Editing Libro de los juegos

{{Short description|Work from the 13th century}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2021}}
[[File:Alfonso LJ 97V.jpg|thumb|right|The game of astronomical tables, from {{Lang|es|Libro de los juegos}}]]
The '''{{Lang|es|Libro de los juegos}}''' (Spanish: "Book of games"), or '''{{Lang|osp|Libro de axedrez, dados e tablas}}''' ("Book of chess, dice and tables", in Old Spanish), is a [[13th century]] [[Spanish language|Spanish]] treatise of chess that synthesizes the information from Arabic works on this same topic, dice and [[Tables games|tables]] (backgammon forebears) games,<ref name=Burns>Robert I. Burns, "Stupor Mundi," in ''Emperor of Culture: Alfonso X the Learned of Castile and His Thirteenth-Century Renaissance'', ed. Robert I. Burns (Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1990): 1–13, 2.</ref> commissioned by [[Alfonso X]] of [[Kingdom of Castile|Castile]], [[Kingdom of Galicia|Galicia]] and [[Kingdom of León|León]] and completed in his [[scriptorium]] in [[Toledo, Spain|Toledo]] in 1283.<ref name="SMG">Sonja Musser Golladay, [http://etd.library.arizona.edu/etd/GetFileServlet?file=file:///data1/pdf/etd/azu_etd_2444_1_m.pdf&type=application/pdf "Los Libros de Acedrex Dados E Tablas: Historical, Artistic and Metaphysical Dimensions of Alfonso X’s Book of Games"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717133812/http://etd.library.arizona.edu/etd/GetFileServlet?file=file%3A%2F%2F%2Fdata1%2Fpdf%2Fetd%2Fazu_etd_2444_1_m.pdf&type=application%2Fpdf |date=17 July 2011 }} (PhD diss., University of Arizona, 2007), 31. Although Golladay is not the first to assert that 1283 is the finish date of the ''Libro de Juegos'', the ''a quo'' information compiled in her dissertation consolidates the range of research concerning the initiation and completion dates of the ''Libro de Juegos''.</ref><ref name="wollesen">Wollesen, Jens T. "Sub specie ludi...: Text and Images in Alfonso El Sabio's Libro de Acedrex, Dados e Tablas", ''Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte'' 53:3, 1990. pp. 277–308.</ref> It contains the earliest European treatise on chess as well as being the oldest document on European [[tables games]], and is an exemplary piece of the literary legacy of the [[Toledo School of Translators]].

== Significance ==
The {{Lang|es|Libro de los juegos}} is one of the most important documents for researching the [[history of board games]]. This "celebrated MS book of games" has been described as "one of the choicest treasures of the library of the [[Escorial]]"<ref name=Fiske>Fiske (1905), p. 87.</ref> as well as "perhaps the greatest source of information on board games ever compiled during the Middle Ages."<ref>Cazaux and Knowlton (2017), p. 223.</ref>  It is both "the earliest treatise on chess and the oldest document relating to [[Tables game|tables]] which have had their origin in Europe."<ref name=Fiske/>

==Description ==
The book consists of ninety-seven leaves of [[parchment]], many with color illustrations,<ref name="wollesen"/> and contains 150 [[Miniature (illuminated manuscript)|miniatures]].<ref name="SMG"/> The text is a treatise that addresses the playing of three game types: a [[game of skill]], or [[chess]]; games of chance, or [[dice]]; and a third game type, [[Tables game|tables]], which combines elements of both skill and chance.  These games are discussed in the final section of the book at both an [[astronomical]] and [[astrological]] level. Examining further, the text can also be read as an [[allegorical]] initiation tale and as a [[metaphysics|metaphysical]] guide for leading a balanced, prudent, and virtuous life.<ref>Luis Vázquez de Parga, "Alfonso X el Sabio," in ''Libros del ajedrex, dados y tablas'', edited by Vicent García Editores, Valencia, and Ediciones Poniente (Madrid, Spain: Patrimonio Nacional, 1987): 13–28, 17.</ref> In addition to the didactic, although not overly moralistic, aspect of the text,<ref>Dwayne E. Carpenter, "Fickle Fortune: Gambling in Medieval Spain," in ''Studies in Philology'' 85, no. 3 (Summer, 1988): 267–278, 278.</ref> the manuscript's illustrations reveal a rich cultural, social, and religious complexity.

== Location ==
The earliest manuscript is in the library of the monastery of [[El Escorial]] near [[Madrid]] in Spain, as manuscript T.I.6. It is bound in sheepskin and is 40&nbsp;cm high and 28&nbsp;cm wide (16&nbsp;in&nbsp;×&nbsp;11&nbsp;in).<ref name="wollesen"/> A 1334 copy is held in the library of the Spanish [[Real Academia de la Historia|Royal Academy of History]] in [[Madrid]].

==Background==
Alfonso was likely influenced by his contact with scholars in the Arab world.<ref name="wollesen"/> Unlike many contemporary texts on the topic, he does not engage the games in the text with moralistic arguments; instead, he portrays them in an [[Astrology|astrological]] context.<ref name="wollesen"/> He conceives of gaming as a dichotomy between the [[intellect]] and chance. The book is divided into three parts reflecting this: the first on chess (a game purely of [[abstract strategy]]), the second on dice (with outcomes controlled strictly by chance), and the last on tables (combining elements of both).<ref name="wollesen"/> The first section of the book also speaks of some other games of abstract strategy, notably [[alquerque]] and [[nine men's morris]], among others. The text may have been influenced by [[Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick II]]'s text on [[falconry]].<ref name="wollesen"/>

==Chess==
[[File:Alfonso-LJ-27V.jpg|thumb|right|Chess problem #35]] [[File:Book of chess, dice and boards, 0022R, Berbers playing chess.jpg|thumb|right|Chess problem 25.]]
The {{lang|es|Libro de los Juegos}} contains an extensive collection of writings on chess, with over 100 [[chess problem]]s and [[Chess variant|variants]].<ref name="wollesen"/> Among its more notable entries is a depiction of what Alfonso calls the ''ajedrex de los quatro tiempos'' ("chess of the four seasons"). This game is a chess variant for four players, described as representing a conflict between the [[Classical element|four elements]] and the [[four humors]]. The [[Chess piece|chessmen]] are marked correspondingly in green, red, black, and white, and pieces are moved according to the roll of dice.<ref name="wollesen"/> Alfonso also describes a game titled "[[astronomical chess]]", played on a board of seven concentric circles, divided radially into twelve areas, each associated with a constellation of the [[Zodiac]].<ref name="wollesen"/>

Another variant described in the book is the "[[Grant Acedrex]]", played over a 12x12 board with alternative pieces as the giraffe and the unicornio.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Bodlaender|first=Hans|date=2000-03-11|title=Grande Acedrex|url=https://www.chessvariants.com/historic.dir/acedrex.html|access-date=2022-02-13|website=Chess Variants|archive-date=9 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191009133954/https://www.chessvariants.com/historic.dir/acedrex.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Cazaux|first=Jean-Louis|date=2020-04-19|title=Alfonso X's Grant Acedrex|url=http://history.chess.free.fr/acedrex.htm|access-date=2022-02-13|website=History of Chess|archive-date=24 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224133058/http://history.chess.free.fr/acedrex.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Tables==
[[File:Alfonso-seis-dos-as.jpg|thumb|right|''Seis, dos, y as'']]
The book describes the rules for a number of games in the [[tables (board game)|tables]] family. One notable entry is ''todas tablas'', the equivalent of the Anglo-Scottish game of [[Irish (game)|Irish]], which some scholars have argued has several similarities to modern [[backgammon]] including an identical starting position and the same rules for movement and bearing off, albeit the accompanying image has a different opening layout.<ref name="murray">{{Cite book |last=Murray |first=H. J. R. |author-link=H. J. R. Murray |title=A History of Board-Games Other than Chess |publisher=Hacker Art Books |year=1952 |isbn=978-0-87817-211-5 |chapter=6: Race-Games}}</ref> Alfonso also describes a variant played on a board with seven points in each table. Players rolled [[pentagonal prism|seven-sided]] [[dice]] to determine the movement of pieces, an example of Alfonso's preference for the number seven.<ref>{{Cite web|author=Sonja Musser Golladay |title=Los libros de acedrex dados y tablas by Alfonso X, el Sabio |date=9 March 2001 |url=http://www.u.arizona.edu/%7Esmusser/ljgradsymp.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060908093455/http://www.u.arizona.edu/~smusser/ljgradsymp.html |archive-date= 8 September 2006 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

{{clear}}
The tables games described are:

{| class = "wikitable"
|-
! Spanish name !! Translation !! Remarks
|- 
|Quinze Tablas || Fifteen Pieces ||
|-
|Doce Canes, Doce Hermanos || Twelve Dogs, Twelve Brothers ||
|-
|[[Doblet]] || Doublet || Related to the English game of Doublets
|-
| Fallas || Drop Dead || Related to the English game of Fayles
|-
| Seys Does e As || Six, Two and Ace || Related to the English game of Six-Ace
|- 
| Emperador || Emperor ||
|-
| Medio-Emperador || Half Emperor ||
|-
| Paireia de Entrada || Paired Entry ||
|-
| Cab e Quinal || Alongside Fives ||
|-
| Todas Tablas || All Pieces|| Related to the Anglo-Scottish game of [[Irish (game)|Irish]]
|-
| [[Laquet]] || || Related to the French game of [[Jacquet (game)|Jacquet]]
|-
| Buffa Cortesa || Courtly Puff|| Related to the German game of Puff
|-
| Buffa de Baldrac || Common Puff ||
|-
| Rencontrat || ||
|}

==Art==
[[Image:Nine Men's Morris with dice in Libro de los juegos.jpg|thumb|upright=1.45|right|A 13th-century illustration in {{lang|es|Libro de los Juegos}} of [[Nine men's morris]] being played with dice]]
The miniatures in the ''Libro de juegos'' vary between half- and full-page illustrations. The half-page miniatures typically occupy the upper half of a [[wikt:folio|folio]], with text explaining the game "problem" solved in the image occupying the bottom half. The back or second ([[verso]]) side of Folio 1, in a half-page illustration, depicts the initial stages of the creation of the ''Libro de juegos'', accompanied by text on the bottom half of the page, and the front or first ([[recto]]) side of Folio 2 depicts the transmission of the game of chess from an Indian Philosopher-King to three followers.<ref name="ReferenceA">Vázquez de Parga, "Alfonso X el Sabio," 13.</ref> The full-page illustrations are almost exclusively on the verso side of later folios and are faced by accompanying text on the recto side of the following folio. The significance of the change in miniature size and placement may indicate images of special emphasis, could merely function as a narrative or didactic technique, or could indicate different artisans at work in Alfonso's scriptorium as the project developed over time.<ref>Ana Domínguez Rodríguez, "El Libro del los juegos y la miniatura alfonsi," in ''Libros del ajedrex, dados y tablas'', edited by Vicent García Editores, Valencia, and Ediciones Poniente (Madrid, Spain: Patrimonio Nacional, 1987): 29–123, 32.</ref>

Having multiple [[artisan]]s working on the ''Libro de juegos'' would have been a typical practice for medieval chanceries and scriptoria, where the labor of producing a manuscript was divided amongst individuals of varying capacities,<ref>Thomas F. Glick, "'My Master, the Jew': Observations on Interfaith Scholarly Interactions in the Middle Ages," in ''Jews, Muslims and Christians in and Around the Crown of Aragón'', edited by Harvey J. Hames (Leiden, Netherlands: Koninklijke Brill NV, 2004): 157–182, 159.</ref> for example the positions of scribe, draftsman, and apprentice cutting pages. But in addition to performing different tasks, various artisans could have labored at the same job, such as the work of illustration in the ''Libro de juegos'', thereby revealing a variety of hands or styles. The ''Libro de Juegos'' offers such evidence in the difference in size between the half- and full-page illustrations in addition to changes in framing techniques amongst the folios: geometrical frames with embellished corners, architectural frames established by loosely perspectival rooftops and colonnades, and games played under tents. Other stylistic variances are found in figural representation, in facial types, and in a repertoire of different postures assumed by the players in different folios in the manuscript.

For example, in a comparison of two miniatures, found on Folios 53v and 76r, examples of these different styles are apparent, although the trope of a pair of gamers is maintained. In Folio 53v, two men are playing chess, both wearing turbans and robes. Although they may be seated on rugs on the ground, as suggested by the ceramic containers that are placed on or front of the rug near the man on the right side of the board, the figures' seated positions, which are full frontal with knees bent at right angles, suggests that they are seated on stools or perhaps upholstered benches. The figures' robes display a [[Byzantine]] conservatism, with their modeled three-dimensionality and allusion to a [[Classical antiquity|Classical]] style, yet the iconic hand gestures are reminiscent of a [[Romanesque art|Romanesque]] energy and theatricality. Although the figures are seated with their knees and torsos facing front, their shoulders and heads rotate in three-quarter profile toward the center of the page, the chess board, and each other. The [[Anatomical terms of location#Proximal and distal|proximal]], inner arm of each player (the arm that is closest to the board) is raised in a speaking gesture; the [[Anatomical terms of location#Proximal and distal|distal]], outside arms of the players are also raised and are bent at the elbows, creating a partial crossing of each player's torso as the hands lift in speaking gestures. The faces reveal a striking specificity of subtle detail, particular to a limited number of miniatures throughout the ''Libro de juegos'', perhaps indicative of a particular artist's hand. These details include full cheeks, realistic wrinkles around the eyes and across the brow, and a red, full-lipped mouth that hints at the [[Gothic art|Gothic]] affectations in figural representation coming out of France during the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries.<ref>Ellen Kosmer and James F. Powers, "Manuscript Illustration: The Cantigas in Contemporary Art Context," in ''Emperor of Culture: Alfonso X the Learned of Castile and His Thirteenth-Century Renaissance'', edited by Robert I. Burns (Philadelphia, PA: University of Philadelphia Press, 1990): 46–58, 50.</ref>

The style in the miniature in Folio 76v is markedly different from the style in Folio 53v. In this case, the framed miniature contains two men, perhaps Spanish, with uncovered wavy light brown hair that falls to the jaw line. The men seem young, as the player on the left has no facial hair and his face is unlined. In both folios, both pairs of players are playing tables and seem to be well-dressed, although there is no addition of gold detailing to their robes as seen in the wardrobes of aristocratic players in other miniatures. These players are seated on the ground, leaning on pillows that are placed next to a tables board. In this miniature, the figure on the left side of the board faces the reader, while the figure on the right leans in to the board with his back to the reader. In other words, each player is leaning on his left elbow, using his right hand to reach across his body to play. In the miniatures of this style, the emphasis seems to be more on the posture of the player than the detail of their faces; this crossed, lounging style is only found in the folios of the ''Libro de tablas'', the third section of the ''Libro de juegos'' which explains [[tables game]]s, again perhaps indicative of the work of a particular artist.

Other visual details contemporaneous of Alfonso's court and social and cultural milieu infuse the ''Libro de juegos''. Although some of the miniatures are framed by simple rectangles with corners embellished by the golden castles and lions of Castile and León, other are framed by medieval Spanish architectural motifs, including Gothic and [[Mudéjar]] arcades of columns and arches. At times, the figural depictions are hierarchical, especially in scenes with representations of Alfonso, where the king is seated on a raised throne while dictating to scribes or meting out punishments to gamblers. Yet a contemporary atmosphere of Spanish ''[[convivencia]]'' is evoked by the inclusion nobility, rogues, vagrants, young and old, men, women, Christian, Muslim, and Jewish characters. Alfonso himself is depicted throughout the text, both as participant and spectator and as an older man and as a younger.<ref>Jose Guerrero Lovillo, ''Miniatura Gótica Castellana: Siglos VIII y XIV''. (Madrid, España: Laboratorio de Arte de la Universidad de Sevilla, Instituto Diego Velázquez, del Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas: 1956), 24.</ref> The pages are filled with many social classes and ethnicities in various stages of solving the challenges presented by games.

==Iconography ==
The {{lang|es|Libro de los Juegos}} can be divided into three parts: the games and problems it explores textually, the actual illuminations themselves, and the metaphysical allegories, where an analysis of the texts and illuminations reveals the movements of the [[macrocosmos]] of the universe and the microcosmos of man.<ref>Golladay, "Los Libros de Acedrex Dados E Tablas: Historical, Artistic and Metaphysical Dimensions of Alfonso X’s Book of Games," 1222.</ref> The symbolism within the medieval illuminations, as explained by the accompanying texts, reveal allusions to medieval literature, art, science, law and philosophy.<ref>Golladay, "Los Libros de Acedrex Dados E Tablas: Historical, Artistic and Metaphysical Dimensions of Alfonso X’s Book of Games," 1225.</ref> Intended as a [[didactic]] text, the manuscript functions as a manual that documents and explains how and why one plays games ranging from pure, intellectual strategy (chess), to games of pure chance (dice), to games that incorporate both elements (tables). Conceivably, Alfonso hoped to elucidate for himself how to better play the game of life, while also providing a teaching tool for others. The game of ''ajedrex'', or chess, is not the only game explained in the {{lang|es|Libro de los Juegos}}, but it does occupy the primary position in the text and is given the most attention to detail.

In the thirteenth century, chess had been played in Europe for almost two hundred years, having been introduced into Europe by [[Arabs]] around the year 1000. The Arabs had become familiar with the game as early as the eighth century when the [[Rashidun Caliphate|Islamic empire]] conquered [[Persia]],<ref name="tronzo18">William L. Tronzo, "Moral Hieroglyphs: Chess and Dice at San Savino in Piacenza," in ''Gesta'' 16, no. 2 (1977): 15–26, 18.</ref> where the game of chess was alleged to have been originated. It is said that a royal advisor had invented the game in order to teach his king prudence without having to overtly correct him.<ref>Ricardo Calvo, "El libro de los juegos de Alfonso X el Sabio," in ''Libros del ajedrex, dados y tablas'', edited by Vicent García Editores, Valencia, and Ediciones Poniente (Madrid, Spain: Patrimonio Nacional, 1987): 125–386, 138.</ref> As Arab contact with the West expanded, so too did the game and its various permutations, and by the twelfth century, chess was becoming an entertaining diversion among a growing population of Europeans, including some scholars, clergy, the aristocracy, and the merchant classes;<ref name="tronzo15">Tronzo, "Moral Hieroglyphs: Chess and Dice at San Savino in Piacenza," 15.</ref> thus, by the thirteenth century, the iconography and symbolism associated with chess would have been accessible and familiar to Alfonso and his literate court culture, who may have had access to the private library, and manuscripts, of Alfonso, including the {{lang|es|Libro de los Juegos}}.<ref name="tronzo15"/>

The {{lang|es|Libro de los Juegos}} manuscript was a Castilian translation of Arabic texts, which were themselves translations of Persian manuscripts.<ref name=Burns>Robert I. Burns, "Stupor Mundi," in ''Emperor of Culture: Alfonso X the Learned of Castile and His Thirteenth-Century Renaissance'', ed. Robert I. Burns (Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1990): 1–13, 2.</ref> The visual trope portrayed in the {{lang|es|Libro de los Juegos}} miniatures is seen in other European transcriptions of the Arabic translations, most notably the German Carmina Burana Manuscript:<ref name="tronzo18"/> two figures, one on either side of the board, with the board tilted up to reveal to the readers the moves made by the players. The juxtaposition of chess and dice in Arabic tradition, indicating the opposing values of skill (chess) and ignorance (dice),<ref>Tronzo, "Moral Hieroglyphs: Chess and Dice at San Savino in Piacenza," 19</ref> was given a different spin in Alfonso's manuscript, however. As Alfonso elucidates in the opening section of the {{lang|es|Libro de los Juegos}}, the ''Libro de ajedrex'' (Book of chess) demonstrates the value of the intellect, the ''Libro de los dados'' (Book of dice) illustrates that chance has supremacy over pure intellect, and the'' Libro de las tablas'' (Book of tables) celebrates a conjoined use of both intellect and chance.<ref>Dwayne E. Carpenter, "'Alea jacta est': at the Gaming Table with Alfonso the Learned," in ''Journal of Medieval History'' 24, no. 4 (1998): 333–345, 336.</ref> Further, the iconographic linkage between chess and kingship in the Western tradition continued to evolve and became symbolic of kingly virtues, including skill, prudence, and intelligence.<ref>Tronzo, "Moral Hieroglyphs: Chess and Dice at San Savino in Piacenza," 21.</ref>

==Literary context==
Most of the work accomplished in Alfonso's scriptorium consisted of translations into the Spanish vernacular from Arabic translations of [[Greek language|Greek]] texts or classical Jewish medicinal texts.<ref name="kasten">Lloyd Kasten, "Alfonso’s Language," in ''Emperor of Culture: Alfonso X the Learned of Castile and His Thirteenth-Century Renaissance'', ed. Robert I. Burns (Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1990): 33–45, 34.</ref> As a result, very few original works were produced by this scholar-king, relative to the huge amount of work that was translated under his auspices. This enormous focus on translation was perhaps an attempt by Alfonso to continue the legacy of academic openness in Castile, initiated by Islamic rulers in [[Córdoba, Spain|Córdoba]], where the [[emirate]]s had also employed armies of translators in order to fill their libraries with Arabic translations of classic Greek texts.<ref name="kasten"/> Alfonso was successful in promoting Castilian society and culture through his emphasis on the use of [[Galaico-Portuguese]] and Castilian, in academic, juridical, diplomatic, literary, and historical works. This emphasis also had the effect of reducing the universality of his translated works and original academic writings, as [[Latin]] was the ''[[lingua franca]]'' in both [[Iberian Peninsula|Iberia]] and Europe; yet Alfonso never desisted in his promotion of the Castilian vernacular.<ref>Burns, "Stupor Mundi," 7.</ref>

==Legacy==
In 1217, Alfonso had captured the [[Kingdom of Murcia]], on the [[Mediterranean]] coast south of [[Valencia (province)|Valencia]], for his father, [[Alfonso IX of León|King Alfonso IX]], thereby unifying the kingdoms of Castile and León, bringing together the northern half of the [[Iberian Peninsula]] under one Christian throne.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> With the Christian ''[[Reconquista]]'' of the Peninsula underway, inroads into Islamic territories were successfully incorporating lands previously held by the ''[[taifa]]'' kingdoms. The arts and sciences prospered in the Kingdom of Castile under the confluence of Latin and Arabic traditions of academic curiosity as Alfonso sponsored scholars, translators, and artists of all three religions of the Book (Jewish, Christian, and Muslim) in his chanceries and scriptoria.<ref>Guerrero Lovillo, ''Miniatura Gótica Castellana: Siglos VIII y XIV'', 13.</ref> Clerical and secular scholars from Europe turned their eyes to the Iberian Peninsula as the arts and sciences prospered in an early Spanish "renaissance" under the patronage of Alfonso X, who was continuing the tradition of (relatively) enlightened and tolerant ''convivencia'' established by the Muslim emirate several centuries earlier.<ref>Burns, "Stupor Mundi," 2.</ref>

As an inheritor of a dynamic mixture of Arabic and Latin culture, Alfonso was steeped in the rich heritage of [[renaissance humanism|humanistic]] philosophy, and the production of his {{lang|es|Libro de los Juegos}} reveals the compendium of world views that comprised the eclectic thirteenth-century admixture of faith and science. According to this approach, man's actions could be traced historically, and his failures and successes could be studied as lessons to be applied to his future progress. These experiences can be played out and studied as they are lived, or as game moves played and analysed in the pages of the {{lang|es|Libro de los Juegos}}.<ref>Kasten, "Alfonso’s Language," 42.</ref> It is a beautiful and luxurious document, rich not only in workmanship but also in the amount of scholarship of multiple medieval disciplines that are integrated in its pages.

==See also==
* [[Literature of Alfonso X]]
* [[Astronomical chess]]
*[[Scachs d'amor]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* Canettieri, Paolo, [https://web.archive.org/web/20100426232237/http://knol.google.com/k/paolo-canettieri/alfonso-x-el-sabio-il-libro-dei-giochi/vyvpjuoxc2n0/170 "A critical edition of The Book of Games"]. ''[[Knol|Google Knol]]'' collection.
* Canettieri, Paolo, [https://web.archive.org/web/20100429094548/http://knol.google.com/k/alfonso-x-libro-de-los-juegos-bibliografia "The Book of Games: A bibliography"]. ''Google Knol'' collection.
* Canettieri, Paolo, [https://web.archive.org/web/20100426232237/http://knol.google.com/k/paolo-canettieri/alfonso-x-el-sabio-il-libro-dei-giochi/vyvpjuoxc2n0/170 "The Book of Games: A critical edition"] (Italian: "ALFONSO X EL SABIO – Il Libro dei giochi – Introduzione, edizione e commento"). ''Google Knol'' collection.
* Cazaux, Jean-Louis and Rick Knowlton (2017). ''A World of Chess''. Jefferson, NC: McFarland.
* Fiske, Willard (1905). ''Chess in Iceland and in Icelandic literature: with Historical Notes on other Table-Games''. Florence: Florentine Typographical Society.
* Golladay, Sonja Musser, "Alfonso X's Book of Games: A translation" (old link archived from the University of Arizona: [https://web.archive.org/web/20060908093555/http://www.u.arizona.edu/~smusser/ljtranslation.html A translation])
* {{cite journal
| last = Gordon
| first = Stewart
| title = The Game of Kings
| journal = [[Saudi Aramco World]]
| volume = 60
| issue = 4
| pages = 18–23
| date = July–August 2009
| url = http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/200904/the.game.of.kings.htm
| publisher = Aramco Services Company
| location = Houston
| access-date = 22 June 2010
| archive-date = 20 July 2009
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090720035407/http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/200904/the.game.of.kings.htm
| url-status = dead
}} ([https://web.archive.org/web/20121003051322/http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/pdf/2000/200904.pdf PDF version]) Cf. especially section on "The Alfonso X 'Book of Games'".
* Vazquez-Campos, Braulio, [http://knol.google.com/k/braulio-v%C3%A1zquez-campos/alfonso-x-y-el-ajedrez/1nt2tw69bo2xt/13?hl=en#/ "Alfonso X and Chess"]{{Dead link|date=February 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} (Spanish: "Alfonso X y el ajedrez"). ''Google Knol'' collection.

==External links==
{{Commons category|Libro de los juegos}}
* [http://games.rengeekcentral.com/  Alphonso X Book of Games] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210426071445/https://games.rengeekcentral.com/ |date=26 April 2021 }} at RenGeekCentral
* [http://www.gamesmuseum.uwaterloo.ca/ Elliot Avedon Museum & Archive of Games] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160924004509/http://www.gamesmuseum.uwaterloo.ca/ |date=24 September 2016 }}
* [http://history.chess.free.fr/acedrex.htm Focus on Chess variants from Alfonso's codex] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224133058/http://history.chess.free.fr/acedrex.htm |date=24 February 2021 }}

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