Giglio are an Italian manufacturer who specialise in the Sorrentino style of wood inlay and marquetry. Started as a small, family-run craftshop in the early 1900s, the secrets of their art have passed down from generation to generation, maintaining their high quality craftsmanship and distinctive look. Today, Giglio are still a family-run company and make some of the most beautiful marquetry boxes and game boards in the world.

This is a gorgeous square Chess table from Giglio, one of the world's finest quality manufacturers, from Italy. It is effectively a lockable chess cabinet on a tri-foot table stand. Stunning square inlaid wooden chess table.

These tables are constructed using the following woods:

• Legs in solid beech
• Inlays in Walnut & Maple veneers
• Bottom in Mahogany plywood
• Decoration, sides, frame around the chess board, drawer fronts, etc in Rosewood

Approx dimensions: 40 x 40 x 68 (High) cm - 15 3/4" x 15 3/4" x 26 3/4" (High). Individual squares are 43mm.

Would suit chess pieces with a king approx 3 inches high. Chess pieces not included.

This table is delivered directly from Italy and the lead-time might be as much as 4 or 5 weeks.

Change to $ Change to €	UK pounds (ex.VAT)	Pounds (incl. VAT)	Typical ETA in wkg days	Add to basket
Giglio Lockable Cabinet Chess Table (43mm squares) Price includes delivery!	£199.91	£234.90	20 + transit time

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The Origin of Chess

A great deal has been written about the origins of chess and there is still a lot of debate on the subject. The earliest clear ancestor of chess is shaturanga or chaturanga which was invented by a 6th century Indian philosopher. It was a battle between four armies each under the control of a Rajah (king), two players being loosely allied against the other two and and each containing 4 corps - Infantry, Cavalry, Elephants and Boatmen. The board of 64 squares used for shaturanga, was borrowed from an earlier game called ashtapada, which was a race game played in ancient India.

Under Hindu law, gambling became forbidden early on in the Hindu civilisation and, to avoid the gambling laws, shaturanga players dispensed with the dice. Another early modification was the merging of the allied armies into a single army making the game a two player form and duplicating the pieces, both developments which have survived until today. Other changes also occurred; and the resulting game was called shatranj. 

There are three versions of the story of arrival of shatranj in Europe - did it come from the Saracens via Spain, from the Byzantine empire as a present to Charlemagne or was it brought back from the Middle East by Knights returning from the Crusades?. Nonetheless, in Europe, the game developed into modern European chess now played worldwide while in China, Japan, Burma, Thailand and Korea, other variants became just as popular.

You can learn more about the History of Chess from The Online Guide to Traditional Games.