Birth of the Chess Queen


Abstract:
A History.

Body:
Several months ago I saw Birth of the Chess Queen by Marilyn Yalom in a bookstore. I felt it was overpriced there, so I found it on Amazon much cheaper and bought it right away since they had a limited supply of hardcovers at a steep discount.

This book is a lively history of chess and the chess queen, beginning with the origins of chess, where an advisor or general stood in the modern queens place. As chess migrated to Europe, the queen slowly replaced the advisor until she had completely supplanted him in Europe around 1200 CE. Then late in the 15th century the queen gained her modern powers, with the ability to move in eight directions for any possible distance. Until this time the advisor and queen had little power, able to move only one square in each of the four diagonal directions. During the next century, "queen's chess" replaced old chess, so throughly that it seems as if there was never a difference between the two.

But the book contains more than just the what and when of changes in chess regarding the queen. Yalom looks at the social environment that surrounded chess during its development into its modern form and looks for connections between changes in chess and changes in women's roles in Europe. As women, especially noble women, gained power, so too did the chess queen replace the advisor and extend her powers. She also looks at the design of chess queens and how they vary across time and location, from no women on the board in India and Arabia, to warrior-like queen pieces in Scandinavia. Finally, she also considers the question, why is the queen is the most powerful piece on the board in a game that is today played primarily by men.

If you're interested in the history of chess or the history of women in Europe during the Middle Ages, you'll enjoy this book. Yalom tells the story well, and you often forget you're reading "just" a history book about chess.

Posted: Wed - August 17, 2005 at 05:09 PM         |    

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