Rating: 
Summary: Not Too Bad; Not Too Good
Review: 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 does not adequately 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.
| 
