chess-The Oxford Companion to Chess - First Edition by David Hooper & Kenneth Whyld

SHATRANJ 307
sqnares are on hisodd-numberedranks. There arc
strong squares for whito ar b5 a.d 15, for Black at
b4 a 14. Those on the I'file are cotuidered Bore
inporl.nt, partly because masters pretered to
altackonrheking'sside. whilehas astrcngsqnare
at d3. Black at d6, o. which a blockade might be
held against attack on lhe d-6le or by which ihe
6rzan may travel on its way to the eneny ranks.
Eacb player can use diagonah (e,9. for White
b1 h7 and h1 a8) alo.g whi.h his 6.zan and
perhaps his king might advane unhitrdered by the
enemy fils or 6rzan. The.e are potential saie holes
in the etremy camp (e.9. tor white b7, d/,17, and
h7) and ii a fiu an guarded by a paw. oaupies such
a hole il could be renoved only by the saqiEce of a
knight or a rook.In ihe niddle gane each player
nay tryto advane his irzan to such a hole and to
prevent his opponen! lrom doing likewise. The
king\ lil is considered more valuable than the
queen\ because ii can supporr the Ii.zan. A Player
with a .ook on the seventh will lind it !t least as
srong .s n wolld be in rhe modern game, for il
cannot be atlackcd by the opponetras Iils and nay
be dele.ded by bis opn. (See gane belos.)
To prevent the intlnsio. of enemy pieces a
player must look to his pawns. For exanpte, White
mighr establisb a pawn al e3 guarding lhe weak
squares d4 and i4, ora pawn atg5orc5 guardedby
his daik lil, so lharthe encmyfrzdn ca.noieasily
be oovcd up the board. An isolated pawn on tbe
lonrth rank might be hard to defend. On ihe
conrrary, an isolaled pawn on rhe nirh .aok that
can be guarded by a lil might be a source ol
stcngth. perhaps spearheadin8 an attack. Tbe
pavns a.e used as a nghting iorce to a greater
extent lhan in the modetu gamc. A player could
move lhem toNard Nilhont endangenng his king,
whi.h might well support rhen ddunce. The
strongest openings are flank openings when a
pldlerrrie! ro advance hn Fwns so th.r they may
occufv or cnnhol rhe {rons poinr\ rhrr lie un rhe
nanks. The pawm are noved up lirst, the pieces
developed at fte rear. The linking of thc ,ooks.
olien achieled on the liBl lank in mode.n chess,
usuall,v takes place on ihe second rank afier the
pawns have been advan@d. (See rA Bia tor so6e
typical opening systeBs.) it vould rarely prolit a
player to seek artack at thc expense oI his pawn
loflnationr he nrighr ganr maierial bur then be
unable to Nin the endgane. To win by BAE KNc a
player must lorce lhe excha.ge ol his oppooents
iils add lirzan, no easy task Nben his own fils aDd
nrzrn are moledon differeni sets ol squares. In the
modern game tbere arelive drferentkindsoipiecc
orherrban rhe kn'c (O,R.N,Bs dark and lisht)inr
the old ganre ihere we.e eight including lour kinds
ol fil aDd lwo kinds of ftziin. There dre in
consequenre nany diferent kinds ol cndsame.
most of rhc$ posine the same problem: how ro
lorce exchanges. This th€ pawns may help !o
nchieve, conlrollng squ!res ro *hich thc opponcnl
might6ove his fih orfipan, or bypromotion to a
nrzrD that.ould chaUenge the enemy 6rzan. A f'I,
the {eakcst piae, may wel be exchanged lor a
pawni in lhe niddle gane such an exchange night
be rhe prelude to lhe mobilization oIa pbalanx ot
A recoNrructed 10th-century gane: 1 ... f6
(Black conmences play and prepares for a 6ujan
nah-ee rA siA.) 2 a fi 3 f4 Nf6 4 NJ3 c6 5
el c5 6 Ah3 s6 7 M4 (an idlc atlack on fs) 7 . . .
e5 8 b3 Fe7 (Black sees a chance ro bnng his king\
.ook quickly inroplayand defeB conpletion ofhh
opening sys!em.) 9 Fe2 Ah6 10 $ Kf7 11 Na
Rd8 12N.5+ (a poinde$ check) 12. . . K88 13
Nd3d6 14Nl2Nc6 i5d3'D6 16e4iie4 17dxe4
d5 18 Fd3 (White scts up a blockade on d3 which
Black outflanks by a near coFbination.) 18 .
c,ll 19 bxc4 dxc4 20 Fxc,1Aa6 2l Fd3 Raca 22
Nd Nb,l 23 Na4 Rxc2l 24 AI1
'lhis position (but not the preeding no!e, was
given by alsnli and probably arose in one of his
ganes againsl a compararively Neak opponent
(whire). ala L+^1s sars this ras a gane played
before rhe inlentiod ot ra bi 6t. which is most
unlikely. Black plays 24 . . . Ac4 and sins Several
manuscripls gilc a large nunber ol vanadons
in.luding the foUowing: 25 Nh3 Nxe4 26 a3
Rel2+ 27Kd1(2?. . . Fxe2 28 Nc2mate)27. . .
Nxd3 2,1 Fxd3 Rxd3 mate: or 25 Nd1 Nxe4 26
Nl d (26 Fxc2 Nxc2 maie or 26 Fxe4 Re2 nate) 26
...Rxd3 27Axd3Nxd3+ 28KlRt2+ 29Kgl
The srear playen Nere called aliyat (sins.
'aliya). RABUD, Abn n-Naam, Jabir al Knt, al
'ADri, and ar-&{zr flounshed in the 9th cenlury.
assnf and al LNriJ in the loth. Several Nrote
b..ks ofwhicn none has suNived. bur infomralion
fron these books may be iound in nanuscriprs
daling iron the l2th.entur!.
The Golden Age of Islanric chess Nhich lasted
more than 150 reaB began durLng the rule
(78G809) ol siRaN aR RAsHiD, louith Caliph ol
the Abbasid dynasty. lhe court coDtinued lo
paronize the game lor which some rulers showed
excessive fondne$. Caliph !l Ma'!mn.. a so. ol
IIarnn ar R.shid,lame.tcd his poor play. 'Stange
rh.i I qh. rulc the Norld irom the Imlus in the
Easi to Andalusia in ihe West, cadnot nanage 32
chesmen. In 866 al Mu iazz vas playine chc$
when a nessenger bioughr in thc hcad of his
predecesor, Caliph al-Mnsia nrial-Mu taz would