Historically Noteworthy Games

Here is the first game in the Chessgames.com database; dating from 1475, it features a poorly calculated tactical battle from the Scandinavian defense. There is some debate about whether the players were considered "patzers" in their own day, of if they were actually decent players in a time when the game had not been explored very deeply. 

This game was a joint effort by 3 Valencians, Francí de Castellví (Royal bartender and Royal steward), Narcís Vinyoles (auctioneer and gov. accountant) and Bernat Fenollar (an Ecclesiast and frequently published poet).  The game itself was proably manufactured and is the basis of the poem "Eschacs d’Amor" ("Chess Game of Love"), written sometime between 1470-1490.   It's not the first extant recorded game of chess, but it is the first one incorporating the "scacchi alla rabiosa," "le jeu de la dame enragée," or the "mad queen chess" - a queen with the moves we use today (as well as the option of moving the pawn 2 squares on the first move).

In the 576 lined poem Mars (Castellví) is playing Venus (Vinyoles) for her love in a game of chess while Mercury (Fenollar) arbitrates. All three of these men were active members in the literary and chess circles in Valencia and because of that a lot is known about them and because a lot is known about them, this work is a key element to understanding the origins of modern chess.

The game contains 21 moves for white and 20 for black - a ply count of 41. The poem contains 21 stanzas: Mars with the red pieces, has 21 stanzas; Venus with the green pieces has 20; Mercury, the arbitrator, also has 20 stanzas; there are 3 introductory stanzas - totaling 64 stanza (9 lines each, totaling 576 lines).

Here is the game in the original Catalan
Here is a beautiful page with the English translation and explanation.

Here is an article I'd written on this and other early chess poems and poets.

I had no idea there was such an extensive back story to this game! Do you know if it was common to use red and green pieces then? Or was this something specific to Venus?

Your linked article is a true masterwork! 

All sorts of colors and combinations have been used throughout time.  HJR Murray talks about red and green used in medieval Burma along with black and white, red and bone and other combinations. One thing is that what we know, or assume, is often based on what has survived, esecially in lack of written descriptions.  Sets made of painted wood probably didn't survive too well, while sets of ivory, bone, jade, or any other durable material did. The colors people used could have been natural, dyed or painted.   So, I don't think any particular colors or combinations were common or uncommon, just what was available or what caught the craftsman's eye.  Even in later time in Europe a variety of colors are known to have been used.  On the other hand, the Valencians might have chosen those colors for some symbolic reasons, though I don't know what such symbolism might be.

Interesting... do we know when the black and white sets became standard? Or unpainted darkwood and lightwood?

Also, do you mind if I link that article you posted into the "Member Articles" thread?

I'm not so sure black and white sets have ever been standard, just the convention of calling the sides Black and White, which dates back to at least the time of Philidor. Contrasting colors seems to have always been the ideal, but even today, black and white doesn't appear to be any convention. Light and Dark seems closer.

Sure, you can link the article.

Regarding colors, in 1860, Howard Staunton wrote in "Chess Praxis":

The Chess Board.

The Board must contain Sixty-four squares in eight lines of eight squares each, alternately coloured light and dark. The norizontal lines of squares are termed "ranks," and the vertical lines " files." During play, the board must be so placed that each combatant has a white square in his right hand corner.

The Chess Men.

The Chess Men must consist of sixteen for each player, eight superior, called "Pieces." and eight inferior, called "Pawns," and they must, for distinction, be of a light coloui for one player, and of a dark colour for the other: the one being termed "White," and the other "Black." The eight Pieces for each party must consist of one King, one Queen, two Rooks (or Castles), two Bishops, and two Knights The Pawns take their names from the Pieces before which they stand.

"Gentlemen's Magazine" had a long article on the Lewis Chessmen in 1832 in which was written:

"The number of the chess-men discovered in the Isle of Lewis, exclusive of the fourteen table-men or draught-men, and the fibula found with them, amounts to sixtyseven; of which number nineteen arc pawns, the rest superior pieces. Of these, six are Kings, five Queens, thirteen Bishops, fourteen Knights, and ten pieces which Mr. Madden designates by the title of Warders, which here take the place of the Rook or Castle; forming, altogether, the materials of six or more sets. For the sake of distinction, part of them were originally stained of a dark red or beet-root colour; but, from having been so long subject to the action of the saltwater, the colouring matter, in most cases, has been discharged. The pieces vary also in size, according to the sets of which they formed a part; and, although ao many remain, it is difficult at present to select even two sets which correspond exactly."

In 1822 there was an artilce in the "New Monthly Magazine" about chess in the 13th century (this is about the time of transition between Shatranj and Chess) which said:
"The Chess-men generally used were of ivory of various colours, either red and black, white and black, or red and green. The Chessboards (eschequier) were no less splendid: those played on by the nobility were inlaid sometimes with jasper and crystal, and the rim of the board of fine gold; sometimes with silver and goldl"

In 1792 the famous Richard Twiss wrote: "I went once to the Cafe de la Regence, with the intention of playing a game at chess, but I found the chess-men so very little different in colour, that I could not distinguish them sufficiently to be able to play. It seems it is the fashion for chess-men at present to be made of box-wood, and all nearly of the same colour. I then went to another coffee-house frequented by chess-players, and here the matter was worse; they had, in addition to the above-mentioned fashion, substituted the cavalier, or knight, for the fou, or bishop, and the Bishop for the knight, so that I left them to fight their own battles."