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chess

Painting ‘The Chess Players’ by Liberale da Verona.   Source: Public domain

The Evolution of Board Games: From Royal Pastimes to Global Phenomena

In the dynamic tapestry of human leisure and recreation, board games have carved an enduring niche, evolving through millennia from ancient pastimes to modern phenomena. This article embarks on a...
The tableman gaming piece discovered in Bedfordshire, England. Source: Cotswold Archaeology

Fascinating Medieval Gaming Piece Uncovered at Building Site in England

Next time you’re playing a board game with your friends and family, consider that you may be playing something that originated in the medieval era, or beyond. Archaeologists have made a fascinating...
Lewis Chessmen king and queen, with rook and knight behind them.

The Icelandic Theory: Experts Challenge Establishment Dogma to Reveal History of Ivory Vikings

In 1874, the Norwegian chess historian Antonius Van der Linde belittled Frederic Madden’s suggestion that Iceland could produce anything approaching the sophistication of the Lewis chessmen...
Lewis Chessmen

The Missing Pieces: Unraveling the History of the Lewis Chessmen

In the early 1800s, on a golden Hebridean beach, the sea exposed an ancient treasure cache: ninety-two game pieces carved of ivory and the buckle of the bag that once contained them. Seventy-eight...
Arch at Humayma, Jordan (insert, claimed oldest chess piece)

Is This The Oldest Chess Piece In The World?

Archaeologists digging in Jordan may have found the oldest chess piece in the world. John Oleson, an archaeologist at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada, believes he and his...
The newly discovered medieval chess piece, one of the Lewis Chessmen, had been missing for almost 200 years. Source: Courtesy of Sotheby's .

Lewis Chessman Bought for £5 Sells at Auction for £735,000

In the early 1800s, an ancient treasure washed up on the Isle of Lewis in westernmost Scotland – 78 ornately-carved chess pieces made from walrus ivory dating back to the 12 th century. The Lewis...
The newly discovered medieval chess piece, one of the Lewis Chessmen, had been missing for almost 200 years. Source: Courtesy of Sotheby's.

Rediscovered Viking-era Lewis Chessman Is Predicted To Make A Family Millionaires

An old heirloom looks likely to make a lucky family a fortune when it goes to auction . They found one of the Lewis Chess pieces that belongs to one of the most famous chess sets in all of history...
The medieval chess piece found in Norway in December 2017.

Richly Adorned Arabic Influenced Chess Piece Unearthed in Norway

Archaeologists from the Norwegian Institute of Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU) have recently discovered a rare and richly decorated Arabic-inspired chess piece in Tønsberg. Arabic Inspired Chess...
Fun for Everyone: The Evolving History of Board Games

Fun for Everyone: The Evolving History of Board Games

The delightful hobby of playing games isn't a modern invention. While people in ancient times didn't have Pokemon Go to entertain themselves, they still spent hours of fun games both inside and...