Chess in the arts

Chess became a source of inspiration in the arts in literature soon after the spread of the game to the Arab World and Europe in the Middle Ages.

The earliest works of art centered on the game are miniatures in medieval manuscripts, as well as poems, which were often created with the purpose of describing the rules.

The work dates from around 1143 and the artists who created the Muslim players were chosen by the Norman king of Sicily Roger II of Hauteville, who erected the church.

De ludo scacchorum (unrelated to the manuscript mentioned above) by Francesco Bernardino Caldogno [it], also created at that time, is a collection of gameplay advice, presented in poetic fashion.

[8][9] One of the most influential[1] works of chess-related art is Marco Girolamo Vida's Scaccia ludus (1527), centered on a game played between Apollo and Mercury on Mount Olympus.

The game Frank Poole versus HAL 9000 from the film 2001: A Space Odyssey is also based on an actual match, albeit not widely known.

Vladimir Nabokov wrote The Defense after learning about Curt von Bardeleben,[12] while the musical Chess was loosely based on the life of Bobby Fischer.

[23][24] The design of Bauhaus professor Josef Hartwig's early 1920s chess set uses the shape of each piece to indicate its permitted movement.

Artists such as Yayoi Kusama, Barbara Kruger, Damien Hirst, Gavin Turk,[25] Jake and Dinos Chapman, Tim Noble and Sue Webster,[26] Rachel Whiteread, Paul McCarthy, Tom Friedman,[27] and Tracey Emin have also either designed chess sets or made works that reference the game.