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Dear Richard, Your question requires a two part answer: 1) The name of the piece (from Counsellor to Queen) was changed in most of Europe by the High Middle ages (c. 1250). See HJR Murray, in his aptly titled _History of Chess_ (Oxford, 1913; reprinted a number of times) p. 423f. But the piece still retained its original move (one space diagonally) for most of the Middle Ages. Murray suggests that the name change is meant to keep the pairing of pieces intact (ie, two rooks, two knights, two bishops, a king and a queen). 2) The change of the power occurs much later. Murray dates the change to the end of the 15th c., probably originating in Italy (p. 776ff.). He doesn't give any detailed explanations as to why the change in power arises, besides claiming that it comes from players of chess and not composers of chess problems. There is probably more recent material out there than Murray, but this at least gives you the "classical" take on the subject. Hope this is useful, DJU At 08:50 PM 2/5/01 +0000, you wrote: >i have read a claim that western europe changed the game of chess in the >high middle ages, turning the "counsellor" to the queen and giving it far >more power. >do we have an idea of when and where? >any explanations?: >r ============================================== Donald Jacob Uitvlugt PhD candidate in Theology University of Notre Dame [log in to unmask]