Chess illustrations in old troubadour texts were code for intimacy -- chess pornography. “The queen sent out vibrations that sexualized the playing field,” writes Marilyn Yalom in “Birth of ...

Chess celebrities, including Howard Staunton, fifth from left, in this illustration for The Illustrated London News, 14 July 1855. Credit: in public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. The Bombay ...

Not too long ago, chess-playing computers—the supervillain of many a human grandmaster—were as intimidating physically as they were virtually: bulky, sturdy, sleek, jet-black monoliths in ...

Chess is an antique, about 1,500 years old, according to most historians. As a result, its evolution seems essentially complete, a hoary game now largely trudging along. That’s not to say that ...