Chess is a family of board games played in Thedas.
Variants[]
Two variants of chess are played in Thedas, one with a hexagonal board, and another with a square board. In common parlance, the term "chess" typically refers to the game with the hexagonal board.
Hexagonal[]
The version with a hexagonal board is played throughout Thedas. Locations where chessboards can seen include Skyhold, the Winter Palace (during the Exalted Council), and multiple parts of Treviso, including the the Cantori Diamond and the Dellamorte Estate. Additionally, if Rook is of human lineage, a chess set will be placed in the Lighthouse as a personal trinket.
Rook is the name of one of the pieces on the board.[1]
Square[]
A square version also exists, as depicted in a game played mentally through banter dialogue between Solas and Iron Bull. Solas calls the pieces pawn, knight, mage, tower, queen, and king, whereas Iron Bull uses the terms Ben-Hassrath, Tamassran, and Arishok for knight, mage, and queen, respectively.
Duncan once observed Julien and Nicolas play a game on a checkered board. The game is Orlesian in origin and sometimes uses pieces made from ivory, but Duncan knew neither its rules nor its name.[2] If this was the same game as the one played between Solas and the Iron Bull, then the square version of chess would be Orlesian in origin.
Gallery[]
.png "Chess set (Lighthouse).png (3.78 MB)")
Trivia[]
- The hexagonal chess as seen in-game uses the board and pieces of Gliński's hexagonal chess, which was invented by Władysław Gliński in 1936.
- The pieces on the hexagonal board as seen in-game have Orlesian and Tevinter themes. For example, the knight pieces resemble the lion and dragon designs of Skyhold's Orlesian Decor and Tevinter Decor, respectively, while the white queen piece has wings resembling those of Skyhold's Orlesian Throne.
- The moves made by Solas and Iron Bull in the square version of chess are a recreation of the famous 1851 chess game The Immortal Game, with Solas's moves copying Anderssen's moves and Iron Bull's copying Kieseritzky's moves. The chess pieces themselves are described by different names, seemingly influenced by the players' background.
See also[]
References[]
- ↑ Dialogue between Varric and Neve in Dragon Age: The Veilguard.
- ↑ Dragon Age: The Calling, chapter 5. "Julien and Nicolas played an Orlesian game on a large rock, something that required ivory pieces moved around on a checkered board. Duncan had seen the wealthy playing it from time to time, but had no idea what the rules might be or what it was even called."