In the Netherlands, up to the 18th c. chess was an almost unknown game. An indication is Grotius' -Grotius, a lawyer, is one of Holland's greatest sons- work about domestic games, written in the early 17th c.: he mentioned draughts, tables and morris, not chess [Stoep 2005:64,86]. Another indication is the lacking of chess players in the Dutch coffee houses, meeting places for members of the wealthier classes. The coffee house came into vogue in the second half of the 17th c. and flourished until the 19th c. The visitors of the coffee house and their pursuits were often subject of observations: they played draughts and tables; never morris, hardly ever chess [Stoep 2005:65-66]. It agrees with the number of gaming boards in inventories, see this table, taken from Stoep 2005:80. The figures show the absence of chess before the 19th c. and its rising popularity in the 19th c.
| Town or village | Period | Draughts | Chess |
| Amsterdam Haarlem Surrounding villages of Amsterdam Weesp Delft Weesp, Dalfsen, Geldermalsen, Twisk, Rosmalen Idem |
late 16th c.-1740 (early 19th c.?) late 16th c.-1740 late 16th c.-early 19th c. 1700-1780 1706-1794 1800-1850 1850-1900 |
> 106 43 42 12 35 53 66 |
8 4 0 0 3 2 14 |
A second table, taken from Stoep 2005:75, reveals the social circles where chess came up. The figures result from a historial inquiry into the five smaller municipalities Weesp, Twisk, Dalfsen, Geldermalsen and Rosmalen.
| Poor | > | > | > | > | > | > | Rich | ||
| Draughts | 1st half 19th c. 2nd half 19th c. |
9 4 |
3 4 |
7 7 |
5 1 |
13 6 |
5 4 |
3 5 |
8 35 |
| Chess | 1st half 19th c. 2nd half 19th c. |
1 |
1
|
1 |
1 11 |
See for chess in the Netherlands Stoep 2005:80-83, for draughts Stoep 2005:61-75.
Below the oldest (?) picture of a European coffee house, entitled "Le caffé hollandois". Etching by J. Beauvarlet (Paris c. 1650) from the Dutch painter Adriaan van Ostade [Atlas van Stolk, Rotterdam]
