Al-Adli
Al-Ádlí ar-Rúmí was an Arab player and theoretician of Shatranj, an ancient form of chess from Persia. Originally from Anatolia[1], he authored one of the first treatises on Shatranj in 842, called Kitab ash-shatranj[2] ('Book of Chess').
He was recognized as the best Shatranj player in the 9th century[3] during the reign of al-Wathiq until his loss to al-Razi, just before[4] or early into[5] the reign of al-Mutawakkil.
In his treatise al-Adli compiled the ideas of his predecessors on Shatranj. The book was lost but the problems he discussed survived in the works of successors[4]. Mansūbāt were end game scenarios, where victory was obtained either by checkmate or stalemate, or by baring the opposing king[6].
From his work came a variant[7] of the Dilaram problem[8], attributed to al-Suli[9][10] and called Dilaram checkmate. In a manuscript from the early 15th century, a similar problem was accompanied by the story of a figure named Dilaram, who was the favourite slave of a certain chess player reduced to a desperate position in a match[11][12].
Bibliography
- Giffard, Nicolas; Biénabe, Alain (2009). Le Nouveau Guide des échecs. Traité complet (in French). Robert Laffont, coll. «Bouquins». p. 1710. ISBN 978-2-221-11013-3.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Le Lionnais, François; Maget, Ernst (1967). Dictionnaire des échecs (in French). Paris: Presses universitaires de France. p. 432.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Hooper, David; Whyld, Ken (1992). The Oxford Companion To Chess. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-866164-9.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Murray, H. J. R. (1913). A History of Chess. Oxford University Press. p. 879. ISBN 0-19-827403-3.
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References
- ^ Péchiné, Jean-Michel (November 1997). Roi des jeux, jeu des rois, Les échecs (in French). Découvertes Gallimard. p. 30.
- ^ Murray 1913, p. 169.
- ^ Golombek, Harry (1981). The Penguin Encyclopedia of Chess. Penguin. p. 11.
- ^ a b Hooper & Whyld 1992, p. 408.
- ^ Murray 1913, p. 170.
- ^ Le Lionnais & Maget 1967, pp. 182, 236.
- ^ Murray 1913, p. 318.
- ^ Giffard & Biénabe 2009, p. 789.
- ^ Murray 1913, p. 311.
- ^ Hooper & Whyld 1992, p. 109.
- ^ Giffard & Biénabe 2009, p. 336.
- ^ Le Lionnais & Maget 1967, p. 116.