| Chess | |
|---|---|
| by Jan Kochanowski | |
&sq=&lang=&file=File:Szachy_(Kochanowski).jpg) Front page of the 1585 edition | |
| Original title | Szachy |
| Country | Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth |
| Language | Polish |
| Subject(s) | Chess |
| Publication date | c. 1565 |
Chess (Polish: Szachy) is a poem written by Jan Kochanowski, first published in 1564 or 1565. Inspired by Marco Girolamo Vida's Scacchia Ludus, it is a narrative poetry work that describes a game of chess between two men, Fiedor and Borzuj, who fight for the right to marry Anna, princess of Denmark. The poem anthropomorphises the pieces, presenting the game as a battle between two armies, in a style reminiscent of battle scenes in the works of Homer and Virgil.[1]
In 1912, Alexander Wagner reconstructed the game described in the poem, while Yuri Averbakh found that it has three possible endings in 1967.