Chess

pipie

I have a friend who thinks that the use of the name the chess piece the "bishop" is offensive to priests/bishops...She states in Russia, they refer to this piece as an elephant, as it more politically correct.

Are there any ordained board members who can give an opinion.

maguffin

First, I'm not a priest... and I think your friend should look at the history of the chess piece to understand why it has its name.....
The bishop's predecessor in shatranj (medieval chess) was the alfil, meaning elephant which could leap two squares along any diagonal, and could jump over an intervening piece. As a consequence, each alfil was restricted to eight squares, and no alfil could attack another.
The modern bishop appeared first shortly after 1200 C.E. in Courier chess. A piece with this move, called a cocatriz or crocodile, is part of the Grande Acedrex in the game-book compiled in 1283 C.E. for King Alfonso X of Castile. The game is attributed to "India", then a very vague term. About half a century later Muḥammad ibn Maḥmud al-Āmulī in his Treasury of the Sciences describes an expanded form of chess with two pieces moving "like the rook but obliquely."

Derivatives of alfil survive in some European languages, such as Spanish (alfil) and Italian (alfiere); it was known as the aufin in French, or the aufin, alphin, or archer in English.

The term "bishop" first entered the English language in the 16th century, with the first known written example dating back to 1560s. In all other Germanic languages, except for Icelandic, it is called various names, all of which directly translates to English as "runner" or "messenger" (e.g. in Norwegian "Løper", in Danish "Løber", in Swedish "Löpare", in German "Läufer" and in Dutch "loper".) (In Finnish, the word is "lähetti", with the same meaning.) In Romanian, it is known as "nebun" which refers to a crazy person (similarly to the French name "Fou" which is most likely derived from "Fou du roi", a jester). In Icelandic, however, it is called "biskup", with the same meaning as in English. Interestingly, the use of the term in Icelandic predates that of the English language, as the first mentioning of "biskup" in Icelandic texts dates back to the early part of the 14th century, whilst the 12th century Lewis Chessmen portray the bishop as an unambiguously ecclesiastical figure. In The Saga of Earl Mágus, which was written in Iceland somewhere between 1300–1325, it is described how an emperor was checkmated by bishop. This has led to some speculations as to the origin of the English term "bishop".
The canonical chessmen date back to the Staunton chess set of 1849. The piece's deep groove symbolizes a bishop's (or abbot's) mitre. Some have written the groove originated from the original form of the piece, an elephant with the groove representing the elephant's tusks.
The British chose to call the piece the bishop because the projections at the top resembled a mitre. This groove was interpreted differently in different countries as the game moved to Europe; in France, for example, the groove was taken to be a jester's cap, hence in France the bishop is called "fou" (the fool).

Political correctness is a modern term (over used in my opinion) that really cannot be applied to an object has had this name since the 12th century. I doubt very much you will find anyone in the priesthood who would find it offensive.

lmaopml

PML...It's a great game! We don't play it enough...

Sulla Felix

lmaopml wrote: »

PML...It's a great game! We don't play it enough...

No reason not to. I'm crap, but I play online a good bit. Very easy to get a couple of games in a day that way.

PDN

maguffin wrote: »

The bishop's predecessor in shatranj (medieval chess) was the alfil, meaning elephant which could leap two squares along any diagonal, and could jump over an intervening piece.

Which is strange, since neither elephants or bishops are particularly renowned for their jumping abilities.

I personally prefer Scrabble to Chess.

uck51js9zml2yt

to draw from another sport..I think its game ...set..and match to maguffin:D

JimiTime

maguffin wrote: »

First, I'm not a priest... and I think your friend should look at the history of the chess piece to understand why it has its name.....
The bishop's predecessor in shatranj (medieval chess) was the alfil, meaning elephant which could leap two squares along any diagonal, and could jump over an intervening piece. As a consequence, each alfil was restricted to eight squares, and no alfil could attack another.
The modern bishop appeared first shortly after 1200 C.E. in Courier chess. A piece with this move, called a cocatriz or crocodile, is part of the Grande Acedrex in the game-book compiled in 1283 C.E. for King Alfonso X of Castile. The game is attributed to "India", then a very vague term. About half a century later Muḥammad ibn Maḥmud al-Āmulī in his Treasury of the Sciences describes an expanded form of chess with two pieces moving "like the rook but obliquely."

Derivatives of alfil survive in some European languages, such as Spanish (alfil) and Italian (alfiere); it was known as the aufin in French, or the aufin, alphin, or archer in English.

The term "bishop" first entered the English language in the 16th century, with the first known written example dating back to 1560s. In all other Germanic languages, except for Icelandic, it is called various names, all of which directly translates to English as "runner" or "messenger" (e.g. in Norwegian "Løper", in Danish "Løber", in Swedish "Löpare", in German "Läufer" and in Dutch "loper".) (In Finnish, the word is "lähetti", with the same meaning.) In Romanian, it is known as "nebun" which refers to a crazy person (similarly to the French name "Fou" which is most likely derived from "Fou du roi", a jester). In Icelandic, however, it is called "biskup", with the same meaning as in English. Interestingly, the use of the term in Icelandic predates that of the English language, as the first mentioning of "biskup" in Icelandic texts dates back to the early part of the 14th century, whilst the 12th century Lewis Chessmen portray the bishop as an unambiguously ecclesiastical figure. In The Saga of Earl Mágus, which was written in Iceland somewhere between 1300–1325, it is described how an emperor was checkmated by bishop. This has led to some speculations as to the origin of the English term "bishop".
The canonical chessmen date back to the Staunton chess set of 1849. The piece's deep groove symbolizes a bishop's (or abbot's) mitre. Some have written the groove originated from the original form of the piece, an elephant with the groove representing the elephant's tusks.
The British chose to call the piece the bishop because the projections at the top resembled a mitre. This groove was interpreted differently in different countries as the game moved to Europe; in France, for example, the groove was taken to be a jester's cap, hence in France the bishop is called "fou" (the fool).

Political correctness is a modern term (over used in my opinion) that really cannot be applied to an object has had this name since the 12th century. I doubt very much you will find anyone in the priesthood who would find it offensive.

Now THATS an answer:)

Benny_Cake

lmaopml wrote: »

PML...It's a great game! We don't play it enough...

I haven't played it in years which is a pity, it's great for developing strategies and learning the benefits of thinking a problem through patiently rather than blindly rushing in and hoping for the best. In the Soviet Union it was something of a national obsession, with millions of people who were members of chess clubs. How they ended up losing the Cold War is beyond me!

And yes, that was a terrific post maguffin.

Quatermain

Benny_Cake wrote: »

In the Soviet Union it was something of a national obsession, with millions of people who were members of chess clubs. How they ended up losing the Cold War is beyond me!

I do seem to recall a joke about someone having dinner with Gary Kasparov. It took him two hours to pass the salt.

pipie

maguffin wrote: »

I doubt very much you will find anyone in the priesthood who would find it offensive.

Thanks for the intrest...but I really was hoping to hear feedback from an ordained member of the Church.....In particular a Bishop if one is reading...

Fanny Cradock

In that case - I'm a Bishop and I'm not offended.

Bishop takes troll.

uck51js9zml2yt

Fanny Cradock wrote: »

In that case - I'm a Bishop and I'm not offended.

Bishop takes troll.

I was looking forward to this...do bishops have time to be on here.?

Benny_Cake

If there are any bishops here could they please make themselves known? If I'm issuing an infraction to one I want to make sure I stick a + in front of their username.

Canis Lupus

Why is it more politically correct to rename the bishop but not the other pieces although depending on what term you use I'm not sure rooks or castle tend to get offended.

terrymccarthy05

Iam looking for a store in dublin that sell dvd on chess

Benny_Cake

terrymccarthy05 wrote: »

Iam looking for a store in dublin that sell dvd on chess

There is a chess forum here on Boards, you might have better luck there!

Sunrise Chess

I am not a priest. However, the King carries a cross !!!.

Plus, I have seen some chess set pieces from the Ukraine and the 'bishop' did not look very like a bishop in the sense of the common appearance...

But ya know, what do you think about this ??.

"Chess Eire" in Lisdoonvarna, county Clare ????.

ByfocalPhoto

Has anybody asked HRH Queen Elizabeth if she is offended by having a chess piece named after her ?

I think farmers have a better case because the German term for the pawn is Bauer or farmer. These are regularly sacrificed for the greater good. Maybe chess is a good allegory for life.

J C

Benny_Cake wrote: »

I haven't played it in years which is a pity, it's great for developing strategies and learning the benefits of thinking a problem through patiently rather than blindly rushing in and hoping for the best. In the Soviet Union it was something of a national obsession, with millions of people who were members of chess clubs. How they ended up losing the Cold War is beyond me!

And yes, that was a terrific post maguffin.

The Russian Communists lost the cold war ... the Russian People (including many chess-playing dissidents and Christians), greatly benefited from the ending of the Cold War and a communism that ensured starvation and deprivation for the people while producing armaments and space probes 'to beat the band'.

Turtwig

Mod:

Here around a resurrection is ok, just not the kind that revives age old threads.