Painting of Courier game
Courier Chess (or Courierspiel) is an historic chess variant, first mentioned in the "Wigalois" a German poem dated from 1205. The famous Dutch painter Lucas van Leyden has represented a game for posterity in the painting shown below. Nowadays, this masterpiece is dated circa 1510. Bell reported that it experienced a tumultuous history during WWII. It can be now admired at the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin, Germany.
WWW page made by Hans Bodlaender. Painting sent by Nuno Cruz.
WWW page created: March 14, 2000, revised July 15, 2000 by Jean-Louis Cazaux; small revision January 1, 2011 by Hans Bodlaender.