Life imitates art

Waterbones points us at a neat little article about the history of the queen in chess. I'd like to add a little observation for fans of Katherine Neville's novel The Eight.

She was asked by a museum curator if she had seen the Gardner's "chess queen." She had not, and the curator took her to see it, in a glass case on the third floor. The 3 1/4-inch ivory piece, carved in Scandinavia in the 14th century, depicts a nursing madonna. Yalom was fascinated. Could it be a chess piece? If so, what would the other pieces look like?

Her quest began ...

Have you ever heard of the Montglane Service?

She met Irvin Yalom, now a prominent psychiatrist and novelist. They were married soon after ...

Irvin Yalom, or Ladislaw Nim?

Don't know what I'm talking about? You need to read The Eight!