Good morning!

In our recent time of flat flood crisis, we turned to chess to cheer us up and distract us from our ruined home. Chess might seem like an unlikely topic for a Fem Friday, but when you think about it, most of the Fem Friday topics are pretty unlikely.

Let’s kick off with one of Scotland’s finest archaeological finds, the Lewis Chessmen – and specifically the wonderfully glum Queen from that set:

LOOK AT HER. Look at her horrified little face. Look at how she feels about her husband’s pointless war. “So, it’s against… and you expect me to… and you're quite certain?… what was the, uh, casus belli? Right, like the reason for… Well, yours or his, really. No, absolutely. Sure. I’ll be there. Sure. Yep. Bye. Love you too.”

These little guys are the subject of a new book by Nancy Marie Brown, who puts forth the theory that they were carved by top ivory carver and woman, Margret the Adroit. No pullquote as – since she was from the 13^th century and not a saint – we don’t know a lot about Margret other than that she existed. Perhaps this is a reminder that there are many ways for our work to resonate and be recognised, or perhaps it is a reminder to be grateful for the written word.

http://nancymariebrown.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/the-story-of-lewis-chessmen.html

Back to the game itself rather than a specific set, I found out today about the first women’s chess champion, Vera Menchik:

When in 1929, Menchik entered the Carlsbad, Viennese master Albert Becker ridiculed her entry by proposing that any player whom Menchik defeated in tournament play should be granted membership into the Vera Menchik Club. In the same tournament, Becker himself became the first member of the "club". [Whereupon he was followed by eighteen others. Ha!]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vera_Menchik

Have a lovely weekend,

Alex.