Games reflect the culture at large. This applies to any kind of cultural element, be it essentials like food and architecture or more discretionary elements of life such as music and games. The Birth of the Chess Queen reinforces this idea, driving home the interactions between leisure activities and the culture that surrounds them. The…

Marilyn Yalom’s book “Birth of the Chess Queen” was a fascinating read, especially since I am such a huge fan of medieval European history and this book focused on a lot of major events or just cool and interesting events for a short time and then moved on to the next event, of course with…

I really enjoyed the Birth if the Chess Queen book. Although I did not go nuts over the bible like beginning of the book that brushed over generations of heritage, I did enjoy the parts of the book that delved into the mystical aspects of Chess. I found the Indian origin story, where the chess…

Queens teaching their children to play chess. Alfonso’s Book of Chess, Spain, 1283. The image depicts two queens instructing their youthful daughters to play chess, with a rather large red and yellow chess board separating the mother-daughter teams. While the artistry is not particularly fascinating it depicts a rather surprising cultural phenomenon that sprang up around chess,…

One of Marilyn Yalom’s greatest arguments in the Birth of the Chess Queen, is the pan-European language that Chess came to embody.  She speaks of a lonely princess, forced to marry a prince of another land, passing her loneliest hours with a chess board.  The language of chess allowed her to communicate through the game;…

Birth of the Chess Queen is similar to last week’s readings in that it traces how the development of a society’s game can mirror other elements of that society. One anecdote I found particularly thought provoking was how the increased mobility of the queen and bishop had the unintended effect of limiting women’s access to…

The book Birth of the Chess Queen revolves itself around one central theme, how did the Chess Queen become the powerhouse she is today? I find it interesting how the transition from the Visor and simple pieces in Islamic culture transformed throughout Europe over time, slowly making their way to Northwest Europe. The two central…

I feel like this book is difficult to expand on, but was quite interesting. It’s really neat how the history and politics of each region chess reached changed it to more fit the history and culture of the area. But I almost feel that’s almost all you can say about it, as the notion that…