A Book in Review: Birth of the Chess Queen

Birth of the Chess Queen By: Marilyn Yalom
Non-fiction: History, games, feminist studies, 241 pages
Book Count: 36

This is a book on how the queen came into being on the chess board as well as how she gained power. It looks at the origins of the game, how it spread and how the game changed. At first the game had no queen, but a vizier. As it spread into Europe many factors changed the game. The vizier became a queen, but for years had the same limited moves of the vizier. Then, after a number of powerful queens came into power, especially Queen Isabella, the queen had the moves of a modern queen. For a time both the old and new types were played in the same places. And now most everywhere the new chess is played.