Links to Chess and other contemporary games

<table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="0"> <tr><td><a name="a"><b><font size="3" color="#0033ff" face="Verdana, Arial Narrow">    A</font></b></a><a href="http://autorbis.net" target="_blank"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial Narrow">UTORBIS.net </font></a> - <a href="http://trionfi.com" target="_blank"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial Narrow">TRIONFI.com </font></a> </td> <td align="right"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial Narrow">created 2003 - 2006       </td> </tr></table><hr size="1" width="90%"> <table width="100%"><tr><td rowspan="2" width="30%" align="left" valign="top" bgcolor="#dddddd"> <b><font size="+1">Imperatori<br> - Karnöffel and other decks</font></b><br><br><ul> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/c/" target="_top">Introduction *</a><br> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/c/01/" target="_top">Johannes von Rheinfelden (unclear date)</a><br> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/c/04/" target="_top">The Council of Constance</a><br> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/c/02/" target="_top">Imperatori Documents in Ferrara</a><br> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/c/03/" target="_top">Documents: Karnöffel and Kaiserspiel</a><br> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/c/05/" target="_top">The Name Karnoeffel</a><br> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/c/10/" target="_top">El Medio Emperador</a><br> <li><a href="http://www.geocities.com/tarocchi7/ringmann.html" target="_blank">Ringmann's Latin Grammar <br></a>    <i><b>Huck Meyer's Site</b></i><br> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/c/09/" target="_top">Ringmann Cards / Ken Mayer</a><br> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/c/07/" target="_top">Commentary to Ringmann Cards</a><br> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/c/08/" target="_top">Considerations on Chess</a><br></ul> <b><font size="+1">Decks of unclear state<br> - before 1440 or after 1440</font></b><br><br><ul> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/c/21/" target="_top"></a>Brera-Brambilla Tarocchi<br> - in preparation</a> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/c/30/" target="_top">Cary Yale</a><br> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/c/40/" target="_top">Rothschild Cards</a><br> <li><a href="http://trionfi.com/0/c/50/" target="_top"></a>Guildhall + Goldschmidt Cards</a><br> </ul> </ul></td><td height="50" align="left" valign="top" bgcolor="#dddddd"> Imperatori decks, Karnöffel and others </td></tr><tr><td align="left" valign="top" bgcolor="#eeeeee"> <H1>El Medio Emperador<br> <FONT SIZE="3">- also called the Ludus Lumbardorum (the Lombard's Game)</FONT></h1> <TABLE BGCOLOR="#DAA520" BORDER="1" CELLSPACING="0" CELLPADDING="5" WIDTH="100%"><TD><FONT COLOR="#FFFFFF"></FONT><B>Context for the History of Playing Cards: </B> In 1423 the servant Zoese bought in Florence "VIII" Imperatori cards for his Signora Parisina, wife of Niccolo d'Este in Ferrara. In later years, 1443 and the early 1450's, Imperatori decks were manufactured occasionally in Ferrara. At about the same time the play of Imperatori is also mentioned in Germany and another card game, Karnöffel, first mentioned 1426, is called in the late 15th century Ludus Caesarum or Keyserspiel, so that the suggestion exists, that Karnöffel and the Imperatori game of Ferrara are related - although in a not definable form, a situation, which opens many possibilities of interpretation.<br> The discussion around these points filled our archives in the recent past. </TD> </TABLE><br><br> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLSPACING="0" CELLPADDING="0" WIDTH="100%"> <TD> Much earlier than the appearance of <B>Imperatori</b> cards in Italy the name <B>Emperador</b> was used for a table game in Spain. A variant played at only one half of the board was named "el medio Emperador" (= "the half Emperor") and it became also known as the "Ludus Lumbardum" (the Lombard's game), which testifies, that this form likely was popular in Lombardy and likely well known for instance by Filippo Maria Visconti, who took a deciding role in the development of the Tarot cards.<br><br> A report to the Ludus Lumbardorum is given by <A HREF="http://www.bkgm.com/variants/LudusLumbardorum.html"><B>Robert Reid</B></A> and some passages of the appearance of the game in 13th century are taken from <A HREF="http://www.u.arizona.edu/~smusser/ljtranslation.html" target="_blank"><B>Sonja Musser Golladay’s English Translation of Alfonso X’s Book of Games.</b></A><br>Robert Reid gives as his source: Daniel Willard Fiske: Chess in Iceland and Icelandic Literature: With Historical Notes on Other Table Games, The Florentine Typographical Society, Florence, 1905, p. 164. <br><br> <CENTER><TABLE BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" BORDER="1" CELLSPACING="0" CELLPADDING="5" WIDTH="90%"><TD> <P><B>Book of Chess of Alfons X (13th cent.) [fol. 75v]</B></P> <CENTER><IMG SRC="p/2-kings.jpg"><br><br><A HREF="x" target="_blank">Source</A></CENTER> <P>"This is the game that they call in Spain <B>emperador</b> (emperor), because he (= Alfons X. of Spain, declared Roman Emperor for some time) made it.</P> <P>There is another game of tables that they call in Spain emperor because he made it and it is set up and played in this way. The one player should place his fifteen pieces on the one-point in one table. And the other [places] his fifteen pieces in the other [one-] point that is in the table next to it on the same side of the bar. </P> <P>And he that should win the battle is to play first and bring his pieces by the rolls of the dice around through the tables of the board until he brings them into the table where the other had his [pieces]. And the other player should do this same thing towards him in the opposite direction. </P> <P>And if in passing the ones should hit the others, they must return to the table where they first were placed. And from there they must be taken again as before until they come to the table where they should be set up. And in passing by each other and being hit and returning again as above in order to play he that bring them around to the table where he should and bears them off safely, he wins the game." </P> <P>.....</p> <P><B>[from fol. 76r]</B> </P> <P>"This game they call <B>medio emperador (half emperor)</B> There is another game that they call medio emperador and it has this name because just as the other game that we described above is played on the four tables of the board, so this one is played on two tables. And it is played with two or three dice but there is no prime like the other one but there can be a tie. </P> <P>And because the game emperador is played on the whole board and this one only on half of it and with two dice, therefore they call it medio emperador. </P> <P>And this is the explanation of this game." </P> </TD> </TABLE></CENTER><br><br> The interpretation of this recently explored condition is still in discussion.<br><br> <B>(autorbis)</B> </TD> <TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top"> <CENTER><IMG SRC="p/alfonso.jpg" > Emperor Alfonso dictates the <br>book about table games.<br> <a href="http://games.rengeekcentral.com/F72R.html!" target="_blank">Source</a> </TD> </TABLE> </td></tr></table> <hr><br><br> <center><b><font size="1">Trionfi.com </b>has its focus on Tarot History and especially the origin of Tarot in 15th century, also the representation of about 100 000 Tarot and other playing cards in the Tarot Museum. <br><b>The Chapter Imperatori Decks</b> describes the playing card development between 1420 and 1440, a time of preparation of the later Trionfi decks. <br> Author: when not otherwise specified, autorbis. 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