Until it resurfaced near the end of 2006, the 15th century chess manuscript by mathematician Luca Pacioli (c.1445-c.1517) had been considered lost forever. As one correspondent informed About Chess, 'the Fondazione Palazzo Coronini Cronberg of Gorizia announces an important discovery made in its library collections and related to the Renaissance history and culture. The bibliophile and book historian Duilio Contin has in fact discovered among the manuscripts and antique books gathered by Count Guglielmo Coronini a document dating from the end of the 15th C and considered lost for centuries: it is the manuscript of the famous mathematician Luca Pacioli'; (see forum thread Luca Pacioli for more).

This was only the first surprise that the legendary book would spring: The Last Supper - now how about a nice game of chess? • 'For centuries, it lay unnoticed in one dusty private library after the next. Then just over a year ago it was revealed to be a fabled volume - the only surviving copy of De Ludo Schacorum by Luca Pacioli, the Franciscan friar and mathematician. Yesterday, a new claim was put forward for the priceless, leather-bound manuscript: that its innovative and idiosyncratic illustrations are by Leonardo Da Vinci.' [26 February 2008; guardian.co.uk]

A few weeks later, a prominent British grandmaster and author penetrated further into the book's mysteries: Renaissance chess master and the Da Vinci decode mystery by Raymond Keene • 'A masterpiece from the early literature of chess has recently resurfaced after being thought lost for five centuries. The rediscovery of this book is of much more than scholarly or antiquarian interest, for it has been suggested that its chess puzzle diagrams were not only designed by Leonardo da Vinci, but also drawn by him and, the most tantalising prospect of all, perhaps even composed by him.' [10 March 2008; timesonline.co.uk]

What other secrets will Pacioli's manuscript reveal? Will it shed more light on the mysterious origin of modern chess?

Photo: Leonardo da Vinci, Statue at Piazza della Scala, Milan, Italy © Flickr user Porfirio under Creative Commons. • Background: The Origin of Modern Chess.