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origin of "regina regit colorem" / "servat regina colorem"?
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Murray in his History of Chess (p. 453 n. 4) gives The Royall Game of Chesse-Play (London 1656) as the earliest reference he was able to find. This work is a translation of Gioachino Greco by Francis Beale; the verse is printed as follows: Rex albus in atro, Rex ater in albo, servat Regina colores (p. 2). Maybe there are earlier manuscript sources.
does anyone know where this chess saying originally comes from