Answers.Body: <p>According to <a href="http://jnsilva.ludicum.org/HJT2012/BookofGames.pdf" rel="noreferrer">this translated version</a>  of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libro_de_los_Juegos" rel="noreferrer"><em>Libro de los Juegos</em></a> (&quot;Book of Games&quot;), page 7:</p>
  <blockquote>
  <p>And of the other pieces which are greater one resembles the king, who is the lord of the army and he should be in one of the two middle squares.</p>
  <p>And next to him in the other middle square, is another piece which resembles the fers (alfferez) who carries the standard of the king's colours. And there are some men who do not know the name and call him &quot;fersa&quot; (alfferza). [...]</p>
  </blockquote>
  <p>It's worth noting that the queen was originally called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_chess#Names_of_pieces" rel="noreferrer"><em>fers</em></a>.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2021-12-21T20:31:30.020Z
Answers.Text: This doesn't seem to answer the question.
Answers.UserDisplayName: TonyK
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Answers.Text: @double-beep: The question is clearly about left-vs-right (d file vs e file), not center-vs-the-rest-of-the-back-rank.
Answers.UserDisplayName: Kevin
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Answers.Text: @Kevin: It suggests a plausible answer of player's choice.
Answers.UserDisplayName: Joshua
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Answers.Text: Might be interesting to know that in Italian the bishop is called "alfiere", which is pretty similar to alfferez
Answers.UserDisplayName: Mauro Giliberti
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Answers.Text: @MauroGiliberti the "alfiere" in Italian is actually derived from "alfil" (i.e. the elephant). Spanish language kept "alfil" as the word for the bishop, and some other languages (Russian, Ukrainian, Turkish for example) still call the bishop an elephant.
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Answers.UserDisplayName: double-beep
Body: <p>As <a href="https://chess.stackexchange.com/q/38737">stated in this question</a>, the convention that the player with the lighter-coloured pieces makes the first move was not established until fairly late in the 19th century.</p>
  <p>Before then, what convention (if any) was there as to the placement of the kings and queens? For example, had the convention been established already, that if a player moved first, their king starts to the right of their queen?</p>
  <p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_chess#Early_changes_to_the_rules" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Wikipedia</a> is silent on this.</p>
  
Tags: <rules><history><queens><kings>
Title: History of convention for king & queen placement
ThreadText: # History of convention for king & queen placement
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2021-12-21)
  
  As [stated in this question](https://chess.stackexchange.com/q/38737), the convention that the player with the lighter-coloured pieces makes the first move was not established until fairly late in the 19th century.
  
  Before then, what convention (if any) was there as to the placement of the kings and queens? For example, had the convention been established already, that if a player moved first, their king starts to the right of their queen?
  
  [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_chess#Early_changes_to_the_rules) is silent on this.
  
  **Tags:** rules, history, queens, kings
  
  
  ---
  
  ## 1 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_1 on 2021-12-21. Score: 5
  
  According to [this translated version](http://jnsilva.ludicum.org/HJT2012/BookofGames.pdf) of [*Libro de los Juegos*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libro_de_los_Juegos) ("Book of Games"), page 7:
  
  > And of the other pieces which are greater one resembles the king, who is the lord of the army and he should be in one of the two middle squares.
  >
  > And next to him in the other middle square, is another piece which resembles the fers (alfferez) who carries the standard of the king's colours. And there are some men who do not know the name and call him "fersa" (alfferza). [...]
  
  It's worth noting that the queen was originally called [*fers*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_chess#Names_of_pieces).
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_2**: This doesn't seem to answer the question.  
  > **username_3**: @username_1: The question is clearly about left-vs-right (d file vs e file), not center-vs-the-rest-of-the-back-rank.  
  > **username_4**: @username_3: It suggests a plausible answer of player's choice.  
  > **username_5**: Might be interesting to know that in Italian the bishop is called "alfiere", which is pretty similar to alfferez  
  > **username_6**: @username_5 the "alfiere" in Italian is actually derived from "alfil" (i.e. the elephant). Spanish language kept "alfil" as the word for the bishop, and some other languages (Russian, Ukrainian, Turkish for example) still call the bishop an elephant.  
  
  ---
  
  