During the time of the Crusades, the game of chess spread in Europe. Images were designed with Alexander the Great and the heroes of the Trojan War ("the first teachers" of the expeditions from Europe to the East) playing chess themselves.

During the same period, the Byzantine Greeks also played chess. However, because they were at the forefront of Europe, they were the first to face the attacks of the eastern peoples. They succumbed to the Ottomans and did not have the opportunity to experience the changes in the game that took place during the period of European Renaissance.

In the early 19th century, the Greeks overthrow the Ottoman yoke and find themselves facing the "new chess", which has a history of only three centuries. It is played by the "noble peoples" of the West and is considered a game of strategy, skill, and intelligence, a hidden challenge to the "reborn Greek spirit".

The book begins from ancient times, sheds light on the relationship of the Greeks with games on lined surfaces, and reaches the Greek intellectuals of the 19th century (many of them well-known intellectuals), who, by playing their own games, managed to leave a small or large mark on the international chess community.