If a Chessman Were a Word

On a tiled foor at the feet of Kublai Khan, Marco Polo spread out trinkets and treasures from his world travels. Still ignorant of Levantine languages, Marco used the trophies as props as he pantomimed his adventures and discoveries. The Mongolian emperor was a keen chess player, notes Italo Calvino in Invisible Cities. "Following Marco's movements, he observed that certain pieces implied or excluded the vicinity of other pieces and were shifted along certain lines. . . . He thought: 'If each city is like a game of chess, the day when I have learned the rules, I shall finally possess my empire.'" Calvino offers few examples, but he has inspired this dictionary of chessman meanings. All language herein pays homage to Invisible Cities.