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Evidence for Sfenj
1 pieces of evidence found.
Id DLP.Evidence.2258
Type Ethnography
Location Sfenj
Date 1895-01-01 - 1895-12-31
Rules 8x8 board. A typical complement of Chess pieces, the Kings are colored red.
Content "We learn from the Schachrubrik der Bohemia that Herr Kupffer writes to the St Petersburger Zeitung as follows, on the subject of Chess in Northern Siberia:” Herr Peredolsky, conservator of the University of St. Petersburg, informs me that in the interests of science he was sent, in the year 1895, on a special mission to Northern Siberia, and that he devoted many months to ethnological investigations among the Tungusians and the Yakoots. He was a dweller in their tents, and he accompanied them on their migrations. He found that all the tribes (the Samoyeds, the Tungusians, the Yakoots, etc) are enthusiastic “board-game” players. The game of draughts is played with the greatest frequency; the games of chess with the greatest enthusiasm. The people make boards for themselves in a very short time. With the help of a hot iron, they burn 32 of the squares black; and they cut pieces, which are somewhat crude, out of bone. The Pawns are rather smaller than the pieces; and it is a noticeable fact that the Pawns and pieces are similar in shape. They are like the latest types of our Rooks. The distinctive marks are as follows: Bishops are cross-hatched with straight lines; Knights with semi-circular and straight strokes; and Rooks with small circles. The King alone is coloured red. A game lasts for hours; often it is not finished till the second day. Hard by sits a crowd of spectators, who stare in silence at the board. When, however, a move is made, if it be unexpected, pretty, or brilliant, and, more particularly, if it be a sacrifice of a piece, the spectators jump up, shout out loudly, exhibit signs of delight, or dance, or even weep through excitement. A player often thinks for an hour before he makes a move. The finishing of a game is quite a scene of festivity. Excitement often causes the players to raise their stakes, until the loss of the game involves the absolute ruin of the loser. A game, to begin with, is for the reindeers; then for the dogs; for clothes; for a man’s whole belongings; and, in the end, even the women are gambled away. Herr Kupffer adds that Herr Peredolsky showed him a board and set of men which had been brought for half-a-pound of the commonest kinds of tobacco leaf, from a Tungusian ofthe lower levels between the Yenisei and the Chatanga. The board was of the ordinary size, and made in the way described above; the men were about an inch in height, cross-hatched, with the usual distinguishing marks. The Tungusian name for the game is ‘Sfenj.’ Shamanism is the religious creed of the Tungusians and the Yakoots; and it is only in the vicinity of the Russian townships that they are reckoned as nominal Christians. The game of draughts is everywhere well played, even by the women; but it has not the standing of chess. Chess reached North Siberia from China." British Chess Magazine 1904: 148-149.
Confidence 100
Source Anonymous. 1904. Chess in Northern Siberia. British Chess Magazine April 1904, 148-149.
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