The Evening Sun Baltimore, Maryland Saturday, July 08, 1972 - Page 3
Blood-Thirsty Chess: Check These Moves, Mate
New York (AP) —The insulted egos and white-knuckled tensions before the Fischer-Spassky chess match may seem to be a blazing battle, but pale beside the tales of blood-thirsty games in Medieval Iceland.
Chess boards in the 12th and 13th Centuries were often the center of treachery, revenge, intrigue and murder, according to sagas of the time.
Games were often interrupted because somebody was getting hacked to pieces.
When a certain King Louis lost a chess game to Rognvald, he stood up in a fury, shoved his chess men into a bag and smashed his opponent in the face with it, leaving him a bloody mess.
“Take that!” exclaimed the king.
Rognvald rode off in a panic. But his brother stayed to split the king's skull open.
These stories are sagas from Willard Fiske's “Chess in Iceland and in Icelandic Literature,” published in 1905.
It is said that Bobby Fischer, American chess champion, has gotten the highest stakes in history of chess for his series beginning Tuesday in Reykjavik with Boris Spassky, the world champion.
Even though thousands of dollars in prize money are on the line, today's championship prize is chicken feed.
Rognvald played King Louis for his head.
Woman Was Prize
A woman was the prize in one knightly saga. A king put up his horse, falcon and sword for a maiden and engaged in a game, winner take all. The king lost. He left the game on foot, unarmed and unloved.
“Little consolation do you derive from the game of chess for now I own your costly objects! said his competitor.
Talk about concentration. Today, Fischer feels the glare of the elaborate chess table in Reykjavik may be too bright. It may distract him. Fischer could take a lesson from King Valdemar, in the year 1157.
The king concentrated so hard on his chess game that when Canute V gave him a big kiss, he didn't even look up from the board.
Troops Got His Attention
It took a troop of enemy soldiers rushing into the room to get his attention. The king leaped up to fight. He fell with a wounded thigh. But his men covered him with their bodies for protection. They were chopped to bits, and the king escaped. The game was never finished.
Concentration could have been the downfall of Eric Plovpenning, a wise ruler, it is said. He was lured to the chess table by his blackhearted brother in the summer of 1250. The brother abused Eric as he sat playing chess, and Eric was killed that very night.
“Poor King! Little did he merit so cruel a checkmate!” was the comment from Fiske.
Check These Moves, Mate 08 Jul 1972, Sat The Evening Sun (Baltimore, Maryland) Newspapers.com
