Shatranj (650)

Shatranj (Persian chess)

Shatranj is an old form of chess, as played in the Sasanian Empire and the Islamic world. Its origins are in the Indian game of chaturaṅga. The game came to Europe in the 10th century and spread from Byzantium to Iceland over the next three centuries. Shatranj in mediaeval times went under as much learned scrutiny as chess does today. The prominent player Al-Suli (A.D. 880-946) wrote the first scientific book on the game, the “Book of Chess”.

Why is Shatranj (Persian chess) Popular?

Shatranj is significant because it is the predecessor to modern European Chess. The game has major variations from the modern western game, making it of much different character. Shatranj gives much shorter moves to some of the pieces. The pawns only move one square forwards, even on their first turn. The long move of the bishop, called the elephant in shatranj, is instead a short diagonal leap of a distance of two, and exactly two, squares. And most surprising to modern players of the game is that the queen is here a vizier, with only a short diagonal move to an adjacent square.

Game Components of Shatranj (Persian chess)

The game was played with these pieces:Shah (king)Ferz (counselor or ferz)Rukh (rook)Pīl, or “alfil” in Arabic (elephant or alfil)Faras (horse)Baidaq (soldiers or pawns)

Game Setup of Shatranj (Persian chess)

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 in the diagram were possible. In either case, the white and black shāh would be on the same file.

Gameplay Mechanics of Shatranj (Persian chess)

At the start of a game, the Arabic masters took a number of moves before the pieces were in contact with the other side. The game was taken up by the Muslim world after the Islamic conquest of Persia, with the pieces largely retaining their Persian names. The Arabs divided their game into the same three stages which we do today: opening, middlegame, and endgame.

Game Objective of Shatranj (Persian chess)

The objective of the game is to checkmate the opponent’s king, which means the king is in a position to be captured (in “check”) and cannot escape capture on the next move.

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