Mathematics, Coding, Kingship, The Royal Household, Chess and The I Ching.

It is an interest of mine that there are certain affinities between Chess and the I Ching. 64 Squares/64 Hexagrams, Both binaries of light and dark and there fuzziness when one enters deeper into their complexities and through a process of change. Both are addressed to us through the concept of an ancient ruler. I sometimes think if the chessboard could speak, it would speak to us like the I Ching. This may be a minority interest but I would be very pleased to hear from anyone with thoughts. Any exposition of the the mathematics of this proposition would be especially welcome. I did consider writing some sort of thesis around Coding, Chess, Chess Apps, I Ching Divination Apps, the I Ching itself and so on, but this was typically Quixotic and I would have been totally out of my depth. Might be good to chat about such things though. (They dont let me out much without an escort)

*Their Fuzziness

There exists an algebra of chess, but to my knowledge no one has investigated this. Posts like yours are common, but for some reason nobody is interested (or maybe talented) enough to put the time into formalizing that algebra. One lady here shied away from the topic of formalizing chess logic as soon as I suggested she investigate it in depth, another person wanted to try to force fit probability to chess despite my warning that statistics would be much more applicable, another person here studies only the statistics and metrics of chess but is missing some important approaches, another person here tried to force fit combinatorics to chess where combinatorics was inapplicable, another person tried to find meaning in the results when the board was rotated 90 degrees and his friend told me to shut up when I told him why it wouldn't work. Foks, if you're serious about coming up with something mathematically important to chess then: (1) study non-numerical branches of math, especially group theory; (2) spend a few months of intense investigation on the topic--don't be lazy and expect great things in a hurry; (3) don't be a jerk to people who can help you in a major way; (4) contact some academic for insightful advice, don't be a jerk to him/her, and then take that advice.

Thats all excellent advice. Thank you. Im just pleased to be here!

Can you suggest a modest place to start reading wise if I were to buy a couple of books?

I mean I don't even expect modest things in a hurry. I'm happy to labour over a long time with little reward to achieve a modest understanding and then perhaps spark the thought process of someone more suited to the task.

But regardless you have given me an excellent starting point which I completely lacked before, so thanks

You ever discover any more interesting info on the relationship between I ching and chess?

Personally, I don't think the mathematical approach yields much of practical value for playing chess. Rather, I believe there is an aesthetic relevance between the two.  This comes from the correct mapping of the hexagrams onto the 64 squares.  Knowing this mapping, when pondering and calculating one inevitably ponders and reflects on the hexagrams. . .one might even think the chessboard speaks. 

About 25 years ago, I found this chess board based on I Ching. It's hand made of multiple layers of frosted glass in a very heavy mahogany frame. The pieces are just some painted plastic pieces that seem appropriate.

It reminds me of John Cage's painting / musical composition "Chess Pieces",

which isn't explicitly based on I Ching, but Cage was obsessed with both chess and I Ching, and he used I Ching in writing music and in visual art, so it's not a stretch to imagine that the notes in each square are based on I Ching.

There's some really interesting reading if you Google Cage, Duchamp, I Ching, Chess, etc. These guys were very creative and connected in the art world.