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…

  It’s extremely jarring to see a chessboard that uses abstract symbology for its pieces rather than gendered/role based imagery. It’s a foreign thing, and as someone introduced to chess through its usual Western depiction I’d find it extremely difficult to play not having the rather opaque imagery typically depicted. Birth of the Chess Queen…

Games act as a lens for the society that births them. Out of all the articles assigned this week, that is the core takeaway. The evolution of society and the changing of games go hand in hand, more so than other mediums such as books and, later, movies. Games had the benefit of not being…

From Hofer, page 88: This image, the cover of the game, seems to encompass a lot of what was going on in 1880’s America (this game was copyrighted in 1886). We see it’s taking place in a city. The messenger boy wears a uniform; that can be part of the drill of working for someone…