Chess (game)

Chess was a board game and "one of the four universal games" of Faerûn along with draughts, dice, and Talis. The game was also known as lanceboard or castles.

Description
In Faerûn, chess was played on a checkered board with thirty-two pieces of six types: pawns, rooks (or castles), knights-errant (or knights), priests (or bishops), queens, and kings. The board was the same as that used in the simpler game of draughts/checkers, and was called a chess board or lanceboard. They usually came with the board in a wooden case.

Sets
While the more common chess sets were made of carved and dyed wood, finer sets were often made of more exotic materials. These included ebony and ivory for the pieces and marble for the board. Alternatively, luspeel (magnetite) could be used so the pieces would have a slight magnetic attraction to a steel chessboard.

Chess sets often used well-known figures, such as rulers or deities, for the king pieces. Others depicted the warriors, priests, and rulers of the land in which they were made.

Some noted traditional, specialty, and magical sets were as follows:


 * Traditional Set: This was the most common form and a standard of the game. Typical pieces were hand-carved of ebony and ivory, played on a black and white marbled board, and stored in a padded teak case. In the early 1360s DR, Aurora's Emporium sold these for 20 gp.


 * Avatar Set:
 * This set available from Aurora's Emporium in the early 1360s DR was made of hardwoods from around Loudwater finely carved to resemble figures from the Time of Troubles of 1358 DR. They were reduced to 15 gp in a special clearance following mysterious warehouse fires.
 * {| border="1" frame="hsides" rules="rows" cellpadding="5" width="300px"

! valign="bottom" bgcolor="Silver" align="center" width="34%" | ! valign="bottom" bgcolor="Silver" align="center" width="33%" | White ! valign="bottom" bgcolor="Silver" align="center" width="33%" | Black
 * align="right" | King
 * align="center" | Elminster
 * align="center" | Cyric
 * align="right" | Queen
 * align="center" | Mystra
 * align="center" | Razor's Edge
 * }
 * align="center" | Razor's Edge
 * }
 * }


 * Horde Set
 * Also available from Aurora's Emporium in the early 1360s DR, this limited-edition set made with special permission from the kingdom of Cormyr commemorated the defeat of the Tuigan Horde. Pieces were made from stone and gilded iron with life-like and flattering depictions of the common soldiers and leaders. Sold for 25 gp, it was popular with lesser Cormyrean nobles and encouraged them to learn the game.
 * {| border="1" frame="hsides" rules="rows" cellpadding="5" width="300px"

! valign="bottom" bgcolor="Silver" align="center" width="34%" | ! valign="bottom" bgcolor="Silver" align="center" width="33%" | White ! valign="bottom" bgcolor="Silver" align="center" width="33%" | Black
 * align="right" | King
 * align="center" | Yamun Khahan
 * align="center" | Azoun IV
 * align="right" | Queen
 * align="center" | Horde leader
 * align="center" | Alusair
 * align="right" | Other Pieces
 * align="center" | Tuigan horsemen
 * align="center" | Vangerdahast
 * }
 * align="center" | Tuigan horsemen
 * align="center" | Vangerdahast
 * }
 * }


 * Magical Chessman of Ultham-Urre
 * The Magical Chessmen of Ultham-Urre was a set of chess pieces that were themselves magical artifacts with an array of powers. Made from luspeel, each was uniquely carved to resemble a lifelike Chessentan citizen, inlaid with jacinths for a red set and beljurils for a green set. In particular, those who used them would be transformed into the figure depicted, while the rooks turned into instant fortresses.
 * {| border="1" frame="hsides" rules="rows" cellpadding="5" width="300px"

! valign="bottom" bgcolor="Silver" align="center" width="34%" | ! valign="bottom" bgcolor="Silver" align="center" width="33%" | Red ! valign="bottom" bgcolor="Silver" align="center" width="33%" | Green
 * align="right" | King
 * align="center" | Fighter
 * align="center" | Ranger
 * align="right" | Queen
 * align="center" | Mage
 * align="center" | Mage
 * align="right" | Bishop
 * align="center" | Cleric
 * align="center" | Druid
 * align="right" | Knight
 * align="center" | Fighter
 * align="center" | Ranger
 * align="right" | Pawn
 * align="center" | Thief
 * align="center" | Fighter
 * }
 * align="right" | Pawn
 * align="center" | Thief
 * align="center" | Fighter
 * }
 * }
 * }

Regional Variations
In Calimshan, a piece must be moved once it has been touched, but that rule was not used in Cormyr. In Cormyr, a player needed to announce their move out loud.

Reputation
According to Aurora, chess was considered the most challenging and interesting of the four "universal" games. It was said that rulers waged war with their armies in the summer, and practiced war with chess in the winter. She called it the "king of games" and the "game of kings".

The Red Knight, the goddess of strategy and titled the Grandmaster of the Lanceboard, used a red knight-errant piece as her holy symbol and named her sword Checkmate. She showed her favor by manifesting chessboards, red chess pieces, and even stone guardians in the shape of chess pieces. Her chapels used such chess imagery, and the clergy held day-long chess tournaments on the Queen's Gambit festival on Tarsakh 1. The clergy used the spell knight's move inspired by the knight-errant piece.

The Chessmen of Valsprendar was a circle of eleven standing stones marking a burial site in the hamlet of Wright's Ferry in the Dalelands. They were named for the game of chess.

History
The game known as chess, lanceboard, or castles was apparently based on the ancient elven board game of Coroniir, or "crowns" in Common. Lilianviaten Dlardrageth felt that humans had brutalized what elves had invented, as with most great things.

Chess was known in Chessenta (no relation) around the 10 century DR. For example, during the reign of King Tchazzar (929–1018 DR), the archmage Ultham, son of Urrekanam, spent many hours playing chess with the elders of the village of Oslin, and created the Magical Chessmen of Ultham-Urre to protect his friends there before he journeyed into the planes. For several years, they were just used as simple chess pieces.

In the Year of the Prince, 1357 DR, King Theris of Mourktar in Threskel held athletic competitions to choose his successor. Alongside archery, boxing, charioteering, discus, jumping, riding, running, swimming, and wrestling, chess was one of the events.

Notable Chess Players

 * Helyos, a mercenary of Akanax, a skilled chess player and contender at King Theris's games.
 * Lord Mahmud Biinazol, a minor noble of Tethyr, a fanatic for the game.