Editing Queen (chess) (section)

==History==
[[File:Cabinet des médailles, Paris - Ivory Chess Vizier, 12th Century.jpg|thumb|Vizier piece from a Southern Italian chess set, 12th century]]
The queen was originally the [[advisor|counsellor]] or [[prime minister]] or [[vizier]] ([[Sanskrit]] ''mantri'', Persian ''farzīn'', Arabic ''firzān'', ''firz'' or ''wazīr''). Initially, its only move was one square diagonally. Around 1300, its abilities were enhanced to allow it to jump two squares diagonally (onto a same-colored square) for its first move.

The ''[[Ferz|fers]]'' changed into the queen over time. The first surviving mention of this piece as a queen or similar is the Latin {{Lang|la-x-medieval|regina}} in the ''[[Versus de scachis|Einsiedeln Poem]]'', a 98-line [[Medieval Latin]] poem written around 997 and preserved in a monastery at [[Einsiedeln]] in Switzerland. Some surviving early medieval pieces depict the piece as a queen. The word ''fers'' became grammatically feminized in several languages, such as ''alferza'' in Spanish and ''fierce'' or ''fierge'' in French.<ref>{{harvcol|Yalom|2004|p=95}}</ref> The ''[[Carmina Burana]]'' also refer to the queen as ''femina'' (woman) and ''coniunx'' (spouse),<ref name="Yalom2004">{{harvcol|Yalom|2004|pp=77}}</ref> and the name ''[[Amazons|amazon]]'' has sometimes been seen.<ref>{{harvcol|Yalom|2004|p=218}}</ref>

During the great chess reform at the end of the 15th century, [[Catholic]] nations kept using an equivalent of Latin ''domina'' ("lady"), such as ''dama'' in Spanish, ''donna'' in Italy, and ''dame'' in France, all of which evoke "[[Mary, mother of Jesus|Our Lady]]". [[Protestant]] nations such as Germany and England, however, refused any derivatives of ''domina'' as it might have suggested some cult of the Virgin Mary and instead opted for secular terms such as ''Königin'' in German and "queen" in English.<ref>{{harvcol|Yalom|2004|pp=106}}</ref>

In Russian, the piece keeps its Persian name of ''ferz''; ''koroleva'' (queen) is colloquial and is never used by professional chess players. The names ''korolevna'' (king's daughter), ''tsaritsa'' ([[tsar]]'s wife), and ''baba'' (old woman), however, are attested as early as 1694.<ref>{{harvcol|Yalom|2004|p=175}}</ref> In Arabic countries, the queen remains termed and, in some cases, depicted as a [[vizier]].<ref>{{harvcol|Yalom|2004|p=238}}</ref>

Historian [[Marilyn Yalom]] proposes several factors that might have been partly responsible for influencing the piece towards its identity as a queen and its power in modern chess: the prominence of medieval queens such as [[Eleanor of Aquitaine]], [[Blanche of Castile]], and more particularly [[Isabella I of Castile]]; the cult of the [[Virgin Mary]];<ref name="Yalom2004"/> the power ascribed to women in the [[troubadour]] tradition of [[courtly love]]; and the medieval popularity of chess as a game particularly suitable for women to play on equal terms with men.<ref>{{harvcol|Yalom|2004|pp=''passim''}}</ref> She points to medieval poetry depicting the Virgin as the chess-queen of God or ''Fierce Dieu''.<ref>{{harvcol|Yalom|2004|pp=112–114}}</ref>

Significantly, the earliest surviving treatise to describe the modern movement of the queen (as well as the bishop and pawn), ''Repetición de amores e arte de axedres con CL iuegos de partido'' (''Discourses on Love and the Art of Chess with 150 Problems'') by [[Luis Ramírez de Lucena]], was published during the reign of [[Isabella I of Castile]].<ref>{{harvcol|Yalom|2004|p=195}}</ref> Even before that, the [[Valencian language|Valencian]] poem ''[[Scachs d'amor]]'' ("Chess of Love") depicted a chess game between [[Francesc de Castellví]] and [[Narcís de Vinyoles]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1259987 |title=Francesco di Castellvi vs. Narciso Vinyoles, Valencia 1475 |website=[[Chessgames.com]] }}</ref> and commented on by [[Bernat Fenollar]], which clearly had the modern moves of the queen and the bishop. Well before the queen's powers expanded, it was already being romantically described as essential to the king's survival, so that when the queen was lost, there was nothing more of value on the board.<ref>{{harvcol|Yalom|2004|p=192}}</ref>

[[File:Spanish - Chess Piece of a Queen - Walters 71145 - Three Quarter.jpg|thumb|Queen from Spain, 12th century (walrus tusk)]]

Marilyn Yalom wrote that:
* The chess queen, rather than ferz or similar, is known of in what is now Spain and Portugal only from the 12th&nbsp;century, but started sooner elsewhere.
* The modern move of the Queen started in Spain during Isabella I's reign, perhaps inspired by her great political power, and spread from there, perhaps being spread by the [[Printing#In Europe|invention of printing]] and the 1492 [[Expulsion of the Jews|Expulsion from Spain of the Jews]] who carried the new chess rule with them as they fled.

During the 15th century, the queen's move took its modern form as a combination of the move of the rook and the current move of the bishop.<ref>{{harvcol|Davidson|1981|pp=13–14, 28–30}}</ref> Starting from Spain, this new version&nbsp;– called "queen's chess" (in Italian, ''scacchi della donna'') or, pejoratively, "madwoman's chess" (''scacchi alla rabiosa'')&nbsp;– spread throughout Europe rapidly, partly due to the advent of the printing press and the popularity of new books on chess.<ref>{{harvcol|Yalom|2004|pp=214–216}}</ref> The new rules faced a backlash in some quarters, ranging from anxiety over a powerful female warrior figure to frank abuse against women in general.<ref>{{harvcol|Yalom|2004|pp=214–219}}</ref>

At various times, the ability of pawns to be queened was restricted while the original queen was still on the board, so as not to cause scandal by providing the king with more than one queen. An early 12th-century Latin poem refers to a queened pawn as a ''ferzia'', as opposed to the original queen or ''regina'', to account for this.<ref>{{harvcol|Yalom|2004|pp=91}}</ref>

When the queen was attacked, it was customary to warn the opponent by announcing "''gardez la reine''" or simply "''gardez''", similar to the announcement of "check". Some published rules even required this announcement before the queen could be legally captured. This custom was largely abandoned in the 19th&nbsp;century.<ref>Hooper & Whyld (1996), p. 74</ref>

In Russia, for a long time, the queen could also move like a knight; some players disapproved of this ability to "gallop like the horse" (knight).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://vidahl.agava.ru/P240.HTM#41651 |title=В. Даль Ф-ФЮЛА |access-date=7 July 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111095017/http://vidahl.agava.ru/P240.HTM |archive-date=11 January 2012}} (in Russian)</ref><ref>[http://www.classes.ru/all-russian/russian-dictionary-Dal-term-41516.htm] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130920190452/http://classes.ru/all-russian/russian-dictionary-Dal-term-41516.htm|date=20 September 2013}} (in Russian)</ref> The book ''[[A History of Chess]]'' by H.J.R. Murray,<ref>[https://archive.org/details/pli.kerala.rare.9538/page/n387/mode/2up?view=theater p.&nbsp;384]</ref> says that [[William Coxe (historian)|William Coxe]], who was in Russia in 1772, saw chess played with the queen also moving like a knight. Such an augmented queen piece is now known as the [[fairy chess piece]] ''[[Amazon (chess)|amazon]]''.

Around 1230, the queen was also independently invented as a piece in Japan, where it formed part of the game of [[dai shogi]]. The piece was retained in the smaller and more popular [[chu shogi]], but does not form a part of modern [[shogi]].

===Nomenclature===
In most languages the piece is known as "queen" or "lady" (e.g. Italian ''regina'' or Spanish ''dama''). Asian and Eastern European languages tend to refer to it as ''[[vizier]]'', minister or advisor (e.g. Arabic/Persian وزیر ''wazir'' (vazir), Russian/Persian ферзь/فرز ''ferz''). In Polish it is known as the ''[[hetman]]'', the name of a major historical military-political office, while in Estonian it is called ''lipp'' ("flag", "[[Military colours, standards and guidons|standard]]").

{{chess names|name=Queen}}