1MI' SON 'S

SIMPSON'S

rs•THF•STRAND

Talebanned

Raymond Keene

c R. hrorr, numerous reports.

tsar, militia. the new hardline Aighanistan. has banned has often o‘ercome

; go\-erned by ,, .. I problem deris rs • iti. h, an Which reads: "0

. and lots and arc an aborni-

-....r. 7 Satan. therefore

prosper i•oi proscribed by ; Muslim lawyers, 200

• H. a. ._xpanded the blan- k.: . k.■1 .,.its. dice and images I"... ■11.1hltivir. on chess pieces ..i t hi. itself. But later AD the Arab jurist,

... . ;.. , el riposte.. argu- ..4 wa, iii.agc of war and it T1: ,..1b1.. the game. not

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• . s partly because the ommanders of

,.• ; atty. enthusiastic .ncssp.,,-, wn, aged chess

or ther; court retinue in

hag ; ; L.-cord of conc.

cm:ss metaphors.

. Byzam.iii., emperor. Nice--

tn. 1-lavan ar-Rashid. of 1:-. this the 13yzantme emperor N phoras. King. of: I king of the Arabs 'nom 1 have succeed-

.I, 6 ..■ ;he rank of the rook ...;„ n_, s„ 11 of the rank of the LO YOU which you

rightly should hate paid to her.' It is re-potted that when Harun ar-Rashid read this his wrath was kindled and he called for an inkpot and wrote on the back of the letter: "in the. name of God! the compas- sionate and merciful! from Harun, C:ornmarider of the Faithful, to Nice-

phorus, the. dog of Byzantium "' After such an inauspicious start to their relation- ship, it was unlikely that Harun would return the. tribute.

The• game. popular 1000 years ago was an early version of chess called Shatranj. Some pie...ce. moves were slightly different. for example., pawns could only move one square.. the bishop could only move two squares, jumping: the intermediate one and any piece that was in its path, and the queer mow ed only one square diagonally. Rook, knight and king were identical to modern chess. The greatest champion of Baghdad in the Caliph's court was As Suli.

As Sidi–Anon: Baghdad circa 940 AD.

g3 g4 This would have been regarded as an agi; e. and dashing opening line in the day's \kik did not have the privilege of

square.s on their first move. 2 ... flf; 3 c3 et; 4 Nt.2- d6 Rgl c6 6 L3 b6 7 f4 a6 In Blacks slow opening would be an

.;..; • wsas, : out given the absence of

• o., en the opposing forces in nle.a of cleanng the second iv. swing his queen's rook into a•'1, ; aids the centre, via a7, is not to be dis- rnis, 0 Stii.. Black's decision to postpone devel- op;-.., ot he pieces does allow White a danger- ous temp star, sacrifice. 8 f5 gicf5 9 gxf5 exf5

Black has won a pawn. but White can easily regain it. when Black's pawns on the king's flank become scattered and weak. 10 Bh3 Ne7 Note that Black's bishop on c8 does not defend the pawn on f5. 11 Rfl Rg8 12 Ng3 Rg5 13 Bid*:

14 Bh3 Nd7 15 d3 d5 16 c3 Qc7 17 b3 Ra7 18 c4 Bd6 19 Nc3 Be6 20 cxd5 cxd5 21 d4 klf8 Black's long-term problem is his isolated 16 pawn, ex-posed to attack in the open 'f file 22 R12 Qd6 23 b4 Rc7 24 Kd2 b5 25 Ba3 The While bishop is

striving for an excellent square on c5 25 Nb6

26 Bc5 Nc6 (Diagram) On c5 the white bishop is threatening Bxe7. In Shatranj, a knight is worth considerably more than a bishop, hence the deci- sion to remove it. White's next most is a consoli- dation measure, before returning to his siege of the pawn on f6. It was also possible to play 27 Rict6 but then 27 ... Ne4+ 28 Ke: Bg4+ is com- plicated. Remember that White's bishop on h3 does not control g4 in this ancient version of chess. 27 a3 Kf7 28 Qc2 Bc4 28 . + would have been better. 29 Rail Rg6 30 Nh5 White's concentration of force against the weak 16' pawn is now overwhelming. 30 ... Ke8 31 Nxf6+ Kd8 32 N6xd5 This is possible since the only black piece defending d5 is the knight on b6. 32

Rb7 There is no good way of defending the bishop on f8 which actually has no move 33 Rxf8+ Kd7 34 Bf5+ Ke6 35 Nf4 mate h is mate from the knight on f4. The bishops on c5 and f5 merely serve, respectively, to cut of the escape squares e7 and d7 from the black king