The "Game of Four Seasons": a precursor of Quaternity?

I came across this fascinating painting a few years ago when I first started playing Quaternity with some friends in Southern Spain. It immediately caught my attention, as it appears to depict one of the early Chess precursors mentioned by Arif Ali-Shah in his insightful introduction to Quaternity, International Rules (2016).

In this version, each player has only eight pieces, and the color arrangement differs—black faces green, whereas in Quaternity, black opposes white. Additionally, the board features an 8x8 grid rather than the 12x12 setup used in Quaternity.

I particularly appreciate the vibrant colors and the intriguing costumes, which seem to blend monastic robes with princely attire—perhaps even those of poets. This raises the question of whether the game was played across different social classes in India, much like it later spread through Persia and the Arab world.

J. Romano

July 2017

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