BIRTH OF THE CHESS QUEEN: A HISTORY PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Marilyn Yalom | 320 pages | 01 May 2005 | HarperCollins Publishers Inc | 9780060090654 | English | United States Birth of the Chess Queen: A History PDF Book Doubtless there is some truth to the idea that examples such as Isabella made the appearance of a kick-ass female monarch on the chessboard more credible. To end on a positive note - the fabulous color and black-and-white examples of historic chess pieces and illustrations of people playing chess. The idea of multiple queens on the chessboard proved so anxiety-making for Europeans that it remained a subject of contention for centuries to come. Originally, the figure next to the king was the vizier, who could only move one space diagonally at a time. Friend Reviews. Welcome back. The game, of course, is a simulation of warfare How did the queen become the most powerful piece on the chess board while the king makes his gouty way around the board one space at a time? This convergence of queen and icon begs another set of questions: Was the evolution of the chess queen related to the increased prominence of queens during the late Middle Ages? It was only after the Arabs invaded Southern Europe in the eighth century and brought chess with them that the queen appeared on the board. But this scenario did not always exist. By Marilyn Yalom. Starting sometime around the 10th century, the vizier inherited from Islamic chess began to be renamed a queen. It even prompted me to borrow a book on the Lewis Chessmen, so expect that review shortly! Find your next favorite book Become a member today and read free for 30 days Start your free 30 days. Definitely recommended for lovers of chess and the history of games as well as those interested in the evolving role of women in society and in politics and war. Chess first became popular among royalty and nobility, where rights were based on male succession. What I did find fascinating was the history of the development of the game, especially the differences between cultures and countries. Did the fact that girls, as well as boys, commonly played chess have anything to do with the advent of the queen on the board? There are no discussion topics on this book yet. The structure was plodding and the writing style too plain for the material. In fact, the history of chess in Scandinavia has its own chapter in the book. Interestingly, Catherine the Great preferred cards to chess. The answers it gives are satisfactory and —given the relative esoteric nature of the material—probably as close as anyone will ever get to the truth. To ask other readers questions about Birth of the Chess Queen , please sign up. He was gradually supplanted in Middle-Ages Europe by a queen. But This book alternately irked and entertained me. Too bad, because there is some great research here. Buy Birth of the Chess Queen at Amazon. Enlarge cover. Super interesting regardless. Chequered past of the first lady. Even more intimately, she was expected to produce children. Very often, when the king died young, the queen would become regent for her son until he came of age, effectively ruling the country on her own. The first definite literary reference to chess comes not from India but from Persia. In fact, one piece of the Lewis Chessmen was discovered very recently It was acknowledged that they could defeat a man in a game and might be a better player. In the earliest version of the game, the piece that eventually became the queen was the vizier. It is fitting that the chess queen reached the summit of her power under the rule of Isabella of Castile, the most renowned Spanish queen of all time. What surprised me is that the quee Anyone who likes chess will get a lot out of this book. Simply: there is a lack of cohesiveness and steady pace. Whether you read this for purposes of chess or history or women's studies you will find it interesting and informative while being confronted with questions or points worth consideration and thought. Father P. Download to App. During the eleventh and twelfth centuries, when the chess queen was driving the vizier from the European board, there were numerous currents favorable to the idea of female power. Another important part of medieval European culture was the devotion to the Virgin Mary, and Yalom describes small statues of the Virgin Mary, common in churches, which resemble chess queens. It certainly doesn't seem like the chess board would be any place for a woman, much less a powerful one. Yalom strongly implies, but stops just short of saying outright, that the influence of those queens was responsible for the changes in chess. On a more intimate level, she was expected to preside over the royal household, with chief administrative responsibility for providing food, clothing, rest, and entertainment. The cult of love. Birth of the Chess Queen: A History Writer What I did find fascinating was the history of the development of the game, especially the differences between cultures and countries. When the Arabs carried the game across the Mediterranean into Spain and Sicily, chess began to reflect Western feudal structures and took on a social dimension. Did you know that the chess queen wasn't on the board originally and that she didn't have her "super moves" until much later. In her last chapter, Yalom writes of the relative lack of female chess players, even today. Other editions. Sometimes, however, it seems like the book is driven by a preset narrative instead of the research. A foot soldier could be shown standing on two sturdy feet with shield and sword in front of him. I actually read this book a while ago but found it well worth the read. In the beginning, there was no Queen. But in the Arab world, after the death of Muhammad in , Muslim players transformed these realistic pieces into abstract ones because the Koran, like the Hebrew Bible, prohibited the portrayal of living creatures. There is no specific event or circumstance that introduced and elevated the queen. In that case, we can't Fascinating, scholarly, and obscure. Pruning my shelves, I found the book and read much of it. Find your next favorite book Become a member today and read free for 30 days Start your free 30 days. Sharlette Visaya, Stanford graduate student in the Modern Thought and Literature program, fulfilled the role of the perfect research assistant. I was super interested in the subject matter, as I had never known that the queen in chess was something that developed rather than began with the game. She speculates, but never completely proves, that this change, which included a complete change of gender for the piece in European chess, may have come from the rise of several politically powerful females: women like Adelaide of Burgundy, wife of Holy Roman Emperor Otto I, Isabella of Spain, Catherine the Great of Russia, and England's Elizabeth I. Consider the chess queen as she exists today. Even more intimately, she was expected to produce children. Meanwhile, Yalom's coyly touted "discovery" of a "hidden relationship" between chess development and the cult of the Virgin Mary is much less persuasive. Did women—queens and other high-status ladies—bring a new dimension to the game that would not have existed without them? A third influence was the cult of romantic love. Page 1 of 1. She will have to learn to negotiate a treacherous terrain, not unlike the chessboard, if she wants to move forward, both at home and in the workplace Everyone knows that the queen is the most dominant piece in chess, but few people know that the game existed for five hundred years without her. Other Editions Length: pages 3 hours. Super interesting regardless. Birth of the Chess Queen: A History Reviews When the Arabs carried the game across the Mediterranean into Spain and Sicily, chess began to reflect Western feudal structures and took on a social dimension. It is not just about the chess queen, but about the whole history of the game. This figure of Mary suckling the baby Jesus captured my imagination. Read more Her work is well-annotated and with clear notes. Not that some of them might not be correct but it must be acknowledged that they rest on air not solid ground. In the Muslim world, chess sets have a male vizier instead of a queen. Rating details. May 21, Ana rated it really liked it Shelves: non-fiction , north-american-literature , history , 21st-century , united-states-literature. What I did find fascinating was the history of the development of the game, especially the differences between cultures and countries. The perfect leisuretime book. Birth of the Chess Queen examines the Everyone knows that the queen is the most dominant piece in chess, but few people know that the game existed for five hundred years without her. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. Any Chess enthusiast should read. Society had mixed feeling about such blatant female power, to say the least. Chess in Persian Literature The first definite literary reference to chess comes not from India but from Persia. Even in the 20th century, when women played chess, it was usually against other women. Final It took me quite a while to read this book: I own it and I needed to fit the reading around books that I had borrowed.