Cultures bound by games

LIBRO de los Juegos, or the Book of Games, commissioned by Alfonso X of Castile in 1283, is one of the most important documents for researching the history of board games.

- VINITA SIDHARTHA [e-mail]

What makes it more interesting to us is its reference to a story from India, which I have paraphrased from the translation.

As it is told in the ancient histories of India, there was a king who greatly loved his wise men and had them always with him, and he often made them reason over the nature of things.

The three of them had different opinions.

One said that brains were worth more than luck because he who lived by his brain did things in an orderly fashion, and even if he lost, he was not to blame in this because he did what suited him.

The other said that luck was worth more than brains because if his fortune was to lose or to win, no matter how much brains he might have, he could not avoid it.

The third one said that best was he who could live drawing upon the one and the other because this was prudence.