Astronomical chess
chess variant
Astronomical chess or Astrological chess is a game for seven players from the book Libro de los Juegos (Book of Games), written under king Alfonso X the Wise in 1283. The game was played on a round board with concentric circles. The sky, zodiac signs and planets are the elements of this chess. The book described the games and problems of playing situations in chess, dice and other board games that formed the basis of modern backgammon.
In some sources astronomical chess is called the "Zodiac". Despite the name, the game is a dice game that has nothing to do with chess.
Description
The board has seven sides for seven players; within, there are 12 concentric circles representing the geocentric model of the universe. Starting from the outside and moving inward, these represent:
The stars, given by the 12 symbols of the zodiac
Saturn, with 84 (12×7) spaces of alternating color
Jupiter, with 72 (12×6) spaces
Mars, with 60 (12×5) spaces
The Sun, with 48 (12×4) spaces
Venus, with 36 (12×3) spaces
Mercury, with 24 (12×2) spaces
The Moon, with 12 (12×1) spaces
Earth: fire element as a single red ring
Earth: air element as a single purple ring
Earth: water element as a single white ring
Earth: earth element as a brown circle
The symbols of the zodiac are arranged according to a clock face, starting with Aries in the sector between the 11 o'clock and 12 o'clock positions, proceeding anti-clockwise to Pisces in the 12–1 o'clock sector. Each zodiac sector contains 28 spaces (1+2+3+4+5+6+7), making the board equivalent to a lunar calendar.
Each player is assigned a piece by rolling a seven-sided die; the piece personifies a different heavenly body, starting at a specific constellation within that orbit, as marked on the board:
The Moon, starting in Cancer (8–9 o'clock)
Mercury, starting in Virgo (6–7 o'clock)
Venus, starting in Taurus (10–11 o'clock)
The Sun, starting in Leo (7–8 o'clock)
Mars, starting in Scorpio (4–5 o'clock)
Jupiter, starting in Sagittarius (3–4 o'clock)
Saturn, starting in Aquarius (1–2 o'clock)
Gameplay
According to the source, players roll the seven-sided die to determine who moves first, then each rolls the seven-sided die again to determine the number of spaces they move, anti-clockwise, within their orbit.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Astronomical chess” as chess variant. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as chess variant. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jan 22, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q4071799. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1283.
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This entry incorporates text from “Astronomical chess” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.