When I play with female players

This is "cut and paste" from my own site:

The second important chess publication in the first half of the 16th century wasn't a chess manual, but rather a chess poem. Keeping with the Renaissance spirit, the poem recalls classical Rome in both it's use of latin and of Roman mythology. It's interesting to note that the poet creates a Goddess of Chess, though not Caissa. The Scacchia Ludus, The Game of Chess, was written by Marcus Hieronymus Vida, Bishop of Alba, in 1513 and published by Vida in 1527 (it was first published in 1525 but Vida's name wasn't credited). In the poem the Roman god Apollo plays Mercury in a game of chess. Vida describes the rules of the game and the pieces used in great detail. Instead of Bishops, Vida employs the term, Sagittifer or Archers; instead of Rooks, he uses Elephas or Elephant. The poem concludes with Mercury's victory after which he seduces a nymph named Scacchis and compensates her by teaching her this godly game and naming it after her:
Soon after this, the heavenly victor brought
The game on earth, and first th' Italians taught.
For (as they say) fair Scacchis he espied
Feeding her cygnets in the silver tide,
(Scacchis, the loveliest Seriad of the place)
And as she stray'd, took her to his embrace.
Then, to reward her for her virtue lost,
Gave her the men and chequer'd board emboss'd
With gold and silver curiously inlay'd;
And taught her how the game was to be play'd.
Ev'n now 'tis honour'd with her happy name;
And Rome and all the world admire the game.

Scacchia ludus was the basis for another poem, written by William Jones in 1763. His poem was called Caïssa. While Scacchis may have been the first Goddess of Chess, Caïssa is certainly the most famous and sustaining. In the poem Caïssa, Mars becomes infatuated with a nymph named Caïssa but she does not return the favor and is in fact a bit repulsed by the God of War. Not one to give up the fight, Mars enlists the aid of an ally, Euphron, the God of Sports and Games. Euphon creates the game of chess and designs a beautiful and elaborate board and chess set for Mars to give to Caïssa. In the poem, Mars gains Caïssa's attention this way and teaches her how to play. As the game progresses, Caïssa's resistance wears down and in the end, Mars wins more than just the game. But Caïssa wins eternal fame.

Marcus Hieronymus Vida was an Italian poet, a theologian and the Bishop of Alba. He was born in Cremona in 1485 and died in Alba in 1566. His poem was a favorite of Pope Leo X, an avid chess player.

from "The Works of the English Poets, from Chaucer to Cowper" by Alexander Chalmers, 1810.