The Ladies and the Rooks

(from El Sabio's Libro de los Juegos

There are two somewhat well-known chess problems with myths or stories  attached to them, one is about a Persian princess and the other about Queen Isabella of Castile. 

In The Classical Era of Modern Chess, Peter Monté draws a parallel between them.

I'm start with the earlier one.

HJR Murray described it this way: 

In S [a particular Persian ms] it is called mansuba al-jariya (the maiden's problem). In F [a different Persian ms] it is called the problem of Dilaram chengi, and the following story is told, as from al-Lajlaj:  Dilaram was the favorite wife of a certain nobleman, who had given her this name because his heart knew no peace without her, the name Dilaram meaning 'heart's ease'.  Once he was playing chess with a very strong player, and finally staked Dilaram on the game.  The game went badly for him, and he found himself in such a position that his opponent appeared to have a certain mate on the next move. At this moment Dilaram cried out in distress, 'Sacrifice your two Rooks, and not me.'  Her lover saw the line of play that she meant, and won the game.
With ever increasing embellishment this story is given in all the later MSS., and reaches its most ornate form in Durgaprasada's Urdu work. Here the hero of the game is the Moghul Emperor Shah Jahan, and his four wives all advise him, but Dilaram. alone sees how to save the game. This problem was one of the most popular of all the Muslim problems. It occurs in Ber. in its old-chess form, among problems with the modern moves.
In Europe it was the origin of nearly 200 wager-positions in the Middle Ages.

Here is the position:

Before proceeding, note that this is a problem from Shatranj or old chess. The piece sitting on h3 isn't a Bishop but rather an Alfil (or Elephant)- the piece that would later become the Bishop. Like the Bishop, the Alfil moved on the diagonal, but could only move two squares. Like the knight, he could jump over any occupied square in his path. Understanding this move is key to the problem.

It's now White's second move which is accomplished by a leap of the Alfi to the third square, (Ah3-f5) giving discovered check in the process:

You can read an amazing blog on this story (with a different perspective) here: https://www.chess.com/blog/introuble2/the-dilaram-problem-in-kochanowskis-szachy-the-polish-defense-two-aspects-of-alexander-wagner 

The second story is that of a chess game played between King Ferdinand and his advisor, Juan Rodriguez de Fonseca.

Monté wrote:

The royal couple (Isabella and Ferdinand) forged a strong, centrally localized kingdom during the reconquest of the last Islamic strongholds. When it became a new empire after the discovery of the New World, it was Isabella who took charge of its abundant resources. As recorded by Juan de Lucena and the official chronicler Hernando de Pulgar, she was fond of playing chess with her husband, who spent much time at the game to the expense of his duties.

footnote: ...The story, presenting Isabella as the Princess Dilaram of modern chess and Columbus' departure as the consequence of a pawn move, must be considered pure mystification. [after noting where all the following story occurs] "It is said to be recorded in the letters from a warrior (not the chronicler) Hernando de Pulgar, a besieger of Granada. In a game between King Ferdinand and [Juan Rodriguez de]Fonseca, the Queen keeps her husband from playing the intended move, saying that he will win otherwise. ....
After the King's victory Columbus is appointed admiral ('emir-al-mar' i.e., prince of the sea) and ready to sail.

Here is the supposed letter that appeared in Le Palamède, Oct. 15, 1845 and which Marylin Yalom had translated into English for her book, Birth of a Chess Queen:

"The story of how chess entered into the decision to sponsor Columbus has come down to us through letters, presumably written by the warrior Hernando del Pulgar (not the chronicler) early in 1492 to a friend at the court of Ferdinand and Isabella."

"Noble doctor,
King Ferdinand, as you know, delights in playing chess. Like all serious players, he attaches the greatest importance to winning the match. He is malicious, and, if I were not speaking of His Highness, I would say almost perfidious. . . .
Yesterday during the heat of the day, instead of taking his siesta, he retired to the Queen’s apartments and began a match with Fonseca, one of his usual victims. Some of us observed the combat as arbiters. The Count of Tendilla, Ponce de León, and Gonsalvo of Córdoba were present. Several maids of honor seated around a frame were finishing a magnificent piece of embroidery destined for Our Lady del Pilar [statue of the Virgin standing on a pillar].
The elderly Lady Beatriz Galindez, so learned that she has been renamed “Latina,” was seated near the Queen, and both of them were conversing quietly in Latin, while the King, absorbed in the game, was giving poor Fonseca a hard time.
At that moment, the hangings were raised, and a page announced the Queen’s confessor. After the holy prelate had presented his respects to the King, he approached the Queen, and asked her what decision she had made regarding the Genoese Cristobal Colón.
The ensuing discussion focused on Columbus’s insistence that he be granted the titles of admiral and viceroy—titles that Lady Beatriz and others considered extravagant for an upstart sailor with questionable views about the shape of the earth. The queen, however, took a different view.
“My Lord,” she said, “shall we not give this intrepid man the title he is asking for? There is no inconvenience, I think, in granting it to him for the country he intends to discover. If he shows the way to a new world, he will certainly have merited this honor.” . . .
“We’ll think about it,” said Ferdinand passing his hand across his brow, and, in spite of himself, he no longer gave the game all his attention. Fonseca cleverly profited from the King’s distraction, and soon gained the upper hand. “Your Highness’s Queen has acted like the rash navigators. She has come too close to the abyss, and the black hand is about to seize her. Your Queen is forced.”
“The Devil take the Genoese!” the King exclaimed. “He’s going to make me lose a splendid match.” . . .
On the verge of losing his queen, the king became very annoyed, and Fonseca openly rejoiced, considering the game already won. But they had not counted on a strategy seen by the letter writer, Pulgar, which he communicated to Queen Isabella. “If whites don’t make any mistakes, Fonseca is dead in four moves.”
Isabella drew near the King. She even leaned on his shoulder and held back his arm at the very moment when, after having hesitated for a long time, he raised his hand to place his rook in the fifth square.
“My Lord,” she said, “I think you have won.”
“I hope so,” Ferdinand answered. He stopped and began to reflect again. . . . Hiseyes searched out mine, and as I indicated with my eyes that he had indeed won, he began to calculate once more. Then a smile crossed his lips and his brow lit up with sublime pleasure.
“Fonseca, you are very sick.”
“It seems to me,” the Queen said quickly, “that there would be no risk in granting the Genoese the title he wants.”
“What do you think about it, Latina?” Ferdinand continued somewhat ironically. “Do you still persist in your opinion?”
“No one is certain of never being wrong,” responded Beatriz Galindez. . . .
“After all,” Ferdinand added, “no great harm can come from appointing him Admiral of the seas he will navigate.”
Then the Queen called one of her pages. “Alonzo, mount your horse, hurry to overtake Cristobal Colón, who is on the road to Palos de Moguer, and tell him that we appoint him Admiral of the Ocean."

"Pulgar’s letter ends with an appropriately apocryphal comment: “If Cristobal Colón discovers a new world, as I hope he will, it will have been the result of a pawn pushed at the right moment."

from Le Palamède

Here is is the chess problem:

Yeah, a dozen short paragraphs equal "War and Peace" on the Internet.

Lovely problems!

Thanks!

"I trade Rooks all the time" Beth Harmon 

Thanks. The two Rooks sac is rarer than the Queen sac, and even more poetic to me. 

Good stuff. I knew you would enjoy Monté’s book.

I do. Thanks for the enticement. 

Thanx for the post and the mention. I haven't taken a single look at Monte's which seems to be a great work.

It seems with your interest in details and the various eras of chess, "The Classical Era of Modern Chess" might be right up your alley. 

Great information 🙂👍❤️ keep posting