... a reflective pool of wanderings, ponderings, mental furniture, accumulated ghosts, skeletons and bric-a-brac -- all somehow related to chess...

Table of Contents

 

The Mesoamerican Sacrum Bone: Doorway to the Other World by Brian Stross (pdf instant download 3.1 m) A large document but well worth the read. The author's research is stellar as are his conclusions detailing recovery of ancient shamanic traditions involving dice. For an html view but without important graphical content click here.

The Sacred Game by J.C. Hallman Goddesschess "enthusiastically" presents this informed thoughtspiece from the pen of J.C. Hallman. (July 6. 2008)

The Goddesschess Summer 2007 Celebration! Follow our fearless foursome as we explore and navigate the chessboards of by land, sea and air. Photoworks, fireworks and Harry Potter help cap our 8th Anniversary spectacular!

Butrint in Vivisection Part II by Donald McLean - In which the play of pharoahs recaptures Butrint's historical conscience while netting a few charlatans in the process. Measure for measure, our man Butrint has been disgracefully wronged. Long live the king!

No foolin'! "An Ancient Game Computers Can't Master" Jan Newton's March 31, 2007 report on "Go" strikes a blow for humanity!

New discovery or just the same old song? Between March 9 -12, 2007, a news story was picked up by several chess bloggers on the internet. The gist: A research team claims to have moved a step closer to proving that chess originated around the northern Indian city of Kanauj in the 5th century. Even so, we have some "questions" we would like to see resolved...

Great Snakes! The Serpent Gameboard of Iran" Much ado about - nothing? UPDATED: January, 2007 - Additions to Jan Newton's research of November, 2005.

The Jiroft Game Boards UPDATED; January 2007. Controversy takes flight on an ill wind as rumour of debatable archeological practices escapes from Iran. Jan Newton, November, 2005

When is a bird not a bird? UPDATED January 2007. The tutelary's world and the virtual world of board games roost together in a Mandeaen exploration of the Simurgh. Don McLean, November, 2005

Goddesschess' Seventh Anniversary Celebration! Like Old Man River, we just keep rolling along... this time to spectacular Chicago and the Field Museum. Jan Newton reports on Tlingit North American "chess" and other native games while sharing the discoveries of our August, 2006 get together.

Origin of chess and its cosmological roots by Andreas Bunkahle (06 feb 06) - Andreas takes us on a brief journey through the cosmological archetypes of XiangQi, Chaturanja, Chess and the I-Ching. An interesting extrapolation produces a novel form of the old Chinese game and shows great promise for future comparisons of this type. Reprinted with permission Sept. 21, 2006.

Goddesschess' Sixth Anniversary Celebration!
Jan Newton reports on trips to New York and the Oriental Institute Museum in Chicago, September 23 - October 3, 2005.

Butrint in Vivisection Part 1 Don McLean April 4. 2006. The first of a multistage analysis of the unusual artifact found in Butrint Albania

Dr. Grovert Westerveld: The Queen's Man By Jan Newton October 31, 2004. Dr. Westerveld's celebration of the famous Isabella la Catholica, Queen of Spain rubs shoulders with chess, checkers and the evolving history of female influence in the development of both games.

Shamat! Is the king really dead? There are games within games and in the history of chess, word games full of traps and snares. (Jan Newton - September 2003)

Those Las Vegas Showgirls take us on a Knight's Tour of the Vegas Skyline. Among the sites - Chess, Tesselations, M.C. Escher and MORE!

"The Glass Wreck" Underwater archaeology and the discovery of some very old chessmen. (Jan Newton - June 22, 2003)

Reflections on Memorial Day, 2003 (Jan Newton - May 26, 2003)