Translation

• Games listed in Gargantua (1653) -- From Urquhart's English translation of 1653. Tallied by Jay Cross; note that this list has been alphabetized, and has a few linguistic notes. (more)
• Irving Finkel's detailed reconstruction of the game -- A more-than-typically detailed writeup of the game, the available source material, and how to interpret it. (more)
• FitzStephen's Description of London -- A 12th century Latin account of London life, including vague references to various recreations. (more)
• Vida's Scacchia Ludus -- A transcription of a 16th century Latin poem about a chess game between the gods. Also, a full translation on a separate page. (more)
• On the Explanation of Chess and Backgammon -- A medieval Persian source, describing how Chess came to Persia and how "backgammon" (games within the Tables) was invented. (more)
• The Wikipedia page on Harpastum -- (more)
• Alternate reconstruction of Grande Acedrex -- A very detailed reconstruction that goes back to the Alfonso MS and looks at it carefully. (more)
• Magnus' reconstruction and implementation of Metromachy -- Pulling together Justin's transcription and Steffan's translation, Magnus tied it all together, reconstructed the rules, and built an online implementation. (more)
• The Alfonso MS, in English -- This large PDF (about 5MB) combines an early draft of Sonja Musser Golladay's translation of the Alfonso with some of the facsimiles from Charles Knutson, to make a solidly usable source for reconstruction. (more)
• Sonja Musser Golladay's Dissertation on the Alfonso MS (PDF) -- A PDF copy of the full, 1400-page tome about the Alfonso. This is the single most important source when working on this MS, including a full translation, lots of notes and reconstruction details, information about the culture and context, and so on. (more)
• An in-depth paper on Metromachy -- Written in French, including a translation of the Latin primary source into French. (Sadly for us English monoglots.) (more)
• Sonja Musser Golladay's dissertation on the Alfonso MS (hardcopy) -- This link is a search into University Microfilms' dissertation service. Golladay's dissertation is the masterwork on the Alfonso MS, including a full translation, copious notes and reconstruction details, and all sorts of information about the art and culture surrounding the book. It is a must-have for anyone researching this text. (more)
• Description at The History of Chess -- (more)
• Roselyne's translation of Astronomical Games -- An early translation of a chunk of the Alfonso MS, done by a friend of mine. (more)
• Cardano on Tables Games -- A transcription and translation of the relevant sections from Cardano's Liber de Ludo Aleae. (more)