Letter #08 -  2015

Sub:    The 2nd great game that is known
Date:   07/21/15  12:20:00 PM EDT
From:  Dr. René Gralla (Germany)
To:      service@chess-poster.com

Dear webmaster of chess-poster,

Please add the 2nd great game of Shatranj that is known!  I am German journalist René Gralla who publishes on Chess (just check out my name by the help of Google), I do love your data bank. I like all the great games there - but in particular I do love a very special game in your data bank that makes your data bank unique: - the animated version of the oldest game registered, namely the game of Shatranj between as-Suli and al-Lajlaj, herewith the link:

www.chess-poster.com/english/notes_and_facts/oldest_chess_game.htm 

That is great: the unique chance to replay that game on the screen, with those great Elephants ("Al-fils") and those very nice "Firzans" hopping and tripping around. Since it is unique that that historic game is in the data bank I herewith ask you - to please make your data bank even more unique - by adding the 2nd great game of Shatranj that is known - and that even ends with checkmate thus making its finale even more convincing and outstanding than the 1st game (that is already in the data bank).

In the following - please see the transcript of all the moves of that game that I have added further down below - I can proudly present to you the moves of that very game that has been played between Abu-Bakr Muhammed Ben Yahya as-Suli (white) and the Caliph Abu 'l-Fadl Ja'far ibn Ahmad al-Mu'tadid (black) - the latter is better known under his name Caliph al-Muqtadir bi-Allah - around 920 A.D. at Baghdad, the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate.

The opening that as-Suli and his prominent opponent played is called "Sayyal", in English: "Torrent". I can communicate the complete game to you after having done some research: - first I have found the first 8 moves on the German-language website at Wikipedia on as-Suli: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu-Bakr_Muhammad_bin_Yahya_as-Suli; - then I have contacted Mr. Ulrich Schaedler who is Mr. Director of the Museum of Games of Switzerland, and he sent me copies of the great book of Chess historian Murray who has published the complete game on the pages 264 and 268 (including footnote no. 18!).

Therefore I can today proudly communicate to you that very complete game of Shatranj which is the 2nd one of complete games of Shatranj that are known. Therefore I would be very glad if you would like to add that very game to the data bank of chess- poster since that would underline that your data bank is that unique in making the great games of Shatranj known to the rest of the Chess world.

White: Yahya as-Suli
Black: Caliph al-Muqtadir
Date: Around 920 A.D.
Site: Baghdad, Abbasid Caliphate
A=Al-fil
F=Fers

1.g3 g6 2.g4 f6 3.e3 e6 4.Ne2 d6 5.Rg1 c6 6.f3 b6 7.f4 a6 8.f5 gxf5 9.gxf5 exf5 10.Ah3 Ne7 11.Rf1 Rg8 12.Ng3 Rg5 13.Axf5 h6 14.Ah3 Nd7 15.d3 d5 16.c3 Fc7 17.b3 Ra7 18.c4 Ad6 19.Nc3 Ae6 20.cxd5 cxd5 21.d4 Af8 22.Rf2 Fd6 23.b4 Rc7 24.Kd2 b5 25.Aa3 Nb6 26.Ac5 Nc6 27.a3 Kf7 28.Fc2 Ac4 29.Raf1 Rg6 30.Nh5 Ke8 31.Nxf6+ Kd8 32.Nfxd5 Rb7 33.Rxf8+ Kd7 34.Af5+ Ke6 35.Nf4# 1-0

Thank you very much in advance.

Best regards
René Gralla
Free-lance Journalist
Hamburg, Germany

Dear Mr. Gralla,

Thank you for the game of Shatranj you sent us, we really appreciate it!

Please find the game at the following link:

http://www.chess-poster.com/english/notes_and_facts/oldest_chess_game.htm

We surely appreciate very much your contribution to our website.

Best regards.

Thank you for visiting us,
chess-poster.com