The Queen’s Board
by Luis Zueco
(Historical – February 23, 2023)
Adventure, intrigue and mystery in the Spain of the Catholic Monarchs to discover the birth of modern chess.
Throughout the Middle Ages, chess fascinated the highest nobles, clerics and kings, and was used to settle territorial conflicts, duels and even the prestige of a kingdom. There came a time when its rules changed and, with them, its influence knew no bounds. With a rigorous and exciting historical context of the end of the 15th century and the rise to power of the Catholic Monarchs, this novel explains the mysterious birth of modern chess, based on the first documents that give full play to the queen. Chess is a metaphor for life and society in the Middle Ages, but only the influence and power of Isabel la Católica turned it into the game we know today.
Luis Zueco (Borja, Zaragoza, 1979) is the director of the Grisel and Bulbuente Castles, two fortresses that have been restored and converted into charming accommodation and event venues. He is also an industrial engineer, a graduate in History and a Master in Artistic and Historical Research, a member of the Spanish Association of Friends of Castles and a contributor, as an expert in heritage and culture, to various media outlets.
He has achieved international critical and public success with his fascinating Medieval Trilogy: The Castle, The City and The Monastery, three novels that take us through addictive plots of intrigue set in the most important architectural settings of the medieval era. His subsequent novel, The Book Merchant (2020), has established him as one of the most important historical novelists in our country. The Surgeon of Souls is his latest novel.
Source: https://algunoslibrosbuenos.com/el-tablero-de-la-reina
