In the European medieval imagination, representations of racial difference were often very clear-cut. Black people appeared either as exotic and prestigious figures – saints or rich sovereigns like the Queen of Sheba – or as dominated figures, judged inferior to white Christians. Yet, as my research shows, chess offered another perspective: a space where players could compete as equals, regardless of their skin color.
Elements taken from Book of games (Book of games), subtitled Book of ajedrez, dados and tablas (Book of chess, dice and tables), a games manual made for King Alfonso X the Wise, king of Castile and León, in Seville in 1283, reinforced this idea. The manuscript contains 103 chess problems, each accompanied by text indicating the winner and an illustration. These images depict a wide diversity of characters, ranging from Jewish men to Muslim women. We also see Asian players, white and black.
Singular representations
One of the most striking illustrations shows a black player and a pale-skinned player, facing each other on opposite sides of a chessboard. The latter has his head shaved, a sign that he is a learned cleric. Yet, despite this intelligence marker, the text indicates that the black player will win. In this “logic game”, victory goes to the one who demonstrates the best strategic abilities. What matters above all is the intellectual power of the player. As explained by Book of gameschess embodies wisdom and those who study it gain the ability to defeat others.
Another image in the manuscript shows five black figures surrounding the chessboard (see opening image, editor’s note). In Western medieval visual culture, scenes depicting only black figures are rare and generally associated with negative connotations. Here, on the contrary, they appear in a highly intellectual setting and in an atmosphere that seems friendly.
If the game of chess did not eliminate dominant social norms regarding racial prejudice, it nevertheless offered players a space to question them in its own playful universe.
International meetings and challenges
The depiction of chess as a meeting between people of different skin colors was not limited to Europe. THE Book of Kings Or Shâhnâmehan epic poem retracing the history of the Iranians from the creation of the world to the Islamic conquest, thus recounts the introduction of the game in Iran.
According to the Shâhnâmehan Indian king – whose name is not specified – sent an embassy to the Sassanid king with a chessboard and a challenge: understand the rules or pay tribute. Fortunately for the sovereign, his advisor Būzurjmihr managed to solve the riddle. A copy of the poem dating from the 14th centurye century places this scene in a Mongolian setting from the end of the Middle Ages. We see Būzurjmihr, with lighter skin, facing the darker-skinned Indian emissary.
Some scholars have argued that the latter’s dark skin and “loose clothing” were intended to emphasize his defeat. But several clues suggest another reading. His “loose” tunic is richly decorated with gilding, unlike the simple blue dress of Būzurjmihr, despite being the highest diplomat at the court. His darker skin certainly refers to his foreign origins, but hardly makes him a negative character. On the contrary, he appears as the champion of the Indian rajah: the one who transmits the game of logic and presents himself as the repository of much coveted Indian knowledge.
The chess pieces themselves
In addition to depictions of chess games, medieval perceptions of “race” can also be studied through the game pieces themselves. Chess spread across Afro-Eurasia from India in the 6th centurye century to the rest of the known world. A war game, chess is based on pieces supposed to represent soldiers. But, over the course of their circulation, the form of these pieces evolved, reflecting the societies that produced them.
For example, a long-haired chess king, made in Mansura or Multan (in present-day Pakistan) in the 9the ore centuries, reflects the ideals of Indian royalty. The famous Lewis chess pieces, discovered in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, but probably carved in Norway, are often considered to be the most iconic representations of a medieval chess game. From this perspective, however, they only constitute a relatively late and geographically peripheral testimony to a much older tradition.
Medieval chess was not as black and white as the modern game. Some chessboards were white and red, or even blue and gold. However, the alternating squares, like the rooms themselves, were distinguished by contrasting colors. This allowed ideas linked to skin color and racial perceptions to be projected onto the game.
A poem from the 13th centurye century explains that chess pieces “are the people of this world, taken from the same bag, as from a mother’s womb, then placed in various places in this world”. The pieces could thus represent the different peoples of the globe. But the outcome of their confrontations on the chessboard remained determined by the rules of logic and not by the color of their skin. Chess thus embodied a “just world,” where intellect, rather than religion or race, took precedence.
