chess-The Oxford Companion to Chess - First Edition by David Hooper & Kenneth Whyld

ASETAPADA, an ancienr Indian ra@ gamc playcd
with dice on an 8 x 8 board; the board on which this
eame was played. wlEtr chess onginated lhe
ensting board was laken inio use. Ashtapada has
not been played for many centuries, and its method
of play h6 bccn forgotte.. bui Indian chessboards
somolimes still have the charactenstic x on each oI
the 1s1,4lh,5th, md 8th squares ol the a, d, e, and
h frles. (see BsrcRY or csE$.)
AT(INS 17
Thisposilion006inthemainvariationof asludy
by the Russian player and composer Aleiei
serseyevich Seleznicv (1888 1%7), D.!rr./,4
wochentchach, 1917. \Nhite draws by I Kd6 Kd4
2 Kc6 Kc3 3 Kd5 b3 4 Ke4 b2 5 Ba2. 1 Kf6?
Alhrapadr
ASPERLING, 8.. author oI the only inporlant
texrbook on chess lo be writte. in the seond halJ
ol the iTrh century. The l/aitti du leu Rofal des
Echets , . . ptr B.A.D.R.C..!. was publisned in
Lausannc around 1690 and generally known as
'T.ai1; de LaBanne'. For nany years the auihorship
was a mystery, but rhe copy in the While
coleclion al Cleveland, Ohio, USA is in$ribedio
conremporary handwriting B. Asperling de
Raioyne [a misreading of Ra.ogne in Canton
valaisl, caide suisse . Much ol the contents is
derived tio6 Greco and other carly wrilers but
Asperli.gt own contribution shows hin to have
been a strong player. The book is ofinponance ior
rhree reasons: ihe nedielal ting\ leap malcs i1s
last appearancei opcnings arc.lassilicd in an
orderly vay for the fiEi tinei and it is extremely
rare. van der LrNDE reprinled tbe vhole t€xt in
Deu$che Schu. hze itung, lA?2._
ASSIZE, a nedieval tern lor a particular sel of
rules ot chess, wbich difered trom aunlr, to
counrry a.d olten within thc samc country. Ev.n
tne arraywas notstandardized. There s6 the long
assize, Mlh men aranged as they.re today, and
various kinds oi short assize, Nith pawns on the
third (ank and an unorlhodox arrangcmcnt ol lhc
pieces. Tbe shorl 6size was so named because it
curtailed lhe olherwise lengthy opening phase, lhe
lbrces mai