Man on board leading woman (5)

I believe the answer is:

queen

I believe this clue is a double definition.

'man on board' is the first definition.
(chess)

'leading woman' is the second definition.
(woman who rules)

(Other definitions for queen that I've seen before include "Empress" , "ER, say?" , "who collaborated musically with 14 [BOWIE]" , "Tom's partner" , "Female cat" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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