Birth of the Chess Queen: A History (Hardcover)

by Marilyn Yalom (Author) "Though historians still debate the exact origins of chess, most agree that it emerged in India no later than the sixth century..." (more)
Key Phrases: erotic chess, chess queen, new chess, Virgin Mary, Middle Ages, Eleanor of Aquitaine (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
A senior scholar at Stanford's Institute for Women and Gender who has written extensively on women's history, Yalom (A History of the Wife; etc.) sees the rise of female power throughout the centuries reflected in the history of the chess queen: "She has entered the academy of gendered icons, alongside the Earth Mother, the Amazon, and the Virgin Mary." For 500 years, chess was played in India, Persia and the Arab world minus a queen; she finally made her entrance in southern Europe around A.D. 1000. Drawing parallels between "symbolic queens on the chessboard and living queens at numerous royal courts," Yalom introduces readers to significant queens, empresses and countesses as she traces the spread of chess across Europe. With anecdotes, art, legends and literature, she shows how the chess queen became "the quintessential metaphor for female power in the Western world." Yalom offers an outstanding glimpse at chess as a courting ritual: "The chess queen and the cult of love grew up together and formed a symbiotic relationship, each feeding on the other." She also addresses the current status of female chess players—only 5% of the world's chess players are women—and wonders if "the best female players [will] ever be able to beat the best male players." Combining exhaustive research with a deep knowledge of women's history, Yalom presents an entertaining and enlightening survey that offers a new perspective on an ancient game. B&w illus.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From The New Yorker
Chess was invented in India in the fifth century and was spread by Islamic conquests to Europe, where the piece known as the vizier became the queen—the only female in the all-male club of chess pieces. Yalom makes a credible, though circumstantial, case that this rise reflects the power intermittently accorded to, or seized by, female European monarchs. It was in the late tenth century, during the regency of Empress Adelaide, that the vizier underwent his sex change. Five hundred years later, in Queen Isabella's Spain, the queen was transformed from a timid lady mincing one diagonal step at a time into what one shocked Italian bishop called a "bellicose virago." But there's a sting at the end of this feminist historical fable: the queen's supremacy made the game so much faster and more competitive that it was considered unsuitable for upper-class women.
Copyright © 2005 The New Yorker

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins; First Edition edition (April 27, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060090642
• ISBN-13: 978-0060090647
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #297,204 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not Too Bad; Not Too Good, June 16, 2004

By	Centerra "centerra" (NH USA) - See all my reviews

Yalom advances an interesting thesis: the development of the power of the chess Queen was directly influenced by powerful women (queens and nobles) in Western Europe. However, she fails to support her thesis.

Essentially this book is historical example after example of women in Medieval Europe who held and exercised well the reins of power. Yalom then shows a few pictures; cites a few poems and manuscripts; and eventually says that because these women were powerful that chess playing society decided to make the queen more powerful.

Yalom ignores the most compelling reason for the development of the chess queen's power: the rise of the middle class. There was no queen when the Arabs played chess; instead there was a vizier--a weak piece at best. Chess was also an extremely slow game, often taking days to play. It was played by the upper classes. It is quite natural that Western players would eventually replace the vizier with the Queen. Moreover, it is worth noting that as we see a rise in the middle class--many wanting to mirror the nobility in manners and tastes--that they, too, would play chess. But they needed a faster game, and during this time we see rapid changes in chess rules, and a steady increase in the Queen's power (bishop, too). The development was mainly for speed.

It is also of interest that Yalom so strongly claims that it was the rise of powerful women that caused the chess Queen to develop as it did, but then she ignores that line of thinking with other pieces. For example, the Bishop also gained in power during this time, but in society at large we see during this time the erosion of church power in secular affairs. If Yalom's thesis hold's true for the chess Queen, then applied to the Bishop we should see that piece losing power.

In short, although well written, the book fails to convince unless you already buy into Yalom's interpretation.

On the plus side:

1. Book is a joy to hold; well produced; well constructed; well designed; easy font to read.

2. Excellent photographs of chess pieces; some not previously published (not that I've seen).

3. Some very interesting historical vignettes of female rulers.

4. Some insights into chess and polite society during the Middle Ages and beyond.

Drawbacks:

1. Unsupported thesis.

2. Assumption of being correct. Yalom is not trying to argue; rather, she is preaching to the choir.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very informative history of chess, August 8, 2005

By	Bruce Bain "Romans 9:33" (Englewood, CO United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Birth of the Chess Queen: A History (Paperback)

The birth of the chess queen is synonymous with the birth of "modern" chess rules, when the Court of Queen Isabella of Spain expanded the power of the Queen. Had we all known about the date and place of this sudden change, the book would be little more than a "travel guide" down the corridors of chess heritage; but the new light that Marilyn Yalom sheds upon chess history makes "Birth of the Chess Queen" a landmark work.

It was interesting to read chess history for the specific nations of Europe, England, Scandanavia, Spain, Italy, Russia, and the lands bordering upon the Mediterraniean Sea. Marilyn Yalom presents the archaelogical record related to the chess sets or pieces recoverd from the many nations, and adds to it, historical accounts of the chess play from around the world known at that time, through poetry and other literature and representation of chess in art work. It is an account of chess used for romance and courtship, in addition to other social discourse. It is refreshing for the ability of its author to elaborate the defining moment when chess expanded from it's slow-moving and primitive structure, to the dynamic game we know today.

There is a chess history which costs well over $70.00, besides which, chess history can lend itself to mere repetition. I appreciate this affordable and scholarly work for its distinct approach. Marilyn Yalom draws a clear distinction between chess play of the Medieval period, the players of the chess "Golden Age" (1800's ), and the highly competitive and organized event we play now. Marilyn Yalom introduces some fascinating questions regarding certain historical anomalies. For example: Why was Queen Isabella of Spain the only female monarch to pass through the ritual of coronation or "crowning" with a SWORD? Why indeed! Crowning with a sword was, until Isabella, a right reserved for male monarchs only. The reader will want to know more.

Yalom brings a distinct insight into the history of our beloved game. To it's credit, "Birth of the Chess Queen" is devoid of "feminist" stereotyping. Yalom's research is thorough and well presented in an objective way, unbiased. The relationship between chess playing and the religious authorities is of distinct interest. In different times, Muslim Imams, Christian Popes, Cardinals, and Bishops and Priests, and Jewish Rabbi's and Talmudic Scholars all vied with each other for offensive prohibitions against play of the "Royal Game". At other times, chess had approval.

You betcha I recommend it. Chess players will find their interest in the game renewed and deepened.
---Bruce R. Bain, President, Denver Chess Club

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A great thesis... but no proof, November 17, 2004

By	pmegan "pmegan" (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

Don't get me wrong, I really want to love this book. It is a great thesis: that the chess queen became the most poweful piece on the board during a period in European history when women ruled, in their own right or as regents, throughout Europe. It was such a good thesis, and it makes so much sense, and I think that the proof is somewhere, but I just felt that Ms. Yalom didn't know how to back it up.

She glosses over bits that I thought proved her thesis, but then talks a great deal about things that fly in the face of it! It was quite maddening, because I was really rooting for the thesis. For example, Queen Isabella of Spain was the most powerful woman of this period, and Ms. Yalom discusses how the powerful chess queen was influenced by her... but then she randomly drops the fact that the queen arrived in Spain long after it had achieved its prominence elsewhere!

The book is well written and the research is obviously there... I learned a lot about various very interesting European monarchs that I had never even heard of... which makes Ms. Yalom's lack of proof even more maddening. I think that it's worth a read for the history that it does provide... so long as you keep in mind that you might find that the history does not prove the thesis.