Dhaka, Jan. 12 -- Chess has a glorious history. The particular part of the game's history that we are interested is the development of the queen piece. It's an incredible story of powerful women impacting an everyday game, from a period where women were more oppressed than they are today.

The origin of chess can be traced back to our own sub-continent. British historian H.J.R. Murray in his book- "A History of Chess", puts the time for chess invention at around 6th century A.D. At that time, the game was called 'Chaturanga' or four divisions as it was played with four types of pieces- infantry, elephantry, cavalry and chariotry. In Chaturanga, the Queen piece was called 'Mantri' or minister. In many cases, we still call it the same in ou...