Shatranj pieces
	Shah (King)
	Vazir (Counsellor)
	Rukh (Chariot or Rook)
	Fill (Elephant)
	Asb (Horse or Knight)
	Sarbaz(piyadeh)(Pawn)

Shatranj is an old form of chess, which has been popular in Persia and the Middle East for almost 1000 years^[1]. The modern chess has gradually developed from this game. Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Staunton chess pieces, left to right: pawn, rook, knight, bishop, queen, and king. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Staunton chess pieces, left to right: pawn, rook, knight, bishop, queen, and king. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... The knight moves in an L shape. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Initial placement of the pawns. ... Chess is a recreational and competitive game for two players. ... For other uses of this term see: Persia (disambiguation) The Persian Empire is the name used to refer to a number of historic dynasties that have ruled the country of Persia (Iran). ... A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ... Chess is a recreational and competitive game for two players. ...

Etymology and Origins

The word shatranj is derived from the Sanskrit chaturanga (chatuH=four, anga= arm). In Middle Persian the word appears as chatrang, with the 'u' lost due to syncope (e.g. in the title of the text Mâdayân î chatrang, book of Chess, 7th c.). Today, the word is sometimes refactorized as shatranj = Sad (100) + Ranj (worries), i.e. a hundred worries, which may appear quite meaningful to players and their friends. The word was adapted into Arabic, and transmuted into the Spanish ajedrez, which eventually became the English chess. The Sanskrit language ( , for short ) is a classical language of India, a liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Jainism, and one of the 23 official languages of India. ... Chaturanga. ... Pahlavi is a term that refers: (1) to a script used in Iran derived from the Aramaic script, and (2) more broadly, to Middle Persian, the Middle Iranian language written in this script. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Rebracketing is a common process in historical linguistics where a word originally derived from one source is broken down or bracketed into a different set of factors. ...

The game came to Persia from India, in the early centuries of the Christian Era. By the third century, Shatranj was well known in the Sassanid Empire, as evidenced in the biography of its founder Ardashir I, who ruled from 226-241. His court biography, the Karnamak-i Ardeshir-i Papakan, says: The Persian Empire was a series of historical empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the old Persian homeland, and beyond in Western Asia, Central Asia and the Caucasus. ... After Islamic Conquest  Modern SSR = Soviet Socialist Republic Afghanistan  Azerbaijan  Bahrain  Iran  Iraq  Tajikistan  Uzbekistan  This box:      The Sassanid Empire or Sassanian Dynasty (Persian: []) is the name used for the fourth Iranian dynasty, and the second Persian Empire (226–651). ... Silver coin of Ardashir I with a fire altar on its verso (British Museum London). ... Events: Accession of Wei Mingdi as emperor of the Kingdom of Wei of China. ... Events Shapur I of Persia succeeds Ardashir I Births Deaths Ardashir I, first ruler of the Sassanids Categories: 241 ... The Kārnāmag-Ä« ArdaxÅ¡Ä«r-Ä« Pābagān or Book of the Deeds of Ardashir, Son of Babag, is a mythological Middle Persian tale written sometime during the Sassanid period (226-651). ...

By the help of Providence Ardeshir became more victorious and warlike than all, on the polo and the riding-ground, at Chatrang and Vine-Artakhshir, and in several other arts.^[2]

During the reign of the later Sassanid king Khosrau I (531–579), a gift from an Indian king (possibly a Maukhari Dynasty king of Kannauj)^[3] included a chess game with 16 pieces of emerald and sixteen of ruby (green vs. red).^[4] The game came with a challenge which was successfully resolved by Khosrau's courtiers. This incident, originally referred to in the Mâdayân î chatrang (c. 620 AD), is also mentioned in Firdausi's Shahnama (c. 1010 AD). ArdeshÄ«r, ArdashÄ«r, or ArdashÄ“r is Middle Persian for whose reign is through arda (truth) and may refer to: the throne name of several emperors: Ardeshir I Papakan, 224 - 241, founder of the 2nd Persian Empire. ... Sassanid Empire at its greatest extent The Sassanid dynasty (also Sassanian) was the name given to the kings of Persia during the era of the second Persian Empire, from 224 until 651, when the last Sassanid shah, Yazdegerd III, lost a 14-year struggle to drive out the Umayyad Caliphate... A coin of Khosrau I. Khosrau I, (Chosroes I in classical sources, most commonly known in Persian as Anooshiravan also spelled Anushirvan, Persian: انوشيروان meaning the immortal soul), also known as Anooshiravan the Just (انوشیروان عادل, Anooshiravan-e-ādel) (ruled 531–579), was the favourite son and successor of Kavadh I (488–531... The Maukhari Dynasty, ruled a large region of North India for over six generations. ... Kannauj (Hindi कन्नौज), sometimes improperly spelt Kanauj, is an ancient city lying in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Ruby is a red gemstone. ... فردوسی Ferdowsi Ferdowsi Ferdowsi Tousi (فردوسی طوسی in Persian) (more commonly transliterated Firdausi) (935–1020) is considered to be one of the greatest Persian poets to have ever lived. ... Shahnameh Shahnameh Scenes from the Shahnameh carved into reliefs at Tus, where Ferdowsi is buried. ...

The rules of Chaturanga seen in India today have enormous variation, but all involve four branches (angas) of the army: the horse, the elephant (bishop), the chariot (rook) and the foot-soldier (pawn), played on a 8x8 board. Shatranj adapted much of the same rules as Chaturanga, and also the basic 16 piece structure. In some later variants the darker squares were engraved. The game spread Westwards after the Islamic conquest of Persia and achieved great popularity and a considerable body of literature on game tactics and strategy was produced from the 8th c. onwards. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Islamic conquest of Afghanistan. ...

With the spread of Islam, chess diffused into the Maghreb and then to Andalusian Spain. During the Islamic conquest of India, some forms came back to India as well, as evidenced in the N. Indian term mAt (mate, derivaative from Persian mAt) or the Bengali borey (pawn, presumed der. Arabic baidak)^[5]. Over the following centuries, chess became popular in Europe eventually giving rise to modern chess. This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Andalusian Referring to Andalusia A type of horse: see Andalusian horse This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... During the middle ages, several Islamic regimes established empires in South Asia. ... Persian (Local names: فارسی Fârsi or پارسی Pârsi)* is an Indo-European language spoken in Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan as well as by minorities in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, India, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Southern Russia, neighboring countries, and elsewhere. ... Bengali or Bangla (IPA: ) is an Indo-Aryan language of the eastern Indian subcontinent, evolved from the Magadhi Prakrit, Pāli and Sanskrit languages. ... Arabic ( or just ) is the largest living member of the Semitic language family in terms of speakers. ...

Shatranj: The position of the pieces at the start of a game. Note that the Shahs face each other, either in the d-file (as shown) or the e-file.

Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... 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Rules

Fers. A move diagram for the fers.

The initial setup in shatranj was essentially the same as in modern chess. However the position of the white shah (king), on the right or left side was not fixed. Either the arrangement as in modern chess or as shown on the diagram above were possible. In either case, however, the white and black shah would be located on the same file. The game was played with the following pieces: Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... 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• Shah (king) moves like the king in chess.
• Fers (counsellor; also spelled ferz; Arabic firz, from Persian فرزين farzin ; also called Wazir from Middle Persian Vichir) moves exactly one square diagonally, which makes it a rather weak piece. It was replaced by a queen in modern chess. Even today, the word for the queen piece is ферзь (ferz) in Russian and vezér in Hungarian. It has analogues to the guards in xiangqi and generals in shogi.
• Rukh (chariot; from Persian رخ rokh) moves like the rook in chess.
• Alfil (elephant; from Persian پيل pil) moves exactly two squares diagonally, jumping over the intervening square. Note that each of the four alfils could reach only one-eighth of the squares on the board, and because their circuits were disjoint, they could never capture one another. This piece might have had a different move in chaturanga. The alfil was replaced by the bishop in modern chess. Even today, the word for the bishop piece is alfil in Spanish and alfiere in Italian.
• Faras (horse; from Persian اسپ asp) moves like the knight in chess.
• Baidak (from Arabic بيدق from Persian پياده piyada, foot-soldier) moves like the pawns in chess, but without the option of moving two squares on the first move. When they reach the eighth rank, baidaks are promoted, but only to fers.

Pieces are shown on the diagrams and recorded in the notation using the equivalent modern symbols, as in the table above. In modern descriptions of shatranj, the names king, rook, knight and pawn are commonly used for shah, rukh, faras, and baidak. Staunton chess pieces, left to right: pawn, rook, knight, bishop, queen, and king. ... Queen. ... Xiangqi (Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: hsiang4-chi2;  ), is a two-player strategic Chinese board game in the same family as Western chess, chaturanga, shogi and janggi. ... Shogi ), or Japanese chess, is the most popular of a family of chess variants native to Japan. ... Staunton chess pieces, left to right: pawn, rook, knight, bishop, queen, and king. ... Chaturanga. ... A bishop (♗♝) is a piece in the board game of chess. ... The knight moves in an L shape. ... Initial placement of the pawns. ...

There were also other differences compared to modern chess: Castling was not allowed (it was invented much later). Stalemating the opposing king resulted in a win for the player delivering stalemate. Capturing all one's opponent's pieces apart from the king (baring the king) was a win, unless your opponent could capture your last piece on his or her next move, then it is a draw. Initial position of kings and rooks Black has castled kingside (O-O), and White has castled queenside (O-O-O) Castling is a special move in the game of chess involving the king and either of the original rooks of the same color. ... Stalemate is a situation in chess where the player whose turn it is to move has no legal moves but is not in check. ...

History

Early Arabic shatranj literature

During the Golden Age of Arabic, many works on shatranj were written, recording for the first time the analysis of opening games, chess problems, the knight's tour, and many more subjects common in modern chess books. Many of these manuscripts are missing, but their content is known due to compilation work done by the later authors.^[4] Photo taken from medieval manuscript by Qotbeddin Shirazi (1236–1311), a Persian Astronomer. ... Arabic ( or just ) is the largest living member of the Semitic language family in terms of speakers. ... A chess opening is the group of initial moves of a chess game (the opening moves). ... Godfrey Heathcote Hampstead and Highgate Express, 1905-06 (First Prize) White to move and mate in two. ... An open knights tour of a chessboard The Knights tour as solved by The Turk, a chess-playing machine hoax. ...

The earliest listing of works on chess is in the Fihrist, a general bibliography produced in 377 AH (988 CE) by Ibn al-Nadim. It includes an entire section on the topic of chess, listing: Bibliographies at the University Library of Graz Bibliography (from Greek: βιβλιογραφία, bibliographia; lit. ... The Islamic calendar or Muslim calendar (also called Hijri calendar, Arabic التقويم الهجري) is the calendar used to date events in many predominantly Muslim countries, and used by Muslims everywhere to determine the proper day on which to celebrate Islamic holy days. ... Events Vladimir I, Prince of Kiev marries Anna, sister of Byzantine emperor Basil II and converts to Christianity. ... “Era Vulgaris” redirects here. ... Ibn al-Nadim (Abu al-Faraj Muhammad ibn Ishaq ibn Muhammad ibn Ishaq), (died September 17, 995 or 998) was an muslim scholar (of either Arab or Persian origin) and bibliographer and the author of the Kitab al-Fihrist. ...

Iranian chess set, glazed fritware, 12th century. New York Metropolitan Museum of Art.

• Al-Adli's Kitab ash-shatranj ('Book of chess')
• Ar-Razi's Latif fi'sh-shatranj ('Elegance in chess')
• As-Suli's Kitab ash-shatranj (two volumes)
• Al-Lajlaj's Kitab mansubat ash-shatranj ('Book of chess-positions or problems')
• B. Aliqlidisi's Kitab majmu'fi mansubat ash-shatranj ('Collection of chess problems')

There is a passage referring to chess in a work said to be by Hasan, a philosopher from Basra who died in 728 CE. However the attribution of authorship is dubious. Image File history File linksMetadata Shatranj. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Shatranj. ... There is also the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), located in Manhattan. ... Abu-Bakr Muhammad ben Yahya as-Suli (circa 880 - 946) was an Arab shatranj (an ancestor of chess) player who came to prominence sometime in between 902 and 908 when he beat al-Mawardi, the court shatranj champion of al-Mukafti, the Caliph of Baghdad. ... Hasan ibn Ali ibn Abu Talib (c. ... This article is about the city of Basra. ... Events Births Deaths The Danish king Angantyr on Samsoe Categories: 728 ...

Famous players

During the reign of the Arab caliphs, shatranj players of highest class were called aliyat or grandees.^[4] There were only a very few players in this category. The most well known of them were: Languages Arabic other minority languages Religions Predomiantly Sunni Islam, as well as Shia Islam, Greek Orthodoxy, Greek Catholicism, Alawite Islam, Druzism, Ibadi Islam, and Judaism Footnotes a Mainly in Antakya. ... For main article see: Caliphate Khalif is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the leader of the Islamic Ummah, or global Islamic nation. ...

• Jabir al-Kufi, Rabrab and Abun-Naam were three aliyat players during the rule of caliph al-Ma'mun.
• Al-Adli was the strongest player during the rule of caliph al-Wathiq. At this time he was the only player in aliyat category.
• Ar-Razi in 847 won a match against an already old al-Adli in the presence of caliph al-Mutawakkil and so become a player of aliyat category.
• As-Suli was the strongest player during the reign of caliph al-Muktafi. Al-Razi was already dead and there were no players of comparable strength before as-Suli appeared on the scene. In the presence of al-Muktafi he easily won a match against a certain al-Mawardi and thus proved that he was the best player of that time. As-Suli considered Rabrab and ar-Razi as the greatest of his predecessors.
• Al-Lajlaj was a pupil of as-Suli and also a great shatranj master of his time.

Abu Jafar al-Mamun ibn Harun (also spelled Almanon and el-Mâmoûn) (786 – October 10, 833) (المأمون) was an Abbasid caliph who reigned from 813 until his death in 833. ... Al-Wathiq ibn Mutasim (d. ... Events Succession of Pope Leo IV, (847 - 855) Births Alfred the Great (d. ... Al-Mutawakkil Ala Allah Jafar bin al-Mutasim (821–861) (Arabic: المتوكل على الله جعفر بن المعتصم) was an Abbasid caliph who reigned (in Samarra) from 847 until 861. ... Abu-Bakr Muhammad ben Yahya as-Suli (circa 880 - 946) was an Arab shatranj (an ancestor of chess) player who came to prominence sometime in between 902 and 908 when he beat al-Mawardi, the court shatranj champion of al-Mukafti, the Caliph of Baghdad. ... Al-Muktafi (d. ...

Player classification

Al-Adli as well as as-Suli introduced classifications of players by their playing strength. Both of them specify 5 classes of players:

• Aliyat (or aliya), grandees
• Mutaqaribat, proximes - players who could win 2-4 games out of 10 in the match against grandee. They received odds of a pawn from grandee (better players g-, a- or h-pawn, weaker ones d- or e-pawn).
• Third class - players who received odds of a fers from grandee.
• Fourth class - received odds of a knight.
• Fifth class - received odds of a rook.

To determine his or her class, a player would play a series of match with a player of a known class without odds. If he wins 7 or more games out of 10, he belongs to a higher class.

Game play

Openings

Openings in shatranj were usually called tabiya (pl. tabiyat), which can be translated as battle array. Due to slow piece development in shatranj, the exact sequence of moves was relatively unimportant. Instead players aimed to reach a specific position, tabiya, mostly ignoring the play of their opponent. Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... 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Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... 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On the right is shown the position of the game, where white has played quite a popular tabiya Mujannah (the wingled, or flanked). Black in the middle of playing tabiya Mashaikhi (the sheikh's opening). The initial position in this game was with the white king on the right side. This position was reached after the following moves: 1. f3 h6 2. f4 b6 3. Nf3 f6 4. g3 e6 5. c3 d6 6. c4 Ne7 7. Nc3 Nd7 8. b3 e5 9. e3 d5 10. d3 c6 11. Rb1 Qc7 12. Rg1 Qd6. White and black can also play the same tabiya. For example, in the Double Mujannah opening, both white and black play the Mujannah tabiya, reaching a symmetric position.

The works of al-Adli and as-Suli contain collections of tabiyat. Tabiyat were usually given as position on a half-board with some comments about them. The concrete sequence of moves to reach them was not specified. In his book Al-Lajlaj analyzed some tabiya in detail. He started his analysis from some given opening, for example "Double Mujannah" or "Mujannah - Mashaikhi", and then continued up to move 40., giving numerous variations.

Piece values

Both al-Adli and as-Suli provided estimation of piece values in their books on shatranj. They used a monetary system to specify piece values. For example, as-Suli gives piece values in dirhem, the currency in use in his time:^[4] Dirham is a unit of currency in several Arabic-speaking nations, including: Islamic Dirham The Moroccan dirham The United Arab Emirates dirham 1/1000 of the Libyan dinar 1/100 of the Qatari riyal 1/10 of the Jordanian dinar The dirham, spelt diram, is 1/100 of the Tajikistani...

As-Suli also believed that the b-pawn was better than the f-pawn and King's side Alfil (on the c-file) was better than Queen's side one (on the f-file). Furthemore, an Alfil on the c-file was better than the d-pawn and the Alfil on the f-file was better than an e-pawn. Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ...

Mansubat

There were a lot of shatranj problems composed by Arabic chess masters. Such shatranj problems were called mansuba (pl. mansubat). This word can be translated from Arabic as arrangement, position or situation. Mansubat were typically composed in such a way that a win could be achieved as a sequence of checks. One's own king was usually threatened by immediate checkmate. Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Image File history File links This image is used in the standard chess diagram template. ... Godfrey Heathcote Hampstead and Highgate Express, 1905-06 (First Prize) White to move and mate in two. ...

One of the most famous Mansuba is the Dilaram Problem shown at the right. Black threatens immediate checkmate by 1...Ra2, 1...Ra8 or 1...Rb4. However, white wins by sacrificing two rooks: 1. Rh8+ Kxh8 2.Bf5+ Kg8 3. Rh8+ Kxh8 4. g7+ Kg8 5. Nh6# (black king can't move on h7, because it is attacked by the Alfil on f5).

See also

• Origins of chess
• Chess in early literature

A Persian youth playing chess with two suitors. ... One of the most common ways for chess historians to trace when the board game chess entered a country is to look at the literature of that country. ...

References

David Brine Pritchard (1919 - 2005) was a chess writer and indoor game consultant. ... After Islamic Conquest  Modern SSR = Soviet Socialist Republic Afghanistan  Azerbaijan  Bahrain  Iran  Iraq  Tajikistan  Uzbekistan  This box:      The Sassanid Empire or Sassanian Dynasty (Persian: []) is the name used for the fourth Iranian dynasty, and the second Persian Empire (226–651). ... Events Khusro II of Persia overthrown Pippin of Landen becomes Mayor of the Palace Brahmagupta writes the Brahmasphutasiddhanta Births Deaths Empress Suiko of Japan Theodelinda, queen of the Lombards Categories: 628 ... Ardashir was the name of three kings of the Sassanid dynasty of Persia: Ardashir I of Persia ruled from 224 to 241. ... Backgammon is a board game for two players in which pieces are moved according to the roll of dice. ... shelby was here 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... March 12 is the 71st day of the year (72nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is now the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 195th day of the year (196th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Harold James Ruthven Murray (June 24, 1868 - May 16, 1955) born in Peckham Rye, London, son of James Murray (editor of the Oxford English Dictionary), the eldest of eleven children, was most prominent as a chess historian. ... A History of Chess is a history book by Harold James Ruthven Murray published in 1913. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... is the 167th day of the year (168th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is now the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 195th day of the year (196th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Shatranj, the medieval Arabian Chess by Jean-Louis Cazaux.
• Shatranj by Hans L. Bodlaender
• The Time of Shatranj and the Aliyat by Miguel Villa.
• Piececlopedia