM Pepe Ribera, and Maria Galera representing Andorra.
· ‘Playing with the Stars’ International Open (August 8–15, La Palma): WCM Júlia Muratet played in this unique event.
· 4th Bella Italia Lignano Sabbiadoro Festival (August 17–23): The Ribera brothers Serni and Josep Maria took part.
· 8th Hospitalet de l’Infant Rapid Tournament 2025: The Rechi family joined in full force, and Paco won the prize for best +65 veteran with 5 points.
2. Keeping the Flame Alive in Sort
The 26th Sort Chess Open deserves a spotlight of its own. I could not play in the main event this year, but I did win the blitz championship. More importantly, this tournament deserves recognition for its story.
Sort is a small village in the Pyrenees that once had a very active chess club. Over time, as key players moved away and activities slowed down, the local chess scene declined. Despite this, the organizers have managed to keep the open alive for more than two decades, a true show of perseverance.
Two years ago, I was so impressed by their effort that I proposed to the Catalan Federation that the Sort Open should be included (at least considered, as I admit this step is challenging) in its summer circuit. Sadly, the director dismissed the idea with the remark: “Sort? Do they really play chess there?” That kind of attitude, ignoring a tournament simply because it is far from Barcelona, is unfair and short-sighted. This is why I feel it is my duty to give the Sort Chess Open some visibility. People should know about this event and the inspiring community that continues to keep it alive against the odds.
This year’s main event crowned WFM Leancy Fernández (not the first time she has earned the spotlight on this blog), who stormed through the field with a perfect score. She repeats the same achievement she delivered in the 2023 edition.
To bring their story to a wider audience, the organizers have even launched an official Instagram account for the Sort Open this year -> go give them a follow and show some support.
3. 6th Valencia Cradle of Modern Chess International Open
The 6th Valencia Cradle of Modern Chess International Open took place from July 5 to 13, 2025, at the Universitat Politècnica de València, inside the ETSIT Telecommunications Building. The event not only brought together elite international players but also marked the 550th anniversary of modern chess, commemorating Valencia’s role in shaping the game we know today.
The competition followed a 9-round Swiss system with FIDE norms available for GM, IM, WGM, and WIM titles. The time control was 90 minutes plus a 30-second increment per move, and games were held daily (this is great for people like me who don't feel like having enough energy to play twice per day). Two rating groups allowed broad participation:
Group A: Players rated above 1900, and Group B: Players rated below 2100. Group A was played under the Baku system (accelerated Swiss), which made pairings with smaller Elo differences compared to standard Swiss and also increased the options to achieve a norm.
Group A crowned GM Josep Manuel López (Spain), who secured the title on tie-breaks after a tense final round. Also, some players achieved their desired norms: Jakub Seemann earned a GM norm, José García Molina and Wang Tongsen achieved an IM norm. Group B Champion: Kaige Wu, a 14-year-old prodigy, shocked the field with a perfect 9/9 score, dominating the under-2100 section.
The Open was more than just competition. Side events included a Blindfold Challenge, simultaneous exhibitions by the enigmatic Rey Enigma, and cultural activities highlighting Valencia as the cradle of modern chess.
For the Andorran expedition, it was also a success, gaining more than 100 Elo points between all players. Ribera brothers (Josep Maria and Serni) and your favourite blogger joined Group A, while Ariadna de la Riva and Julia Muratet took part in Group B.
I encourage all readers to consider playing in the next edition of the Valencia Cradle Open. The city’s passion for chess grows stronger every year, and the setting is unbeatable: a charming old town, plenty of summer activities, and a beautiful beach just 1 km from the playing venue. The organization was excellent, and some players even extended their stay to participate in the Monteolivete tournament (though I probably shouldn’t have mentioned Monteolivete, since it usually clashes with the Andorra Open).
All these tournaments—whether in Sort, Valencia, or here at home—reminded me that chess is more than just Elo points, prizes, and standings. Each place has its own story, its own role in keeping the game alive. And in some corners of Iberia, that story runs far deeper than a single tournament: it stretches back a thousand years, to the very roots of chess in Europe...
4. From the Pyrenees to Valencia: How Iberia Shaped the Game of Chess
Chess, born in India as chaturanga and refined in the Islamic world as shatranj, entered Europe around the 9th–10th centuries. In the West, it quickly became more than a game: a marker of prestige, an allegory of social order, and an intellectual pastime.
Before diving in, I came across a website with many fascinating articles (in Spanish) on the history of chess. It’s well worth a visit: http://www.historiadelajedrezespanol.es
4.1 Pyrenean Beginnings (1007–1068)
If Valencia can claim to be the birthplace of modern chess, the Pyrenees can claim to be one of its earliest European homes. In the 11th century, long before the Queen burst onto the board, chess was already leaving its traces in the mountains of Catalonia and Andorra. What survives from this period are not games or manuals, but something more intimate: wills, inventories, and treasures that reveal how deeply chess had already taken root in noble, clerical, and monastic life.
Why this region? Medieval Andorra sat within the diocese of Urgell; from 1278 the Bishop of Urgell became Andorra’s co-prince, so Urgell’s archives and the neighboring Pyrenean monasteries are the right place to look for early mentions.
NOTE: Europe also has a slightly earlier technical description of chess like the Versus de scachis.
1007 – A Count’s Last Gift
When Count Ermengol I of Urgell prepared his will, he listed among his possessions a set of chessmen—bequeathing them, alongside land and riches, to a monastery in Provence. Imagine that: a feudal lord, placing his chess set in the same category as estates and treasure, as something worthy of safeguarding his soul. Already by 1007, chess was not just a pastime; it was a mark of culture, status, and legacy.
)1008 – Crystal Pieces at Ripoll
Only a year later, another record appears at the monastery of Santa Maria de Ripoll, a renowned center of learning. Its inventory listed twenty-eight crystal chess pieces, nearly a full set. These weren’t everyday gaming tools. They were luxury objects—crafted to impress, to gleam in candlelight, to reflect both wealth and intellect. Far from banning the game, the monks of Ripoll embraced it as part of their cultural life.
1045 – The Priest of Urgell
Not only nobles and abbots played. In 1045, a priest named Seniofred left his own set of chessmen to a local church. This detail reminds us that the medieval church was no monolith: while councils occasionally condemned the game, in practice many clerics owned and enjoyed it.
1058 – Ermessenda of Carcassonne’s rock-crystal set
Ermessenda, regent countess of Barcelona and sister-in-law of Ermengol I, bequeaths rock-crystal chessmen (often quoted as “eschacos cristallinos”) to Saint-Gilles. The chess-historical literature treats this as a second major Catalan/Occitan notice of luxury chess pieces within the comital networks that included Urgell.
1068 – The Àger Crystal Chessmen
Perhaps the most spectacular evidence comes from the fortress-town of Àger, where Arnau Mir de Tost and his wife Arsenda owned a dazzling rock-crystal set, carved in Fatimid Egypt and carried across the Mediterranean. Nineteen of these pieces survive today, their smooth transparency a thousand years old, displayed in Lleida's museum. They tell a story of chess as both an imported treasure and a symbol of prestige, bridging cultures from Cairo to Catalonia.
Together, these traces form a remarkable picture: between 1007 and 1068, chess was already woven into the lives of nobles, priests, and monks in the Pyrenees. It was not just a game played in secret corners, but an heirloom, a luxury, and in some cases, a spiritual offering.
4.2 The Queen Emerges (1475–1495)
For centuries, the game played in Europe was still essentially shatranj:
The fers (vizier) moved only one square diagonally, the bishop advanced through short leaps, games unfolded slowly, sometimes lasting days.
By the 14th century, experimentation began in southern Europe. Some manuscripts refer to an expanded fers, though these were regional variations rather than a unified system.
By the mid-15th century, Iberian and Italian circles were trying out a “super-ferz” capable of crossing the board. The decisive innovation came when the fers was fully transformed into the Queen, the most powerful piece, and the bishop gained unlimited diagonal range.
This change was more than technical. It altered the tempo of the game: sudden attacks and quick checkmates replaced the drawn-out attrition of shatranj. It also carried cultural weight. The rise of the Queen on the board coincided with the prominence of women rulers such as Isabella I of Castile, whose reign symbolized female authority at the highest level of politics.
The first documentary witness of the modern Queen appears in Valencia in 1475. The allegorical poem Scachs d’amor (“Chess of Love”), by Francesc de Castellví, Narcís Vinyoles, and Bernat Fenollar, stages a game between Mars and Venus.
Every move described in the poem reflects the new rules: the Queen dominates, the Bishop sweeps diagonals, pawns can promote, and the play is fast. It is the earliest surviving record of a chess game with modern rules. In one stroke, chess became the game of foresight and tactics we know today.
1495: Francesc Vicent and the Printing Press
Two decades later, on 15 May 1495, Francesc Vicent published “Libre dels Jochs Partits dels Schacs en Nombre de 100 ordenat e compost” in Valencia. Though no copies survive, bibliographical references confirm its printing. It was the first chess book printed with modern rules.
The impact of the printing press was transformative: from Valencia, the innovations of Scachs d’amor spread rapidly across Europe. By the early 1500s, the modern Queen was universally accepted, and the old shatranj had vanished.
4.3 TLDR
The Iberian Peninsula shaped chess in two fundamental ways. In the Pyrenees between 1007 and 1068, chess was already present as a possession of nobles, clergy, and monasteries, documented in wills and luxury objects like the Àger crystal set. These are among the earliest and richest European records of the game, clearer than any elsewhere on the continent.
In Valencia between 1475 and 1495, chess was reborn in its rules. The Queen’s rise and the Bishop’s expanded movement, immortalized in Scachs d’amor and codified in Vicent’s printed book, created the fast, tactical game that has endured to our day.
The next time you move your Queen across the board, remember: her journey began not only in the halls of Valencia but centuries earlier in the valleys and monasteries of the Pyrenees, where the first Catalan chessmen were carved, listed, and treasured.
Note: I’ve done my best to accurately trace the historical details, but I may have made mistakes along the way. If you spot any inaccuracies or have additional insights, please share them in the comments; I’d love to learn more and improve this piece with your help.
