Reclining in a smoking room armchair during the golden age of Parliament, perhaps with a glass tumbler in hand, Gladstonians and Parnellites were often found settling their differences over a cigar and a spot of chess.

But now, a century and a half on and with the House of Commons chess circle long since defunct, the classic adversarial game has returned to the Palace of Westminster - and brought with it a battle of its own making.

Convening this week to resurrect the annual Lords Vs Commons match, a cross-party group set up to promote the game was told a ministerial row is brewing over the future of chess in England that is not, it must be said, exactly black or white.