QUEEN’S CHESS

The most powerful piece on the chessboard is the Queen. She can do everything a Bishop and a Rook can do. The King, on the other hand, moves a mere one step at a time. The only time the King shows a bit more nimbleness is to "castle" and hide behind the Rook! How did this game, shaped over centuries by a male-dominated society, come to vest so much power in the one exclusively female piece on the board?

It was not always this way. When the precursor of chess started a thousand years ago, all pieces were male. In place of the Queen was the "Mantri", Sanskrit for the minister, capable of moving like a Bishop, but only one step at a time.

Enter Isabella 1, who ruled over what is modern-day Spain late in the fifteenth century. After a struggle to gain the throne, she led with great political power - reorganizing government, lowering crime, paying down debt, and unifying Spain. Isabella 1 also supported and financed Christopher Columbus's 1492 voyage, and we all know what that led to!

It was in Spain, during her reign, the tentative Mantri, inspired by Isabella's power, transformed into the powerful Queen. She could move diagonally, horizontally, and vertically and the entire length of the board. This new form of chess came to be called "Scacchi de la donna," Italian for the Queen's chess and is the game we play today.

One powerful woman altered the rules of a popular game with centuries of history forever. Generations after her, when little girls have learned chess, they also learned that a Queen can be the most powerful of all the players on the board.

Information Source: [http://www.uschesstrust.org/the-emergence-of-two-powerful-queens-queen-isabella-of-spain-and-the-chess-queen/]