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# Eleanor of Aquitaine, the chess queen and the widening of the queen's moves
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/kogda-v-shakhmatakh-ferzia-chto-znachit-vizir-nazyvaiut-korolevoi-eto-otsylka-k-figure-eleonory-akvitanskoi-materi-richarda-lvinoe-serdtse-kotoruiu-chasto-nazyvaiut-initsiatorom-shakhma/
- Published: 2022-10-25T18:45:48.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-02T19:04:10.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: The East, Monarchies, Observations, Mores

When in chess the Ferz, meaning vizier, is called the Queen, this alludes to Eleanor of Aquitaine, mother of Richard the Lionheart, who is often named as the initiator of the chess reform that changed the name of the ferz. The photograph shows a chess figure of a queen from the 12th century, that is, precisely the time in which Eleanor of Aquitaine lived. In general, until the 15th century the ferz/queen was a rather feeble piece, since it could move only one square diagonally; new powers were conferred on it gradually: first it was allowed, on its first move, to go two squares in any direction, and later it was permitted to stride any number of squares in any direction.

But I find it more curious that in the Russian game of chess the ferz could move not only like a rook and a bishop, but also like a knight