are set in the vttermoste ends of the Cheastbourd as a stroÌ„g rampier in the fronte Their office is not to remoue but in necessitie and chiefelye for the succoure of theyr Kynge Of the knight or horseman THe Horseman is also named as representinge a man of Armes whiche fighteth on horsebarke and his seat is next vnto the Towre from whence he must come into battaile and place him selfe where he may most offeÌ„d For there is no piece in the Cheastbourd that more readily may do hurt then he because of his marching forth whiche is made from three into three places to witte from whyte into blacke and from black into whyte and yet he ceasseth not to make his assault or leape although he be enuyroned prouided that he haue roume to place him selfe in Of the Bishop or Archer IN the auncient tyme the French men named him Foole whiche seemeth vnto me an improper name The Spaniardes named him prince with some reason For as Prince of the blood he is nerer vnto the King and the Quene then any other of the Cheastmen And some name him Archer because that their draughtes draw alwaies asyde and neuer forthe right as it is the office of a good Archer or Har quebusier in warre whiche neuer planteth him self right against his enemie but in skirmishinge or in plaine fight make semblaunce to shoote at one and shooteth at another not remainynge longe in a place If our Cheasse Archer haue the passage open he maye go from one corner of the Cheastbourde into the other But as for the aduantage of him or of the Knight it is litle and hathe therein but the disposings of the game in the whiche some tymes the one is better then the other Like as also there bee players or gamsters which helpe them selues better with the horseman then with y e archer some other contrarywise Of the Kyng THe king is the head of the Conducte According to the Spaniards he hath libertie to assault thre roumes or stepps as he listeth yea he maye make the assaulte of the knight so that he haue not the waye but it muste be then whylest he is yet in his lodgyng and that he is not remoued otherwyse he can make no more but one steppe Although that in Italy the kynge yf he haue the waye open maye runne all the length of the Cheastbourd or may remoue a Paune to set him selfe in his place And in France thei cause him to make two steppes alonge his front Prouided that there bee no pieces betwene him and the Rooke set the rooke in the place of the king Beholde here his marchinges and his libertie prouided that he haue had no checke And for to tel you the truth the kinge was played none otherwyse in the auncient tyme but after the maner of the Frenchmen yea the most part of the Spaniards and Portingales who are estemed the best players did play it so Of the Quene or Amasone SOme name her Queene other some Lady it is the best piece on the Cheastbourd also she representeth the Kings wife Her lodginge is nexte to the Kinges and hath as great a traine as the king Briefely she representeth a Kings Lieutenant in an armye she doth wheÌ„ she wil the office of y erooks also of y e bishops And because y e seldom the wiues go to warre that the first that so much aduauntaged their kynde as to go thither and worke merueyles were the Amasones therefore some name her Amasone whyte Amasone blacke But aboue all the Players ought to kepe her well because that the game is seldome wonne after that she is once loste Of the Paune or foteman THe footeman is the rampier the target of the great Cheast men and by the kynges especialtie For this cause that when he can procede so well in warre as to arriue at the laste rancke of hys enemies he is chosen and made the best piece of the playe to wit he is the Quene And if in making himselfe Queene he can geue checke he is so muche the more to be estemed The marchynge forthe of the Paune for the fyrste tyme is to make two assaultes or leapes yf he wyll or one only marchyng alwayes right before him and not asyde And the best Paunes are next vnto the King Also therefore wheÌ„ check is geueÌ„ to y e king the Paune can not passe the barres of hys way for to succour him that is to say yf checke be geuen to the Kyng the Paune can not marche asyde be it on the lefte or on the right for to couer his Kinge for his waye is beset on bothe sydes and can not go but right forth and alwayes steppe by steppe after his fyrst marchyng forthe prouided that his waye bee not stopped It is true that in takyng he marcheth awrye one only steppe of what syde so euer it bee and can not take that whiche is right agaynst him It shalbe also best for the Paune not to auaunce him selfe muche within the campe of his enemie The Checker or Cheastbourde vvherevpon are placed the pieces euery one accordynge to hys order BEholde here the forme of the Checker or Cheastbourde and how the Cheastmen ought to be placed in euery house wherof there are sixtie foure in all To wit thirtie two on either halfe or syde whereof the eight vttermost opposites or one against another are ful of principall pieces on both sydes The other eight also nexte them on both sides are full of Pawnes So that there are thirtie two pieces whyche is to eche player sixtene whereof there be eight greate ones and eight litle ones And the rowmes where euery one of them are set I wyll name Seates the other which be emptie I will name them places or houses indiffereÌ„tly Thorough the which aswel Seates as places the greate Cheastmen and smal doe runne accordinge to their order be it in aduancinge or reculinge for to geue the mate to the contrary King For to be able to tel you why there is so many houses and why there is neither mo nor lesse that passeth my intelligence Neither hath any man spoken of it And I beleue that there wyll bee founde none other resolution but onely the wil of hym that made the playe of whome there are dyuers opinions Some saye that it was Yerses and yet the Spaniardes do retaine the name Aredres albeit corrupted by the mutation of s into d set before r. Other some saye that they were two brethren The one named â—idie and the other Tirrhene who beinge afflicted with great hunger and famine did inuent this playe to the ende that in playinge of it they mighte employe their spirites so behementlye that they myghte more easely passe the faminall affliction And in deede they passed the tyme so well that they made but three meales in twoo dayes Generall rules YOU muste playe no caste or draughte in vayne if it be not for necessitie You muste make not faulte You must
not be to hastie to play Yf you haue a good draughte to make looke if there be not a better Yf you haue aduauntage you may well make a chaunge and yet not loose it Yf you haue aduauntage wherewith you may wyn the game take good heede for vndoing your game nor to abandone your king for to winne only a paune The principall thinge that you haue to doe is to set your king in a sure place when he marcheth forthe The two Paunes whiche bee on that syde where the kinge is transported oughte not to be remoued but in great necessitie for that that often tymes the game is lost by remouinge the Rookes Paune or knightes Paune one roume because that not there the contrarye Kyng findeth the way of the mate You muste goe abrode wyth your pieces and not keepe them enclosed It is good that the two Paunes of the King and of the Queene be vpon their fourth houses Yea also those of the Bishopps It is to be noted for the wel vnderstanding of the marching for the of the Cheastmen that the cheastbourd ought to be set in such sorte that the Rooke on the right side be set in a white place take y e cheast men which you wil white or black Further you must know the name of y e pieces of y e houses places for y e cheastmen which are of the kings syde bee named the Kings Cheastmen and lykewyse the Kings houses vnto the middest of the Cheastbourd Because that from thence forwarde those are the contrarye Kyngs houses As for example the Paune whiche is before thy King is in the seconde house of thy King and if thou remoue him one steppe he shalbe in the thyrd or if he go as far as he may he shalbe in y e fourth house of thy King but afterwardes if he passe further he shalbe in the fourth house of the king of thy contrary partye And so it is of all the other Cheastmen of that syde The other syde is that of the quene aswel in cheastmē as in houses for this cause it is nedefull to haue before you a Cheastbourde with the Cheastmen for to see with youre eye the art which shalbe declared in this present treatise And after hauynge presupposed the game you may beginne after two sortes The seconde Chapter THE first maner is to beginne with the Kinges Paune And the seconde is to beginne with the Queenes Paune The first accordinge to my iudgement is best That is to wit to begin with the Kings Paune as far as he may go I will cause thee alwayes to holde the whyte part And if thy contrary partie play his Kings Paune as farre as he maye thou shalt playe thy kings Knight to three houses from the kinges bishoppe And if he play his kings knight to thre houses frō his kings bishop thou shalt take with thy knight his kinges Paune if he take also thy paune with his knight playe thy queene before thy king And if he retyre his knight into the thirde house of his kinges bishop y u shalt geue him checke w t thy quene in turning her away frō thy knight the whiche y e shalt remoue into the thirde house of his queenes bishop And he can not play so wel but that he shall lose his quene If in steede of takinge thy Paune with his knight he take it with his quene y u shalt take his with thine whiche afterwarde shall be taken with his knight This done thou shalt geue him check w t thy knight in taking the Paune of his quenes bishop and therefore he shalbe forced to loose his queenes Rooke And if he take not thy Paune but to saue his queene placeth her in the thirde house of his queenes bishoppe And if he remoue not his Knight but play his quene before his king thou shalt take his knight with thy Quene then he wyl play his Quenes Paune one roume against thy Knight to the ende that if thou remoue it from thence he maye take thy Queene For this cause thou shalt playe thy Queenes Paune as farre as he may go and if he playe the Paune of his Kings bishop one steppe thou shalt play the paune of thy kings bishop as far as he maye go if he take thy knight with his queenes paune thou shalt take his paune with that of thine and yf he play his other knight to the second house of his queene thou shalt remoue thyne to the thyrde house of thy queenes bishop by that meanes thy quene shall remayne safe And if y e paune of his kings bishop take thy paune y u shalt play thy knyght to the fourth place of his queene for to take her and if he set her in her thirde house thou shalte take hys paune with thyne And if he take thy Paune with hys knight thou shalt set thy queenes bishoppe in the fourth house of thy kings bishop in so doing he shall loose of force his knight but if he take not thy paune w t his knight he shall haue loste hys Thou shalt playe thy kings bishop to the fourth house of his queenes knight for to take her if in stede of takinge her she take thy bishop thou shalte geue him checke wyth thy knight in taking the paune of his quenes bishop then shalt thou take his Queene for the gayne is much greater then of the Rooke And if in stede of placyng his quene in the thirde house of his bishop he place her in the fourth thou shalte set thy quenes bishop in the thyrde roume of thy king for to take her And if he geue the checke with his queene in the fourth house of hys Rooke thou shalt couer it with thy bishop by which meanes he can do no more but remoue her into the thirde house of his bishop and thou shalt play the Paune of thy quenes knight as far as he may go for to take his queene then he shalbe forced to set his quene in y e third house of his bishop thou shalt playe thy kings bishop into the fourth house of his knight for to take his queue and if she take it thou haste thyne instruction in the last article before And he can not play but ill for if it come to pillage or spoyle of quenes thou shalt haue stil the aduauntage of the checke of thy knight for to take his Rooke And therefore he shalbe alwayes the weaker both in great and smale pieces as shalbe declared in the article folowing And yf he sette hys Queene in the thirde house of hys Kynge thou shalte yet geue hym checke wyth thy knight accordinge to the laste instruction But yf he sette her in the thyrde place of hys Kynges knight whiche is the best that he could play ye shall spoyle together your queenes then shalte y e geue the checke with thy knight in taking the paune of his queenes bishop for to take his Rooke Another maner of playing
house of hys kynges Rooke Wherefore his kinge will march into the seate of his queene Then thy queene shall take the Paune of his kinges knight without daunger and also that of hys bishop and therefore he shal loose for thou hast the aduauntage And if he geue thee not checke with his Queene as it is sayde in the seuenth table of this present chapter but for sauing his Knight set him in the fourth house of thy queenes Knighte thou shalte remoue thy queenes Paune one steppe for to keepe that his queenes Knighte doe not remoue and if he sette hys kinges Bishoppe in the seconde house of his Knighte whiche is a good draughte cause y u his Knighte to auoyde in remouing the Paune of thy queenes Rooke one steppe Then his Knight will remoue into the thyrde house of his queenes Rooke Afterwarde thou shalt play thy kinges Knighte to the thyrde house of thy kinges Bishoppe and if he putte the Paune of his kinges Knighte one roume further for to take thy Knight thou shalte remoue him into the fourth place of thy Queene then he maye take with his Queene or wyth his kinges Bishoppe thy kinges Paune If he take it with his Bishoppe thou shalte sette thy Knyght in the fourthe house of hys kynges Bishoppe for to take his Queene but he will remoue her one steppe into the thyrde house of his kinges Bishoppe And thou shalt take the Paune of hys kinges Bishoppe by thy Queenes Bishoppe And yf his Queene take thy Knighte thy Bishoppe shall take hys So shall he bee forced for the safegarde of his Rooke to remoue him into the seate of the Knighte for if he did otherwise in taking his Rooke with thy Bishoppe thou shalte geue hym checke with thy queene in turnynge her awaye from thy Bishoppe the whiche not beynge able to take anye moore the kinges Rooke shall marche one steppe into the thyrde house of his Queene and thou shalte saye checke Whereof he shall saue him in the seconde house of his Bishoppe because that otherwyse he should be mate at the first draught playing thy queene in the seconde house of his kinge the which thou shalt not cease to playe and shalte geue him checke of the whiche he shall saue him in the thyrd house of his Knight also he can not otherwise wherefore thou shalte set thy Queene in the thyrde house of thy King and if he take thy Bishopp thou shalte couer his Queene with thy Kinges bishoppe setting him in the thirde house of thy Queene but if he take not thy Bishoppe but playe his Queene to the fourth house of his kinges Knight for to spoyle together the Queenes thou shalte geue him checke with thy kinges Bishop to the thyrde place of thy Queene And if his Kinge marche into the fourth house of his Rooke thou shalte couer thy Queene wyth the queenes Bishoppe settinge him in the fourth house of thy kings Bishop for to take his Queene whome he wyll retyre into the thyrde place of his kinges Bishoppe and thou shalte sette thy kings Rooke in the place of the Bishoppe If he drawe his Queene from thence thou shalte geue him checke and mate well and readily for albeit that he put hys Queene in place where he may defende the checke that thou shalte geue him with thy Queene in the fourth house of his Kinge it behoueth for to make him retyre to set thy queenes Knighte in the same fourth place of the King and then to geue him check with thy Rooke in suche sorte that he shall incontinent be mate The .v. Chapter How thou shalt playe when thou hast the aduaūtage of a Paune and the first draughte FIrst thou shalt playe the Paune of thy King as farre as he may goe and he wyll remoue hys queenes Paune one steppe and thou shalte remoue thy queenes Paune two steppes Then he will place his kinges Knight in y e third house of thy kinges Bishoppe and thou shalt set thy queenes Knight in the thyrde house of thy queenes Bishoppe and if he playe his kinges Paune as far as he may thou shalte take him with thy queenes Paune and yf he take thyne with his queenes Paune thou shalte spoyle his Queene with thine who shall also be taken with his King the whiche by this meanes can no further procede Then thou shalte play the kings Bishop to the third house of his Queene And if he remoue the Paune of his queenes bishop one steppe thou shalte set thy kinges Knight in the second house of the King and he wyll playe his Kinge to the seconde house of the queenes Bishoppe Therefore thou shalte playe thy Knighte to the thyrde house of thy kinges Knight and if he playe hys queenes Bishoppe to three houses from his Kinge thou shalte cause thy Kinge to marche into his seconde house from whence he wyll geue the checke by his queenes Bishoppe settinge him in the fourth house of thy kinges Knighte the whiche thou shalte couer by the Paune of thy kinges Bishoppe remouinge him one steppe whereby he shall bee forced to retyre from whence he came laste And thou shalte remoue the Paune of thy kinges Rooke one stepps And if he come with his queenes Knight into the seconde house of his Quene thou shalte playe thy queenes Bishoppe to the thyrde house of thy Kinge and if he playe his kinges Bishop so farre as vnto the fourth house of thy queenes Knight thou shalte cause thy Knight to retyre to the lodging of thy Queene and yf he playe the Paune of his queenes Bishoppe one steppe thou shalte playe the Paune of thy queenes Bishoppe one steppe to the ende that if he pushe his Paune one steppe more thou mayste also retyre thy Bishoppe one steppe but first he shall retyre his to the fourth house of hys queenes Rooke Then shalte thou set thy Knighte in the seconde house of thy kynges Bishoppe And yf he pushe the Paune of hys queenes Bishoppe for to take thy Bishoppe thou shalte retyre him into the seconde house of thy queenes Bishoppe And if in assailing to breake thy defences or to put thy campe in disorder he playe the Paune of his queenes Knight as far as he maye thou shalte ouerthrowe his enterprise in marchinge the Paune of thy queenes Rooke one steppe And if in not being able to offende thee on that syde he goe about on the other parte to playe the Paune of his kinges Rooke euen vnto the fourthe house of it it behoueth that thou staye hym for commynge in playinge also the Paune of thy kynges Rooke one steppe And if he playe his kynges Bishoppe into the thyrde house of hys queenes Knighte for to take thyne which is in the thyrde house of thy Kynge suffer him to doe it for if he take thyne thou shalt take his with thy Kinge when therefore he shall haue played hys Bishoppe to the thyrde house of hys Knyghte cause that thy Knighte whiche is in the seconde house of thy kinges Bishoppe maye remoue into the