Besides their conventional value, the pieces had a money value, which
was essential to be known by all who desired to win. The rook and
knight were estimated at about sixpence each; the queen, threepence;
the pawns, three-halfpence; and the 'side-pawns,' three farthings. The
value of bishops varied, while the king was beyond all price. The
regulations respecting odds were also well defined, in degrees from a
single pawn up to a knight and rook; but any one claiming the latter
odds was held not 'to count as a chess-player.' And it was not unusual
for works on chess to contain puzzling problems, representations of
drawn games, and well-combined positions. Some authors describe five
different kinds of chess: one had 10 × 10, or 100 squares; another was
oblong, 16 × 4, which employed dice as well as the usual pieces;
another board was circular, with a central spot for the king, where he
could intrench himself in safety; another represented the zodiac, with
spaces for each planet, according to the number of houses or mansions
assigned by astrologers. The ingenuity did not end here: chess was
made to illustrate dreams, and to embellish many amusing games and
recreations. Odes and poems were written upon it, and the poets at
times exhibited their skill in a play upon words--for instance:

'When my beloved learnt the chess-play of cruelty,
In the very beginning of the game her sweet cheek
(rukh) took my heart captive.'

It served also to point riddles, some of which exhibit remarkable
ingenuity, as shewn by the following example, where the name of
Mohammed is enigmatically embodied. It is thus rendered:

'The vow of Moses twice repeat;
The principles of life and heat;