Axiom

Caïssa is a mythical Thracian dryad portrayed as the goddess of chess, as invented during the Renaissance by Italian poet Hieronymus Vida.



Caïssa originated in a 658-line poem called "Scacchia, Ludus" published in 1527 by Hieronymus Vida (Marco Girolamo Vida), which describes in Latin Virgilian hexameters a chess game between Apollo and Mercury in the presence of the other gods. In it, to avoid unclassical references, the rooks are described as towers (armored howdahs) on elephants' backs, and the bishops as archers:

Tum geminae, velut extremis, in cornibus arces
hinc atque hinc altis stant propugnacula muris
quae dorso immanes gestant in bella elephanti.

"Then twin, as if at the ends, citadels in the corners,
here and there stand ramparts with high walls,
which, immense, are carried into war on the back of an elephant."

(A leaked unauthorized 742-line draft version was published in 1525. Its text is very different, and in it Caïssa is called Scacchia, the chess rook is a cyclops, and the chess bishop is a centaur archer.)

This led to the modern name "castle" for the chess rook, and thus the term "castling", and the modern shape of the European rook chesspiece. Also for a time, some chess players in Europe called the rook "elephant" and the bishop "archer". In German, Schütze ( "archer") became a general word for a chess bishop until displaced by Läufer ("runner") in the 18th century. [1]

The poem may have been influenced by Scacchia ludus ('The Game of Chess') written in 1510 by Marco Girolamo Vida, an Italian poet and later Bishop of Alba. There the nymph is called Scacchis.
[edit] William Jones's poem

The pioneering English orientalist Sir William Jones re-used Vida's character Caïssa in 1763 in his own poem Caïssa written in Latin hexameters.[2][3][4][5] Jones also published an English language version of the poem.[6][7]

In the poem, Caïssa initially repels the advances of the god of war, Mars. Spurned, Mars seeks the aid of the god of sport Euphron, brother of Venus, who creates the game of chess as a gift for Mars to win Caissa's favor.
[edit] Modern use

Caïssa is referred to in chess commentary. Garry Kasparov uses this reference now and again, especially in his epic five-volume work My Great Predecessors. It is used as a substitute for being fortunate – "Caïssa was with me" – especially in unclear situations, for example in sacrifices.[8] Caïssa as a concept has also been explored by some who seek the evidence of the sacred feminine in chess.

The first (Russian) computer program that won the World Computer Chess Championship (in 1974) was also named Kaissa.

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"Sometimes the obligation of the intelligent is to restate the obvious. None more important than emphatically stating that there is a : ' Naked Emperor Elephant in the Room' " Axiom

Axiom

Between the horror of space and the terror of time ..


DEATH VALLEY KNIGHTS

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"Sometimes the obligation of the intelligent is to restate the obvious. None more important than emphatically stating that there is a : ' Naked Emperor Elephant in the Room' " Axiom

Iconoclast

There is nothing Hollywood about this image, just raw fertility - biologically speaking.

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The individual is hopeless without the group.
The group is hopeless without its individuals.

antichrist

That lady Nguyen who exposed "too much" against that old codger in Adelaide could learn a lot from this lass - I must give A GO ONE TIME TO SEE IF IT DISTRActs my game - now if it was Serena say no more...

Axiom

__________________
"Sometimes the obligation of the intelligent is to restate the obvious. None more important than emphatically stating that there is a : ' Naked Emperor Elephant in the Room' " Axiom

Axiom

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"Sometimes the obligation of the intelligent is to restate the obvious. None more important than emphatically stating that there is a : ' Naked Emperor Elephant in the Room' " Axiom

The Seeing

The Seeing

The Seeing

WarriorOnTheEdgeOfTime

WarriorOnTheEdgeOfTime

The Raven

The Raven

antichrist

That Caissa could do with a bit of a workout at the gym, stiffen up those abs, an uplifting bra as well would do no harm and that pyramid bull neck definitely needs surgery.

- V -

Hate to break it to you , but you're no oil painting .

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"Few have the stomach to pursue truth , yet most know in their gut something is wrong" V

"But everyone knows the media doesn't inform. Duhhhhhh !! "