The Libro de los Juegos, ("Book of games"), or Libro de acedrex, dados e tablas, ("Book of chess, dice and tables") was commissioned by Alfonso X, king of León, Galicia and Castile, during the 13th century and completed in 1283. It consists of 98 pages, many with color illustrations. The games covered include chess (including the earliest known European chess problems), dice, and tables (the family of games that includes backgammon). The book con...
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The Libro de los Juegos, ("Book of games"), or Libro de acedrex, dados e tablas, ("Book of chess, dice and tables") was commissioned by Alfonso X, king of León, Galicia and Castile, during the 13th century and completed in 1283. It consists of 98 pages, many with color illustrations. The games covered include chess (including the earliest known European chess problems), dice, and tables (the family of games that includes backgammon). The book contains the earliest known description of some of these games, including many games imported from the Arab kingdoms.
It is one of the most important documents for researching the history of board games. The only known original is held in the library of the monastery of San Lorenzo del Escorial near Madrid in Spain. The book is bound in sheepskin and is 40 cm high and 28 cm wide (16 in × 11 in). A 1334 copy is held in the library of the Historical Academy of Madrid.
Alfonso was likely influenced by his contact with scholars in the Arab world....
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