A Book on Chess, Its Set Positions, and Its Curiosities

Corrected by Muhammad Abduh

Know that this book is not based on what is commonly known in our time—namely that the FerzanThe 'Ferzan' or 'Vizier' is the predecessor to the modern Queen, but with much more restricted movement. is gathered with the Rooks, the Elephants, and the MubarakaLiterally 'The Blessed,' likely a specific piece or formation in this variant., and that one of the two ElephantsArabic: 'al-Fil,' the predecessor to the modern Bishop. travels along the diagonal of half the squares of the boardArabic: 'al-Nata‘,' literally a leather mat used as a gaming board. wherever you wish if there is no obstacle in its path, while the other travels the diagonal of the remaining half. Rather, the expert of this book bases [the Elephant's movement] on the diagonal of three connected squares across their diagonals; it does not overstep or deviate from them. Thus one half appears, then the other half, and so on. Its Vizier moves like lightning, except that it only moves into every corner—right, left, forward, backward—and does not move along the sides [ranks or files]. Its ShahThe King. has a greater range than its Vizier, as it moves one square to the sides on every part, just as it shares the movement of the RooksArabic: 'al-Rawaya,' an unusual term here for the Rooks (usually 'al-Rukh'). by one square on every side as well. We describe the board as being 8 by 8, totaling 64 squares. Every square has a specific name Small diagram of a square. The corners are called Wahad and the sides are called Thana. The corners are marked A, B, C, D, and the squares within the boundaries are marked with Indian numerals.

The SudadLikely a term for blocked paths or specific defensive lines., the Rooks, and the Shah share the same [logic]. In it, [the piece] moves from A to B, C, and A, up to 57 along the sides instead of... illegible? as long as there is no obstacle. Likewise, every square that falls outside these four sides is similarly bounded from A to the RajaPossibly 'hope' or a specific target square. and the BadrFull moon; likely a square name., for example from 9 to 17 and from there to 25. It goes wherever it wishes, but it takes into a corner right and left from 9 to 18 and from there to 27 or 25. Similarly, it moves in the MaWater. to 35, 19, and 13. Likewise from 13, for example, to 5, 12, and 14, or to the corner along the sides. Likewise for 35, 66, 20, and 22. Thus, it moves between the eight directions and captures like them. As for the Vizier of this book, it was in the MustarHidden. and the AdarHarmful. in the squares of the set positionsArabic: 'al-mansubat,' refers to specific chess problems or endgames. only, not the original starting squares. It takes along the sides 1, 2, 3, and 4, and from there to 5, 14, and 13. Its "good Elephant" moves from 6 to 2 or 24, and from 21 to 6, 34, or 38, and no others. The BanPossibly a pawn or specific minor piece. moves from 3 to 21 or 17, and from 21 to 17, 5, or 39. As for the standard Elephant, its sight is from [square] A to the flank of the King and to 24 likewise; and from 24 to the HillaStation/camp. and to 59 as you wish. Its rule in the corners is like the rule of the Raja and the sides, except that the board is distributed between them by classification. The Rooks move by circulating every square. As for the Elephant of this book, it circulates the two halves by even and odd squares because it moves in a rank, but it must be on an even square original: 'bi-zawj', unlike the standard ones which can occupy both even and even in their specific half. If a step occurs in this book, it differs in a single move or square.

The standard Vizier is gathered at the Rijja, and the rest are the standard pieces and the Horse [Knight]; if you strike them in one move, it is "Extended" original: 'madid'.

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Regarding the calculation of the foundations of chess, some scholars have composed them in a verse and completed them with Indian numerals, which are: 4151 4551 7375 8441 615
18,444,674,407,370,955,161,5
This large number is the solution to the problem of doubling a grain of wheat on every square of the chessboard (2 to the power of 64, minus 1).

If one grain were three akçeA small silver coin, used here as a unit of measure. and a thousand measures were one lebz, and a thousand lebz were one granary, and a thousand granaries were one storehouse, and a thousand storehouses were one fawt, and a thousand fawt were one city, and a thousand cities were one kingdom—then the wheat produced from the squares of the chessboard would consist of such-and-such kingdoms, 446 years, 24 places, 73 granaries, and 23 kir... The text continues in Ottoman Turkish describing the sheer scale of the number. And if it were 18 sultanates, 44 states, 74 orchards, 73 large [cities], 70 and 370 kuruş, and 9550... illegible?. It is said by Ibn al-Sa'di?.