CAISSA or The Game at Chess Language English

In 1763, at the age of 17, Sir William Jones wrote the poem Caissa in Latin hexameters, based on a 658-line poem called "Scacchia, Ludus" published in 1527 by Marco Girolamo Vida, giving a mythical origin of chess that has become well known in the chess world. He also published an English-language version of the poem. This is the poem we are reading out here for you today.

In the poem the nymph Caissa initially repels the advances of Mars, the god of war. Spurned, Mars seeks the aid of the god of sport, who creates the game of chess as a gift for Mars to win Caissa's favour. Mars wins her over with the game.

Caissa has since been characterised as the "goddess" of chess, her name being used in several contexts in modern chess playing.

This audio is recorded in tandem with our original ‘Cornucopia Radio’ production of ‘Last Gambit In Lisbon’ a radio-drama about the final days of Russian chess player Alexander Alekhine, as he is watched over by Caissa...

Published November 22, 2015

Usage Attribution-Share Alike 3.0