Shatranj
Encyclopedia : S : SH : SHA : Shatranj
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Rules
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King, rook and knight moved in the same way as in modern chess. The knight was called horse in Shatranj. They are shown on the diagrams and recorded in the notation using the equivalent modern symbols.
Beside the king a fers (from Persian farzin, counsellor) was located. It moved exactly one square diagonally. This made 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 is shown on the diagrams and recorded in the notation using the modern symbol for a Queen.
Beside the horses, two elephants or alfils (from Persian fil, elephant) were placed. These pieces moved 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 is the only piece which 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. They are shown on the diagrams and recorded in the notation using the modern symbols for Bishops.
Pawns in Shatranj moved as in chess, but they did not have the option of moving two squares on the first move. When they reached the eighth rank, pawns were promoted, but only to a fers.
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 (barring the king) was a win, unless your opponent could capture your last piece on his or her next move, then it is a draw.
History
Famous players
During the reign of the Arabic caliphs, shatranj players of highest class were called aliyat or grandees. There were only a very few players in this category. The most well known of them were:
- 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.
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.
Game play
Openings
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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.
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 tabyia in detail. He started his analysys from some given opening, for example "Double Mujannah" or "Mujannah - Mashaikhi", and then continued his analysys 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:
| Piece | Value |
 Rook
| 1 dirhem |
 Knight
| 2/3 dirhem |
 Fers
| 1/3 - 3/8 dirhem |
 Alfil
| 1/4 dirhem |
 Central pawn (d-, or e-pawn)
| 1/4 dirhem |
| Knight's or Alfils's pawn (b-, c-, f-, or g-pawn)
| 1/6 - 1/5 dirhem |
| Rook's pawn (a- or h-pawn)
| 1/8 dirhem |
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.
Mansubat
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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. Mansubats 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.
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+ Rh2 3. Rxh2+ Kg8 4. Rh8+ Kxh8 5. g7+ Kg8 6. Nh6# (black king can't move on h7, because it is attacked by the Alfil on f5).
See also
References
- H.J.R. Murray (1913). A History of Chess. ISBN 0936317019.
- D.B. Pritchard (1994). The Encyclopedia of Chess Variants. ISBN 0952414201.
External links
- [Shatranj] by Hans L. Bodlaender.
- [The Time of Shatranj and the Aliyat] by Miguel Villa.
- [SchemingMind.com] - game server to play shatranj.
- [Shatranj | Material Values Of Pieces]
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