Chess Illustrations Designed by Leonardo da Vinci?

GORIZIA, Italy—The design for the illustrations in a chess book dating from 1500 may be the work of Leonardo da Vinci, reports the New York Times. "De Ludo Scachorum" (The Game of Chess), one of the earliest chess books, was long thought lost until discovered in 2006 in a personal library in Italy belonging to the late Count Guglielmo Coronini. It was written by Luca Pacioli, a Franciscan friar, Renaissance mathematician, and friend and collaborator of Leonardo's, and includes 114 diagrams of chess problems in red and black.

The Coronini Cronberg Foundation, upon finding the book, asked Italian architect and sculptor Franco Rocco to examine it. Years later, he has concluded that the design upon which the illustrations are based is the work of Leonardo. He cited the friendship between the two men as well as the quality of the drawings and their adherence to the golden ratio among his evidence.

While the news has sparked excitement in the chess community, some scholars remain unconvinced. Martin Kemp, a prominent Leonardo expert and art history professor emeritus at Oxford University, dismissed the findings as lacking method and impossible. "There is not an earthly chance of them being by Leonardo," he said.