ABSTRACT
THOUGH it is open to grave doubt whether the game of chess is referred to in the Talmud, it was already a wellknown Jewish pastime in the twelfth century 1. I t seems to have first made its way into Jewish circles as a women's game; indeed most of the indoor games of the Jews in the middle ages started on their career under the patronage of the fair sex. It must be remembered that games were' not played every day, but only on occasions of leisure, such as festivals. Women, as we have already seen, were privileged in this respect, and were allowed a licence denied to the men 2. But the men also played chess on Sabbaths as the middle ages advanced, and no serious opposition be raised. In order to mark the honour of the occasion, the chessmen used on the Sabbath were made of silver 3, and this habit became a stereotyped custom in the sixteenth century.
