Fidchell

The name of the game in multiple Celtic languages -- Old Irish , Middle Welsh , Breton , Cornish —is a compound translating to "wood-wisdom", "wood-intelligence", or "wood-sense". The fact that the compound is identical in each language suggests that it is of extreme antiquity, with the unattested earlier form being reconstructed *widu-kweillā "wood-understanding" in Common Celtic. The game is often compared to or identified with chess, though chess was unknown in Europe until the 12th century. The Old Irish form evolved into , the word used in modern Irish for modern chess, along with Scottish Gaelic fidhcheall and Manx feeal; the similar is the name in Welsh for modern chess. ==History==

or is mentioned often in ancient Celtic legends and lore, but the exact form of the game is open to speculation due to lack of detail on the rules, playing pieces, and the board. It is clear that it was played on a board with opposing sets of pieces in equal numbers. It should not be confused with similar games of Norse origin like or (also called ), which involved a king in the centre and pieces in a 2:1 ratio. Evidence suggests that it may instead have been derived earlier from the Roman game ludus latrunculorum ("game of highwaymen"), which is known to have spread into Germanic and Celtic lands by the early first millennium and is also known from post-Roman Britain. Thus it is possible that was a descendant of . Fidchell shared with latrunculi the method of custodial capture, two around one enemy man on the same line. Archaeological finds such as the Stanway game discovered near Colchester with 13 pieces per side may also represent a British Celtic board game similar or identical to fidchell/gwyddbwyll. == Gameplay ==

Some details of the gameplay can be deduced from literary mentions in early Irish literature. One text reads: {{Verse translation|lang1=sga| Fídchell Crimthann Níad Náir. nis‑beir mac bec día lethláim, leth a fairni d’or buidi. in leth aili d’ḟindruine. oenfer día fairinn namma. dos‑cicher secht lánamna. a small boy carries it not in one hand. Half of its set of yellow gold, the other half of white bronze: one man only of its set will purchase seven couples (of slaves). ==Confusion with tafl==

In the board games literature, it has often been suggested that is a variant of the Welsh game , itself descended from the Norse games. These games, along with the Irish , are played on a grid, often seven squares by seven, with the king in the middle. The king has a number of defending pieces around it at the beginning of the game, and they are surrounded by twice as many attackers. The object is to make a clear path for the king to the edge of the board, while the attackers must attempt to surround, and thereby capture, the king. However, variants are usually played with unequal numbers of pieces, the attackers being twice as numerous as the defenders. by contrast was played with equal numbers on both sides and there is no indication of a king piece. An artefact found in Ballinderry, County Westmeath in 1932, known as the Ballinderry Game Board, has been suggested to represent fidchell. This is a wooden board with Celtic symbols on it, with a seven-by-seven grid, marked off by 49 holes. Historically, games, especially , were often played with a die, made of a sheep's knucklebone, and this feature seems absent in . In Wales, a clear distinction is made between and , which, if also true of Ireland, would tend to indicate a similar distinction between and . ==Historical impact==

, as described in the legends, often has a mystical or divinatory aspect to it. Battles ebb and flow as a result of the ebb and flow of a game of , games play themselves, great events are decided on the outcome of a match. This supernatural aspect is not as clearly reflected in the games. There is clear archaeological and textual evidence that a variant was played in Ireland in ancient times; however, this is more likely to have been the game of brandub, which had a king piece. Fidchell was played with equal forces, and so was not a form of tafl. == See also ==