In ‘The Queen’s Gambit’ and beyond, chess holds up a mirror to life

Early European chess players turned the chess game to reflect their society's political structure.

• Originally, chess was a game of war. Horsemen, elephant-riding fighters, charioteers and infantry protected the "shah" and his counsellor, the "firz."
• But Europeans changed the "shah" to a king, the "vizier" to queen, the "elephants" to bishops, the "horses" to knights, the "chariots" to castles, and the "foot soldiers" to pawns.
• Instead of representing the units in an army, the pieces now stood in for Western social order - those who fought (knights), those who prayed (clergy) and those who worked (the rest).

• Initially, the chess queen could only move one square.
• In the 15th century, the queen gained unlimited movement in any direction.
• The queen's elevation to the strongest piece appeared first in Spain during the time when the powerful Queen Isabella was on the throne.