Seems pretty sexist to me.
2007-10-12 16:38:24 · 14 answers · asked by Anonymous in Games & Recreation ➔ Board Games
the king protects the queen because behind every good man there is a better woman.
2007-10-12 16:43:32 · answer #1 · answered by CHER 6 · 3⤊ 2⤋
Good point. When I first learned to play chess (way back in the last century) I asked the same question. The answer I was given was this, "All pieces, including the Queen, are subservient to the King. It is their duty to serve and protect." Don't forget that not only is the Queen subservient to the King, she replaces the original Arab "Vizier' or Chief Minister, but, theoretically the King can have as many as 9 of them on the board at one time, not unlike a Harem.
Go to:
www:chessposter.com/english/chessmayne/the_queen.htm
for the history of the game.
Cheers, Ashleigh.
2007-10-13 00:12:28 · answer #2 · answered by Ashleigh 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
OK, ready for evolution of a game?
She was originally the vizier and could move one square diagonally. Half the king, get it?
In the older version in Europe at the time the Bishop was also limited to jumping (like knight) only two diagonal squares away.
A very slow version where pawns promote to viziers and most games were won via "bare King". (Bare King= no other pieces, regardless of mating ability of other side.)
The first chess book (like 1450 or something like that) referred to chess "della dame". Either it was "of the lady" because of new queen move or it was the ladies version.
To differentiate it from the vizier, a new courtly name had to be made. "Queen" was already in use as an alternate name for Vizier in Northern Europe. (Vizier was Arab, if one never even saw Arabs...)
Either the rules of piece movement were made to speed up the game or it is the ladies version.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess#History
Wikapedia glosses over the name of the first book on Modern chess.
2007-10-13 08:45:48 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
In the original rules the queen could only move one step at a time, like the king. Also, the Bishop could only move one or two squares, at the most. This made for a really boring game. In about the 16'th century the rules were modified to make the game more fast-moving. This was the same time-frame when the maneuver "castling" was created, and the pawns were allowed to move two squares on their first move.
LOL, try to play the game with the original rules. You will find that the speeded-up play is a vast improvement.
2007-10-13 01:32:29 · answer #4 · answered by Clueless Dick 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The king is actually more important than the queen. If you lose the queen who can keep playing, but you lose the king -- game over. But I think you're aiming at the queen being the most powerful piece on the board. This is based on its mobility: moving in any direction as far as it wants as long as nothing stands in its way. The king is a strange piece: it has little mobility; yet, he is the most valuable piece on the board.
2007-10-15 16:03:57 · answer #5 · answered by shannon g 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Funny... but remember that it's the King all the other pieces have to protect. Including that powerful queen.
2007-10-13 00:50:41 · answer #6 · answered by MXB 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the king is more or less the flag in the game.. where as the queen is the most powerful piece on the board.. its moves like a rook and a bishop... queen and both knights can be deadly if used in teams
2007-10-12 23:47:45 · answer #7 · answered by pokerfaces55 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Because the king is old so it is being protected by the queen......
2007-10-13 02:48:39 · answer #8 · answered by J 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The king needs to be in hiding, because without him the game is over.
It just makes the game last longer pretty much.
2007-10-12 23:44:33 · answer #9 · answered by orix_golam 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Because she is a female while the king is only a man--and THEY are a dime a dozen.
2007-10-16 16:03:22 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋