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Through the medium of this column I have often inveighed against perversions ofchess,such asso calledFischerrandom, Varied Baseline Chess, or Chess 960. In all of these heresies against the true faith, players are allotted a choice of nine hundred and sixty different start up positions for the pieces, rather than adhering to the traditionalarray.The ancestral template was first created by the dispositions of the ancient Indian army, with its war elephants, chariots, cavalry and infantry, all ruled over by the Rajah (king) advised by his Vizier or Minister.

It is my contention that those bored with modern chess should consider such hallowed legitimate alternatives as Chinese chess, Xiang Qi, Japanese Chess, or Shogi, a most exciting variant, where captured opposing pieces join up with your own forces. Most accessible ofall,perhaps, is the ancient Islamic forerunner of chess as we now knowit,Shatranj. The initial array is identical to our modern game and most of the piece moves are also identical.

Rook, knight and king are exactly the same. Pawns advance and capture in the sameway, except a double square option for the pawns initial actionis forbidden. The bishop(elephant) moves diagonally and can leap over intervening obstacles, but its range is limitedto two squares. Hence an elephant on c1 can only evermaximally reach the squares e3, a3, c5, a7, g5 and e7. A total ofseven,including the start square.

The greatest difference is with the Queen(Vizier) which can move just one square diagonally in each direction, much like a promoted King in draughts. Finally, the absurd modern ruling thatstalemate,the reduction of the opponents possibilities to zero, results in a draw, was sensibly interpreted as a win for the paralyser. Ditto, anysituation where one side had lost all units, apart from the king, since a player was declaredvictor, if king plus another unit remained on the board. This was described as a win by bare king, and avoided those anomalous situations arising in contemporary chess, where even possessing not just one, but two extra knights might not suffice for the full point.

I find the restrictions imposed by Shatranj intellectually challenging, rather like having to adhere to the straightijacket of Iambic Hexameters when writing poetry. If you wish to venture away from chess, try Shatranj. You wont even need to acquire a new board or pieces. Both remain thesame.You may surprisingly discover that this accessing of an ancient Islamic resource is quite mentally refreshing.

The first Chess / Shatranj Grandmaster, the first mental sportsman, the first genius of mind sports, was the Baghdad chess player As-Suli. Players of his status were known asAliyat. It mightbe difficultfor Western audiences to grasp that Baghdad, As-Sulishome city, was once the world capitalof chess; indeed it was the pre-eminent metropolis of the planet for some time from the 9th century onwards.

Baghdad was founded in AD 762 by the Caliph Al-Mansour, who reputedly employed 100,000 men to build it. This circular city, with a diameter of 8655 ft (2638 m) and surrounded by a rampart of no fewer than 360 towers, almost immediatelyproved to be too small for the burgeoning population. By the time of the CaliphHarounAlRaschid, Baghdad had expanded, taking in quarters for commerce and artisans, and by AD 814 it was almost certainly the worlds largest conurbation.

The stupendous growth of Baghdad was a most astonishing global phenomenon. By 814 it covered an area approximately 40sqmiles (100 km2) the equivalent of modern-day Paris within the outer boulevards. Baghdad was the dominant megalopolis and As-Suliwas the multi-talented mind sportsman, poet, politician, and Chess Grandmaster who exemplified theglittering cultureof Baghdad at that time, a most convincing and powerful testament to the astonishing force of Islam, during their Golden Age.

Baghdad was to Shatranj what Moscow became to the modern game the world epicentre of chess.

Like the former World Chess Champion(1985-2000) Garry Kasparov, As-Sulicame froman area bordering the Caspian Sea. As a youngmanhe travelled to the capital to become the chess favourite of the political leader of his day, the Caliph Al-Muktafi. But in AD 940 As-Suliuttered an indiscreet political comment, and had to flee from Baghdad. He died soonafterwards in Basra at the grand old age of 92. Kasparov is faring better in his own retirement from active play, having been invited as guest speaker and elder statesman to this months NATO Summit in Vilnius. Kasparovs invitation might also be construed as recognition of his early warnings about the dangers of Vladimir Putin in his admonitory tract,Winter is Coming

A chess genius lives on in his published studies and puzzles. As-Suliset one puzzle which he described as: Old, very old and extremely difficult to solve. Nobody could solve it or say whether it was a draw or win. In fact there is no man on earth who can solve it if I, As-Suli, have not shown him the solution. This was his proud boast and it held good until recently, when the RussianGrandmaster YuriAverbakhfinally cracked the puzzle, with modern computers completing the finishing touches to the long hidden solution.

As-Suliwas the strongest player of his time, a composer of chess puzzles, and the author of the first book describing a systematic way of playing Shatranj. For more than 600 years after his death, the highest praise an Islamic player could bestow on acolleague wastosay that he played like As-Suli, who won every chess match that he has known to have contested.

As-Suliwas a resident at the court of the Caliph where his reputation was that of an excellent conversationalist. His knowledge was encyclopedic. He owned an enormous library, and wrote many history books as well as his two text books on chess. He was also a revered teacher of the game, with the next outstanding Arabic player of Shatranj, Al-Lajlaj, being one of his pupils.

As-Sulican be seen as a symbol of the superlative Islamic culturethat flourished in Baghdad, possessing extraordinary qualities of mind, thought and intellect at a time when Europe itself was in the scientifically less advanced early medieval period. The parallel western Carolingian imperium was in many respects impressive, but it is said that the Emperor Charlemagne himself struggled to read or write, leaving such onerous tasks to his amanuensis Alcuin. As Suli, as a human embodiment, representeda pinnacle of urban sophistication and culture, not to be attained by rival civilisationsfor centuries to come.

Again, as regular readers of my column forTheArticlewill realise, I regard chess as a mirror of society. Hence, if Shatranj, the chosen mind game of Islams Golden Age, is worth revival, it might also be worth considering the possible benefits to be derived from Islam for 21st-century British society, since there is nothing strange about a world power adopting optimal qualities from other cultures.

In 306 AD forexample,the Roman generalConstantine,of Serbian origin, was declared Augustus or Senior Emperor within the DiocletianTetrarchy,not inRome,city of the Caesars, butin York.He subsequently removed the capital of the Roman Empire toConstantinople, modern Istanbul. In 1876 Queen Victoria was declared Empress of India, immediately becomingKaisari Hind, Caesar in India. TheKaisari Hind medal(pictured at the top of this column)was awarded toany person without distinction of race, occupation, position, or sex who shall have distinguished himself (or herself) by important and useful service in the advancement of the public interest in India.

This formulation seems remarkably inclusive, given that it was written at the height of the British Empire.

Recently I observed an online clip of that quintessentially British Thespian, Roger Moore, aka James Bond, sipping a cocktail, in the attire of a British Gentleman, espousing the virtues ofNation, Religion,Monarchy, Family,Authority, the Rule of Law, Order, Hierarchy, Community, Education, Civic Virtue, Morality and Charity.

All of these qualitiesare,as I understand them, not incompatible with the tenets of Islam, as originally expressed in the Quran.Vagaries,such as fanatical insistence on the hijab and even an unfortunate, if temporary, ban on chess, camelater.Indeed, it seems to me that mainstream Islam is radically, implacably and more than temporarily opposed to the wilderdemands ofwokism. Islam could thus be enlisted in the struggle against thoseWokistaextravagances which, in myopinion,and I also believe in the judgement of the majority of the Britishpopulation,undermine the long standing fabric of British society.

As Professor Emeritus Jackie Eales (who is also my sister) has explained in her monograph Women in Early Modern England 1500-1700: Mens foremost concern was the economic survival of themselves and their families, an interest that was shared equally by women. True enough then and doubtless throughout human civilisation, with only a minority swept up by fanaticism or ideology.

In this Year of theKing, itseems to me that King Charles III would also be supportive of such an alliance between conservative virtues and basic Islamic values. He has been reported as preferring the title of Defender of theFaiths, orDefender ofFaiths,to the ancient Henrician accolade conferred by Pope LeoX,in1521,Defensor Fidei, Defender of the Faith, and it is apparent that our new monarch is resolute in inviting leading representatives of all faiths to address the congregation at every religious ceremony involving his regal functions.

A blueprint for such tolerance and cooperation is to be found in the playNathan the Wise,from the pen of the German Enlightenmentrationalist,GottholdEphraim Lessing ( 1729-1781). Lessings regular chess opponent was the philosopher MosesMendelssohn,and in Lessings play major religions come together across the chessboard to produce a synthesis which is of advantage to all those who wish society well, rather than strive to demolish its foundations.

Perhaps Lessings role model was King Alfonso X ofCastile, 1221-1284, like Lessings eponymous hero, known asAlfonso the Wise, who fostered the development of a cosmopolitan court , which encouraged learning. Muslims, a Christians and those of the Jewish faith, were all equally encouraged to take prominent roles in his court, andAlfonso,who supervised a book of games andpuzzles,mainlychess,was also said to have invented Grant Chess, a variant with expanded board and pieces.

We do not merely study the past: we inherit it, and inheritance brings with it not only the rights of ownership, but the duties of trusteeship. Things fought for & died for should not be idly squandered. For they are the property of others, who are not yet born.

Roger Scruton,Philosopher

For those who wish to delve further into the ancient origins of the game,the featured videopurports to showcase the oldest known recorded game. The claim is open to question, with this encounter more likely to have been a composite reconstruction at a later date, but it is nevertheless highly instructive and entertaining, and it has the virtue of showing Shatranj in action.

And now that we are all expert exponents of this ancient practice, a puzzle

White to move and win

White can win with a two-rook sacrifice

Raymond Keenes latest book Fifty Shades of Ray: Chess in the year of the Coronavirus, containing some of his best pieces fromThe Article, is now available from Blackwells .His 206th book, Chess in the Year of the King, with a forewordby The Article contributor PatrickHeren, and written in collaboration with former Reuters chess correspondent, Adam Black, is in preparation.It will be publishedlater this year.

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Islam, chess and the first grandmaster - TheArticle