Hi to all,

does anyone remember the time when the King had all the free-range mobility to move accross the board -like the Queen does know (approximate date please).

Remember when the Queen (representing women), used to stay home and protect the domestic quarters while the King jumped onto the horse with his soldiers and fought openly in the battlefield? Or has the King always been safe and lazy staying at home? How does chess represent both sexes in todays 'equal' world of domesticity?

Can anyone answer that?

Candon

How does chess represent both genders in today's society?  It doesn't, chess is a lot older than today's society.

In ancient battle the King rarely fought on the front lines, he usually only attended battles that he knew he was going to win and even at that, he usually relayed his orders from a tent far behind the front lines.  This is signified in Chess, the King is usually only a good attacking piece in the end-game and shouldn't be used otherwise.  The origins of the Queen in Chess are not as easy to understand, but we can speculate that the Queen was considered the sneaky part of the Monarch that often engineered situations from her position of authority.  Sometimes the most subtle and unexpected characters can be the real menace such as the Queen who poisons the enemy in her shroud of charm before plundering them into a situation that sees them all decimated.  This is simulated in Chess by her ability to waltz around the board wrecking havoc.

Hope this helps!

Badmouthing the queen, are ye? How about that sneaky knight, who doesn't attack in a decent straight line but hides around corners and springs on you when you least expect it? Or how about those nasty forks he is known for, putting the opponent in a Catch-22 situation? I know plenty of people who attack that way. And how about the discovered check? -- that might be a person who leaves a company, say, after "fixing" their books or making certain unauthorized phone calls , and in leaving, leaves a catastophy behind that others then have to clean up? As for the king -- yes, he does seem insignificant and needs to be protected at all times and doesn't become useful at all until the end, yet his importance can't be underestimated. Chess smacks pretty much of life -- ancient and modern.

LOL! Some interesting analogies in there.

Actually the Knight’s movements are as a consequence of the primary function of cavalry in tactical warfare.  Cavalry was very useful for flanking enemy positions and causing mayhem, running down enemy positions and wiping out units of foot soldiers.

The OP is incorrect. Since the Queen took the place of the king's minister in Europe, sometime during the middle ages, it was first slightly weaker, of course stronger than the King, but weaker than it is today.

After powerful queens (Elizabeth, etc.), however, the casual chess players decided to make the Queen the all-powerful being it is today.

But the king? It has been as weak as it is today since the Persians played it.

Ladies and gentleman, please refer to the following quote and there will be no more confusion..."Ah, the man is the head of the house!" Maria Portokalos: Let me tell you something, Toula. The man is the head, but the woman is the neck. And she can turn the head any way she wants. ...

Likewise the King is the head of the chess board, but the Queen ~ she is the one that makes the moves and determine the rise or fall of the King. This truth has also been evident in many households:

-        Strong families are built by wise women, but women who are foolish tear their families apart.

"After the game, both the pawn and the king go to the same box."

Very interesting but in my househod and my fathers and his fathers--all the men left the house to go out and prosper in the workforce (like the queen does on the game) while mom's stayed 'fixed' in one spot - the home (actually like the king does on the board)!;it seems chess has two 'opposite- to- life' figureheads--although who says chess needs to be like life eh?? and i guess royalty -kings and queens- are different again -with the English empire the only Queen who rules and travels the world to represent her subjects!