The wind carried the scent of orange blossoms through the courtyard of Toledo in the centre of Spain. Between the columns of the old palace, two men sat, bent over a board. Luis Ramírez de Lucena, barely twenty years old, with sharp eyes and nimble fingers, studied every move of his opponent. Opposite him was Abu Yusuf, an Arab master, whose hands moved calmly and precisely over the carved pieces.
“Your game is of great beauty,” Luis said, as he moved his knight. “But tell me, why is your Firs so weak? Just one square diagonally? It stands next to the king and seems to hold little significance.”
Abu Yusuf smiled without looking up. “Because the strength of the king does not lie in violence, but in the counsel he receives from the Firs – his advisor. He is wise, not powerful. He moves cautiously, never too far. This is how we understand power.”
Luis fell silent. He understood the words, but they stirred something uneasy within him. The world around him was changing – and with it, the way of thinking.
It was the year 1485, and the wars of the Reconquista, the Christian reconquest of Spain, were nearing their end. Arab and Christian influences were blending in language, architecture, music – and even in thinking about order, strategy, and freedom. The palaces of Al-Andalus still carried the whispers of Qur’anic verses, yet above them rose the towers of Christian cathedrals.
And with the Spanish Queen Isabella of Castile, a woman ruled Spain as the world had rarely seen before. Her will was law, and her alliance with King Ferdinand of Aragon was a political force that united kingdoms.
Luis looked again at the board. “But perhaps,” he said finally, “the world is too vast today for an advisor who only takes one step. Perhaps the king needs a force by his side that can act. One that sees the whole field.”
Abu Yusuf looked at him thoughtfully. “Then you would destroy the balance that this game holds. If the advisor moves freely, who holds the king back?”
Luis smiled. “Perhaps it is time that power be shared,” he said. Abu Yusuf looked up, his expression concerned – and Luis knew immediately that he had touched a sore point. In those eyes lay the echo of a kingdom that once illuminated Andalusia, now heading toward its end.
Weeks later, Luis sat in the library of Salamanca, the board before him, notes scattered around him. He compared the Arabic texts on Shatranj with the new Italian manuscripts that called the game Scacchi. Again and again, he stared at the small piece that stood between the bishop and the king – the Firs. Its movements were limited, but its significance… too great to remain so small.
He thought about the changes of his time: The old borders between the kingdoms were dissolving. The knowledge of the Arabs – astronomy, medicine, philosophy –, the poetry of the Jews, the political power of the Catholic monarchs – they all merged into a new reality. The world was becoming larger, faster, more demanding. Why should the game of chess, this reflection of human logic, remain stagnant when everything around him was changing? Luis began to experiment. He allowed the Firs to move two squares, then three. Soon he let it glide across the entire board – diagonally, horizontally, vertically – freely, like thought itself. The games changed. They became faster, sharper, more strategic. The moves no longer resembled the cautious weighing of a court advisor, but the boldness of a commander – or the clear, uncompromising gaze of a queen who knows that time and power cannot be stopped.
He wrote margin notes in his manuscript: “This new piece carries the strength of knowledge and action. It is no longer a servant. It is will itself, moving across the field.”
And at that moment, he knew that it could no longer carry its old name. It was no longer the “advisor.” It must be the Queen – the embodiment of power, insight, and movement, which should stand at the centre of the game alongside the King.
In his small study, Luis began to put his findings on paper and named his 1497-published book: Repetición de amores y arte de ajedrez (Repetition of Love and the Art of Chess).
A curious title, in which chess was not thought of separately from human passions, but as a reflection of them. For love, like chess, meant decision, risk – and the pursuit of harmony in chaos.
He wrote in the language of scholars, but his thoughts were bigger than mere rules of the game. He realized that the chessboard was a mirror of the world – and that the world had changed.
“As in love,” he noted, “balance in chess is not maintained by weakness, but by movement. He who understands how to wield power with measure has learned the true art.”
He described the new piece: a Queen, who could move freely in all directions, faster than any other, stronger than any rook, smarter than any bishop. She was the heart of the game – not out of caprice, but out of necessity.
Luis understood that he was witnessing a transition. The old, measured Shatranj of the Arabs – a game of patience – was transforming into a European chess that thrived on action, courage, and risk. And the new queen was the symbol of this epoch: a blend of Arab wisdom, Christian power, and human curiosity.
Like Isabella the Queen of Spain herself – who, with a single stroke of her pen, created an empire and sent Columbus to sea in 1492. Luis had no idea how far her decision would change the world. But on his board, he had already felt it: The future belonged to the piece that dared to see the entire field.
Very much like the Queen in chess, who moves with careful consideration and adapts to the ever-changing dynamics of the game, a structure like a Trust or a company should establish a long-term and flexible structure that not only addresses current needs but is also prepared for future changes and challenges.
With over 20 years in the fiduciary business, we at Carey Zurich know the ins and outs of suitable structures and can provide significant support in helping you achieve your goals and those of your family. We are committed to serving with Swiss quality and reliability, innovation, creativity, efficiency and trust – because we care(y).
At CAREY ZURICH, we are specialist in setting up and managing advantageous structures for our customers and we would be pleased to establish a private structure in the form of a company, trust, foundation or whatever is suitable. We are committed to serving the needs of our customers with all the Swiss thoroughness and reliability that you would expect, because we care(y).