Game Design as Cultural Practice

Spanish Queens, of chess and otherwise

Chess is, aside from any other conjecture, a simulation. Some believe it simulates war. Others have shown that it can simulate the play of lovers, either in the public of court or the privacy of a bedroom. Throughout it's history, the specifics of chess, its pieces and the rules governing their moves, evolved and changed to reflect the events of the day.

Before reading Marilyn Yalom's Birth of the Chess Queen, I hadn't considered the mutability of chess. I had assumed that the game I played after class during high school was the same game played during medieval times. A romantic notion, I suppose, but one that I delighted in losing. Yalom's book weaves a tapestry of history, showing the extreme fluidity of chess and its component parts.

I am torn as to which segment is my most favorite. The rise of Queenly power and authority in Christian Spain, Part 2 Section 4, is a dramatic read. The Iberian peninsula's Muslim population were the ones to introduce chess to their Christian and Jewish neighbors. The game spread quickly, and in doing so it began to change.

Many of the chess sets created by Islamic craftsmen depicted nonrealistic pieces. That is to say, the pieces were representational, rather than literal. A throne or crown, rather than a tiny figurine of a king or caliph. (Yalom, p.7)

In contrast, as the game spread into the Judeo-Christian world, where such bans did not exist, chess pieces returned to their pre-Islamic form of iconography - they became figurines, bearing faces or bodies, as their ancient Indian ancestors once did. However, especially in Spain where Islamic culture still held considerable influence, such change was slow (Yalom p.47).

Design, though, was not the only aspect of chess that changed during this period. Islamic sets bore the familiar king and the unknown vizier. The vizier acted very much like the modern queen does, but wore a different name as well as a different gender (Yalom p.47).

Yalom argues that the rise of several powerful Christian Spanish queens did much to influence the naming conventions and movement patterns of the chess queen. The first such figure is Dona Urraca, a Spanish queen that came into power around the year 1107 (Yalom p.48). Her first husband, Raymund of Burgundy, gave her the lady's throne of Galicia. Upon his death in 1107, and her father's death in 1109, her authority and power was considerable. Her second marriage, alas, was not as pleasant as the first. Alfonso I, "The Battler", was a violent and abusive husband, and Urraca asked for and received an annulment to their marriage from Rome (Yalom p.49).

Unfortunately, "The Battler" decided he had to live up to his nickname, and spent the rest of his life at war with his ex-wife. Yalom recounts the harrowing tale of Urraca and Alfonso's struggles against one another. On the battle field and in courtly palaces they fought with sword and word. After decades of never-ending conflict, Urraca managed to consolidate enough power to govern her own lands and bequeath them to her eldest son upon her death (Yalom p.49).

Accordingly, this was the first time that the queen became a regularly designed piece in chess sets. Yalom stipulates that the powerful, real-world queens of 10th and 11th-Century Spain encouraged the alteration of chess. The vizier was replaced by the queen, and her movement capabilities were greatly expanded.

Due to the fluid nature of chess' rules and representational modes, such changes are far from permanent. The vizier and queen continue to swap places throughout the centuries, depending on which culture is consulted. Similarly, their move-set changes dramatically. Some cultures restrict her to single squares of movement at a time, while others give her unlimited liberty, but only on diagonal lines.

Though but one example, this post has tried to demonstrate the morphic qualities of chess. Yalom's pacing and story-telling are delightful to read, and have taught me much about a game I love dearly.

(1) Chess in Christian Spain

John Michael Courson

Chess has been played in Spain since the early eighth century by Spanish Muslims which is earlier than any other place in Western Europe. Spanish culture had a significant impact on the way in which chess was played and how it would evolve over time, just as many other cultures would determine gameplay characteristics specific to their own circumstances. Spain in particular is an interesting example in that its populous consisted of people of the Muslim, Jewish, and Christian faiths. These religions influenced the ways in which chess would develop and also ways in which chess would remain the same. Another influence that affected gameplay were the Spanish queens after the eleventh century.

There is historical evidence that Muslims, Jews, and Christians all played chess. One particular convention that resisted change was abstract representations of chess pieces. This was largely a result of the Muslim belief that actual representations of things were forbidden, although there was also a Jewish belief that there were to be no graven images. The Jews however tended to be more lenient on this matter. Even though, more actual likenesses were being made, we know that King Alphonso X played with abstract pieces and these representations coexisted with the more European models for centuries.

 

Some of what we know of this particular period comes from a poem written by the Spanish rabbi Abraham ibn Esra. He detailed the pieces and the moves that each piece could make. In his poem, the vizier had not been replaced with the queen, although we know that this change was accepted by many during the twelfth century in Spain. The vizier could only move one space diagonally. The rook and knight were represented by chariots and horses respectively and their moves were the same as the ones we know today. The bishop was represented by an elephant and could move only three spaces diagonally. The king and foot soldiers (pawn) also moved similarly to our rules today.

The introduction of the chess queen during the twelfth century in Spain perhaps coincided with the rise of powerful queens such as Dona Urraca. Urraca succeeded her father as the ruler of Leon-Castile in 1109, and she continually battled with her ex-husband Alfonso I over lands in Castile. She was known to ride about her realm on horseback and for putting down many uprisings. Spain, unlike France, had no laws prohibiting women successors to the throne, and this perhaps aided the transformation of vizier to queen, although it wouldn't be until the time of Queen Isabella's reign that the queen's moveset would change dramatically.

Finally, much of what we know about the kinds of people who played chess comes from Alfonso X's The Book of the Games of Chess, Dice, and Boards dated in 1283 in which sixty illustrations depict all kinds of people playing chess. Chess players included kings and nobility as well as Moorish men and women. More interestingly are depictions of men playing with women and even one in which King Alphonso is playing chess with a woman with no apparent status. Chess at this time was seen as appropriate for women players as it was a household game, but it was also a game that was commonly played by royalty. One writing even suggests that chess is one of the necessary skills of knights. Therefore we see that chess was appropriate for almost everyone, with the exception of servants who were associated with games like dice. It is apparent that the cultural influences of the time allowed for many variations in the game of chess. There was a clash at this particular period between European and Arabic conventions as well as whether or not to use the queen, and these conflicts coincide with the cultural influences of that time.

 

References:

Yalom, Marilyn. The Birth of the Chess Queen. New York: Harper Collins, 2004.

Chess: In Popular Culture: Ancient France

Chess had become a popular activity in early France as described in literature of the period.  At the time of the first crusade, many stories were written about the period framed around the legend of Charlemagne from hundreds of years earlier.  The Pilgrimage of Charlemagne "pokes fun at Louis and Eleanor" and features chess in tellings of their travels.  Chess takes a more pivotal role in other legends of Charlemagne, quite often revolving around the antics of his troublesome son Chalot.  (Yalom 85) In "Ogier the Dane," the writer makes very explicit the valor and love of Ogier and the scandal he finds himself in because of Chalot.  As the story goes, Charlemagne and Ogier's sons happen to play chess one day in the castle.  After losing, Chalot strikes Ogier's son on the head with the golden chess board they played upon.  This tantrum results in the boy's death.  Ogier demands to reprimand Chalot, presumably by taking his life, but Charlemagne exiles him.  Ogier allies himself with a neighboring king and the two wage war.  The author is in a bit of a mess by having this opponent to Charlemagne cast as the hero yet not being able to show weakness in their ancient hero.  Olgier's forces ultimately cannot stand up to the French, yet he manages to evade them countless times. The tale ends in peace after Charlemagne pardons Ogier when another force attacks and yields his son's life to Ogier who spares it.  This story may be based on truth.  Wikipedia's entry describes a long war between the Danes and Charlemagne that ends in peace after a stalemate.  To frame their own history out of the result of a fictional chess match shows both the popularity of the activity and also the warfare feelings it induces (as well as characterizes the immature Chalot) much like Asian depictions of Go games as war.  This displacement of chess from a game to a weapon continues in a King Arthur legend "Perceval" where Arthur's Nephew Gauvain used "the chessboard as a shield and the chessmen as projectiles" to defend himself (85).  Other prevalent mentions of chess associated with Charlemagne include "Garin of Montglane" and "Huon of Bordeaux."  "Garin" tells of how the finest chess player in France defeats Charlemagne and in reward is granted Montglane after wagering his life.  (To relate to a modern take on chess in legend, Katherine Nevile's "The Eight" revolves around this story.)  In "Huon of Bordeaux," Chalot's follies get him in trouble again, only this time he is killed while posing as another man.  In punishment, Huon is sent to perform seemingly impossible tasks.  Wikipedia's entry lists this Herculean charge: "he must travel to the court of the Amir in Babylon and return with a handful of the amir's hair and teeth, kill the Amir's mightiest knight, and three times kiss the Amir's daughter, Esclarmonde."  He wins the princess in a game of chess wagered against his life as well.  Chess had taken a prevalent role in ancient French popular culture.

Max Groves
xxx@gatech.edu

olgier the dane
http://books.google.com/books?id=eryfX9Oi1J4C&pg=PA313&lpg=PA313&dq=charlemagne+son+chess+kill&source=web&ots=x-vMFSUoN-&sig=THHC4bkukt16ERUaDofhERBkZG0&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=2&ct=result#PPA314,M1
starts page 313

wikipedia on olgier
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holger_Danske

wikipedia on Huon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huon_de_Bordeaux

Yalom the Queen of Ego?

This blog post is about the novel Birth of a Chess Queen, by Marilyn Yalom. A review of the entire novel would either be too brief to describe the novel or too long to fit in this medium. So this post deals with the section within the novel entitled "Chess and Queenship in Christian Spain" and explains why that section was chosen. I chose this section because it has the single biggest egotistical moment in the entire novel. That moment is the following quote:
    What did [ Rabbi ibn Ezra] think when he first saw a chess queen? I like to imagine that, after his initial surprise, he welcomed her to the game. In     spite of the misogyny that permeated medieval Judaism, there were enough powerful women in the Old Testament, including the judge and war     leader Deborah, to warrant the rabbi's repsect. 'What! A woman on the chessboard? Well, why not!'
So my reaction to this was extremely pointed at the time of reading but I did move on and finish the novel. However, revisiting the quotation makes it no better. It is probably the grossest example of the author's lack of objective reporting of facts. Her habit of dipping into the fanciful description is partly the problem in this case but more so is the issue of assigning actual language to person. It blurs the line between fanciful entertaining additions to her historical review of chess and creating information to make her work seem better.
    Everything in that section is not aggrandizing language however. The very next subsection describing the manuscript commissioned by King Alfonso X of Leon and Castile is well written piece. It calmly but quickly describes the value historically overall and to the question of the evolution of the chess queen. It contains very little flowery language and reports on empirical evidence within the manuscript. The manuscript with its many illustrations provides for Yalom with material to describe popular chess culture of that time and place. Finally, at the end of the section is a brief exposition of the king's other famous works. Yalom manages to neatly tie together a history lesson with her main topic that of queenship and chess. Though from my particular standpoint it does sound a bit like the reader digest reviews of a day time soap opera. Of course I think that actually helps the reader get through the minutia necessary to understand her argument because Yalom bases her arguments on recorded actions and responses involving queens.

Chess and Religion

One of the more surprising and interesting aspects of the story of the chess queen is its close ties to religion. Throughout its history, chess has experienced a broad range of acceptance and rejection within the religious world.
It was not long after its creation that chess experienced its first rejection from a religious group. In the eighth-century the head of a Muslim theological school, Malik, expressed his distaste for the game by pronouncing it to be forbidden and deserving of punishment. His harsh view of the game was mirrored many times throughout the Muslim world through prohibitions of the game, destruction of chessboards and sets, and all out banning that lasted nearly a decade in the mid to late twentieth-century. The Muslims were not the only religious group to reject chess, however.
Interestingly, the first written account of the chess queen that exists to this day was a poem written by a Christian monk in a time when the Church was very much in opposition to the game. More specifically, the Church rejected versions of the game in which dice were used (this was done in order to make the game a more fast-paced game of chance) as well as the promotion of a pawn to a queen (which implied that the queen was easily replaceable and therefore less 'unique'). Yet, undeterred by their turbulent past, chess and religion managed to have some good times as well.
In stark contrast to earlier conceptions of chess and religion, in the eleventh century, powerful figures in eastern Europe began gifting magnificent chess sets to religious organizations as a show of their significance and camaraderie. Countess Ermessenda was part of this tradition, gifting her chess set along with many other donations to the church of Saint Giles. As a female, such a move was abundantly useful in reinforcing her authority and provided her with the much needed support of the Church. Ironically, such sets became very important to these religious organizations, being either sold for money or kept and revered.
Christianity was not the only religion to experience a period of acceptance of the presence of chess. King Alphonso X's book of chess, dice, and backgammon depicts the most impressive images of not only chess and religion coexisting, but chess and many religions coexisting. The many illustrations in this book depict people of different gender, religion, rank, and nationality all crowding around chessboards and engaging in its play. Its a beautiful concept, that of chess bringing people together, and I would like to think that it is the first vision of chess that Yalom speaks of that reminds me of chess as it is today. Now, chess and religion seem to have little ties at all. However, its rich and lengthy history provides it with the backing of many different players from all over the world with a common footing in one game.

Chess in the 12th and 13th Centuries

 France and England saw some interesting changes to Chess in the earliest centuries of the last millennium. Though very few actual Chess sets have survived to be studied, there are many references throughout the surviving literature of this time period. Through the stories that have survived, scholars have learned a great deal about the attitude towards Chess in the 12^th and 13^th centuries. They learned that some saw Chess as a game for the wise and sagacious. Others saw the game as a metaphor for war and conflict. It was also seen as a game for lovers to play with each other as part of the courting process. Even the figure of the Virgin Mary was revered through Chess, as in many other areas of the time. The spread of these attitudes was subtle and innocuous as Chess made its way across Western Europe. 

 Games like Chess were spread around by troubadours who would wander among towns, villages, and even royal courts. They often served as partners or opponents for children of noble blood, which would be how someone like Eleanor of Aquitaine would have learned to play Chess. She learned in her father’s court, and was sure to continue the atmosphere of entertainment in her own courts in Paris and England. The life of Eleanor herself may have done quite a bit to push forward the presence of the queen on the chess board over the vizier. With Louis VII, she had a great amount of influence, and traveled with him on a Crusade, a grueling and demanding journey.  Despite the many luxuries and entertainment she took with her, she gained a fair amount of respect and admiration. She continued to earn it while married to Henry, where she was worth quite a lot of land. 

 In the cult of love that developed in this time period, Chess also became a way for admirers to spend time with each other innocuously. It was also a means of men proving their love for women, who had become the locus of control in a courtship, by challenging others who might be dangerous to play. As a metaphor for love, Chess worked out marvelously for burgeoning couples, aided by the legitimizing appearance of the queen on the chess board, which reflected on attitudes toward women in general, even if only subtly so.

 The growing devotion to the Virgin Mary was also a factor in the standardization of the queen in Chess. Attitudes toward the Holy Mother of the Catholic Church became more and more reverent, almost to the point of a separate cult. The Virgin Mary was glorified in all kinds of art, such as poetry and paintings. Hundreds of songs were written to worship her, many of which have survived through the Catholic Church to this very day. As Marilyn Yalom writes, she had even made her way on to the Chess board, almost solidifying the place of the queen in the chess board, which the test of time has proven to be true.

Gabriel Halley

Chess game of love and war

Chess is one the world best example of a game that exemplifies war and love. In the book Birth of the Chess Queen Marilyn Yalom takes us from the games origins in the in India where the game was originally called chaturanga. The first version was based off the four parts of the Indian army being chariots, elephants, cavalry, and infantry. There was also the king and his general. This first version of the game was singly focused on war in all its respects. After India chess was passed to the Arab cultures. Even back in these times women of many social levels were allowed to play the game of chess. As early then also there are stories of men and women playing the game together and working together to play the game. There are a few stories in the book of people falling in love after playing the game together. An example of such a story is one from The Arabain Nights where a Muslim prince and a Christian princess compete in chess and fight after words they a fall in love. Then with war the Arabs spread chess to Spain as many cultural things are spread when one culture overpowers another. The game spread from there to the rest of Europe. This was reflected in the pieces as well. The queen was added the elephant became a bishop, the cavalry the knight, chariots the rook, and infantry pawns. Chess was a mostly high society game so it was influenced much by the many of the strong women in Europe that held a lot of political influence. The now with the queen as a piece took on more metaphors then it had before. One main metaphor is that of the importance of the union between a man and a woman. The thought was that the king and queen were the two most important pieces on the board. As in a Spanish Hebrew text talks of the line up of the pieces “the king in his glory” and “the queen at his right hand”. By the early fourteenth century that metaphor had become very commonplace. A chess scene between a man and a woman signified romance. There was even a book written called The Edifying Book of Erotic Chess. The game then moved on from being used by lovers to being a game played by happy spouses. Now the last changes to the game coincided with the reign of Isabella of Castile the queen was finally allowed her full range of movement. This was interesting because of the metaphor of the queen and king being inseparable and the most important pieces on the board. Now in this new format of the game if one were to lose ones queen it would be really hard to actually win the game and if one loses your king you lose of course. This completed the idea that chess is a game of war and love.

Blogpost 1: Chess Through the Ages - Chess and Queenship in Christian Spain

     The game of chess played an important role in Christian Spain, especially during the 1100s and 1200s.  The game of chess not only served as an important social practice in Spanish culture, the development of the game’s rules and physical appearance mirrored the historical developments of the time.  The game of chess particularly impacted Christian Spain in terms of social roles of actual chess sets, historical implications of the chess queen, and cultural significance of the game of chess.
    In the early 1000s - 1100s, chess sets were a sign of nobility and wealth.  Some chess sets were carved from rock crystal, or ivory, particularly meant for nobility.  Interestingly enough, numerous sets were found to be in the possession of the church, despite the church’s negative view on any sort of game at the time.  As it turns out, it became customary in Spain to donate a chess set to the local church.  In doing so, the church would “…[sell the chess sets] for the church’s upkeep or to enter into the church treasury for permanent keeping,” (Yalom 45) and in return, the church publicly supported the donor of the chess set.
    The appearance of the queen in Spanish chess sets also came about around this time, and was recorded in a,

“...Spanish Hebrew text, attributed to Bonsenior ibn Yehia, possibly twelfth century, possibly later, lines up the chess pieces like mighty armies with ‘the king in his glory’ and ‘the queen [Shegal] at his right hand.” (Yalom 54).

Physical queen chess pieces also survive from this time.  Most memorable being the queen piece currently on display in the Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore.  It is a very intricate work carved from ivory depicting a woman’s head rising out of a structure, wearing a headdress similar to those worn by Spanish noble women of the time.  The use of a queen in chess, rather than a vizor may have been a result of Doña Urraca’s victoriously warring her ex-husband and later diplomatic dealings with Portugal.  As a result, the public acknowledged the queen as a key symbol of royalty and combat, and therefore symbolizing her role as a piece on a chess board.
    Chess also found its place on the cultural stage in Spain.  According to Petrus Alfonsi, one of the seven accomplishments necessary for knighthood or nobility was being skilled at chess.  Chess was also considered to be the only game suitable for royalty, nobility, and the clergy, since it didn’t rely on dice as a form of chance, or any form of betting stakes.  In this way, Chess not only emulated recent actions of the queen by producing pieces in her image, but acted as a gateway to the upper class.
    In Christian Spain, between the years 1100s and 1200s, chess played an integral role in society.  The artistry of actual chess sets impacted cultural practices.  Also, physical evidence of the chess queen from the era can be used to draw conclusions of the public’s reception of Urraca’s victories.  Also written manuscripts tell of chess as a means to enter the nobility and knighthood, proving that chess was intertwined closely with the development of Spain.

Mike Roth

The Beginning of the Chess Queen in Germany

In her book, Birth of the Chess Queen, Marilyn Yalom chronicles chess and its evolution in Europe.  Before the eleventh century, chess was a game played in the Mulsim world featuring the pieces of king, his vizier, chariot, elephant, calvary, and infantry.

 

Chess in the early Middle Ages in the Germanic areas  had already begun to shed some of its Islamic roots. Importantly, a Benedictine in the Einsiedeln Poem describes chess with the European queen and elder instead of vizier and elephant. The poem described the pieces, movements, and benefits of chess as a game of skill instead of gambling. 

 

The rules reflected several norms and conditions of the age.  For instance, pawns could only be promoted to queen if and only if the queen had already been taken.  In the book, Yalom attributes this to the culture of a monogamous king with his wife, the queen, as his sole partner.  The taking of the queen therefore was metaphoric of her passing and the pawn's ascension of a new bride.

 

The transition of elephant to elder was also interesting as the halfway point to the current incarnation of the bishop.  By this time, the power of the church was growing and looking back, one could see the change in progress.  However, their moves were still limited when compared to the rook or the knight, reinforcing the idea that they were the advisors and counselors to the king, and not powers of the church in their own right.

 

Yalom recounts the rise of the German queens Adelaide and Theophano. Together they both have equal claim on being the basis for the transition to the queen on the chess board. Empress  Theophano, a Byzantine princess, could have brought the game from her homeland, but Empress Adelaide granted much property to the Einsiedeln monastery where the poem was composed.  Also, both were strong women who often ran affairs in their country in their own names, contributed greatly to culture in their courts, and died around the time the Einsiedeln Poem was written perhaps giving its author a matron to emulate. 

 

However, the 980's also saw a rise in the number of queen regents in Europe and it is possible that the chess queen appeared not because of any one person but because it was just the right time. 

 

The chess pieces themselves were symbols of rank during this time.  In feudal society, ones social location, and the display of, is extremely important.  This morphed onto the chess set as well as the king was the largest and most important piece with the queen usually second.

 

In 1061, scandals involving bishops and priests gambling and playing games of chance eventually led to a banning of chess in the church and knightly orders.  This did nothing to stop the spread of the game as it either did not affect the lay person or was ignored by the members of the clergy.  Chess continued to spread in this century and by the 1100's had established itself in Italy, Germany, and Spain.

Hoyt Summers Pittman

 

References:

Yalom, Marilyn. “Birth of the Chess Queen” Enter the Queen! Harper Collins, 2005. 15-31.

Judaism and Chess in 12th Century Spain

Given its links to Middle Eastern lands through Islam, it should be of little surprise that the Iberian peninsula was the first Western European regions to start playing chess.  One would expect that Spanish Muslims would be first to take up the practice, and they were; some two hundred years after they began to play, the practice spread to other groups in the area, including the Jews.  Chess found a home with that group as well, and over the course of the twelfth century, the changing views and rules of chess as played by Jews reflects cultural opinions within that community, notably their stance towards women.

Chess was important to the Jews at least a hundred years earlier-  a Jewish man left his family a bone chess set, marking it as an item important enough to mention specifically in a will - but it is not until a poem by the Spanish rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra in the earlier half of the next century that we get some insight to how they played the game.  His "Verses on the Game of Chess" explain the rules of chess as he knew them.  They describe a game very similar to the traditional Muslim chess rules, down to using the same terms for pieces - elephants, chariots, and vizier compared to bishops, rooks, and queens.  Given that the chess queen had existed for centuries at that point, this could indicate a willful choice amongst the community to ignore its presence, reflecting the chauvinism inherent in medieval Judaism, or perhaps a desire to connect with the Muslim community.

Some years later, another Jewish writer, believed to be ibn Ezra, writes again about chess.  This time, he does mention the chess queen, calling her Shegal, and replaces the vizier with her; moreover, he states that her movements are much like that of the king's.  This could in fact represent a greater acceptance of female figures in positions of power amongst Jews, a remarkable change in what was likely only ten or so years.  On the other hand, if the writer was ibn Ezra, the poem was written after he left his home of Toledo; his changing perspective might simply indicate that the introduction of the chess queen merely hadn't made its way to that corner of the Iberian peninsula.

A later text removes much doubt about the image of the chess queen amongst Jews.  The work by Bonsenior ibn Yehia sings the praises of the chess queen:

She sits at the top of the high places above the city.  She is restless and determined.  She girds her loins with strength.  Her feet stay not in her house.  She moves in every direction and into every corner.  Her evolutions are wonderful, her spirit untiring.  How comely are her footsteps as she moves diagonally, one step after another, from square to square!

Clearly evident here are the Jewish wifely virtues of energy and beauty; strength is added to the mix, suggesting that Jewish culture of the time had a much better opinion of women.  Later, ibn Yehia notes of the king and queen that "there is no difference between them as they come towards you.  They set out towards you along the same path, at the same pace and by the same route.  When one dies, so does the other."  This implies a greater interdependence between the sexes, greater equality between men and women amongst Jews; combined with the praise heaped upon the queen (who we take as a symbol for women), this indicates that the stakes of the Jewish woman have in fact improved since ibn Ezra's first poem.

The reasons for this change amongst Jewish society could be many.  Perhaps it was the increased importance of queens in Spain - Doña Urraca, for example.  Perhaps chess itself was responsible - it was clearly favored in Jewish culture at the time, even ruled as safe to play on the Sabbath (as long as it wasn't being played for money), so it may have had sufficient influence to make such a movement.  Perhaps it just happened, and we are merely seeing a window into a change that might otherwise have been hard or impossible to observe.

--Evan